cricket 80s stylez (with name drop alert too)

the recent fund raising match for christchurch at the basin has stirred some memories.

once upon a time we could actually play cricket. chats was there…still trim and taught at 60 and with that unmistakable action.

edgar opened. what a pretty cricketer to watch. very much underrated. he was at the other end for THAT delivery (and as a side note, i never noticed he had such hairy forearms) and he looks like a librarian (no offense to librarians).

andrew jones did well too. he was also underrated. he was martin crowe’s foil. he was at the other end for the record partnership. he scored 186, i think, when crowe scored his 299. upon crowe’s dismissal he (hogan that is, not jonesy - not the most interesting of nicknames i must say) took to a coke machine (which probably deserved it). i was there. he also took out the knob end of the picket fence.

roger twose has beefed up a little, but not to stockley’s florid proportions. or even geoff allot who looks like he has spent his entire retirement eating pies. macca (the cricket one) also needs to watch out. he’s beefing up too. but back to roger. what a beautiful player to watch. what grace and poise.

i enjoyed seeing paddles bowl again. i was surprised he did. i’d heard he was only there to rattle a bucket. he held the world record for the number of wickets once. he took 9 wickets in a match and caught the tenth. he still has it. (i’ve met him too).

loved listening to adam parore this morning saying that he accidentally stumped andrew jones and that jonesy was pissed off. i was left wondering why the ‘real’ game is so uptight. imagine if we had a she’ll be right attitude. it would be so much more fun.

that game was a testament to fun-ness. it was a great game. how amazing a sporting talent is tana? in trying to avoid a ball he takes a ripper of a catch. he’s never bowled before but takes a wicket. is there anything sports-wise that man cannot do? i’ve met him. i’ve played golf against him (yes i have played 3 rounds of golf, very badly). two impressions prevail. he’s shorter than I expected and there is not one ounce of fat on him.

i enjoyed that game. i’m also pleased that my cricket mad nephew can catch a glimpse of what we used to be. today i heard the black caps (stupid name that!) described as almost minnows. i have to agree.

once we were awesome.