The Buzz
Club cricketer reaches 90 not out
Jack Hyams, the world’s most prolific club cricketer, will celebrate his impending 90th birthday with a pair of fixtures at the Clive Woodbridge Oval in Valencia, Spain, this weekend.
Andrew Miller
25-Feb-2013
Jack Hyams, the world’s most prolific club cricketer, will celebrate his impending 90th birthday with a pair of fixtures at the Clive Woodbridge Oval in Valencia, Spain, this weekend.
Hyams, who is Life President of the Barmy Army, enters his tenth decade on December 18, having amassed over 123,000 runs in all cricket, including 171 centuries. He has played ten matches so far this year for Billericay CC Veterans, while three years ago, he took part in five consecutive fixtures for Nomads CC on a tour of Spain, when the club was left short of players.
As a youth, Hyams was offered professional cricket and football terms but his father forbade him from taking that career path. Instead he waited until after the Second World War, when he played football for Bradford Park Avenue and took part in a memorable defeat of Arsenal in the FA Cup.
Full postLily Allen awarded Lancashire membership
Sahil Dutta
25-Feb-2013
After a 2.6 million-selling debut album, her own talk show and nominations for Grammy, BRIT and MTV awards, Lily Allen has finally received the recognition she wants as Lancashire made her an honorary member of the club.
Allen was granted membership in recognition of her national and international promotion of cricket and was also presented with a Lancashire team shirt and bat signed by stars such as Freddie Flintoff and Sajid Mahmood.
Full postThe lighter side of Shoaib
Judhajit
25-Feb-2013
Just as his chances of making the national team were getting slimmer, Pakistan fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar has undergone liposuction to remove excess fat from his body. The 34-year-old has not played a Test in more than two years, and the latest move is part of his efforts to end the fitness troubles and injury woes that have severely hampered his career.
"After the liposuction to trim down his weight, Shoaib will require at least three to four months to make a complete recovery and be available to play competitive cricket once again," Dr Waqar Ahmed, a sports medicine specialist, told Pakistan daily Dawn.
Full postA Guinness for Wadia
Just days after an Auckland woman cricketer broke a world record for catching 33 tennis balls within a minute, the Guinness Book of Records had another cricket entry when Neville Wadia became the oldest player to hit a century in minor cricket
Kanishkaa Balachandran
25-Feb-2013
Just days after an Auckland woman cricketer broke a world record for catching 33 tennis balls within a minute, the Guinness Book of Records had another cricket entry when Neville Wadia became the oldest player to hit a century in minor cricket. Wadia, at 63 years and 305 days, scored 105 for Waghodiya Road against Vrajdham Vadli Pariwar team at Siabaug Ground in Vadodara on March 28 this year. Eight months later, his feat was recognised in the coveted book. He isn’t stopping there. Wadia wishes to continue playing and also offer free coaching to youngsters. No country for old men? Not for Neville Wadia.
Full postKatie catches 'em quick
Move over Jonty
Kanishkaa Balachandran
25-Feb-2013
Move over Jonty. Auckland's Katie Perkins has entered the Guinness Book of Records for catching an astonishing 33 tennis balls within a minute, fired at 100 kmph. For good measure, the record she broke by ten balls was held by an Aussie, Anthony Kelly. Appearing on the television show NZ Smashes Guinness World Records, Perkins said, “Everyone wasn’t expecting me to break it and I did it for a bit of a laugh. But as soon as I did it, I was in the zone.” And now she's in the NZ emerging players' team - with a side career as a 'catching coach' in the offing?
Full postFleming offers advice for World Cup bid
Stephen Fleming may not be interested in coaching his nation's cricket team, but he hasn't been lost to New Zealand sport entirely
Andrew McGlashan
25-Feb-2013
Stephen Fleming may not be interested in coaching his nation's cricket team, but he hasn't been lost to New Zealand sport entirely. The former New Zealand batsman turned football motivator this week on the eve of the All Whites must-win World Cup qualifier against Bahrain. "[Fleming] just gave us wee things to make us try and relax, and told us to just try and think of it as another game, get on with the job," said Michael McGlinchey, the New Zealand mid-fielder. "Ryan Nelsen and the more experienced guys pitched in with their thoughts as well and it was nice to hear what sorts of things they have to say." Victory over Bahrain in Wellington on Saturday would propel New Zealand to the World Cup finals for the first time in 27 years.
Full postPietersen and Pudsey team up for Children in Need
Kevin Pietersen and MCC have teamed to help this year’s BBC appeal for Children in Need
Sahil Dutta
25-Feb-2013
Kevin Pietersen and MCC have teamed to help this year’s BBC appeal for Children in Need. KP was recently unveiled as the new ‘Brylcreem boy’, in a deal worth nearly £2 million, and it seems he wants to extend his name to an even more worthy pursuit.
Pietersen is auctioning “a money can’t buy prize” that includes coaching in the MCC indoor school at Lord’s, a private tour of the ground and dressing rooms, lunch in the players’ dining room and signed memorabilia.
Let’s just hope Pietersen’s Achilles holds-up well enough to make prize day.
The ‘Pietersen prize’ goes under the hammer on Monday 16th on the ‘Things Money Can't Buy' auction on Terry Wogan's BBC Radio Two show.
Full postConcerned Tasmanians for Jason Krejza
Remember Jason Krejza
George Binoy
25-Feb-2013
Remember Jason Krejza? If you don’t, he’s a tall Australian offspinner who made his Test debut a year ago in Nagpur and took 12 for 358 against India. Krejza played another Test but has since been forgotten by most people, but not all.
There’s a group in Australia lobbying for Krejza’s return to the national team and they called for the public to observe 12 minutes silence on November 10, in remembrance of the Indian batsmen Krejza felled in 2008.
"[It's] to think about and reflect upon those 12 wickets, those glorious 12 wickets in Nagpur and to think about the impact Jason Krejza can make on the national side," group spokesman Ben McKay said. There’s a Facebook group too – “Concerned Tasmanians for Jason Krejza" – with 231 members at the last time of checking.
Full postFletcher comes to the TMS party
Listeners to the BBC's Test Match Special are in for a rare treat this winter, in the form of a gruff, monotone Zimbabwean, whose guarded utterances required the travelling press corps to develop forensic journalistic skills during his
Andrew Miller
25-Feb-2013
Listeners to the BBC's Test Match Special are in for a rare treat this winter, in the form of a gruff, monotone Zimbabwean, whose guarded utterances required the travelling press corps to develop forensic journalistic skills during his seven-year stint at the helm of the England cricket team.
That's right, Duncan Fletcher has put aside his ingrained loathing of the media and been persuaded out of his bubble, and will provide expert analysis during England's fixtures in his home town of Cape Town this winter. Having performed a consultancy role during South Africa's successful tour of Australia last year, he is ideally placed to provide insight from both camps.
Aside from a regular column in The Guardian, Fletcher has kept a low media profile since his no-holds-barred autobiography was released in 2007, although in the TMS box he will have a chance to team up with his former sidekick, Michael Vaughan, who was England's victorious captain when they last toured South Africa in 2004-05.
Full postThe oldest player in the world
For the last five years Eric Tindill , a double international for New Zealand at Test level in cricket and rugby , has been cricket’s oldest living Test player
George Binoy
25-Feb-2013
For the last five years Eric Tindill, a double international for New Zealand at Test level in cricket and rugby, has been cricket’s oldest living Test player. And two days ago, Tindill went past England’s Frank MacKinnon, who lived 98 years and 324 days, to become the oldest Test cricketer ever.
A left-hand opening batsman and wicketkeeper, Tindill toured England with Curly Page's team in 1937. On the way home he had the distinction of catching Don Bradman off Jack Cowie's bowling – the only time Bradman played against a New Zealand side. The match, between New Zealand and South Australia, was played in Adelaide to help cover debts incurred in England. Cowie and Tindill were delighted with their prized wicket, but others reckoned they cost New Zealand Cricket a fortune. Bradman was dismissed for 11 in the opening over on a Saturday morning and thousands of spectators, queuing for entry, simply turned around and left. Tindill also umpired in Tests and was a Wellington and New Zealand selector.
Tindill was also an international rugby referee and is currently the oldest living All Black.
Full post