Here Comes The Rain Again

Had been hoping to get some good cricket watching in today and yesterday, with Thursday supposed to have been the start of the third Test match between England and West Indies.

It's 2-0 at the moment to England and looks like it'll still be that scoreline on Monday when the game is supposed to end ... Bit damp out there at the moment. Not damp here (it's been dry since about lunchtime) but persistent rain 60 miles up the road in Birmingham has seen the first two days of a Test match washed out for the first time in almost 50 years.

Yep - despite our infamous weather, this is officially the worst spell of rain since 1964. In cricketing terms at least. Which are the most important, depending on your point of view.

Looking outside at the moment - it reinforces what I've been thinking for years : Global warming and climate change isn't necessarily about Heat, it seems more about Energy.

Heat - it doesn't actually seem that much warmer these days. It's been getting hot, sure ... but are the maximum temperatures going up ?
Energy - the storm systems seem more frequent and far more energetic. Heavier rain, higher wind and more of it.

But it's more complicated than just that - our climate is a vast interlocking network of air currents circulating round the globe. Disrupting part of that means the butterfly wing flaps in one place have massive effects on somewhere a long way away.

It explodes the mind thinking about it doesn't it ?

What has been on instead of live cricket is recorded cricket. It's curious watching the old games again. Today they're not going back as far as showing players I wanted to be when I was starting out as a cricketer but you can see again that climate isn't the only thing that's changed over the years.

Players now are somewhat different to those many years ago. Endless coaching is making them approach the supposed "ideal". That coaching is refining or destroying technique. The 2003 coverage showed the legendary Curtley Ambrose, Destroyer Of Willow. He's a 6 foot 8 giant but when you see him running in to bowl, it's sheer perfection. It's an easy sprint, legs eating up the ground getting him into the perfect place to deliver something filled with impending pain or shattering of stumps.

West Indies haven't had anything like him in years. He was the last of a dying breed, before entitlement spoilt the attitude of the apprentices they had coming through. The new bowlers expected to follow in the footsteps of legends like Ambrose, Walsh, Marshall, Holding and others from before my time : Hall & Garner. These guys were made even more dangerous by being part of a unit, there was nowhere to hide. Get off strike to Ambrose and you have Walsh about to put one near your nose.

The new ones, like Jerome Taylor, don't have the application or the attitude to show their quality on the pitch via honing their talent through hard work and practice.

To be honest - my own performances on the pitch could have done with more hard work and practice :
Hard work - I used to be first in nets and last to leave. Now I have to ration my training in order to not break stuff.
Practice - more fielding practice would mean avoiding "wake up time" where I miss chances to get run outs due to fumbling the ball. Need to work out the mistakes before taking to the field.

With me though, that's lack of training opportunity. The international players have no excuse, although their coaches haven't done players like the very dangerous Steve Harmison any favours - he was no1 bowler in the world at one point, until the coaches confused him. Good to see that James Anderson has gone back to his roots, after the coaches attempted to ruin him too.

I'm rambling about cricket aren't I when I should be giving up on the garage (if they want me to use them for servicing, they gotta ring me back!) and having a shower ...

It's been curious to see some old idols in the highlights :

Devon Malcolm - not seen him but he was GOD to me as a 15 year old seam bowler. I wanted to bowl as fast as this bespectacled demon. He was awesome, as comic relief as well as bowling.
Dominic Cork - wasn't as fast as most international bowlers but definitely made the most of what he had. Which was having the ball on a string, with control of movement as well as accuracy. He struggled desperately with bad knees but was still playing county cricket into his 40s.

Can't think of any batting heroes to be honest. But then again, we didn't have many to choose from. I think I'd pick out :

Robin Smith - noone hit the ball harder. A shame his career was blighted with Death By Spinner.
Michael Vaughan - another with bad knees that forced his career to a premature end. He combined Fun on the field with a blazing intensity of play. Noone wanted to win more but he never forgot to have fun along the way. And that fun continues into his Test Match Special commentary. Hell of a player too, the sheer class shows through today. The only person we have close to his class right now is KP.

Right - I think I need to give up on the garage for today. Shower then -> Prometheus tonight.