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olympics
Cricket at the London Olympic stadium
By Will last year, at the end of October, 2 Comments »
“BRING IT ON!” caps-locks John Stern, the sound-as-a-pound and always cheery editor of The Wisden Cricketer magazine. Why? Because cricket could be coming to London’s Olympic stadium.
It makes total sense. It’s oval shaped, and thus ideal for cricket, and can hold 80,000 people – way, way more than Lord’s or any other England venue. And with England hosting Pakistan v Australia next year, not to mention the vast Asian population of London, having a huge stadium to host Twenty20s would be absolutely brilliant. If they get the pricing right, of course…
2 Comments »Adam Gilchrist’s 2009 Cowdrey Lecture
By Will last year, at the end of June, 2 Comments »
An eloquent, thoughtful and insightful speech made by Adam Gilchrist today. He supported the rise of Twenty20 but defended Test cricket, urging administrators to leave it alone as much as possible. He also pushed for cricket to be included in the Olympics, which isn’t something I know or care much about, but I can see the good it would do for the publicity of cricket.
The post-speech question-and-answer session was excellent, featuring Gilchrist, Graeme Swann and Dave Richardson, the former South Africa wicketkeeper now working for the ICC, and a good man he is too. Shared a couple of beers with him in South Africa and he’s a very serious student of the game, with its core values at the heart of everything he does. When asked this evening his predictions for the Ashes, he quipped: “It’ll be 2-1 going into The Oval, with England in front, and the chairman of the ECB, Giles Clarke, will prepare a featherbed for the final Test” which was a bit of a surprise, and not one Clarke will too overly pleased with I bet.
I put up the transcript of the speech at Cricinfo, so do give it a close read, and MCC will have an MP3 of the recording later.
2 Comments »Usain Bolt wants to meet Matthew Hayden
By Will 2 years ago, mid-August, 2 Comments »
Yes, that was my initial reaction too. Why?
Turns out Usain, the fastest man in the world, is a cricket nut – as befits a Jamaican sportsman, I suppose. And he wants to meet one of his heroes, Matthew Hayden.
“I can’t wait to come to Australia and I’m trying to find a way to get down there because it sounds great and you’re fun people,” Bolt said.
“And one of my favourite cricketers in the world is from your way. I am a huge fan of Matty Hayden and he’s a cool customer out in the middle and I like his style.”
Hayden’s response is oh-so-humble, with barely a hint of “aw, look, I’m just a fisherman from Queensland”.
2 Comments »“It’s pretty humbling isn’t it for an old fisherman and surfer in Queensland who now and then plays a bit of cricket.”
Aussie blames Rod Marsh for Britain’s Olympic success
By Will 2 years ago, mid-August, No Comments; be the first!
As I’m sure everyone is aware, Great Britain (GREAT Britain) are leading Australia in terms of gold-medalage. And one Australia journalist has laid the blame firmly at the feet of Rod Marsh:
No one wins silver or bronze, which brings me back to Marsh. England hardly won anything until Marsh defected to England in October 2001 and directed a shambling cricket team from rock bottom to zenith in four years. The Poms hadn’t won the Ashes in sixteen years but they regained them in a magnificent home series in 2005, while Marsh, a former Australian wicket keeper looked on.
He quit the academy in 2005 following England’s shock win, having taught a bunch of hacks to play cricket like Australians. In that Ashes series, the Poms had a plan for each Australian batsman, backed up with unbridled passion, aggression and pressure.
When England actually won 2-1 it sent shock waves through Australia’s psyche. My faith in morality, ethics and tradition collapsed like a sandcastle. Though we regained the Ashes in 2007, the invincibility was gone and it was all Marsh’s fault.
They’re not bitter. Really.
No Comments »Colin Metson: “I want cricket in the Olympics”
By Will 2 years ago, at the start of August, 3 Comments »
Breaking News from northern Wales: the former Glamorgan wicketkeeper, Colin Metson, has joined the growing call for cricket to be included in the Olympics. Metson, a brilliant wicketkeeper and barely 5ft tall, said: “I want cricket in the Olympics.”
Metson’s thoughts echo those of Ricky Ponting who, on Wednesday, said he “wants cricket in the Olympics.” Ponting’s rallying call follows that of Shoaib Malik, the Pakistan captain, who said he “wants cricket in the Olympics.” Malik’s tear-jerking cry comes hot on the heels of Younis Khan who said “Bahhhhhhh Olympics why not?”, mere moments after both Shane Watson and Mitchell Johnson had used the words “cool” and “Olympics” within 10 letters of eachother. Watson and Johnson’s dude-ish demands match those of Adam Gilchrist, the bastard who came up with the idea a few days ago, who said “I want cricket in the Olympics.”
PLEASE SHUT UP, ALL OF YOU. THIS IS THE GREATEST NON-STORY SINCE JESUS SAID “I QUITE LIKE GOD, ME”.
3 Comments »The implications of London winning the Olympics
By Will 5 years ago, mid-July, 4 Comments »
An interesting debate raised in Parliament by Michael Foster on the funding provided by London’s winning bid for the 2012 Olympics, and its’ possible implications to non-Olympic sports such as cricket:
Sport will have a major boost over the next few years with the Olympic games coming to London, but may I ask my right hon. Friend to do what he can to ensure that non-Olympic sports such as cricket are not excluded from the increased resources and increased participation in which, I hope, this development will result? With that in mind, will he arrange for a debate on the future of state school cricket, so that we can look at ways of making it far more competitive, and put it on an equal footing with the cricket played in the independent sector?
Leader of the House of Commons, and former Secretary of State for Defence, Geoff Hoon, replied:
I once tried to demonstrate how cricket is played to my American family, with conspicuous lack of success. It is certainly important that, in providing the extra funding that goes to sport, such funding is associated not only with the Olympic bid, but with the Government’s overall programme for supporting sporting excellence in this country and that we do not neglect sports such as cricket, which are clearly hugely important to the people of the United Kingdom.
Although cricket in the UK has received better support and funding in recent years, it is still a minority sport compared even to Rugby (and, inevitably / especially, football). With the Olympics “due” in just seven years, it is encouraging to hear of a debate in Parliament surrounding the games funding in this country. In fact – it’s rare to hear the sport ever mentioned in Parliament; on the rare occasions they have, corruption and Zimbabwe have been the topics of debate.
We’ll have to watch this closely in the coming years. Lord’s is hosting archery – what a spectacle that should be! – but otherwise, cricket could be “hidden away” in 2012. If England’s national side continues to improve, they could well be world champions by then – so let’s hope their profile in this country can improve to compete with the Olympics.
4 Comments »Archery coming to Lord’s
By Will 5 years ago, at the start of July, 1 Comment »
London has pipped Paris to the post and will host the 2012 Olympics. Great news (I think). Cricinfo has an interesting article on Lord’s, which will play host to the Archery competitions.
1 Comment »