When Warner and Rogers left the pavilion separately this morning to bat at the Oval, a commentator was reminded of the days of the Gentlemen and Players, who disappeared (allegedly) from English cricket 50 years ago.
So I found this piece from Wisden which tells the tale.
http://www.espncricinfo.com/wisdenalmanack/content/story/573224.html
PS as I write, Warner is out for 6. Is he an amateur?
Seated one day at the keyboard, I was weary and ill at ease, and my fingers wandered idly over the noisy keys……..(sorry Adelaide)……. when suddenly I noticed a tweet about the fourth Ashes test from (fanfare) Phil Slocombe! I was transported back to the darkest days of MyT when the inimitable Qum Slo Feel (dubbed in honour of his long-sufferíng Chinese spouse resident with him in southern Spain) held forth on things sporting and topical. Had he re-emerged to cast his pearls before us once more?
No. The tweeting Mr Slocombe is a former cricketer for Somerset. A rose by any other name….. But I wonder if his namesake ever sold his house down on the Costas and returned to Chendu? Did Ron, his mate at McLaren, ever heed his advice? Did the judiciary of Chester ever appoint a better JP? Ah, the memories….
As Backside anticipated (he’s good at that), the Diana saga is not yet over, despite the predominance of fat ladies (and gentlemen) singing far too soon.
Would you be surprised if an SAS unit had been ordered to sort out the little problem of Diana consorting with the son of a rich, Arab persona non grata? Are you surprised to learn that Big Ears has his own ‘placements’ among the staff of several Ministries?
Yes, of course, but the facts might yet shake your convictions.
Like yours, my hate level depends on the importance of the issue; so I really really hate pseudo-philosophy. This time it’s the Beeb seeking to link physical illness to the concept of free will.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-23666726
As far as I can see (which on a clear day is forever), this article is a PC attempt to forgive (oh no, not again) people for behaving badly when they get ill. Er, excuse me, but the law of the land does differentiate between the healthy and sick with its rulings on being ‘fit to plead’ and for me that will do. Don’t necessarliy lock up the deviant in a regular jail, just keep him out of (his own) harm’s way. That’s the only concession necessary because the concept of free will is about normal people under normal conditions – not when they are sick or constrained to commit felonies or wha’ever. And your or my deliberate (that is free) decisions about diet, narcotics, social behaviour and sexual preferences are not excuses for lenient treatment from the rest of society. So get over it and find another get-out-of-jail-free card.
Mid-August is somehow on the cusp – either of Autumn in Europe and some parts of the Americas or of Spring in the Antipodes. The equatorial tendency of course never quite differentiates.
So cherished versifiers, kindly be inspired to celebrate either the promise of summertime or its passing; both thoroughly deserving of your attention in the next two weeks after which you’ll be judged on the quality of your efforts.
https://charioteers.org/2013/07/25/summertime-the-august-poetry-challenge/
Pic by PS Krøyer, one of Denmark’s Golden Age painters who lived and worked in Skagen
“In Greece tax inspectors have found that one in two businesses are cheating them. The rate is 56% on tourist islands like Mykonos and Crete, ” quoth Gavin of the Beeb, as if we should be shocked or otherwise impressed by the new-found diligence of the taxman.
Now bear in mind that I’m just a cynical old businessman who visited the Med and Middle East for 25 years from around the time the UK joined the EU (or somesuch). So I could be considered unduly aware of these things, eh? But to my certain knowledge business in those parts has long been conducted in ways least likely to benefit the Revenue or conform to local regulations.
My pic shows Mykonos mills used for public servants to tilt at.
Allegedly sixty people in London took exception to this bus and asked the Advertising Standards Authority to can it.
Now apart from the fact that the campaign would be more effective if conducted in several foreign languages, it strikes me as a highly relevant approach to a growing problem.
No more Mr Nice Guy.
What is this place, where and why do the owners want to sell it?
My most jingoistic hackles rise whenever I see that the pesky Spanish are trying to negate the Treaty of Utrecht (1713) by which, with the agreement of everybody who was anybody at the time, Gibraltar was granted to GB in perpetuity, together with Minorca, Newfoundland and St Kitts thrown in for good measure. Not long after there was a bit of a scrap over Minorca and GB gave it up. Fair enough. Newfoundland of course was discovered by Vikings yonks before and should be returned to them but nobody can be bothered to argue about it.
What I don’t get is why Spain doesn’t tell the French they want to negate the Treaty of the Pyrenees (1659) under whose terms bits of Catalonia west of Perpignan were parcelled out. Surely it’s all Spanish land really – using the same arguments employed to claim Gibraltar?
What say you, cherished reader? Am I missing something here?
The Beeb has obligingly promised rain and more rain for Manchester today, which means that England will draw the match with the Aussies and retain the Ashes, even if the last two tests go the wrong way.
Cloudy with rain persisting for much of the day, very heavy at times with a risk of thundery bursts and localised flooding. Towards evening the rain will ease and slowly clear eastwards, perhaps allowing some late brightness in the west.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/7281603
Huge smiley thing.
Boadicea's Chariot 
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