The Surfer

Arrival of the archetypes

There is a serious study to be made of domestic Pakistani cricket teams, writes Barney Ronay in The Guardian

There is a serious study to be made of domestic Pakistani cricket teams, writes Barney Ronay in The Guardian . Why, for example, are so many of them named after the kind of phantom companies used by the CIA to mask the activities of its covert Alien Abduction & Robot Spy Plane Bureau?

Loading ...

England's cricketers don't seem perturbed. With victory over the only-vaguely-sinister Patron's XI secured, and with their final warm-up game about to start, the familiar tour party archetypes have already begun to emerge:

The Really Great Bloke

A modern phenomenon, the Really Great Bloke has turned being a wildly enthusiastic good egg into a year-round career. He prowls the balcony, hungry for milestones to applaud. He never once removes his Vodafone ECB cap. Sadly, he also never gets picked. Already pencilled in for a vaguely humiliating over-age academy spot next year....