A former New Zealand first-class cricket had an integral role in this week's Melbourne Cup horse race at Flemington. The trainer of Kiwi hope Nom du Jeu was none other than Murray Baker, a legspinner for Central Districts in the 1960s and 70s. It didn't place.
Keep an eye out for another Kiwi cricketer at Flemington on Thursday too – former opener Terry Jarvis is the owner of Rocha, who he bought for $A400,000 in 2007. Rocha lines up in the VRC Oaks, having won the Wakeful Stakes on Saturday.
The Beige Brigade etched another notch on the belt of its cricket periphery with an eye-catching inclusion in The Guardian Weekend edition this week. A feature article on the ills of world cricket? The game’s most magnificent moustaches? An insight into how to create a global cricket supporters' network? No - we were the answer to Q3 of Thomas Eaton's sports quiz on page 118.
Pacey financier and father to a quartet of sons, Geoff Allott is set to become the new general manager of cricket for NZC in March. The new role is the third most important role in the recently restructured organisation behind the CEO and the Chairman. The appointment announcement was fast forwarded after it was leaked to the Dominion Post's Jonathan Millmow on Friday night.
The contenders for Jacob Oram's replacement in the Test team. Babyfaced assassin Tim Southee is likely to come into the XI for Jeetan Patel, but in Oram's position, the jury is out as to whether (a) Grant Elliott is retained; (b) there is set to be a recall for another long individual, Peter Fulton who impressed on the recent New Zealand A tour; or (c) a bolter return for genuine all-rounder James Franklin, set to make his comeback to domestic first-class cricket after a long-term injury.
Otago captain Craig Cumming is a type 1 diabetic. Up until now, slogger Craig McMillan was the only high profile Kiwi cricketer to have publicly acknowledged his wrestle with the condition.
A lack of cricket coverage was credited with a slump in the radio ratings of the country's major sports radio station, the imaginatively-named Radio Sport. The Herald reported: "TRN said Radio Sport is closely tied with cricket, and that causes a natural seasonal shift in figures". After a series of scandalous domestic violence allegations levelled at breakfast host Tony Veitch, he subsequently left his job. His replacement was none other than former opener Mark Richardson who started behind the mic this month.
Merv Hughes has been talking his batting prowess up at the expense of our very own Dipak Patel. He was reported as saying that Michael Clarke’s slog sweep reminded him of himself. “I smacked Patel for five sixes in an over. Thereafter, I called him 6-pack Dipak." Not quite big fella. You hit four sixes in one day in an outrageous knock of 45 at Lancaster Park in 1993 - but only three were off New Zealand's greatest off-spinner of the 1990s. One ended up on the grandstand roof, but he got you out in the end.
As much as I've enjoyed Grant Elliott's play so far in the one-day game, I think I'd prefer to see Franklin have the opportunity to get back in the side before giving Elliott much of a run in tests. Not sure I'd want to give Oram's slot to a full-time batsman like Fulton, either. So, yeah, I vote Franklin.
Posted by: Garry at November 4, 2008 9:52 PM
James Franklin hasn't played enough cricket recently, I don't believe he played many games during the tour of India and he didn't bowl particularly well in the game I remembered him playing. Elliot is a ODI player only IMO, not quite good enough with the bat to be a specialist and a good containing bowler, but not a test bowler. I would have to go with Fulton as Southee/O'Brien, Martin/O'Brien, Mills and Vetorri have the bowling covered and if needed Redmond and Ryder can bowl a few overs.
Posted by: nedz at November 5, 2008 2:31 AM
aahh yes dippy patel,i loved his mystery ball...the one that spun
Posted by: Matt at November 6, 2008 3:44 AM
New Zealand has the most inexperienced batting line up I have ever seen in the Black Caps, after losing Fleming, Astle, Styris and McMillan in the last 12-18 months. Clearly we need another batsman in the team (Like Fulton). McCullum batting at 5 in tests is ridiculous. Although he is an excellent one day batsman in the Gilchrist mould, Gilly never batted higher than 7 for Australia (occasionally 6 when playing two spinners). He should be, like Vettori, bolstering the middle order and some younger batsman gaining some experience in the top 6. Well thats what I think anyway. Elliott and Franklin would be better suited to the one day game.
Posted by: Justin at November 6, 2008 9:02 AM
Grant Elliott is the man!!! He won the ODI series for the Blackcaps in England. Elliott has made many runs over his career, he has a double test hundred as a youngster for SA, which proves his worth. The only reason he didnt make it in SA was due to the colour of his skin. Give me a chance!!! Elliott has the potential to fill the shoes of Oram in a different manner, sure he doesn't have the power that Oram has but he has elegant ground strokes that will get him runs! Elliott will prove his worth and deserves his place.
Posted by: homes at November 8, 2008 2:53 PM
i love cricket
Posted by: Reg Corres at November 13, 2008 7:06 PM
Has to be 2 Metre Peter. While it is true that you need to take 20 wickets to win a test, you also need to score more runs than you concede. For that reason 2 Metre Peter is back.
I am guessing Big Merv didnt do much running in that wonderful innings then.
Posted by: Wharfie at November 14, 2008 4:24 AM
Is Paul Ford the same guy that plays centre back for the Karori Waterside football team. If it is I suggest he should be given a run at No 6 for NZ. His athleticism alone would stand him in good stead against a faultering Australia and having a double chin has never been a barrier to entry into the NZ cricket team.
Samir Chopra lives in Brooklyn and teaches Computer Science and Philosophy at the City University of New York; his academic interests include the philosophical foundations of artificial intelligence and the politics of technology. In his third undergraduate year, he captained Mathematics in the departmental cricket competition (and lost to Chemistry in the first round). Samir played C-grade cricket in Sydney and makes guest appearances for his old club when possible (and desirable). Samir runs the blog Eye on Cricket and the cricket page at The Faster Times.
Paul Ford is a co-founder of the New Zealand cricket supporters' cult, the Beige Brigade. He was once described by a current New Zealand cricketer as "looking spastic" even mucking about with an Excalibur and a tennis ball in the backyard. Paul bowls right-armed Nathan Astlesque "nudes", his batting would make Ewen Chatfield look elegant, and he is a committed fielder. He sometimes grows a beard to hide his double chin and inhabits a periphery of cricket that Cricinfo is proud to be glimpsing through this blog.
Stephen Gelb grew up in Cape Town, a short walk from the beautiful Newlands ground. Always a better student of the game than player, his passion for cricket survived eight years as a student in Canada, where he learned to love baseball too. He lives in Johannesburg doing economic research at The EDGE Institute and teaching at Wits University.
Mike Holmans, a database consultant by profession, has spent thirty summers (and a few winters) going to the cricket. Brought up in one and working in the other, his dearest wish is for a season to end with Yorkshire winning the county championship by beating runners-up Middlesex by one wicket with five minutes to go. If it’s also a summer when England win the Ashes, so much the better.
Born in Colombo, educated at Oxford and now living in Brisbane - Michael Jeh (Fox) is a cricket lover with a global perspective on the game. An Oxford Blue who played first-class cricket, he is a Playing Member of the MCC and still plays grade cricket. His views on cricket might best be described as those of a "modern traditionalist". Michael now works closely with elite athletes in his job as a manager at Griffith University in Queensland.
Saad Shafqat takes special pride that his cricket-watching life began during the three-month interval between Javed Miandad's debut Test in Lahore and Imran Khan's 12-wicket haul at Sydney. Although a practicing neurologist based in Karachi, cricket has never been far from his activities. He has co-authored Javed Miandad’s autobiography Cutting Edge and has been a contributor to Cricinfo since 2005. His regular column Reverse Swing appears fortnightly in Dawn, Pakistan’s leading English daily.
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