< 1 minute read My memory of last night is a tad hazy. My knuckles are wrapped in bandaging and I think I must have thumped a table in delight when the captain announced that I was to open the batting today. For his part, the captain is missing this match after some sort
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England v Pakistan at the Oval – match report
2 minute read String writes: I went to the fourth day of the Pakistan test at the Oval with Price, Dandy Dan and our friend Will. Anticipating sun, and wanting to protect my thinly covered scalp, I decided to wear my Ashes hat from the 1993 series. My Dad bought it for me
Continue readingLaurence Elderbrook: all-rounder
2 minute read Since being in Australia, I have once again been working on my bowling. A prodigiously gifted spinner in my youth, I shamefully neglected my art being as batting was my stronger suit. However, the hard pitches here lend themselves to my wizardry and it pleases me to see batsmen perplexed
Continue readingLaurence Elderbrook acclimatises
< 1 minute read Having arrived in Perth, I quickly find myself a cricket club. The grade system is meritocratic and I will have to work my way up from the bottom, but that should be no trouble for Laurence Elderbrook. At my first net practice, few if any of the players appear to
Continue readingLaurence Elderbrook departs
2 minute read Laurence Elderbrook is beginning his Odyssey and Laurence Elderbrook will return as king of Ithaca. After an unexpected issue with my flights, I instead opt to travel to Australia by ship, the way all the greats did. The long hours during the trip give me plenty of time to practise,
Continue readingOver 40s match report – Davenham v Grappenhall
2 minute read Our mum writes: Had an early tea in preparation for the long journey to the ground (five minutes’ walk round the corner). Noticed in passing an excellent crop of sloes in the hedgerow – will know where to come if our own fall short for the gin in the autumn.
Continue readingLaurence Elderbrook takes stock
< 1 minute read Despite the captain’s promise following my moment of triumph, I was not called upon to bat at three the following season. In fact, I was not called upon to bat at all. Having spent the entire season resplendent in my cream flannels on the wrong side of the boundary, I
Continue readingKent v Essex match report
2 minute read Andy writes: When I was told we were going on a stag do I was excited. Well, excited but concerned too, because I was also told it was in Canterbury. I met up with the lads and boarded the train. We had not seen each other for a few years
Continue readingRobert Key and his health and safety wisdom
< 1 minute read Sarah Comma Canterbury sent us these, ‘hot off the camera card’. Ian Botham could learn a hell of a lot from this: Where Botham removed his helmet and opted for a low-visibility tabard, Rob Key has got everything right. Rob Key is better than Ian Botham in every conceivable way.
Continue readingEvil Monty Panesar improves his bowling figures
< 1 minute read No, Monty! Say it hasn’t come to this. In a desperate bid to advance his case for England inclusion, Monty Panesar has been reduced to tampering with scoreboards. 2-20 sounds so much better than 2-120.
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