Boadicea's Chariot

I returned from a four week ‘vacation’ in Russia and Poland some five weeks ago.

I use the word ‘vacation’ advisedly – it was pretty hectic in places and I suffered from jet-lag, loss of the adrenaline I generated to keep going, and then had to acclimatise to the freezing weather here in Brissie.

So why did I choose these destinations?

Continue reading “Russia & Poland”

Don’t get me wrong, Jofra’s a talented young man and I’m sure every ball he bowls is compliant with the current laws of the game.

But I’m not happy with the current rules because so many players – and the odd umpire or two – are getting seriously injured by fast bowling.   Poor old Phil Hughes comes to mind, but his death is not the only one to have happened over the past two or three years.   Jofra has already hurt more batsmen per ball bowled then anyone else – that’s not because he’s bad, but because he’s faster and trickier than anyone else – yet.

Cricket is not supposed to be a game based on maiming your opponents – unlike boxing – but a game firmly based on skill.   Of recent years however, speed of bowling has apparently become the one and only worthwhile goal to be pursued, whilst clever spin – Warnie or Lyon or Swann for example – has been relegated to an also-ran technique, only to be used when the quickies get tired.

I don’t like the outcome and I’d love to see the rules changed, but I can’t think of a sensible and practical way to change them.   Any ideas?

It is almost inconceivable to have had so many mass shooting tragedies in the USA within such a short time span. But so we have and here we are, with a large part of the populace reflexively calling for “gun control,” whatever that is. I darkly suspect that those people have no better idea about it than they do about “global warming.” If they were all so clever as they like to think they are, surely by now we’d have had some possibly useful ideas about how to solve the problem.   Continue reading “Gun Control”