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andy zaltzman
Cricket geekery epitomised
By Will 2 months ago, No Comments; be the first!
It’s a wonder Andy Zaltzman is still a married man. Outstanding cricket geekery:
No Comments »Happy New Year, Confectionery Stallers, and welcome to a new year, a new decade (or the last year of an old decade, depending on your decade-defining proclivities). I am firmly in the New Decade camp, and so, I assume, is Jacques Kallis, if only so he can claim to be the 29th member of the highly exclusive club of players who have scored Test hundreds in three different decades.
(I have a full list of these 29 cricketing legends, but will not list them here for fear of antagonising my wife, who is anxious for me not to join the equally exclusive club of husbands who have spent excessive parts of two decades working out things on Statsguru. But a special mention for the great Indian batsman Vijay Merchant, who is the only man in the history of humanity to have scored just one Test century in three separate decades. Throw that little fact into your next conversation at work and see how people react. Hang on, I’m not quite finished with this one yet. If Kallis can somehow muster another five-wicket innings from his creaking limbs, he will become only the eighth bowler to take a five-for in three different decades, and join Kapil Dev as the only player to have both scored hundreds and taken five-fors in three decades. I’m done now.)
Christmassy stuff
By Will last year, at the end of December, 1 Comment »
Happy Christmas.
Sometimes, there’s something worth watching on TV over Christmas. Not often, unless you class Victoria Wood and Catherine Tate as quality entertainment. Oh – and the Queen of course. She gets top billing for the 52nd consecutive year. Top effort from the uppercase Q; she’s rarely offered much flair or dynamism, apart from the 1992 season’s round-up (“Annus horribilis”), but she’s provided annual consistency when those around her simply cannot be relied upon.
Sorry. Been on the port.
Anyway, thought I’d mention a couple of radio shows I’ve listened to which are worth your time. The first is written by Ian Hislop and stars Jack Dee and Peter Capaldi – the fuck-man of The Thick Of It – along with Chris Addison, called The News At Bedtime. It wasn’t groundbreaking but still enjoyable, though it did make me think of Chris Morris’s On The Hour which really was breaking new ground.
The second is Andy Zaltzman’s History of the Third Millennium, though I’m slightly biased as I was the pest who lured the big AZ to Cricinfo. It’s bloody good, though.
The Zaltzmans are conquering the world of podcasts. Long before I met Andy and even listened to The Bugle, I was a big fan of Helen and Olly’s Answer Me This. It only occurred to me after I’d met Andy that Helen was his sister. Anyway, Helen and Olly are on Five Live next Thursday, which is a pretty cool gig, so keep your ears peeled for that.
And of course, there’s TMS for Boxing Day.
Listened to anything good yourself lately?
1 Comment »Andy Zaltzman’s BBC show, “Yes It’s The Ashes”
By Will last year, at the start of July, 2 Comments »
Andy Zaltzman – comic, Bugler, cricket blogger – starts his own BBC radio show tomorrow, at 11am on BBC Radio Five Live. It’s called either “Yes It’s The Ashes” or “Andy Zaltzman’s Alternative Ashes”, I’m not sure which.
He’s slightly lining his underwear about it, but I’m sure it’ll be sharp, different and entertaining – so lend your ears tomorrow morning, or download the podcast shortly afterwards.
Update: Here’s the MP3:
http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/fivelive/altashes/altashes_20090704-1313a.mp3
2 Comments »The Confectionery Stall with Andy Zaltzman
By Will 2 years ago, mid-November, No Comments; be the first!
Regular readers will know of my interest in satire, and of Andy Zaltzman and John Oliver’s podcast at The Times. Happily, after contacting Andy, I managed to persuade him to write for us, so you can now enjoy his blog at Cricinfo.
South Africa shamed once again
By Will 2 years ago, mid-October, No Comments; be the first!
Taken from The Bugle – details below
The inaugural ICC Coin Toss Championship has been won by Australia, after the Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik wrongly called heads in the final at Eden Gardens, Calcutta. The Australians had beaten strongly-fancied South Africa in the semi-final on Monday, after the Proteas’ skipper, Graeme Smith, called “Legs” in the semifinal, condemning his team to another embarrassing exit from a major tournament.
Stand-in Australian captain Adam Gilchrist dedicated the victory to Ricky Ponting, who missed the final after rupturing a thumb knuckle tendon in practice. ICC Chief Executive Malcolm Speed said the tournament had captured the imagination of the advertising executives. “From a revenue point of view, we have cut out the problematic cricketing phases of cricket. This is a commercially viable format, which has its place in a balanced calendar.”
The Bugle is my favourite satirical podcast, mainly because it’s the only one I subscribe to, but also because it’s brilliantly written by Andy Zaltzman and John Oliver, both of whom I’m trying to interview. If you have any wise ideas for some satirical cricket coverage, leave a comment…or email me your best efforts
No Comments »Humanity’s greatest achievement
By Will 2 years ago, at the end of June, No Comments; be the first!
“Cricinfo and the Major League baseball site, mlb.com, are two of humanity’s greatest achievements.”
It’s a fair comment from Andy Zaltzman (yes, it was made with tongue firmly in cheek).
No Comments »