Ashes - Fourth Test - England Practice Session

England's Stuart Broad during practice. | JASON CAIRNDUFF

Frank LeaversPalma17/07/2023 13:32
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I don’t know about you out-there in Mallorca-land - but for the past few weeks I have been listening intently to The Ashes on the wireless. For those of you who don’t know their cricket, this bi-annual cricket series versus Australia is in my opinion, the very epitome of sporting endeavour. If you will forgive my rather over-cooked enthusiasm, this cricket series has been what competitive sport is all about. With England winning the last encounter at Headingly (Leeds) they will need to win the last two matches against the Aussies (Old Trafford & The Oval) to win The Ashes. Anyway, going back to my original point, I find that rather like millions of other cricket lovers I prefer to listen to the matches on the radio via the BBC’s Test Match Special (TMS) than live on the television, because - a) I’m too tight to sign up for Sky Sports televisual coverage - and, b) I really love listening to cricket on the radio.

Surprisingly I am not alone in this regard, as it seems that Julie has become somewhat of a fan of TMS. Yes, really! Indeed, I wandered into the kitchen late one morning a week or so ago… and there she was listening to Aggers & Tuffers chuntering-on about the state of the wicket and how ‘Bazball’ (do keep up!) had changed the nature of Test cricket and why it was essential that England didn’t lose another wicket before lunch. Do you understand what they’re on about? - I asked her, in a rather aggressively paternal manner - only for her to say “Not a clue, but I love it - I love the talk, I love the gentle humour - it sounds like England.” True story! Anyway, I know it isn’t fair, but when listening to cricket you can’t help but compare the coverage with other sports. We have had wall-to-wall tennis over the past Wimbledon fortnight, but apart from a few exceptions the commentators are reliably dull - bring back Boris, that’s what I say - and I don’t mean Johnson either! Plus the fact that - why is it that the BBC insist on interviewing every single winner on the show-courts even if they don’t have anything interesting to say? Sometimes, it really is cringeworthy. Anyway back to cricket on the wireless. It has to be said that cricket and cricketers in England are in the main middle-class, and it has to be also admitted that a majority of the present England cricket squad were privately educated.

In saying this, the game of cricket at club level in whole parts of the midlands and north in the UK are dominated by players of Southern Asian extraction and the game is all the better for that fact. Nevertheless, as a man who loves the game, I always hope that cricket should take its rightful place in ordinary comprehensive schools across the country as it once did, but I don’t hold up much hope for that anytime soon. However, amongst all the different forms of the game currently on show - two things make my heart swell - Test cricket against the Aussies and the growth of women’s cricket across all the various elements of the game. Oh, and before I forget - listening to cricket on the wireless in the garden, glass of wine in hand - a chap could die and go to heaven.