Monthly Archives: June 2014

My name’s Stephen and I have a confession …

June 12, 2014 By in Shumpty Speaks Tags: , , Leave a comment

The World Cup is about to start in Brazil and most people seem to be agog at the thought.  Frankly though, and this is my confession, I am completely nonplussed by it.  That is strange because, as a kid, the only sport I played more than soccer (I will never call it football) was cricket but I just can not seem to get excited by this tournament.

If I am honest I can glean a couple of reasons for this:

  • Whilst I enjoyed playing soccer it has never been a game that I enjoyed watching on TV or even live.
  • I concede that there are some supreme athletes who play the game but I have found, over the years, the litany of diving and histrionics on the pitch distasteful.
  • Will there ever be a World Cup tournament, the awarding of which, is not stained by the overt corruption of the Blatter regime at FIFA.

So whilst the bulk of people will be getting up in the early hours to watch games between the Ivory Coast and Hondurus I will remain in the land of nod with my social media accounts muted apropos the World Cup.

Fans of the World Cup: enjoy the tournament and can someone let me know when it is over?

Rugby: Another day, another player is off to France

June 11, 2014 By in Shumpty Speaks Tags: , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Rod Davies has signed to play rugby for the next two seasons with Biarritz Olympique in France. It is a very sad, more to the point another sad, day for Queensland and Australian rugby fans.  Sad in two respects:

  1. Rod Davies is a talismatic player for the Reds.  When he is on the field and the ball is in his hands the crowd lifts.  You can almost here the fans, me included, thinking and saying “go on Rocket!!!”.  He is a player who brings young fans through the gates and will be missed by the team, the members and the fans.
  2. Yet again Australian rugby has been unable to retain a player playing in our top domestic competition and perenially on the cusp of Australian selection.  Rather, the player has preferred to play in the second division of French rugby for a team that won 5 of 20 games in the French Top 14 last year.  I am all for players setting themselves up for their careers post rugby but it saddens me that that same opportunity is not afforded to such a player in Australia.

Rod Davies is one of my favourite players to watch and I will miss him running around in a Reds jersey.  I am left to lament now his loss from Australian rugby and to ponder who might be next to chase the money (and future security).

Cricket: 4 wickets in 4 balls … WOW!

June 10, 2014 By in Shumpty Speaks Tags: , , , Leave a comment

Alphonso Thomas, the journeyman fast medium bowler from Cape Town, has had a day out for Somerset today in its Division One County Championship game against Sussex at Taunton taking 4 wickets in 4 balls. A link to the score card is here: http://www.espncricinfo.com/county-cricket-2014/engine/match/692783.html

The mythical “double hatrick” is a rare beast having only been achieved 40 times in first class cricket.  Here is a list of the players who have preceded Thomas in achieving this feat:

J Wells Kent v Sussex Brighton 1862
G Ulyett Lord Harris’ XI v New South Wales Sydney 1878-79
G Nash Lancashire v Somerset Manchester 1882
JB Hide Sussex v MCC Lord’s 1890
FJ Shacklock Nottinghamshire v Somerset Nottingham 1893
AD Downes Otago v Auckland Dunedin 1893-94
F Martin MCC v Derbyshire Lord’s 1895
AW Mold Lancashire v Nottinghamshire Nottingham 1895
W Brearley Lancashire v Somerset Manchester 1905
S Haigh MCC v Army XI Pretoria 1905-06
AE Trott* Middlesex v Somerset Lord’s 1907
FA Tarrant Middlesex v Gloucestershire Bristol 1907
A Drake Yorkshire v Derbyshire Chesterfield 1914
SG Smith Northamptonshire v Warwickshire Birmingham 1914
HA Peach Surrey v Sussex The Oval 1924
AF Borland Natal v Griqualand West Kimberley 1926-27
JEH Hooker New South Wales v Victoria Sydney 1928-29
RK Tyldesley Lancashire v Derbyshire Derby 1929
RJ Crisp Western Province v Griqualand West Johannesburg 1931-32
RJ Crisp Western Province v Natal Durban 1933-34
AR Gover Surrey v Worcestershire Worcester 1935
WH Copson Derbyshire v Warwickshire Derby 1937
WA Henderson NE Transvaal v Orange Free State Bloemfontein 1937-38
F Ridgway Kent v Derbyshire Folkestone 1951
AK Walker * Nottinghamshire v Leicestershire Leicester 1956
SN Mohol President’s XI v Combined XI Pune 1965-66
D Robins South Australia v New South Wales Adelaide 1965-66
PI Pocock * Surrey v Sussex Eastbourne 1972
SS Sain Delhi v Himachal Pradesh New Delhi 1988-89
D Dais W Province (Suburbs) v Central Province Colombo 1990-91
Ali Gauhar Karachi Blues v United Bank Peshawar 1994-95
KD James* Hampshire v Indians Southampton 1996
GP Butcher Surrey v Derbyshire The Oval 2000
Fazl-e-Akbar PIA v Habib Bank Lahore 2001-02
CM Willoughby Cape Cobras v Dolphins Durban 2005-06
Tabish Khan Karachi Whites v Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited Karachi (UBL) 2009-10
N Wagner Otago v Wellington Queenstown 2010-11

This is, frankly, an amazing feat and one, it must be noted, that has never been achieved in the test match arena.

Well played Alphonso!