I Don’t Like Cricket, I Hate It

1. Superb to make your royal acquaintance, Prince Prefab. My experience of trying to learn to play cricket was much like your own, and had I been taken to the cricket when young I’d have probably had a similar watching one to you as well. I think we’ll get on.

   KC, does he only know of Rob Key because you went on about him incessantly?

   1. Yes.

      1. Did you at some stage mention Rodney Redmond? Or was that one suggested by Mr Google?

      2. You can surely draw your conclusion from our bullshit-calling.

      3. Everyone’s heard of Rodney Redmond. Everyone.

2. Prince Prefab? Pfft, more like Prince Prefap.

   *Exits to thunderous applause*

   1. Prefab? Does he do cricket pavilions?

3. Faf du Plessis takes another one to The Beast. It’s nice that some things never change.

   1. From Cricbuzz’ess’s’ss preview of the now-live #SANZ series, it would appear others are buying into the hype:

      “Ross Taylor, Kane Williamson and Tom Latham topped the run charts, scoring centuries respectively, while Neil Wagner picked up as many as 11 wickets, while the other bowlers chipped in as well, which holds them in great stead. “

      1. …who’s ‘Neil Wagner’? Do they mean ‘TGNW’?

      2. Presumably, Balladeer. Today TGNW was only the fourth-most-used bowler despite being the most successful. Kane Williamson seems not to understand that TGNW is not an ‘impact’ bowler to be used sparingly, but should be asked to run in all day, up the slope and/or into the wind if necessary. He even got one of his old schoolfriends out in the poxy 15 overs he was allowed to bowl!

4. I am so confused by all of this.

5. In the sort of fancy offices that web developers work in, is it possible to get a chair, or even a table, that looks, feels, sounds, smells, tastes and indeed is identical to a gravel pile?

6. I know you don’t like requests posted on the site, KC, but surely you should ask Prince Prefab to suggest the new structure for county cricket, taking into account the pressure on the domestic season’s calendar and the commercial imperative to play a razzle-dazzle domestic T20 tournament mid season to keep the TV paymasters happy, while not interrupting or wrecking the international cricket schedule.

   I know that Prince Prefab doesn’t like cricket, indeed he hates it, but I think he might nevertheless be better qualified to solve the conundrum than the extant ECB/counties consultation process.

   1. We might have to build up to that one.

      This week’s is a bit of an intro really. We’ll get to more topical subjects in future instalments.

      1. Kinda figured.

7. As a newcomer to KC I’m getting accomstomed to the tangential streams. Sometimes I think you’re all speaking in tongues, Sanskricket perhaps. But every day’s a school day and think it’s lack of in-depth knowledge on my part. Which brings me back to KCs cricket hater. It’s often the abstreuse, esoteric nature of cricket that enthralls me, but puts off some of my friends. I’ve swerved a mate’s opinion about cricket being boring by persuading him to watch Fire in Babylon. That’s history but the Four-Test series against Pakistan has been riveting. I think folk just don’t, or refuse to ‘get it’. It takes time and it gets under the skin.

   1. Imagine if Absinthe and Chartreuse had a baby in an alembic still.

      1. Yes, spotted the s/p on abstruse. I’ll take that mix to Lords next time to rev myself up after lunch.

      2. Sounds like you might be part of this bunch, encountered by Charley The Gent and me last year at Lord’s, Edwardian Cricket:

         http://www.kingcricket.co.uk/cocktails-for-two-england-v-new-zealand-match-report/2015/09/21/

   2. Some of us can’t spake English, let alone Sanskricket.

      On a tangential note, I’ve decided to learn French instead, even though their variety of cricket is a bit strange, on account of coming across a great opportunity for property investment.

      My flatmate Richard H was sorting through the recycling bin when he discovered we’d amassed enough tokens from the back of cereal boxes, that if he traipsed to the nearest post box he could exchange them for a dilapidated holiday cottage in Dordogne – but for some reason he was too nervous to go through with it.

      What about that! I told the bottle-less Dick Head that were absolute diabolical and to send off for the dirty gîte, he should be walking.

      1. There is of course a punchline to this story. I will score all-comers’ attempts at it out of 10, but just as a hint there are bonus marks available for excessive use of your caps lock.

      2. Don’t berate your mate – he was just a bit indecisive…

         …presumably wondering, “chalet or Charente?”

      3. I’ll give you 6 out of 10 for that Ged, a good effort and pleasingly assonant. I would have awarded full marks to:

         Gazzumps one, gazzumps another… he wants it down Sireuil. OH WHAT A MAGNIFICENT BUY! SHOVE IT UP YOUR ARSE! IT’S THE BEST PROPERTY IN THE WORLD, NEVER MIND ANYWHERE ELSE! MAGNIFICENT PERFORMANCE! WE ALL CAN’T SPAKE!

8. The first ball I ever delivered in any sort of cricket match went about six feet over the batsman’s head and ten feet behind him. Unlike Prince Prefab, I lacked the excuse of being a child. It was embarrassing. Two balls later, though, I picked up a wicket when the batsman ducked under a lobbed full toss, only for it to smash into the stumps. It was tremendous.

   Eventually I learned to bowl that variety of rubbish slow-medium where it’s all half-trackers and then suddenly one will nip back and beat the batsman’s wild slog and he’ll be out stumped. I took a fair few wickets with that method the next indoor cricket season. Went for about 24 runs an over, but took wickets. That’s what matters, right?

   1. Curse you, Dan M – you have filched all of my bowling tricks.

      Indeed, I blogged about just such a piece of bowling nonsense the other day, reminiscing about my regular Edgbaston trip vintage 2006 – the filth bowling is described towards the end of the following piece:

      http://ianlouisharris.com/2006/05/26/the-worst-place-we-have-ever-stayed-in-for-cricket-england-v-sri-lanka-at-edgbaston-25-26-may-2006/

      1. Couldn’t be more wrong Ged re the corporate chaps you met at Lords. I cut grass for a living. I’m keen on trying one of your throdkins. Think it would go well with my standard half bottle of claret for the afternoon session

      2. I’m glad I’m not the only King Cricket commenter who appreciates the mighty weapon that is the moon ball.

9. Poor old James Taylor. Against my better judgement, I’m listening to the *** Bl*st, and the size jokes keep coming.

   He’s good at this though. And to be fair he encourages them.

   1. He never really lets on that he’s already heard every possible joke nine billion times before. There’s something uncommonly resilient about his good humour.

      1. As you’d suppose there would have to be, considering.

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