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Retiring from cricket at the age of 40 is a bit like dying at a grand old age. People naturally focus on what’s fresh in the memory.
People remember your interests as being duck-feeding and ailment comparison with your peers, even though you were once a fighter pilot and later invented cling film.
This is the case with Dominic Cork, who’s developed a bit of an ageing rocker vibe about him, with his refusal to bow to age. The man’s had an entire cricket career since he finished playing for England.
But it’s his performances for England that we’ll remember, even though he played a lot less than you might think. He took 7-43 on his debut and took a hat trick a couple of matches later. Noteworthy achievements.
Significantly for us, he also played a major role against the West Indies in 2000. Cork’s blinding innings in the second Test really cemented our love for cricket. That’s how we’ll remember him.
Law 36 – Methods of Appeal
36.12 Appeal by Gusset Stretching
As per Law 36.9 (Appeal by Genital Protrusion). However, the umpires shall take the symmetry of the stretched gusset area into account when deciding whether to give the batsman out. Use of video replays by the Third Umpire in establishing the extent of this symmetry can be requested by the On-Field Umpires. In this case, a protractor shall NOT be used.
Jack Russell!
That’s probably not out. First slip doesn’t seem all that excited.
First slip is probably going through some personal problems. His wife probably left him for a tennis player.
Just a wild guess.
Or perhaps he is a little confused whether that thing on his private parts is a pimple or a wart.
That Lord’s test in 2000 was mint. It has some favourite memories of mine, although I didn’t see any of it at Lord’s itself.
Memory one was on the Friday afternoon. I got home late afternoon from my meetings, switched on the TV to see what was happening, became transfixed, then had to turn the volume down to take a phone call from a client. I watched Caddick, Cork et. al. plough through the Windies while trying to concentrate on the business call and trying not to leap around in excitement.
Memory two was on the Saturday afternoon/evening. Play went on late to finish that match; Daisy and I were taking the Duchess of Castlebar (Daisy’s mum, also a cricket-lover) to the Wigmore Hall that evening. To cut a long story short, we ended up sitting outside the Wigmore Hall in Daisy’s car listening to TMS oohing, aaring and dancing around in our seats for the climax of that match.
What that must have looked like to the passing tourists!
Yet we somehow knew that Corkie would see us through.
Missed a comma after TMS. *We* were oohing, aaring and dancing around. I don’t think the TMS commentators were doing that – but perhaps they were.
Great links – Dominic Cork is indeed a hero of English cricket, especially for those of us who survived the early 90s more-or-less intact.
There was an excitement about those millenial days that for all the brilliance of England 2011 is missing now. It’s an excitement that surpasseth all understanding, certainly the understanding of those people who insist that scoring ten runs every over is “exciting”. In those circumstances, 33 in 49 was astonishing to the point of incomprehensibility. What kind of person can score like that at a time like that? Dominic Cork, that’s who.
Missed a comma after *that*, and after *England*! 2011 hasn’t gone missing, has it?
God this is a tough place to write stuff.
A comma after “England” as you suggest would force the separation of the intended entity “England 2011” and therefore give the sentence no other meaning than the one you mock. I suspect you want the comma after “2011”.
Still, at least I didnt miss any apostrophes. They have you for that here, the bastards.
Let me retry that … What it seemed to me you meant was …
“There was an excitement about those millenial days that, for all the brilliance of England, 2011 is missing now. ”
I.e Despite the brilliance of England, 2011 is missing the excitement of the millennial days. A sentiment that I would agree with.
Good thing browsers take care of apostrophes 🙂
Most people mellow with age.
Cork never did.
He was still just as irritating at 40 as he ever was in his youth.
I wonder, how long before the homepage title changes again, and what too?
I suspect that the next thing KC “honestly gives a shit about” is the Champions’ League, but he refuses to admit it.
For me, he is one of the great villains of English cricket, along with one CC Lewis. Why? You almost nail it when you say that he cemented your love of cricket with one of his standout performances. But for those of us who had been in the game a bit longer than that, he did somthing unforgiveable with those performances. Utterly unforgiveable. He gave us hope. And then the mediocrity would set in again, and our hopes were dashed. I won’t miss him at all.
PS
After giving it some thought I reckon Cork should reconsider his decision to retire.
After all, given his propensity to start fights in empty rooms, it just seems a shame he never played for Yorkshire CCC.