GerryShedd
Super Moderator
As if on cue, Kai Smith says he has improved a lot and wants to be the best keeper in the country:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/articles/cgrkekq8gy4o
Piran Holloway now involved in house building in Western Australia.
In reading the various comments about Kai Smith's keeping, the thought that occurs to me is that, when it comes to having good hands, that's something that keepers have (if at all) very young. I'm sure that there's lots of technical skills you can learn. But by the time you're 18 or so, I think you either have those good hands or you don't - and it seems that Kai, now 21, probably doesn't.
I could be wrong (and hope that I am).
Highveld wrote:
I was been tounge in cheek and it was meant to be good natured.
Thanks for the reply
Taken in the spirit that it was given!
I'll give a serious answer to what I assume was a flippant question.
No, I didn't see Tiger Smith keeping but, when I was a schoolboy and he was already pretty old, he did give me some coaching tips which, to my shame, I think I largely ignored.
One surprising fact about Tiger is that he starred as a wicket keeper even though he had lost the tips of two fingers in a works accident (at Cadbury's, I think).
As for Dick Spooner, in my first ever match, I saw "K. Miller stumped Spooner b Hollies 0". I think it was probably a routine stumping but all I saw was the bails come off and I thought that the great Keith Miller had been bowled. So when it came up on the scoreboard as stumped, I marvelled at the quickness of the hands that had deceived my eyes.
There were plenty of excellent wicket keepers around in the fifties so the fact that he was regarded as the natural deputy to Godfrey Evans means he must have been good. And the person who deputised for him for Warwickshire, Esmond Lewis, was also recognised as really good and played several times in the Gents v Players matches.
As for others not mentioned, Geoff Humpage was an excellent wicket keeper/batter; and going back very many years even before my time, Arthur Augustus (Dick) Lilley starred for both Warwickshire and England.
I still think that Keith Piper was the best that I have seen.
Highveld wrote:
Final t20 averages
https://countycrickethub.net/team-averages.html?teamid=16&comp=3&year=2026
Makes for interesting reading and shows some of the selection errors?
Why was Tarriq missing yesterday? In baseball it's quite common for the pitchers to have elbow injuries from all the throwing.
What could you possibly be suggesting?
And an excellent win.
I managed to find a commentary in Hindi and a picture of the ground between innings but not much else.
Tom Mousley is Dan’s brother.
Congratulations to the team!
A beautiful venue.
Not all efforts by wealthy Americans to involve themselves in sport end badly.
Interesting to see that Lancashire have ditched their plans to charge for live streaming of matches:
https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/sport/26254481.lancashire-cricket-ditches-paywall-lancstv-u-turn/
They looked pretty good tonight. But tomorrow is another day!
Press release says:
"Warwickshire County Cricket Club is delighted to announce the appointment of Sophie Ball as its inaugural Head of Data and Intelligence, a pioneering role that reinforces the Club’s commitment to innovation and high-performance excellence."
It says of Sophie: "She began her career with the Rugby Football Union (RFU) as an analyst before spending the past six years at British Cycling as Lead Insights Analyst."
The old-fashioned part of me is slightly cynical about these kinds of roles. Did her six years at British Cycling lead to any insights other than "Pedal faster"?
We've drifted a long way from Bears v Sussex; and it looks as though the case against John Arlott is strong!
As for "loathsome Norcross", I have to confess that he's friends with my daughter. And though I've never met him, he did organise for all the TMS team to sign a copy of the book that my late colleague Dave Bullivant and I wrote - so he's not all bad.
ITE7376 wrote:
GerryShedd wrote:
paulbear wrote:
Never rated Mills, there are plenty of bowlers who are in the 8.50 per over bracket, he's just a name that got thrown about like Chris Jordan but they have not really won trophies with all the different franchise side they played for, Jordan was the reason England lost that T20 semi-final in about 2021 v New Zealand with a terrible last over and he definitely cost Sussex the T20 final when Worcestershire won it by spraying it everywhere in the 'Death' overs. Hard Hitters, Clive Lloyd was a real blaster, his 2 innings in the 1972 Gillette Cup Final (Damn Him) and the 1975 World Cup Final were full of shots where the ball hit the ropes before the bowler had finished following-through.
Agree about Clive Lloyd and those two innings - especially how he hit David Brown back to the pavilion fence in the 1972 innings. When he hit the ball into the crowd at mid-wicket in the 1975 match, John Arlott said it was effortless, "the stroke of a man knocking a thistle top off with a walking stick."
apparently Arlott pinched that phrase from a cricket book of the 1920s or something
I often wondered whether Arlott's 'bon mots' were spontaneous or rehearsed; but I've never read or heard that they may have been "borrowed" - though it could well be so.
paulbear wrote:
Never rated Mills, there are plenty of bowlers who are in the 8.50 per over bracket, he's just a name that got thrown about like Chris Jordan but they have not really won trophies with all the different franchise side they played for, Jordan was the reason England lost that T20 semi-final in about 2021 v New Zealand with a terrible last over and he definitely cost Sussex the T20 final when Worcestershire won it by spraying it everywhere in the 'Death' overs. Hard Hitters, Clive Lloyd was a real blaster, his 2 innings in the 1972 Gillette Cup Final (Damn Him) and the 1975 World Cup Final were full of shots where the ball hit the ropes before the bowler had finished following-through.
Agree about Clive Lloyd and those two innings - especially how he hit David Brown back to the pavilion fence in the 1972 innings. When he hit the ball into the crowd at mid-wicket in the 1975 match, John Arlott said it was effortless, "the stroke of a man knocking a thistle top off with a walking stick."
The Club says:
"We wanted to remind Members, during the gap between the Women's and Men's Vitality Blast games on Sunday 5 July we are hosting our Members Forum.
This will take place in our 501* Lounge with a Q&A with Warwickshire CEO Stuart Cain."
Hardest hitters - from a totally different era, (Lord) Ted Dexter.
Wormsley is a beautiful venue. Go there if you can!