Posted by Lots of shreds of cricket news about today. Let’s weave them into a single thing – say, half an underpant.
Weekender
In the UK, weekends don’t come much bigger than Easter for the simple reason that it’s twice as long. It’s therefore a big one in county cricket too because this week’s matches precisely span a lot of people’s time off work.
If we’re to believe the table (and honestly, who has strong enough feelings and sufficient energy not to?) then the big match is Warwickshire v Nottinghamshire, who are level on points at the top, along with Sussex.
Nottinghamshire’s overseas players seem significant to us. Fergus O’Neill didn’t let his terrible hair prevent him from being the second-highest wicket-taker in the Sheffield Shield in the Aussie season just gone and seems to be carrying on much the same in county cricket – he’s the top wicket-taker so far with 11. Kyle Verreynne meanwhile has so far only dismissed twice in six innings across two season of county cricket, which gives him a lifetime Championship average of 189.5.
As we said a couple of days ago, Warwickshire have been leaning on six, seven and eight to do a lot of their run-scoring. We’ve no idea whether that’ll continue, but it seems significant somehow.
Don’t kid around
Quote of the week comes from gargantuan Australia all-rounder, Cameron Green, who’ll be turning out for Gloucestershire for the next few weeks (solely as a batter) thanks to a mysterious benefactor from the county’s membership.
“When you are on the road, it can be really hard to get kidney-friendly meals,” he told the BBC.
That’s a great quote out of context, but the context is obviously not-so-great. Green has a lifelong kidney condition that means he will always have to be super careful about what he eats.
Some of the early medical opinion seems thankfully wide of the mark though. As well as being told that he might not live past 12, his parents were apparently also warned that he could end up “very small.”
Green is of course 1.98m and built like a brick shithouse.
It’s got to be perfect
We were struck by a BBC headline earlier this week, Fairground to host cricket at LA 2028 Olympics. “Yeah, that’s about right,” we thought. “Six players a side, novelty attraction, play it at the bloody circus.”
But turns out the Fairground in Pomona (who knew Pomona wasn’t just a stop on the Eccles line?) is a big ol’ 487-acre site that does all sorts of stuff. Sure, it hosts the LA County Fair each year (mascot: “Thummer”, formerly “Porky the Hitchhiking Pig”) and when it’s on, there’s a ferris wheel and all that, but there’s also plenty of other stuff, including sports pitches, a railway and a dragstrip, as well as a massive grandstand that probably won’t be used for the cricket because they’re currently doing it up.
This does of course mean we’re in pop-up stadium territory again. What nearby location are they going to ship the pitches in from this time? Cape Town? Kolkata? The other Pomona?
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Oh and looks like Sam Cook’s going to be playing the Zimbabwe Test. Probably should have thrown that one in there too.
Pomona is not just a stop on the tram, it also gives its name to the Pomona Island Brew Co, who make some mighty fine beer.
Back in the 40s (1840s, that is), Pomona Island was allegedly known as ‘Strawberry Gardens’, which is a much better name for a cricket ground to be honest.
(By the way, Sam Cook’s inclusion might be a suprise to some but with Wood and Stone both out of contention- tough times for the construction industry – it’s inevitable that A Change Is Gonna Come)