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.
“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.
What is this place, where and why do the owners want to sell it?
Walked passed this doorway yesterday
British politics has had its pantomime villains down the years but nobody, I submit, as deliciously villainous as Burlesquoni, the Abanazar of the year-round theatre that is Italian life! I mean, we’ve all booed at Prezza and whistled at Archer but their misdemeanours pale in comparison to Baron Bunga-bunga.
Even now – when he’ll have to do community service – he might still qualify for public office! Imagine the scene: a PM giving singing and dancing lessons for free to disadvantaged immigrants from North Africa.
Grazie, Silvio!
My headline is the lazy response from people who really want something but won’t work for it.
Some stalwarts (a small number) still post their experiences, thoughts, enthusiasms and prejudices here – so why don’t the rest of you? It takes perhaps 15 minutes every few days.
Answer: you really don’t care that much. Pity.
As my occasional reader knows, Backside is a stickler for good form. ‘Good’, meaning less irritating than people usually are. So when it comes to walking around public places, he’s lined up a few of his grumpiest gripes.
1. Have you noticed the door-stops? They stop to scratch themselves (or wha’evah) plumb in the entrance to a shop, an escalator or a bus, thus preventing all mobile users of the facility?
2. What about the broad-sides? They walk confidently along, happy with the delusion that they are not wider in girth than normal folk and can easily get through the available gap in the crowd.
3. And the ubiquitous pram brigade? They congregate in garrulous groups with the obvious objective of filling the pavement completely and endangering the lives the rest of us.
Don’t you just love people too? Do tell.
Get that bikini top back on and think p-o-m-e-s! The Muses deserve some attention, even when the English weather is so unseasonal.
Boadicea's Chariot 
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