it has, look you see, been a while since i updated with cricket news of the boys. sorry for this, as quite a few of you like reading these updates, it would seem. in one instance someone elected to share one of the posts, which is splendid so long as it was not for creepy or untoward reasons.
we've not had many games of late, and these two come from the conclusion of June and the start of July. yes, sorry again for the delay. quite in keeping with the English way of doing things, this post, with the sheer volume of apologies. i've just been busy with stuffs of things and have not gotten around to updating. until now.
be warned, as for some reason google / blogger has / have elected to upload certain pictures with the incorrect rotation in place. i am not messing about, just look at them sideways if your device happens to allow for splendid orientation changes.
that there, as you have undoubtedly identified, is our home ground. it was taken prior to a game against the team from Marton; a part of the world i will not have anything ill spoken of. the area is, for sure, the home of Colin Cheng, after all. and once a splendid petrol station where one could rent VHS and Beta tapes from.
so now that i think, the people of Marton did, in my absence, allow that petrol station cum video rental store to be pulled down. perhaps this was done for safety, since it was right next door to a school. one that i attended too, but back then people didn't really get all excited or concerned about radical ideas for protecting children. we were, after all, regularly encouraged to write in to that "nice" Jimmy Savile chap to see if we couldn't sit on his lap and have him make our dreams come true.
let me try not to be distracted. once again the important thing about any match of cricket is that the ultimate winner is cricket. so long as the spirit of the game is embraced and the rules respected then the result is secondary. that said, i am delighted and indeed proud of the fact that James and the team he is part of won both matches shown here. no, it is not just Marton we will see.
we have, as mentioned, had far fewer games of late than would have been liked. there are several reasons for this. actually, three. let me list them, then, and this blog post can in part be a discussion of them. where such discussion is needed or of interest.
these three reasons are -
very poor weather
the football season having commenced
not enough players at teams to be able to field a side
yes, true, fair enough. there is little or no point at all in engaging in a conversation on the first of those three. absolutely nothing says "English summer" as sweeping rains and howling winds what cause the rain to sweep so. indeed we have had one or two sunny days, but alas they did not happen to fall on dates allotted to cricket. how unfortunate.
that is indeed a selfie of 75% of my family, with the other 25% being on the field of play. i do know that you only care to see 66% of the people in the above; just put up with the odd picture of me, please, this is my site after all.
so then, reasons. yes, football has once again commenced. many of the kids who play cricket also play football. historically this be both fitting and apt. modern, organized football only started to give cricket players a means of keeping fit and active when the season said no to cricket. no less than Sir Ian Botham, you may recall, played professional football as well as being my all time hero at cricket.
why do the kids select football over cricket? well, it would be nice if they didn't have to, but alas scheduling seems to dictate that all junior sports are played quite early on a sunday morning, no matter what clash this may cause.
an action shot of the game against Marton? surely, why not.
since a choice is to be made, why do quite a few of the kids select football over cricket? well, again, a couple of reasons. first and foremost it is the case, without doubt, that football is very much the number one sport here in England. yes, English (and indeed UK) readers, i know you know that, but i get a lot of family, friends and strangers who are both welcome and random dropping by. i am, i believe, in a select minority that would choose cricket over football any day. perhaps that's the pleasant legacy of my time in Australia.
parents must take some responsibility for this, too. why? google "Neymar". many parents now see the lucre on the table of football as a quasi-retirement fund; one certainly more assured than any elected government of this nation can offer.
this has of course increased the atmosphere at junior football, with many parents electing to act in that quite cross or if you like angry way we associate with the stereotypical American parent at that little league baseball they have. most unsavoury, and let us speak no further of it here.
as usual, for those of you who can indeed play video here on this site, there's a clip for you. it's James bowling in the match against Skelton. should you not be able to play the video back, the clip features a deft run out, caused by some inspired teamwork in the field.
since Skelton has been mentioned, i am sure that you would like to see a picture of me and the boys in the car on our way to their ground. if for some reason this is a picture you would prefer to see sideways, then excellent, for it has uploaded sideways.
going back to the list of three reasons why there's not much cricket, the third. even without the distraction of football there is, sadly, a falling number of children wishing to take up the sport. this has been attributed to the fact that these days the average child in England - indeed the UK - does not have exposure to the game.
back in 2005 the ECB signed a huge, lucrative deal with Sky for broadcast rights. this took all England matches off free to air television, and so away from anyone who pays no more than their TV licence to watch television. whilst football and rugby are played at school, cricket is not so much. this is down to the time, the lack of space in fields and so on.
to their credit the ECB have admitted this is a mistake. more than a decade on they are aware that there's been a dramatic fall in kids taking up the sport. not seeing matches, and thus not being inspired by the national side, has had a negative effect. the ECB has elected to remedy this, and are actively seeking ways in which they can move England matches back on to free to air television broadcasters. i believe in a couple of years the BBC will be showing 20-20 matches, to start.
indeed yes, the above is the beautiful, picturesque ground of Skelton Castle. it really is amazing. should chance permit, it is well worth your time visiting. if no match is on no matter, for as you can hopefully see it is full worthy of a pleasant stroll.
what's my take on pay TV, in particular for sports? it is a business model that has worked, but the game has changed. all these streaming and on demand (the legal ones, look you see) are now here. they can broadcast cheaper and indeed better than traditional broadcasters. it is inevitable that a Google, a Netflix or an Amazon, with piles of money, will take a punt at some sports broadcasting rights. they'd be able to broadcast / stream it either free or as part of their existing subscription, with the online advertising chipping in to the profits.
but, back to the cricket, and indeed back to Skelton. ostensibly these posts are supposed to concentrate on James and his performance, so here you go. once again sideways, here he is carrying his bat at Skelton Castle.
i think the match at, and against, Skelton Castle has been my absolute favourite. not for the match as such or per se, which we did indeed win. more so for the enthusiasm, excitement and joy of the Skelton Castle team. they have as a group of players only come together recently. whilst they are aware that they can't match the standards of other teams in the division, they do know that they can constantly learn and improve.
the whole team played the match with a balanced measure of concentration, dedication and enthusiasm. when the match finished it wasn't so much as they cared for the result as they just placed importance on the many positives they could take from it. spontaneously they gathered for a team photo. no, i do not have it, for they are not my team to take a picture of. i can assure you, however, that never a more positive or uplifting image of a team happy to be a team has ever been seen.
some more footage, people of you who can play video here? sure. here's James batting against Skelton. taking a single run too. all runs help the score, don't you know.
enthusiasts of pictures which appear to have the incorrect rotation - at least they do to my eyes as i upload them - hold on, more are coming.
but first, as if to echo the comment i made earlier, here's William and of course my (considerably) better half taking a stroll around the grounds of Skelton Castle. well, no, they are not strolling they've stopped for me to take a picture. which was very kind of them to do.
on the professional and international stage England have recently completed a 3-1 Test Series win against South Africa. this is a series i always follow with great interest, for obvious reasons. second only to the Ashes in my books. and in the books of others, at least once.
back in 2008 i can remember Sky announcing that all future England vs SA series would be granted "iconic" status. this meant that they would play 5 Tests in each series. except no, no they haven't. here's a link to the story. ever since this was announced it has still just been 4 Tests in each series, with the exception of 2012. then only 3 were played, so as not to disrupt London's hosting of the Olympics.
so far i have been unable to find any reference to or reason for the decision, if not idea, to quietly take away this "iconic" status placed on the Series. if you know why, please let me know.
yes, indeed, that is James, resplendent in his cricket whites and wearing them special cricket shoes what have some spikes on the bottom. as opposed to the top, i guess. placing spikes on the top of cricket shoes would undoubtedly make the game more hostile and aggressive, so perhaps it would be best if they did not do this. sorry, did i type that thinking out loud?
one final image, then, for those of you who are so enthusiastic about pictures appearing sideways here. although it would be nice if they are magically rotated the right way around as you read this.
here, then, is my (considerably) better half helping out at the match.
yes, she had taken command of the scoreboard at Skelton Castle. quite a tricky job it is, to be sure, as you have to know what each of the gestures the umpires for the match make. and then update the scoreboard accordingly.
and so anyway there's probably been far too much writing here. to finish off with, then, a look at the boys at Skelton Castle, with James clearly getting ready to bat.
hopefully, before the season runs out, there are a couple of more games for me to watch, enjoy and update you on. until then, then, that's that for now!
be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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