tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7748920856459488211.post7537830632703669778..comments2023-11-05T08:46:06.975+00:00Comments on IDLE: The Pietersen MassiveIdlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16633477263913264410noreply@blogger.comBlogger20125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7748920856459488211.post-90768883726841130092009-07-15T10:16:05.489+01:002009-07-15T10:16:05.489+01:00Hello, lil. The BBC are mostly a bunch of appallin...Hello, lil. The BBC are mostly a bunch of appalling shirt-lifters and greedy self-regarding shits, but somehow - somehow - they have managed to allow Test Match Special to meander its quaint way into the 21st century in very good nick. Aggers was an inspired choice as BBC Cricket Correspondent, and made a fabulous partnership with Johnners. Blowers and CMJ are the golden thread that connects the programme with Arlott, the Best Ever Cricket Commentator. Simon Mann and Arlo White are acceptable, but all my friends say that I should have got the job before them.idlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09938525768274527540noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7748920856459488211.post-71117700982197935052009-07-15T09:14:05.075+01:002009-07-15T09:14:05.075+01:00I know nothing about Cricket. But I put test matc...I know nothing about Cricket. But I put test match special on the radio to listen to because <br />a) it is the quintessential sound of summer, <br />b) it makes me laugh <br />c) it soothes me<br /><br />We had a dreadful moment in this house when Elby's computer gave up and we thought there would be ....NO CRICKET! Arrrrgh. He stayed calm but his little face was all contorted with stress.lilithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05011676751221508167noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7748920856459488211.post-77543275414709903642009-07-15T08:26:46.749+01:002009-07-15T08:26:46.749+01:00Scrobs, I concede that Gerald was a proper sort of...Scrobs, I concede that Gerald was a proper sort of chap.idlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09938525768274527540noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7748920856459488211.post-15034226803096556542009-07-15T04:35:48.887+01:002009-07-15T04:35:48.887+01:00I love this...it's so...English, thanks!I love this...it's so...English, thanks!Vinogirlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10145696108646897751noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7748920856459488211.post-74965363390897903752009-07-14T21:00:25.556+01:002009-07-14T21:00:25.556+01:00Another nail struck smartly on the head...Elby is ...Another nail struck smartly on the head...Elby is SO right...that 'job done' mentality has done for us on mny occasions and in many sports.apricotfoxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05487439964729651505noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7748920856459488211.post-71962604489019416772009-07-14T17:33:52.282+01:002009-07-14T17:33:52.282+01:00Actually, the monkey was for a full day...but bad ...Actually, the monkey was for a full day...but bad light stopped play!apricotfoxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05487439964729651505noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7748920856459488211.post-28398294227636611262009-07-14T16:41:02.459+01:002009-07-14T16:41:02.459+01:00Mr. Bill. The problem with our cricket team was th...Mr. Bill. The problem with our cricket team was that when they regained the Ashes in 2005, the reaction was - job done. Had it been the other way round, i.e. the Aussies regaining it after 18 years, it would have been - ok, now let's really get going, so they never beat us again.<br /><br />Same problem with the Rugby world cup win. Instead of seeing it as the start of building something special, it was seen as the end of whatever.Elby the Beserkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15060519682739666145noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7748920856459488211.post-65386113040143832632009-07-14T16:05:31.664+01:002009-07-14T16:05:31.664+01:00Iders - here he is...Iders - <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerald_Brodribb" rel="nofollow">here</a> he is...Sen. C.R.O'Blenehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07482646859547203051noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7748920856459488211.post-45015472930800170642009-07-14T13:33:12.239+01:002009-07-14T13:33:12.239+01:00I will indeed be there, Idle, on Thursday and Satu...I will indeed be there, Idle, on Thursday and Saturday. An ale cannot be ruled out.<br /><br />I see Geoff Boycott has joined the fray and said KP is behaving like a spoilt child. Now I yield to no-one in my admiration of Boycs, but cricketers behaving like spoilt kids is probably something he should keep quiet about. This was the man who refused to play for England for two years because he wasn't made captain.Alcestehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11133274963853687667noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7748920856459488211.post-34070503326889859472009-07-14T11:42:06.541+01:002009-07-14T11:42:06.541+01:00The difference between now and then is that he was...The difference between now and then is that he was still climbing the mountain back in 2005. Like many flawed men he is now resting on his laurels. Yes, he probably will provide us with a swashbucking innings in this series that delights us. Personally I would rather see him knuckle down and give us three or four big innings without the wideboy mutterings when he fails.Barnsley Billhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00404836788413532830noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7748920856459488211.post-30157064092226171112009-07-14T09:20:38.644+01:002009-07-14T09:20:38.644+01:00Thank you, elby. I think cricket is the only ball ...Thank you, elby. I think cricket is the only ball game which inspires like this.<br /><br />My childhood cricketing heroes were BA Richards and CG Greenidge of Hampshire. No finer an opening pair in the history of the County Championship.idlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09938525768274527540noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7748920856459488211.post-29033620591321750062009-07-14T07:32:27.259+01:002009-07-14T07:32:27.259+01:00Telegraph agrees
Pietersen needs top stop being a...Telegraph agrees<br /><br /><a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/cricket/international/theashes/5811998/The-Ashes-Kevin-Pietersen-is-Englands-biggest-problem.html" rel="nofollow">Pietersen needs top stop being an arse</a><br /><br />ApricotFox - 2005 very fine, but not quite as fine as 1981 and Botham & Willis at Headingley. Bob Willis's bowling in the last innings was that of a man possessed; see highlights, and you can see him ignoring and brushing aside his teammates, so focussed was he on his mission. <br /><br />All wonderful stuff, regardless. A test for Strauss, to make KP into a team man first and foremost.<br /><br />And here's to the game we love so much, and at its best, the game which most personifies what is truly sporting; this is the Lancastrian in me peeping out; Brian Statham my local hero as a child. <br /><br /><b><br /> It is little I repair to the matches of the Southron folk,<br /> Though my own red roses there may blow;<br /> It is little I repair to the matches of the Southron folk,<br /> Though the red roses crest the caps, I know.<br /><br /> For the field is full of shades as I near a shadowy coast,<br /> And a ghostly batsman plays to the bowling of a ghost,<br /> And I look through my tears on a soundless-clapping host<br /><br /> As the run stealers flicker to and fro,<br /> To and fro:<br /> O my Hornby and my Barlow long ago !<br /><br /> It's Glo'ster coming North, the irresistible,<br /> The Shire of the Graces, long ago!<br /> It's Gloucestershire up North, the irrestistable,<br /> And new-risen Lancashire the foe!<br /><br /> A Shire so young that has scarce impressed its traces,<br /> Ah, how shall it stand before all-resistless Graces ?<br /> O, little red rose, their bats are as maces<br /><br /> To beat thee down, this summer long ago !<br /> This day of seventy-eight they are come up north against thee<br /> This day of seventy-eight long ago!<br /> The champion of the centuries, he cometh up against thee,<br /> With his brethren, every one a famous foe!<br /><br /> The long-whiskered Doctor, that laugheth the rules to scorn,<br /> While the bowler, pitched against him, bans the day he was born;<br /> And G.F. with his science makes the fairest length forlorn;<br /> They are come from the West to work thee woe!<br /><br /> It is little I repair to the matches of the Southron folk,<br /> Though my own red roses there may blow;<br /> It is little I repair to the matches of the Southron folk,<br /> Though the red roses crest the caps, I know.<br /><br /> For the field is full of shades as I near a shadowy coast,<br /> And a ghostly batsman plays to the bowling of a ghost,<br /> And I look through my tears on a soundless-clapping host<br /><br /> As the run stealers flicker to and fro,<br /> To and fro:<br /> O my Hornby and my Barlow long ago !<br /></b>Elby the Beserkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15060519682739666145noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7748920856459488211.post-52055698239311110152009-07-13T22:29:07.023+01:002009-07-13T22:29:07.023+01:00It says a lot about a girl that she is prepared to...It says a lot about a girl that she is prepared to part with a monkey to watch the evening session of a test match.<br /><br />Go, Foxy!<br /><br />I hate to tell you that I was offered the pair of tickets for myself and alceste free of charge, from a kindly german equities salesman.idlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09938525768274527540noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7748920856459488211.post-74454505221262122992009-07-13T22:23:36.673+01:002009-07-13T22:23:36.673+01:00...oh, and I, of course, had tickets for the Frida......oh, and I, of course, had tickets for the Friday at the Oval in 2005 and only got about two hours of play...five hundred smackers down to the tube...last minute impulse e-bay buy...........Got the T-shirt, though!apricotfoxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05487439964729651505noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7748920856459488211.post-77421717277889181892009-07-13T22:20:47.221+01:002009-07-13T22:20:47.221+01:00Yes, he was hero material in 2005....but he/we/the...Yes, he was hero material in 2005....but he/we/they can't live on that Ashes tour forever...they have to deliver NOW...Of course, I hope we DO have to take him to our hearts again but it isn't a given..espec after this dire start!apricotfoxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05487439964729651505noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7748920856459488211.post-83332590166732334702009-07-13T22:20:22.098+01:002009-07-13T22:20:22.098+01:00It is true that alceste and I were neighbours for ...It is true that alceste and I were neighbours for the final day of the Oval test in 2005. We were sitting three rows directly in front of Jimmy, the accepted leader of the Barmy Army (did anyone see him at Cardiff? I didn't).<br /><br />And it is true that KP played an heroic innings that day.<br /><br />Let's see if he can his head down at Lord's. Alceste, I will be there with farqs of this parish on Thursday. I hope you will be able to join us.<br /><br />Scrobs, what sort of schoolmaster and cricket coach allows himself to be addressed as "Gerald"?idlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09938525768274527540noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7748920856459488211.post-77853056227122874022009-07-13T20:48:25.433+01:002009-07-13T20:48:25.433+01:00I don't know what it is, Idle. I can't dis...I don't know what it is, Idle. I can't dissent from any sentence you or Hendo write, but I still love him. He may be a mercenary egotist, but I suppose he's OUR mercenary egotist. I sat beside you on Day 5 of the 2005 Oval test and saw him bring the Ashes home. It's probably the finest piece of sport I will ever see live and I can forgive KP a lot for that.<br /><br />So Ok: shocking sweep first innings; Bizarre leave second innings. But I say give the guy a break.Alcestehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11133274963853687667noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7748920856459488211.post-30058861446207608092009-07-13T20:26:09.891+01:002009-07-13T20:26:09.891+01:00He couldn't have had my old cricket master whe...He couldn't have had my old cricket master when he was younger, Gerald would have taken him to pieces from his position behind the bowler's stumps...<br /><br />Pity that, because if he wasn't so arrogant, he could make a lot of friends!<br /><br />But I bet there'll be a spell this series, when we all have to rush to his side in admiration - just wait!Sen. C.R.O'Blenehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07482646859547203051noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7748920856459488211.post-11455282153463200252009-07-13T18:47:15.988+01:002009-07-13T18:47:15.988+01:00Oh my Barrington and my Boycott long ago.
Not goo...Oh my Barrington and my Boycott long ago.<br /><br />Not good enough. Totally with you, Idle. Just not good enough.Elby The Beserknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7748920856459488211.post-56813472449621695792009-07-13T17:16:52.371+01:002009-07-13T17:16:52.371+01:00Spot on. He's a arrogant piece of work and ter...Spot on. He's a arrogant piece of work and terminally ego-centric.apricotfoxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05487439964729651505noreply@blogger.com