‘Cricket will exist as long as Test Cricket does; when Test Cricket falls, so will cricket; when cricket falls, so will the world.’*
So might the Venerable Bede have said had he ever been asked his opinion on the importance of the longer formats of the game we call cricket. Sadly for him though, having died in 735AD, he never knew the joy of watching the culmination of a game played over the course of an afternoon, a day, or the best part of the week. But he’s not the only one who has missed out on some great cricket contests as a result of getting his timings all wrong. I have too. Because just as timing is the secret of great comedy so it is the secret of great cricket too. And not just for the execution of a glorious cover drive. Timing is all important for those watching cricket as well. And irrespective of how amusing one’s wife may find it, it really isn’t funny when you miss great games.
Take 2019 for example, a year that, like 2023, saw both an Ashes Test series and a Cricket World Cup. But equally exciting for one who supports Somerset, 2019 was also the year in which Tom Abell’s team made it to Lord’s for the final of the Royal London One Day Cup.
Somerset hadn’t made it to the climax of what once was the cricketing equivalent to the F.A. Cup since 2002. That occasion had been my second visit to Lord’s having made the trip the previous year to see Somerset triumph over Leicestershire. The 2001 final had been a memorable day, one that had started with the unfortunate Scott Boswell bowling an over of 8 wides to, if memory serves me right, a 25 year old Marcus Trescothick. Five of those wides came on successive deliveries and I remember cheering the first and second of those wayward balls in the good humoured way one does when one’s team is afforded a free run and an extra delivery. But I remember too how, as the nightmare over continued, one couldn’t help but feel for the man who had been Leicestershire’s hero in their semi-final win over Lancashire. Then he’d taken 4-44 with all of his wickets being those of England internationals. But after this performance in the final, a seemingly broken Boswell barely played professional cricket again. The game, it seems, can be a cruel one.
The match was eventually won when, to complete a wretched day for him, Boswell was clean bowled by Stefan Jones with Leicestershire still 41 runs short of Somerset’s total of 271-5, an innings which had included 60 not out from Man of the Match, Keith Parsons. Reviewing the scorecard I notice that Parsons was scoring at a rate of 115.38 runs per hundred balls, a somewhat modest one in todays terms for what was had been a match winning innings. Only Leicestershire’s Shahid Afridi scored faster and at a rate worthy of note today. He, though, only managed to hang around for 10 balls and had scored just 20 before he skied one so high off the bowling of Richard Johnson that wicket keeper Rob Turner must have had time to boil an egg before it came back down to earth. As a result he was well positioned to take the catch safely.
The 2002 final was not so memorable. Unlike 2001, there was not the added enjoyment of listening to the football commentary on the radio in the minibus on the way home and hearing Michael Owen score a hat trick as England beat Germany 5-1 in a World Cup qualifier. More importantly though, Somerset that year were well beaten by Yorkshire which is, perhaps, why my memory of the game, is so sketchy. What I do remember is the good natured atmosphere in the crowd that day. Ainsley Harriott, of ‘Ready, Steady, Cook’ fame, was there, seated a few rows back from me and was warmly received by those around him when his presence was noticed. And warm too was the applause offered by the Yorkshire fans in response to the Somerset faithful when they sang new words to the tune of Cwm Rhondda that reflected the northern club’s then team sponsor: ‘We drink cider, we drink cider, we drink cider, you drink tea!’
But I digress, this is not a blog about the relative merits of Yorkshire Tea and Thatchers Gold, rather it is a blog about how I missed three epic games in one year due to bad timing. Because whilst I would have loved to have been at Lord’s on May 25th 2019 to see James Hildreth score the winning runs as Somerset beat Hampshire, my sister-in-law had chosen that day to mark her 50th birthday and invited me and my good lady wife to the party she was organising which, she informed us, would run ALL DAY!
The fact that it was to be an occasion for fancy dress did nothing to lessen my dismay though I did take the opportunity to clothe myself in cricket whites thus providing me with an excuse for discussing the events that were simultaneously unfolding in St. John’s Wood with all who were foolish enough to ask me what I had come as. That anyone had to ask was, of course, an indication of their lack of interest and so I resorted to sending a message to my colleagues via our work WhatsApp group every time a Hampshire wicket fell or Somerset made another 25 runs when their time came to bat. My efforts to generate an excited response were not, however, successful and so, reflecting on how I was surrounded by Philistines, I was left to celebrate Somerset’s eventual six wicket victory alone, with only my mobile phone for company.
Royal London One Day Cup in 2019
But as I’ve already intimated, that wasn’t the only time that year I was unable to experience great cricketing moments in the way I would have liked. Once again my timing was at fault when, some months in advance of the date in question, I’d agreed to speak at a church on the evening of Sunday 14th July, not realising at the time that this would be the day of the World Cup Final. Sky had kindly agreed to make their coverage of the event free to air – coverage I’d enjoyed up to the time I had had to leave to make my way to the Bridgwater chapel where I would be leading the service. I lingered in my car for as long as I felt it was polite to do so, listening intently to another over or two of the radio commentary before finally accepting it was time for me to join the congregation who were now gathered inside and waiting for the service to begin. I left with the outcome of the match far from certain and returned an hour or so later eager to find out what had occurred. It was then I discovered how England had not only won the World Cup but done so in the most breathtaking circumstances imaginable, beating New Zealand in a super over which had itself resulted after a dramatic run out attempt by New Zealand had gifted England an additional four runs in overflows, runs which had been key in ensuring the scores of the two teams were tied after 50 overs.
England win the cricket World Cup
But I’d missed it – one of the all time classic cricket moments. But having resigned myself to what had occurred as a result of bad timing on my part, I comforted myself that there would undoubtedly be other great games to witness in the future. And I wasn’t wrong, within six weeks there would indeed be another classic cricket encounter, specifically the climax of the 3rd Ashes Test at Headingly.
And I was to miss that too!
Quite why I had booked our ferry to Santander for Sunday 25th August is now beyond me but so it was that as English wickets fell steadily during the early afternoon I was in a queue of traffic waiting to board the vessel that was waiting to depart from Plymouth. This did at least allow me to follow events via Test Match Special but as Jack Leach came to join Ben Stokes and the pair’s remarkable last wicket stand inched ever closer to victory it was time for us to embark. Deep within the bowels of the ship, radio reception was lost and, having left our car and made our way to the top deck, my son and I found we still had only poor internet reception. And so together we waited anxiously as Cricinfo took ages to update each nerve wracking ball. The astonishing win was, of course, eventually secured but how I would have loved to have been able to witness it, if not in person, at least on a decent sized screen rather than via a slowly updating app.
So you see timing is everything in cricket, not just for players but for spectators too. And it’s something I seem to have got badly wrong in the past. You would thought though that I’d have learned my lesson, but I’m not sure that I have. And so with that in mind you may be interested to know that I’ll be on a flight to Austria on the 4th day of this years 4th Test at Old Trafford – so please do plan for an exciting conclusion to that game. Furthermore, since I’ll not be back till after the conclusion of the 5th Test, I can confidently predict that England will reclaim the Ashes this summer, almost certainly as the result of an exceptional performance by somebody at The Oval on the final day of the series!
Having never been troubled by an overwhelming desire to wrestle to the ground one of the security guards that patrol the boundary at T20 games, the lack of discernible muscle mass in my upper torso has rarely been a problem to me when watching cricket. But for those who play the game, whilst great timing is always essential, raw power can also be very helpful. And when the two combine the result can be destructive.
Which brings me to Will Smeed who many are saying has learnt much since last year when, super confident in the power contained within his admittedly bulging biceps, he seemed to want to hit every ball out of the ground. Though he was frequently successful in his endeavours, this year he seems to have added sensible shot selection and exquisite timing to his already prodigious strength with the result that this week the Venerable Smeed has been mainly hitting boundaries. Over three innings he has scored a total of 180 runs over from just 94 balls, his tally including 16 fours and 13 sixes, a feat that has seen him maintaining a strike rate of 191.5.
That said, there hasn’t been much from him in the way of new ecumenical writings. Maybe next week – if he makes good use of his time!
*****
*Bede’s original quote reads as follows: ‘As long as the Coliseum stands, Rome shall stand; when the Coliseum falls, Rome will fall; when Rome falls, the whole world will fall.’. So as you can see, pretty much the same as paraphrased above!
Other cricket blogs:
To read ‘Lewis Calpaldi – Retired Hurt?’, click here
To read ‘Breaking News’, click here
To read ‘Bazball, Bazchess, Bazlife’, click here
To read ‘Online criticism: it’s just not cricket’, click here
To read ‘Cigarettes, Singles, and Sipping Tea with Ian Botham: Signs of a Well Spent Youth!’, click here
To read ‘Breaking News’, click here
To read ‘A Tale of Two Tons’, click here
To read ‘A Somerset Cricket Players Emporium’, click here
To read ‘A Cricket Taunt’, click here
To read ‘Scooby Doo and the Mystery of the Deseted Cricket Ground’, click here
To read ‘Brian and Stumpy visit The Repair Shop’, click here
To read ‘A Cricketing Christmas Carol’, click here
To read ‘At Season’s End’, click here
To read ‘A Historic Day’, click here
To read ‘On passing a village cricket club at dusk one late November afternoon’ click here
To read ‘Cricket – through thick and thin’, click here
To read ‘A Song for Brian’, click here
To read ‘I’ve got a little CRICKET list’, click here
To read ‘My love is not a red, red rose , click here
To read ‘Stumpy – a legend reborn’, click here
To read ‘A Cricket Tea Kind of a Day’, click here
To read ‘A Day at the Cricket’, click here
To read ‘The Great Cricket Sell Off’, click here
To read ‘How the Grinch stole from county cricket…or at least tried to’. click here
To read ‘How Covid-19 stole the the cricket season’, click here
To read ‘Life in the slow lane’, click here
To read ‘Frodo and the Format of Power’, click here
To read ‘If Only’, click here
To read ‘Eve of the RLODC limericks’ click here
To read ‘It’s coming home…’, click here
To read ‘A Song for Ben Green’, click here
To read ‘Enough Said…’, the last section of which is cricket related, click here
A Jack Leach Trilogy:
To read ‘For when we can’t see why’, click here
To read ‘WWJD – What would Jack Do?’, click here
To read ‘On Playing a Blinder’, click here
To read ‘Coping with Disappointment’, click here
And now a couple of cricket blogs with a theological flavour
To read ‘Somerset CCC – Good for the soul’, click here
To read ‘Longing for the pavilion whilst enjoying a good innings’, click here
Some musings 