Column 16 - Ashes hype

Printed in The Cricket Paper, issue 65 140813

Having last week got very wrapped up in the village game, this week playing makes no appearance at all, the first time a column makes no mention of my cricket and concentrates solely on being a fan.

Column 15 - Thrashing or nailbiter?

Printed in The Cricket Paper, issue 64 070813

This was an interesting one, as I had to file (submit, hand in; think homework) at lunch on the fifth day of the third Test at Old Trafford, when Australia were on top with England yet again 30-3, so all three results were still possible, and at that time it wasn’t raining. I had written different set-ups for win lose or draw, but in the end went for a general one, where the point stands whatever the result. Which is actually probably better.

When I started doing this column, the idea was to make it like the book but vaguely or sporadically topical. I always intended to use what happens in my cricket to draw parallels and distinctions with what’s happening in pro cricket, or just to highlight general cricketing truths that are true across the board. The only caveat the editors gave me was don’t do match reports. People in Sheffield and Somerset don’t care about the minutiae of Hampshire Regional Division Two West, unless it makes a wider point about the game in general. They were right, of course. This is the closest I’ve got to a match report. I think I got away with it. I won’t get this close again. But it was a hell of a game. The last paragraph ties it all up and allows the indulgence. Just. Close one.

Column 14 - Injuries and holidays

Printed in The Cricket Paper, issue 63 310713

Column 13 - The 'village' Test match

Printed in The Cricket Paper, issue 62 240713

This is my first swear in The Cricket Paper. I couldn't avoid the phrase "Shit gets wickets." I filed it as s***, suggested $h!t as an alternative possibility, but also said that if the house style allowed them to print the word in full, then so much the better. They went with the asterisks, and fair enough. The meaning of the phrase is not diminished.

Also, in paragraph 2, I referred to Ian Ronald, without his surname. I often refer to him like that, in a sort of ubergeeky yes-I-know-Ian-Bell's-middle-name sort of way that I probably shouldn't be proud of, but can't help finding quite funny. Clearly, probably quite sensibly, they added the 'Bell', presumably thinking I'd just forgotten to type it. Well, you would, wouldn't you?

Column 12 - Playing the Aussies

Printed in The Cricket Paper, issue 61 170713

Column11 - Confidence

Printed in The Cricket Paper issue 60, 100713

Column10 - The Roman Column

Printed in The Cricket Paper issue 59, 030713