| 
Posts and words
Loading ...
drugs
Test cricket shines, briefly
By Will 1 month ago, 4 Comments »
They didn’t look like they believed they could do it. At least, judging by their body language, that seemed to be the case with India today while South Africa’s Hashim Amla did a Paul Collingwood. One of cricket’s most romantic venus, Eden Gardens, was electrified by the suspense, the ground abuzz with passionate followers engrossed by the theatre, and were soon rewarded for their patience with the wicket of a devastated Morne Morkel. Ahh, bliss.
So India win by an innings, thus levelling the series. It’s all perfectly set up for a five-Test thriller. Can South Africa bounce back in the third? Will India’s victory carry them through? Can anyone get Hashim Amla out? What pitch will they prepare for the third and who will they pick? Will South Africa have the resolve to fight back? So many questions, none of which will be answered because this is, in nobody’s wisdom, a pathetically short two-Test series.
Today highlighted the modern sporting world. On the one hand, tradition waved its flag triumphantly: Test cricket again demonstrated its long-lasting appeal – even in India, the new home of Twenty20 and one of the fastest growing economies in the world, a rapidly evolving nation dealing with extraordinary change at social and political level. On the other, India (or the ICC – it’s difficult to be certain about how much control the governing body actually has these days) only had two Tests against supposedly one of the best teams in the sport. This should have been the ideal opportunity to showcase the prime format of the sport with a long, arduous, impossibly engrossing series which takes over the lives of the fans and keeps both the authorities and television execs happy.
Instead, we’re all left kicking our heels and feeling strangely empty, like reading a really good book and having it snatched away from you or the pages torn out. Worse, the very fact it was only two Tests completely put me off the series at the start. I couldn’t be bothered in wasting my energies getting excited when I knew the tablecloth would be whipped away just when I was tucking into the main course.
Tests cannot be brief dalliances. They demand a long, emotionally-scarring, gut-wrenching relationship to be formed, leaving you exhausted but elated; confused, sometimes mournful, but ultimately glad for the experience. These one (or two) night stands are good for nobody, save the boards and TV companies who demand the sugar rush of Twenty20 be fed intravenously and anonymously and constantly.
4 Comments »Chris Lewis found with 4kg of cocaine
By Will 2 years ago, mid-December, 13 Comments »
The flat I’m supposed to be moving into next week is falling through, so I’m in genuine debt to Chris Lewis for livening up my day. He’s been found smuggling in 4kg (yes, that’s right – 4,000 grams) through Gatwick. Just what sort of party was he planning? Apparently it had a street value of 200,000. Word up, and stuff.
Dermot Reeve was another sniffer, as was Paul Smith and probably hundreds of others. Lewis, however, is in a league all of his own (league / planet – whatever).
Amusing puns and headlines please, ladies and gents.
13 Comments »Tyron done like a kipper
By Will 2 years ago, mid-August, 1 Comment »
David Nash plays a brilliant practical joke on Tyron Henderson, as described by one of our bloggers this season, Nick Compton:
1 Comment »Anyway. We arrived at Lord’s for a back-to-work session. Believe it or not there is still some work to be done before the season is over. Some good results in the Pro40 and a strong finish in the Championship is a must.
In a quiet moment, Nashy decides it’s time for some fun and to call Tyrone. Good with voices, he becomes a representative of UK sport doping control. He wants to discuss Tyrone’s recent drugs test following the Twenty20. Gravely, and keeping a strongly official tone to his voice, Nash told him that he had failed – but that sometimes this happens.
Boringly echoing the voice of officialdom from the car park, Nashy told Tyrone that a ‘b’ sample is an essential requirement but that he mustn’t worry – it’s all part of the procedure. He would be calling back to advise him of when and where he’ll need to go for his second test.
Dermot Reeve?
By Will 2 years ago, mid-February, 3 Comments »
Rather odd thing is happening here: an absolute flood of people are coming here in the past 20 minutes looking for info on Dermot Reeve and his previous mishaps with cocaine. I’ve not heard anything on the wires – anyone know if something’s happened?
3 Comments »Notes from the pavilion for October 23rd
By Will 3 years ago, at the end of October, 2 Comments »
Links of note from the past 24 hours:
- English cricket to assist addicts –
- Chappell attacks Botham. Again – Children, children…
- Geoffrey Legge – Brilliant line in this Almanack obit: ‘Lt. Geoffrey Bevington Legge, Fleet Air Arm, suffered death while flying in November, aged 37′
Wasted? – Paul Smith’s autobiography
By Will 3 years ago, at the end of April, 8 Comments »
Update: review of Paul Smith’s Wasted? at Cricinfo.
One of my early memories of cricket is watching Paul Smith tear in to bowl off an inordinately long run-up, arms flaying around, long hair, “flinging” down his medium pacers. He was nothing special but the rebel in me respected his unconformity. He was rock’n'roll, a bit crazy, and just the type of cricketer an 11-year-old tried wished he could be. And it turns out he’s written a book.
It could be very, very dull; he fell into drugs, lost his wife and children and so forth, so it might be one of those sickly autobiographies in which he’s found God, or peace within himself, or finds knitting a good way to stave the cravings. If and when I get a copy, I’ll let you know what it reveals – or buy your own from Amazon, and help pay for the exploding costs of running this site…
8 Comments »The Shoaib and Asif farce
By Will 3 years ago, at the start of March, 17 Comments »
I’ve been out of action for a few days drinking my bodyweight and trying to ignore the fact I’m now closer to 30 than 20. Not to mention a flurry of “you’re halfway to 50 you old bastard” texts.
What better way to cure my groggy mind than to understand the Shoaib and Asif affair?
- They test positive for Nando Bannedo
- They are banned
- The ban is overturned. Lots of people go mentalist at the decision
- Somehow, they “avoid” a PCB dope test (last week). That was clever
- They both pick up a couple of injuries. Smoke and mirrors
- Off to the airport. The team all sing reggae in the bus, Inzamam on the steel drums
- Oh but hang on, the injuries are too bad, too serious. GET OFF THE BUS NOW
“The truth is both of them are injured and they may take even months to make a full recovery,” Nasim Ashraf said, with fingers, arms and legs firmly crossed. “The board’s medical panel will soon check them out but the chances of them recovering quickly from their injuries is very bleak.”
Complete and utter farce. But they’re not banned, they’re injured. Just in case you forget.
17 Comments »Drugs in cricket
By Will 4 years ago, at the end of June, 4 Comments »
Performance-enhancing drugs aren’t common (as far as we know) in cricket. In football, athletics and basketball – yes – but not cricket. Not yet, anyway.
Tim May, the chief executive of the Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations (FICA), has said in this month’s Wisden Cricketer magazine players may be forced to use drugs in an effort to sustain themselves, given the amount of cricket they play.
You only have to look at the doping record in baseball to see that recovery, not enhanced power, is the motivation for most drug misuse. The more we push players the more they might look at options.”
Worrying indeed. Thoughts?
4 Comments »What a snorter! Dermot Reeve: crack addict
By Will 5 years ago, at the end of May, 7 Comments »
You go away for a weekend, and look what happens? Dermot Reeve has quit Channel 4, where he was a commentator for 5 years, due to his announcement that he’s addicted to cocaine. No great loss, really – he’s a jumped-up twit – and no great suprise, either. His repetoire consisted of “Faaantastic shot” and “WOW.” Not the most intelligent of cricket commentators.
Reeve also suggested there was widespread use of “illegal substances” within cricket when he played. “If every cricketer I knew at the time I played was banned from playing, you would not have seen very good teams out there,” he said.
Make your own judgements from that, I guess.
7 Comments »“Put the pipe away, Piper!” Warwickshire keeper in drugs SHOCKER!
By Will 5 years ago, at the start of May, 6 Comments »
Warwickshire ‘keeper Keith Piper has been summoned to an ECB disciplinary panel for testing positive on a “recreational drug.” Unfortunate surname to have, “Piper,” but not as a bad as Mr Bong, Mrs Roach, or “James Ecstasy Tablet”[1] I suppose. Most newspapers are calling Piper Mr Anonymous, apart from the Daily Telegraph who obviously don’t think much of him
[1] NB: I don’t know anyone called James Ecstasy-Tablet
6 Comments »