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Skin in the Game ft. Scott Oliver
126 Plays16 days ago
Jamie has a side strain, and our guest - author Scott Oliver - once had an injury too, which he tells us about whether we want him to or not. But we'll let him off as he also shares fascinating anecdotes from the weird and wonderful world of international cricketers plying their trade in the club game. Also features Dressing Room 101, Stump the Hosts and more.
Get a FREE chapter from Scott's Sticky Dogs and Stardust - The Second Innings, all about Jesse Ryder's time at New Brighton, by clicking on this link: https://bit.ly/3JHfmc5
The Last Hour cricket podcast is brought to you by Westcoast Workwear, a nationwide supplier of branded workwear and uniforms. Visit westcoastworkwear.co.uk to view products and services.
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Transcript
00:00:06
Tom Evans
and it has plan to work with other programs. Basically at westcoastworkwork.co.uk and services.
Introduction to Last Hour Cricket Podcast
00:00:42
Tom Evans
Hello, hello, hello. Welcome to the Last Hour Cricket podcast, a podcast about cricket in Merseyside and beyond. My name is Tom Evans from Merseyside Cricket Online.
00:00:51
Scott Oliver
Thank you.
00:00:52
Tom Evans
Joining me as ever is my co-host, Jamie Bowman. how are you doing, Jamie?
00:00:56
Jamie Bowman
I'm good, Tom. I'm good. Carrying a little cricket-related injury, but apart from that, I'm all good.
00:01:02
Tom Evans
What why have you done?
00:01:03
Jamie Bowman
um i'd like I'm going to call it a side strain. But, ah yeah, I made a a very ill-advised attempt to dive in a game the other day.
00:01:07
Tom Evans
ah side strain.
00:01:13
Jamie Bowman
and landed on ma Landed on my side.
00:01:13
Tom Evans
I was going to say, you know
00:01:16
Jamie Bowman
And, yeah, it's not something's not right, but there you go.
00:01:20
Tom Evans
yout you don't bowl fast enough to strain your side, do you?
00:01:23
Jamie Bowman
No, this was in the field, Tom. this was I was diving around in the field.
00:01:25
Tom Evans
Yeah. Yeah, well, that just goes to show it's always ah always was a mistake.
Scott Oliver: Cricket Writing and Local Leagues
00:01:34
Tom Evans
Our guest for this episode is a distinguished sports writer whose CV includes a column on Crickinfo and the Club Cricket Hall of Fame in the Wisdom Cricket Monthly Magazine. He's also the author of two volumes of Sticky Dogs and Stardust, telling the stories of when some of cricket's biggest names slummed in the leagues with the rest of us.
00:01:52
Tom Evans
Volume 1, which was Wisdom's Book of the Year in 2024, featured Kirtley Ambrose's time at Chester-Boughton Hall, while Volume 2, published in March, features Jesse Ryder's rollercoaster season at New Brighton.
00:02:04
Tom Evans
His Facebook page, Cricket Superstars in the Leagues, features several anecdotes and tidbits that didn't make their way into the books. And of all the last hour guests we've had so far, he is the one with the least understanding of the words, can you provide me with a short pen pick of yourself for the intro, Scott Oliver, ladies and gentlemen.
00:02:22
Tom Evans
How you doing, Scott?
00:02:24
Scott Oliver
Very well, thanks. i mean I could have done twice the length. that It's always been a bit of a problem of mine. That's why I write long form features. So, yeah.
00:02:33
Tom Evans
Can I just explain the listener, he did do twice the length, and i and but that that that was the cut-down version.
00:02:39
Tom Evans
I'm now exhausted, so ja Jamie, you'll have to do the talking from now on. Yeah.
00:02:39
Scott Oliver
ah
00:02:43
Scott Oliver
i I did include a bit of cricket credentials as well, um which he unfortunately snipped out there. But just to say that I did play a half-decent standard of club cricket and had a few good pros under my watch who were partly the inspiration for the book.
00:02:51
Tom Evans
Bye.
00:03:00
Scott Oliver
So, yeah. One of them went on to play for Ormskirk, um Adam Sanford. And I think he took a hat trick with the first three balls of the match once. Maybe somebody up there can confirm that.
00:03:13
Scott Oliver
But yeah, so anyway, thanks very much for having me. Good to be here.
00:03:16
Tom Evans
Thank you for coming on. I was going to come on to that actually. Was it your experience of playing club cricket that sort of gave you the inspiration to sort of follow up on um the subject of pros playing in the leagues?
00:03:30
Scott Oliver
Definitely part of it. yeah we Yeah, you know, it's a magical part of the club game. It's increased less so now. Obviously, we know the reasons. um you know the encroachment on the English summer by all these T20 leagues Yeah, they don't need the money to come and play for whoever for for a summer.
00:03:49
Scott Oliver
um So but back when I was playing, I came across quite a few Test cricketers, some of them quite unpleasant experiences at the time, but they're quite good memories later.
00:04:01
Scott Oliver
um And yeah, I knew a lot about the Lancashire League because when I'd been captain and we needed sub pros, it was often the first port of call for me to go to their website, right, who's in the Lancashire League this year?
00:04:13
Scott Oliver
and then they'd tell us the price and we'd go, okay well, we'd maybe go to Northland's Tuesday instead. But, um yeah, so I kind of started off from thinking, right, it's a magical part of the game.
00:04:27
Scott Oliver
What stories are out there? And I did the first one for Crick Info, which was Viv Richards. which had some sensational photos. He was still in his pomp, locked up in a helicopter, landed on the outfield, had a Slazinger bat under his arm and fedora on his head and then kind of strolled out to bat.
00:04:46
Scott Oliver
um So, yeah, just took it from there, really. And the more digging you do, the more you find. I found one yesterday. Andy Bickle played in the Basset Law League in Nottinghamshire and hit six sixes in and over for his club. So...
00:05:01
Scott Oliver
Yeah, you're always unearthing little little nuggets.
00:05:06
Tom Evans
It's fascinating. it's it's it's
Club Cricket Dynamics: Pros and Amateurs
00:05:08
Tom Evans
It's almost a unique dynamic and in all of sports, isn't it? you you just don't get i mean You just don't get it as much in cricket anymore, but you just don't get that and know in other sports. sort of the People at or near the very top of the game sort of coming to it's a play alongside genuine amateurs and kids. and sort of yeah that That kind of dynamic is is is unique to club cricket.
00:05:30
Scott Oliver
Absolutely. I mean, you're still going to get players who aren't famous, who will become famous, who have a spell in league cricket. um and You know, people, there's people, I had a look at the New Zealand team from the last World Cup.
00:05:46
Scott Oliver
2023 World Cup and loads of their players had been as very young players in various leagues. ah Matt Henry, Tom Latham, yada yada, Jimmy Neesham and so on and so forth. So I think you'll get that type of story, but I think it'd be...
00:06:02
Scott Oliver
It's virtually impossible now to get a peak age global start playing the club game. um And so Viv was 34, I think, when he played for Rishton.
00:06:15
Scott Oliver
And he would then go on. He was still the West Indies captain. He was like world ranked number three batsman. would go on to play for Glamorgan. So, you know, that was an A-list player at the peak of his powers. Alan Donald was 29 when he played for Rishton.
00:06:31
Scott Oliver
Don't know about you guys, but I probably am going on holiday that week. And sorry, Laz, I'm not available.
00:06:37
Jamie Bowman
Yeah.
00:06:39
Scott Oliver
um So, yeah, those types of stories, I think, yeah, they've they've gone. but um But prior to, like, Certainly prior to the T20 explosion, it was relatively common. And then going back to 1968, when county cricket opened its doors to overseas players, before then, pretty much all the top boys were playing league cricket on Saturday afternoons. yeah Gary Sobers, Frank Worrall, all those type of people, Wes Hall. so So, yeah, depending on how what part of history you look at, it depends what kind of level of player you've got. But even so, and um finding those ones at the start of their career, is it's there they're quite interesting stories as well. you know
00:07:22
Scott Oliver
How much do they dominate? There's players you'd expect to dominate who really struggle, you know coming over 19-, 18-year-olds, playing league cricket, you know iffy wickets, let's say, but expectation.
00:07:35
Scott Oliver
ah Home, the members being very demanding that they win matches and so forth. So yeah, those stories are still out there, but not not prime age players.
00:07:49
Jamie Bowman
It's fascinating, isn't it, Scott?
00:07:49
Tom Evans
Yeah, it's and really good.
00:07:51
Jamie Bowman
Because it's been fresh in my mind because I've been i've been it putting up some pictures in our Hall of Fame at Sefton Park, in Internationals Hall of Fame. And we were lucky enough to have three Barbadians on a scheme coming over when they were youngsters.
00:08:07
Jamie Bowman
And they've they've all gone on to play test cricket. And it's ah it's it's great. They all came over as 18, 19-year-olds.
00:08:15
Jamie Bowman
Sean Greaves, Jamel Warrickon, Shane Dowrich. And they've all gone on to play test cricket. And, you know, Justin's in the team at the moment. So, yeah, it's fascinating, isn't it? When you see, and this is 10 years later, he's playing for the West Indies. You know, it's it's great to see that progression, isn't it? And when you catch those young players ah right at the start of their career and then see where they go.
00:08:38
Jamie Bowman
of course, a lot of them won't even make it, will they?
00:08:42
Scott Oliver
No, absolutely not. um I think one interesting aspect of that type of story is do they retain a link back to the club? and Do they rock up like random Saturday when they're in the country and sort of stand on the boundary or do they maintain friendships? And yeah, most of the stories have that that aspect to it.
00:09:02
Scott Oliver
um I've, yeah, Ranganer Herath, I skipped and I'm still in touch with him fairly regularly. Imran Tahir, you know, he's got still got a house in Stoke-on-Trent and he would, when I was still playing up until 2018, you know, he would turn up here and there and just kind of watch the game from the boundary. So,
00:09:21
Scott Oliver
I think the only one where there was like an absolute sort of fallout um of the main real stars was Mr. Peterson after his fairly unhappy, well, in his mind, unhappy year at Canock in the Birmingham League.
00:09:39
Scott Oliver
And yeah, he, well, it's in the first book. It didn't end all that well. He was quite um irritated by not getting the amount of overs he
Challenges for Pros in League Cricket
00:09:49
Scott Oliver
felt he deserved. But the captain was Laurie Potter, who played, I don't know, 12, 13 years of first-class cricket for Leicestershire and Kent.
00:09:58
Scott Oliver
And they had the Staffordshire first-choice spinner, a very good bowler as the second spinner. So he Peterson, at the time, thought he was an off-spinner. um And the apocryphal story, which Laurie sadly tells me isn't true, but the apocryphal story was Peterson had batted nine, I think, against England that winter, got a few wickets against NASA and NASA's team.
00:10:25
Scott Oliver
And he got to Canuck and Laurie said, look, mate, I don't rate you bowling, but you're a hell of a batsman. You're going up to number three. um But yeah, he so he he basically transformed his game from off spinner to batsman in that season, but he still wanted to bowl and was moaning a lot and was getting pumped.
00:10:44
Scott Oliver
um And Laurie ended up saying, look, man, you're the third best bowler of the team, or but I can't do much about it.
00:10:47
Tom Evans
and
00:10:51
Scott Oliver
So Yeah, um it ended in tears there. He didn't turn up for the last game when they were in the thick of a title challenge. He went to watch his mate play down the road because he'd fallen out with too many people. So not not a complete surprise, I wouldn't imagine, for the for the reader to to find that out. But yeah, mostly it's a feel-good story of some connections maintained and links sort of forged. So yeah.
00:11:21
Jamie Bowman
It's a great experience for the players as well, isn't it?
00:11:21
Tom Evans
It was...
00:11:23
Jamie Bowman
You know, the these guys who, as you say, these guys who play in the same team and play against them. i I was lucky enough to have a drink on Saturday night at Norfolk Hall with ah Paul Jenkins, who's a renowned veteran of the Liverpool comp, you know, hundreds and hundreds of wickets over the years and was knowing we were talking to you, I I was asking him about pros he'd faced and he was waxing lyrical, said the best batter he'd ever bowled to was Wazim Jaffa.
00:11:54
Jamie Bowman
who played at the Liverpool comp for Ainsdale. And he said he was just he he bowled the best he'd ever bowled against him. And Jaffa had just so much time and and was able to was able to play balls off the pitch, you know which he'd not seen before and things like that. So it's great hearing those experiences of of of these brilliant bowlers we see in the comp, you know having to face these brilliant test players, isn't it?
00:12:22
Scott Oliver
Absolutely, and that's really what brings the stories alive is um me finding people who have who are very quotable and have good memories, who can give me the anecdotes to lay on top of that foundation.
00:12:37
Scott Oliver
um And yeah, when you hit, ah you'll know Tom very well this, when you hit jackpot like that with a quotable guy, it does the work for you with the story really.
00:12:39
Tom Evans
Mm-hmm.
00:12:48
Scott Oliver
um wasn't jaffer also played for my club but i was in the twos by that stage um but he did pretty well he was well liked by everybody um and he was far more mild-mannered at the time than he's subsequently become as this firebrand Indian Pundit but but a very good player I know about his record in the comp he went think he in he was absolutely dominant in two or three other leagues as well Huddersfield league Birmingham league which is really strong so and I think he might
00:13:18
Jamie Bowman
ah believe I believe the average ah believe he averaged something like 140 the Birmingham League or something completely crazy.
00:13:24
Scott Oliver
he did uh
00:13:25
Jamie Bowman
Yeah.
00:13:25
Scott Oliver
He had a year at Wolverhampton and one at Himley and and yeah absurd stats. But I think he might be the leading run scorer ever in Indian first-class cricket. So it's not a complete surprise to me that he went okay in the leagues.
00:13:42
Jamie Bowman
c Incredible.
00:13:43
Tom Evans
what what What do you make, Scott, of the the argument which we sometimes see advanced by um listeners of this show and readers of my stuff, so I think it's only fair to put the put the point to you, that...
00:13:55
Tom Evans
um Pros can sometimes dominate too much, ah particularly spinners who will just hold up and end all day in time cricket where there's restriction on overs.
00:14:06
Tom Evans
um ah You know, some people don't like that aspect of of the comp and other open leagues, and they'll prefer club cricket to be ah pure amateur sport.
00:14:16
Tom Evans
Yeah. Personally, i think you can probably tell what my view on this is but by by the tone I'm taking here, but but but you know with you but you telling so many of these stories and obviously loving this aspect of the game so much, what what what do you think of of of that argument?
Debating Pros in Amateur Cricket: Should They Play?
00:14:33
Scott Oliver
Well, I ah don't think you need a pro to lock down one end with a spinner all day. You know, it could be a local player. So in that Jesse Ryder chapter, they had Ashraf Nawab, who was suggested to me for the Hall of Fame, but he didn't fancy that.
00:14:46
Tom Evans
Yeah, of course.
00:14:50
Scott Oliver
He's got, I think, 1,000 top-flight comp wickets. So there's nothing to stop him bowling all day at one end, right?
00:14:58
Tom Evans
No.
00:14:58
Scott Oliver
It doesn't have to be a pro. So I think that there are two slightly different questions there. but But, you know, back in the day, Lancashire League, it would be pro versus pro to a degree.
00:15:09
Scott Oliver
um And, i you know, i have to confess, and when I had Imran for three years, broken up by two years, the first two years we had a strong attack and I never gave him the new ball.
00:15:24
Scott Oliver
It would be, you know, 12, 14 overs before he came on because I wanted to play the right way in a sense. But that was, you know, I wouldn't have done that in a tokenistic way. that Those two new ball bowlers merited it.
00:15:40
Scott Oliver
um Fast forward 2008, we'd both been away for two years and the bowling stocks had thinned out a lot. And it didn't take me long to realise, look, he's going to have to bowl half our overs if we're going to be competitive.
00:15:54
Scott Oliver
And um also, we we played on the same pitch till early August to give him a helping hand, but we exploited the rules. um And it's a fine balance, I think, between...
00:16:09
Tom Evans
Thank you.
00:16:10
Scott Oliver
Personally, i would err on the side of i i think the regulations in the league would need to be changed to cap the bowling. I think if you want that perfect old-style cricket of timed games and no um regulations limiting bowlers' contribution,
00:16:28
Scott Oliver
then you have to occasionally be prepared for games where, look, a spinner is the best bowler, if especially if he's the best bowler in the team, that it's just the right cricket decision to have him bowl all day.
00:16:43
Scott Oliver
So I think it would be it would be more damaging to the game if a captain felt compelled to take him out of the attack in an arse nipper match-type situation
00:16:48
Jamie Bowman
Thank
00:16:55
Scott Oliver
to so either spread the game around or to be seen to be um not leaning too heavily on on one player. I mean, the bottom line is a batsman can bat all day, right? So your overseas player can open the batting, bat 50 overs or however many it is in whichever league and dominate.
00:17:14
Scott Oliver
And because of that, and because most leagues now do cap bowlers' inputs, Most clubs sensibly go for batting pros.
00:17:26
Scott Oliver
So it has an environmental effect in that way. And to me, that means that good club players coming through who want to be tested don't really get tested as much as batters facing club pro bowlers.
00:17:41
Scott Oliver
As young bowlers, they might face top line batters. But yeah, the game has skewed in that way because the logical thing, if you're pro can only bowl 11 overs out of 55 or whatever it is, is to go for a batsman who can bat all day. You know, it's just going to be more sensible, more value for money. So i don't like I don't like restrictions to bowlers anyway, full stop, but I get it.
00:18:07
Scott Oliver
But I would want them to be generous restrictions that don't distort the game in the name of fairness.
00:18:16
Tom Evans
I think, like you said, there's a couple of parallel arguments almost running. There's sort of the quality of the individual games and also sort of the longer-term view of are the pros blocking and sort of paid semi-professional players? and There could be local players.
00:18:34
Tom Evans
Are they blocking the path for... for and young players coming through. um And I think it's sort of got two different two answers at the different ends of the scale, because I think at the top level, um no, they're not, because the the young players will get in the team and they want and need to be playing against professional cricketers, because if that's what they want to do, you know, if they get the call up for Lancashire's second XI and eventually Lancashire's first XI, which we've seen a few players do over the past couple of years, they they need to have that experience of playing against professional cricketers.
00:19:07
Tom Evans
i And I think there's real danger of throwing the baby out of the bathwater when it comes to protecting you know club clubs who are developing their own young players, protecting those players, making sure they get game time.
00:19:22
Tom Evans
It's It's important, but it's not everything. you know The comp is, at the top level, a very, very competitive, high-quality league, like lots of leagues around the country are.
00:19:34
Tom Evans
And they're there to produce cricketers, not just to give people a chance to play cricket. And I think you know having professionals in the team is a huge ah huge part of that.
00:19:47
Scott Oliver
Yeah, I mean, i think the other thing is that's a holistic view of what the league is for. But for individual clubs, it's about winning, you know, fundamentally.
00:19:58
Tom Evans
Yeah, no, let's go.
00:20:00
Scott Oliver
So being kind of benevolent, cultivated of players for the league and on into a county side isn't really a priority.
00:20:02
Tom Evans
Yeah.
00:20:09
Scott Oliver
But well-run clubs understand that that important. the way to remain strong because if you have a pathway into the first team at a youngish age and you're going to be part of the game, you will attract players.
00:20:23
Scott Oliver
So it's sort of self-fulfilling in that way. um ah Just to touch back on the overs thing, i'm um as I say, I'm loathe to tinker with the game too much, but you couldn' you could do it at the end of a season, say, and say, right, if one bowler has bowled sort of, I don't know, 40% of your, 35% of your overs, 40% of your overs, then you maybe dock them points. So a captain has...
00:20:52
Scott Oliver
can strategically do it over a season without having to take off a spinner on a Bunsen with a game on the line. And that way you will then share your overs out in a kind of good developmental way.
00:21:00
Tom Evans
Mm-hmm.
00:21:05
Scott Oliver
So there are ways around it that don't that don't distort the game at the micro level of the here and now and your captain's decision making. um And, yeah, you know obviously you've you can't have and a 44-year-old dobber and a gun Pakistani spinner bowling you know all the overs from one end because that you would shoot – medium term, you'd shoot yourself in the foot anyway as a club. So there has to be so some kind of way around it. But, um yeah, that's that's how I would do it. But it's not my problem. So...
00:21:39
Tom Evans
No, no, but not mine either.
00:21:40
Scott Oliver
yeah
00:21:41
Tom Evans
I'm glad to say we just get to talk about it. um we We touched on yeah yeah anecdotes about Jesse Ryder's time at New Brighton. What's his or one of the wildest stories you got to tell?
00:21:55
Scott Oliver
I feel like there are wild elements of the story that I wasn't told. So the house parties next to the magazine hotel there.
00:22:00
Tom Evans
that
00:22:06
Scott Oliver
And, you know, I fully understood that.
00:22:07
Jamie Bowman
i'm i'm i'm god I'm good friends with Richie Conlon, who you quote in that and that piece. And I can tell you there are many details that aren't in there.
00:22:18
Scott Oliver
Yeah. To be honest, had they had had there been full disclosure, there would have been a lot that wouldn't have made the cut.
00:22:20
Tom Evans
I'm sorry.
00:22:25
Scott Oliver
But, you know, that was an interesting one because I and initially put something on on your Facebook page, Tom, about to trying to draw in the stories. um And people were reticent, which is fine. And normally I'd want sort of four, maybe five, six um interviewees. I only really got two from New Brighton for that, but they were so good, so quotable, good memory, good detail that I didn't particularly miss having the ah young guns in that Jesse Ryder drinking crew who who were observing a strict omerta about that year. so
00:23:05
Scott Oliver
um yeah it was a i mean there are yeah there are loads of quite wild stories ah in in the other chapters i think there's like there's a few that got sacked or life bands from league stewart mcgills is an interesting one um and subsequently been borne out by the entanglement he's got himself into lately um Yeah, Tino Best, who I played against in the Staffs League, very fast, by the way. Crikey.
00:23:35
Scott Oliver
He got sacked after six
00:23:38
Scott Oliver
So he was a bit of a loose cannon, Tino.
00:23:38
Tom Evans
thank
00:23:41
Scott Oliver
And there are a few, and I think Mark Vermeulen is a fairly well-known story. There's Zimbabwe player, it's not a particularly big name, obviously, but think he was playing for Wernnerf in the central Lanks and got a bit annoyed by barracking and turned around and threw the ball into the into the crowd.
00:23:59
Scott Oliver
And that was his last act in the league. I think he got a three-year ban across the country. So, yeah, in terms of off-field wildness, um obviously people are reluctant to go into details, but I'm pretty sure Shane Warne had a whale of a time in Accrington
00:24:06
Tom Evans
Yeah.
00:24:18
Scott Oliver
Courtney Walsh she was a lively presence up in Hexham, beautiful little Northumberland town there.
00:24:24
Scott Oliver
Six foot six West Indian fellow, not too many of those around. and yeah he was a star attraction in the nightclubs up there so i believe would uh come straight straight from his evening's works uh to the to the match um on the odd occasion so yeah there's what loads of loads of loads of stuff um of that ilk um yeah it's always good to get it so you need people to to open up and know share their secrets really
00:24:30
Tom Evans
All right, sir.
00:24:55
Jamie Bowman
Those cultural clashes can be fascinating, can't they?
00:24:55
Tom Evans
right
00:24:59
Jamie Bowman
And they go both ways, don't they? you know Obviously, some of the young lads who come over here can learn a bit about English culture and and we can learn from them, can't we? I mean it's i think it goes both ways and it it and it and it can ah can enrich in rich you know both players on both sides, I think.
Cultural Exchanges in Cricket
00:25:21
Scott Oliver
know some of the stories are quite a long time ago and people don't remember you know which pubs they went into, but that though often they would break down barriers, particularly in the early 70s, Joel Garner's time.
00:25:30
Jamie Bowman
Mm-hmm.
00:25:32
Scott Oliver
he you know He was taking his white teammates into the Caribbean clubs in Oldham and this, that and the other, and and that kind of fraternization. I think just their very presence helps people get beyond identity politics if you know what i mean and and you just see a human being and that you can only help um get turn abstract ideas into just kind of concrete realities so on that level it was a definitely a good thing in the 60s you know the windrush generation those guys sobers moral
00:26:10
Scott Oliver
Definitely broke down barriers. There's an interesting little one with Sylvester Clarke, actually, when he came over to Bolton in 78 and then had a long career with Surrey. And if you speak to any county cricketer from the 80s, they will tell you he was the man, um the most feared bowler in the country.
00:26:29
Scott Oliver
So he played at Faunworth Social Circle. And at the end of the season, that winter, it might have been a year or two later, a couple of his teammates went over to see him in Barbados.
00:26:42
Scott Oliver
So he had a car sent to them and they were picked up and wound their way up into the into the mountains and dropped off at this shack and, know, kind of pootled in there and everyone, like a classic Western or something, they all turned to look at these four white guys in this rum shack in the hills of Barbados.
00:26:53
Tom Evans
and then the general center of the physical sector of the world is created by the other people.
00:27:04
Scott Oliver
And yeah, they ordered a drink and whatever.
00:27:05
Tom Evans
And we said, well, I'm thinking about something that's lot of stuff.
00:27:05
Scott Oliver
And about 15 minutes later, Sylvester rocks up with his mate, Roddy Estwick, and says, ah right, come on, we're going to Gary Sober's um sort of benefit night in Barbados.
00:27:15
Tom Evans
And then we try to do that.
00:27:20
Scott Oliver
So what are we doing up here then the mountains? He said, well, I just needed to show you what it was like for me when I first came to Bolton. So yeah.
00:27:29
Tom Evans
I don't know if you have.
00:27:31
Scott Oliver
So yeah. yeah So, yeah, yeah definitely but broke down barriers in that sense. And and all of the young'uns, you know, A.B. b de Villiers, Adam Gilchrist, their eyes are completely open to um their own personal journey of standing on their own two feet.
00:27:49
Scott Oliver
um So that's that's a common theme in the story. And, yeah, it depends on how extrovert they are or introvert, how how much they throw themselves into life in their club. A.B. de Villiers didn't drink too much, but we'd always go out on a bender.
00:28:03
Scott Oliver
in Belfast and he would usually have to get in the boot of a car when they when they drove back because there wasn't enough room. So yeah, future greatest white ball batsman ever and thrown into the boot of a car to get back home.
00:28:17
Tom Evans
Mm-hmm.
00:28:20
Scott Oliver
well all good learnings for him
00:28:24
Tom Evans
Yeah, for for fascinating stories. And um anyone who's interested in more of these stories from Scott, his two books are both available from all all good booksellers. And watch this space because soon you'll be able to download a free chapter from volume two of Sticky Dogs and Stardust via Murderside Cricket online.
Local Cricket Achievements and Tributes
00:28:48
Tom Evans
So that that that will be i'll be coming soon.
00:28:51
Tom Evans
um yeah fascinating anecdotes and we could we could talk about them all day. We do have um we didn't have ah local cricket to discuss. um Ormskirk are having possibly one of the one of the most dominant seasons that I can remember from all my years of following slash covering the comp. um They are well very well placed to make it three league titles in a row. um that they they are Nobody at the club will we'll say it's in the bag.
00:29:18
Tom Evans
It's not yet. There's still five games of the season to go, but they i think they need to win three of them and they will be they'll be champions. They also made it through to the national knockout final at Lords, which is a fantastic achievement and will be a great day out for for me as much as as much it will for the players.
00:29:31
Scott Oliver
Thank you.
00:29:36
Tom Evans
um um i'm I'm really looking forward to that and I assume they are too. It's a interesting semi-final against Nolan Dorridge who look a very good side on Sunday came to Brook Lane and absolutely flew out the traps um put Ormskirk under the kind of pressure which they've not really been under that much in the league um and it was you know it was good good from their perspective to see that they managed to turn it round and restrict Nolan Dorridge the second half of their innings and then George Lavelle came out and hit a wonderful century. um
00:30:11
Tom Evans
He got out with about 50 required and they crept over the line, won by two wickets in the last over, so it's a very exciting and a congratulations to them. um There are a few trophies to be handed out over the next couple of weeks. ah Next Monday, Bank Holiday Monday, is the finals day of the Echo Cup T20 competition.
00:30:31
Tom Evans
um Northern Form B, Widness and Newton-Lewillows are in that. It's always good to see.
00:30:36
Scott Oliver
Awesome.
00:30:37
Tom Evans
that There's usually a club from outside the comp gets to finals day. um And that on this occasion, it's Wittness. It'll be good to see them. I know i know you like the likes of Wittness, Neston, who won it a couple of years ago, um Oxton have done well in it as well, and Upton got to the finals day too. They always like to test themselves against the comp sides. And Chesterbott and Hall too, they're one of the... I know they used to be in the comp, but they've they've they've won it um nearly as much as anybody else in the past.
00:31:07
Tom Evans
um So it should be a good finals day. Northern and Formby are also, of course, in the Lancashire Cup final the following Sunday up at Blackpool, weather permitting. i just add There's no reason why it should rain in Blackpool any more than it does in Crosby or Formby, but I just had such a miserable day up at Blackpool for last year's Lancashire Cup final.
00:31:29
Tom Evans
um It was just absolutely throwing it down. It's been ages to call it off, and I just associate... going to Blackpool to watch cricket with just watching it rain now. um It's ruined Blackpool for me.
00:31:40
Tom Evans
But it should be a good game if it gets on. And Jamie Stefton-Park's women are in their Lancashire Cup final T20 competition on Sunday. um That's another fantastic achievement for them, obviously, defending the title they won last year.
00:31:54
Tom Evans
That's
00:31:56
Jamie Bowman
Yeah, yeah, fantastic achievement. Again, you know, the playing Ramsbottom, a very strong team, you know, with real history and their women's team has kind of taken on that that mantle of that club. I'm sure ah sure they've had some good pros in the past Ramsbottom. But yeah, it's um it's a great achievement. You know, um I think we forget how quickly this has all happened for many of the the women's sides in the in the region, how quickly...
00:32:24
Jamie Bowman
but ah They've got together and and and made a success and and and are now you know reaching cup finals and winning trophies. So, yeah, it's very exciting for the for the club and good luck good luck to the the women on Sunday at Ormskirk.
00:32:42
Jamie Bowman
Hope they can repeat Ormskirk's feats of last weekend.
00:32:47
Tom Evans
Absolutely. We say the same thing time and time again, but it's such a ah growth area of the game. you know and i thought I think it's fair to say that the pool is contracting for other areas of club cricket, um but in the women's and girls game is just taking off. I think that the opportunities people are getting that they just didn't get in the past is fantastic to see.
00:33:08
Tom Evans
and We do have some some sad news to so talk about as well. um ah Local club cricket has lost Ken Shuttleworth and Billy McGennity over the past few weeks to um hugely well-respected figures in the and and the local game, weren't they, Jamie?
00:33:25
Jamie Bowman
Yeah, it's starting off with Billy. I mean, ah someone someone most people in the comp will have come across, either on the pitch or in the bar. he yeah He was a real character of comp cricket and Mr Birkinhead St Mary's, of of course. And Yeah, very sad. I mean, I'm sure you had dealings with him. Not all good, Tom.
00:33:48
Jamie Bowman
I mean, he could be ah he could be a difficult man, but ah but ah but so passionate about his club and passionate about about cricket.
00:33:51
Tom Evans
Thank you.
00:33:55
Jamie Bowman
And yeah, he'd be very missed by a lot of players, and not least that that that club as well, which he basically seemed to keep going on his own for many years, didn't he?
00:34:06
Tom Evans
Yeah, yeah. He was on to me only a few weeks ago. He put me on to a story, um you know, put me on speaking speaking with Tony Schillinglaw at Birkenhead Park again.
00:34:11
Scott Oliver
Thank you.
00:34:17
Tom Evans
um It was always ah always a pleasure to to speak to, and I was really grateful to Billy for putting me on to that. It was very, very sad news. obviously,
00:34:26
Jamie Bowman
a Merseyside cricketer who played for play for England, played five tests for England and was the first ah first man to take ah take a one-day international wicket as well when he played played for England.
00:34:33
Scott Oliver
So we can't.
00:34:37
Jamie Bowman
And yeah, he was a real legend of Lancashire, took took over 600 first-class wickets. And yeah, very sad news. I interviewed him a few years ago and he was full of full of great anecdotes and stories.
00:34:49
Tom Evans
Yeah.
00:34:49
Jamie Bowman
Really enjoyed that.
00:34:50
Jamie Bowman
And yeah, best best wishes to his family. He was still visiting Old Trafford as much as he could. And I think he lived in Cheshire. And yeah, going to be very, very much missed.
00:35:05
Scott Oliver
I um played against Ken Shuttleworth when I was 16 in the Staffordshire League.
00:35:10
Jamie Bowman
Wow.
00:35:12
Scott Oliver
I think I might have sledged him, like inadvertently, and just kind of ah just a chippy comment. I didn't know who he was. But my God, after tea, did he get stuck into me. It was an absolute fire roasting. i got like i got a very, very bad 40-odd, staying over leg stumps, leg stump and poking at these balls because the previous match, I'd had my foreskin trapped in my box by Dean Hedges.
00:35:44
Tom Evans
okay wait
00:35:44
Scott Oliver
And I was as feeling bit jittery.
00:35:46
Scott Oliver
um So I was poking at these balls and Shuttleworth was absolutely slating me for not getting behind the line. so and yeah But he bought me a drink afterwards and was very very kind. And I said, you need to get that back foot across, lad.
00:36:02
Scott Oliver
And so, yeah, top man shot.
00:36:05
Jamie Bowman
I'm sure this is how he would want to be remembered.
00:36:06
Scott Oliver
Yeah.
00:36:10
Tom Evans
words Words that have never appeared in a club cricket podcast before. Thank you for um that, our episode title.
00:36:16
Scott Oliver
that's
00:36:16
Jamie Bowman
What a beautiful image.
00:36:16
Scott Oliver
ah but
00:36:20
Scott Oliver
There was a little blood salt on the front of my trousers. It's the last ball of the over. Had a bit of a wiggle round as you do and felt like the box and the old chap were taking the same journey. So I'm sorry, I'm going to have to retire.
00:36:38
Scott Oliver
Yeah, not not my best day.
00:36:42
Tom Evans
Moving swiftly on...
00:36:44
Scott Oliver
thank
00:36:47
Tom Evans
It's a big week for ah cricket locally and in other ways as well as that um Lancashire have got two one-day cup games at Egberth this week. um Obviously, it's a huge deal for Liverpool to have Lancashire back after a hiatus of a few years.
00:37:02
Tom Evans
um and but They both sell out fixtures. 2,300, I think, is the the number of tickets they've allowed. They've both sold out, which is which is fantastic news. um The first of those games, we recorded this on um Wednesday afternoon as the first of those games is going on, we can't really talk much about how how it's gone, but it's it's good news for good news for Liverpool as a city as well that cricket's coming back to it and there's clearly there's clearly still the interest there.
00:37:25
Jamie Bowman
Thank you.
00:37:33
Jamie Bowman
Yeah, the and the Royal London Cup seems to have gained a new lease of life this season, isn't it? We're going to these outgrounds. We've seen some huge crowds, Lancashire at York recently, and other outgrounds all across the country.
00:37:41
Tom Evans
Mm-hmm.
00:37:47
Jamie Bowman
There seems to have been a real appetite for it as a kind of alternative, I suppose, to the 100.
00:37:51
Scott Oliver
Thank
00:37:52
Jamie Bowman
I mean, 2,500 in England. two thousand five hundred in and Liverpool's going be great, isn't it? you almost You almost wonder why they didn't put up a temporary stand. I'm sure they could have sold half that, but obviously, it's ah logistically, I'm sure it's pretty difficult for them.
00:38:06
Jamie Bowman
But yeah, it's fantastic for the city. I and and mean, we all remember the exploits of Lancashire there in 2012 when they won the championship. So briancy yeah brilliant to see Lancashire back at Egberth, yeah?
00:38:16
Tom Evans
twenty twenty colon your life and
00:38:23
Jamie Bowman
Did I say 2012? meant 2011.
00:38:24
Tom Evans
You said 2012, hang your head in shame.
00:38:26
Jamie Bowman
Did I? I know. God bless me. 2011. Dear, oh dear. Yeah, sorry, Langshir.
00:38:33
Tom Evans
It's been a long time since you've interviewed literally anybody from Liverpool Cricket Club, clearly.
00:38:40
Jamie Bowman
So don't let me in.
00:38:42
Tom Evans
Fair enough.
Cricket Irritations and Rule Changes
00:38:43
Tom Evans
Right, it's time to hand things over to our guest, I think, who has promised us a a handful of submissions for Dressing Room 101. um Scott Oliver's ah little cricketing irritations, which Jamie and I will will run the rule over. So, Scott, what have you got for us?
00:38:58
Scott Oliver
Okay, the first one is a quick...
00:38:59
Jamie Bowman
could be ill-fitting boxes by the ill-fitting boxes by the sound of it.
00:39:03
Tom Evans
Yeah.
00:39:03
Scott Oliver
The box was fine, it just didn't have my jockstrap that day. was the only day I'd forgotten So it had to be down the pants and, you know,
00:39:11
Tom Evans
I don't think we actually want you to carry on talking about this, Scott. LAUGHTER
00:39:15
Scott Oliver
um Right, so first one then. um This is ah definitely a club one. Bowlers who run out their run-ups. ah just It just shouldn't happen.
00:39:27
Scott Oliver
And maybe these days it's so sophisticated, you've got Premier League players might take the tape measure and spray out. Yes, but there are still these people who run out their run-up. They should never be allowed to play again.
00:39:43
Tom Evans
ah Okay, wow. um ah I probably i haven't played for a few years, but I probably used to do that. I mean, run is putting it, for possibly exaggerating a little bit, but I would definitely pace out my run-up.
00:39:55
Tom Evans
How how do you know where to...
00:39:55
Scott Oliver
eggs pace is fine
00:39:58
Tom Evans
If you don't have a tape measure and you don't have the spray, how do you...
00:39:58
Scott Oliver
i mean
00:40:01
Scott Oliver
you walk it out
00:40:01
Jamie Bowman
What's the big issue with it for you, Scott?
00:40:04
Scott Oliver
It's just, A, it's completely village, and B, it's inaccurate.
00:40:04
Tom Evans
Yeah. Yeah.
00:40:10
Scott Oliver
You could be tired, you could be fresh, you know. um And these are the bowlers who always bowl no balls. And then when they actually get into the delivery stride of this imaginary run, then they have to go back and find the spot on the outfield that they think is their run-up.
00:40:28
Scott Oliver
um It's not look it's it's not a hill I'm going to die on. It's a minor thing. But you did ask for things that irritate me, and that is one. So there you go.
00:40:37
Tom Evans
That's fine. That's exactly the sort of thing we're after. I don't know about you, Jamie. and umm um I'm struggling to see that see the problem here.
00:40:45
Tom Evans
Do you pace out your run-up, Jamie?
00:40:45
Jamie Bowman
um
00:40:47
Tom Evans
Or did you before you your side strain, obviously?
00:40:47
Jamie Bowman
Well, yeah, I mean, two steps doesn't take long these days.
00:40:53
Jamie Bowman
So it's ah um it's pretty niche, but like I was watching someone do this the other day, actually. And and yeah, I can imagine it.
00:41:04
Jamie Bowman
I can imagine it. um It can take waste of time, can't it? I saw someone doing it proliferately the other day. So, I mean, it's niche, but I'm...
00:41:16
Tom Evans
thats that's That's what we're here for. where Where are you when this is going on? in In your mind, when this is winding you up, are you are you batting? Are you the non-striker? are you just watching?
00:41:17
Jamie Bowman
I'm ready to put it in.
00:41:26
Scott Oliver
ah just watching it would never happen on my watch as a captain um they they I they wouldn't even start the spell i was like if that's what they did sorry mate you're not bowling um yeah I just feel you know there's no good reason to do it because you just do it at nets and then pace it out and that's your run up you know it's pretty easy
00:41:30
Tom Evans
don't
00:41:40
Tom Evans
do
00:41:43
Tom Evans
know
00:41:51
Tom Evans
Okay. um hungry I don't know. what did What do you think, Jamie? Does this get in?
00:41:58
Jamie Bowman
i think I think we should just stick it in to keep Scott happy.
00:42:01
Tom Evans
I think purely for how passionately Scott feels about it, he's clearly onto something. um It's not not something I'd ever thought about before, but...
00:42:14
Tom Evans
There you go. One for one so far, Scott. So what have you got next?
00:42:16
Scott Oliver
Okay. ah People who won't accept that the reverse sweep is a legitimate stroke. The old-timers who believe there's a right way to get out and all that, in my day, we didn't play it in the 1977 Balderdale League, so it therefore cannot ever be a correct stroke.
00:42:38
Scott Oliver
And i have a theory about this, a related theory, that people of that ilk, who are generally the most anti-bassball people out there, vociferously anti-bassball on Facebook.
00:42:50
Scott Oliver
Ben Stokes, an absolute legend, icon of English cricket, who's won us a World Cup final, who's played that innings at Headingley. He gets out reverse sweeping in a test match against India, and it's, for God's sake, Stokes, you Muppet.
00:43:05
Scott Oliver
You know, it's like, I think those people, this is my theory, They are risk-averse, but they are the people, when they played, who were the most selfish and most played for their own stats.
00:43:19
Scott Oliver
You can do the math with your own Facebook networks, but um I'd be fairly sure there's a massive overlap there of guys who would, you know, you'd finish 60 short of a run chase and they would be 52 not out and they'd in the bar with their proud little red inker.
00:43:29
Jamie Bowman
Thank you.
00:43:36
Scott Oliver
And here they are today, hating anyone playing a reverse sweep, no matter how many thousand runs Joe Root scores off it. So that's my second proposition.
00:43:47
Jamie Bowman
do you think Do you think this transfers to umpires? Because I've heard many times, don't sweep in the comp. you know it's it it seems to be it seems to be something that winds umpires up and can influence their LPWs as well.
00:44:01
Scott Oliver
What, reverse sweep or sweep? I mean, sweep, don't sweep in league cricket.
00:44:04
Jamie Bowman
Both.
00:44:05
Scott Oliver
Yeah. I think it's true, yeah. And that is actually going to shade into my third item for you. But, yeah, it's just that just that refusal to accept that it's a viable stroke, particularly if the field is set in a certain way.
00:44:18
Tom Evans
Thank you.
00:44:23
Scott Oliver
I mean, just watch Joe Root bat, mate, and just watch Joss Butler bat. They are scoring a lot of runs. It is a better shot in certain contexts than trying to drive threw extra cover out of the rough.
00:44:38
Scott Oliver
So, you know, deal with it, please.
00:44:40
Tom Evans
I think Ben Duckett as well is another great example of this. He he he plays as many reverse sweeps as he does orthodox sweeps. It's just he has two sweep shots, basically, and he plays them both depending on where the ball is and where the field's set. I think a lot of people are stuck in the past when it comes to quote-unquote unorthodox and orthodox batting.
00:45:05
Tom Evans
um So yeah, I'm entirely in agreement with that. Jamie, anything to add?
00:45:10
Jamie Bowman
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm i'm all for that. He's doing well, isn't he?
00:45:18
Tom Evans
Two out of two. See if you can make it three.
00:45:20
Scott Oliver
so the umpiring thing jamie um i had a big problem as a captain and as a player with what i would call author authoritarian umpires umpires who make no effort whatsoever to create a cordial atmosphere with the players and in particular ones that kind of um assert officious minor points that in a way that penalises you when they could just do it as a little quiet word on the side um to to make the run of the game. Things that don't really affect anything. So one little story, when Imran was our pro, there was this umpire and he stood on the top of this bank on the boundary watching our warm up. I didn't even know the rule, but um Imran was bowling on the edge of the square.
00:46:09
Scott Oliver
and the clock ticked over to within half an hour of the start. He was bowling, it was virtually like a kid's wicket, which was semi-square, not even real square. So this umpire, who will remain la nameless, marched over to me and said, um Scott, I'm here to inform you that Imran Tahir may not bowl for the first half an hour of the game.
00:46:30
Scott Oliver
was like, why is that then? He explained the reason. I was like, okay, fair enough. Why didn't you just say can you stop bowling on the square? Everyone's happy. So it's that that, that type of person. there ah There will be people like this in every league and they are always the worst umpires.
00:46:49
Scott Oliver
And yet they're always the biggest moaners if players show tempers get a little bit the better of them. So that is my third proposal.
00:46:59
Tom Evans
Okay. Carry me a bit more weight if it wasn't coming from someone who's just complained about bowlers pacing out their run-up.
00:46:59
Jamie Bowman
Yeah, the I've seen a few examples.
00:47:10
Tom Evans
is is you know but Maybe that umpire gets particularly wound up about bowlers bowling on the edge of the square within 30 minutes of the game, and he can't explain why, he just doesn't like it.
00:47:19
Scott Oliver
Thank you.
00:47:22
Tom Evans
But I take your point, it's kind of you know the umpire's there to A big thing that they get graded on is the quality of their communication with the players and the captains, isn't it? um but's say It's a very important part of umpiring. so And if you just if you go into it with the attitude of just enforcing the rules, then you know yeah you're you're risking sort of having an unpleasant time and making it an unpleasant time for everybody, aren't you?
00:47:49
Jamie Bowman
Yeah, a quiet word goes a long way, doesn't it, Scott, I think.
00:47:49
Scott Oliver
and
00:47:52
Scott Oliver
Yeah, you just, you know, it's quiet authority rather than ah showy authority. That's the thing. um And usually those types of umpires, the game gets some out of hand for them much more often than for that type of person who's and a well-rounded, um affable sort of person who can yeah manage the game in ah in a mature way.
00:48:17
Scott Oliver
Yeah, so there we go.
00:48:19
Tom Evans
and Okay, I don't have any objections to this. Jamie, you?
00:48:23
Jamie Bowman
and Well, having witnessed having witnessed two umpires time out one of my teammates in a third team cup game this season, when they were when they got lost in Liverpool's pavilion, I think, yeah, I can go for this one.
00:48:39
Tom Evans
Okay. Okay.
00:48:45
Tom Evans
We've not needed Fazir Mohamed yet. um Let's see see how your are your fourth one does, Scott.
00:48:50
Scott Oliver
um So the last one is a general cricket rule, um law, I should say. It's the two behind square law, which I think should be changed to three.
00:49:06
Scott Oliver
So the background to it, obviously it's a body line thing, right? So, yeah, they bowl short at Bradman, whose average slips to whatever, 70 for that series booth.
00:49:18
Scott Oliver
And I can understand it in the age of the West Indies quicks and no helmets and yada, yada. But these days, batsmen, A, are very well protected. and But the reason for it is really to help spinners on turning pitches.
00:49:35
Scott Oliver
So it first came to me when I was watching Alistair Cot bat very well in India one year on those red soil pitches. And the ball was spinning big. And the field that they were forced to set for him, so a left for a left-on spinner, getting it to spit back into his gloves and what have you.
00:49:55
Scott Oliver
So they could only have one catch around the corner, really. And it really needed two, like a back a leg gully or a backward short leg, as well as the leg slip. So if you go for two, then you basically give him a free sweep shot every time that he can't be out on unless it hits his glove onto his body and goes straight up above his head.
00:50:15
Scott Oliver
and Otherwise, he can just paddle. There's no 45 man, no man out. So it's a free shot. So I feel like all the other types of bowler, when they're given their optimal conditions to bowl, can stack the field in a way that gives them the best chance of taking wickets.
00:50:24
Tom Evans
Thank
00:50:35
Scott Oliver
um Like swing bowlers and seam bowlers can do that. um And somebody spinning it away from the bat, a spinner, not only do they get the best um angle for the DRS, LBW thing these days, but they can also have, you know, sort of two slips in a gully if it's really ragging.
00:50:57
Scott Oliver
Whereas, yeah, somebody spinning into the bat on a turning pitch basically can't have the field they should have. Two catchers and a 45-man or a man out there you know for the sweep hard sweep on the boundary. So that is my final proposition.
00:51:16
Tom Evans
o
00:51:17
Jamie Bowman
I like that one, Tom. I mean, I love a log i love a leg slip. So I think, and you do see you do see more and more leg slips now, don't you, actually?
00:51:21
Tom Evans
yeah
00:51:25
Jamie Bowman
It's becoming a very kind of legitimate way of getting a batter out, isn't it? You've seen it.
00:51:30
Tom Evans
More and more to the seamers, certainly.
00:51:32
Tom Evans
um England are big proponents of it. m All I will say about this is it's it's part of team selection, isn't it? you you you pick You pick left-handed batters. The opposition's got a really good...
00:51:32
Jamie Bowman
Yeah.
00:51:46
Tom Evans
left-arm spinner, you pick left-handed batters because they're a better match-up for them and vice versa. You make sure got a spinner who can turn it away from the turn it away from the batter for that reason. And is it just sort of... ah you just can end up with one type of bowler dominating more in these matches? you know Yeah, Alistair Cook was an exceptional batter and a very, very good player of spin.
00:52:13
Tom Evans
and he's He's an outlier. He's not the... you know He played it well... because he's Alistair Cook, not because of the two-behind-square rule. um I just think if if you lose the rule because you want spinners to be able to create more wicket-taking opportunities, you're going to open the door to um certain international teams. I'm looking at England um going for that round-the-wicket short-ball policy dug-in, not particularly exciting or entertaining cricket.
00:52:48
Tom Evans
you know you're going to make that a more valuable proposition if you can have an extra capture on the leg side as well as as well as cover on the boundary, if you what mean.
00:52:57
Scott Oliver
Well, there's no there is nothing is dissuading England from doing that anyway. All that happens is the third closest fielder to that quadrant will be one of three in a line. One at short leg, one at regular square leg and one at deep square leg.
00:53:14
Scott Oliver
All the rule change will do is the guy at deep square leg can go five yards behind square. So that's not going to affect it. As for picking a left hand ah team of left-handers to count, that you're just not going to drop Alistair Cook for an inferior right-handed batsman.
00:53:31
Scott Oliver
um your pick And arguably, and this Duncan Fletcher thought this was the case, and I tend to agree, it's harder on big spinning pitches to face the ball turning into you than turning away from you.
00:53:45
Scott Oliver
What I'm getting at is that when it's turning away from you, you've got loads of fielders there to take the chance.
00:53:48
Tom Evans
I
00:53:51
Scott Oliver
Whereas when it's turning into you, you probably have to sacrifice one to get a correct field for the in the ways I described earlier. Otherwise, if you get two catches there, you're basically giving the batsman a free sweep every ball. So, yeah.
00:54:06
Scott Oliver
So that's great.
00:54:09
Tom Evans
think it's definitely worth... worth trying out, worth experimenting with and seeing seeing how it goes, I guess. I um do worry sometimes about tinkering with rules that have been in place, and i'm not not forever, but that have been in place for a while, but there's unintended and unexpected consequences of it. um you know But you know the game evolves and the game changes, and like you say,
00:54:36
Tom Evans
Bodyline bowling isn't the the physical threat to the well-being of the batters that it used to be. So we don't really need to to discourage that as much, do we? So, mean...
00:54:48
Tom Evans
i mean
00:54:48
Jamie Bowman
um I'm loathe to give this one, Tom, I'll have to admit, because I want to keep Scott angry.
00:54:49
Tom Evans
well
00:54:53
Jamie Bowman
I think he's best when he's angry.
00:54:57
Tom Evans
Yeah, this has been the one that I've been least persuaded on, to be honest. um'm um I'm um a little bit kind of um a little bit on the fence on this, to be honest. And um if yeah, we have to turn down one, don't we? So...
00:55:14
Scott Oliver
oh
00:55:14
Tom Evans
There we go. three ah Three in, one out. So not not not a bad ratio there, Scott.
00:55:20
Scott Oliver
jason
00:55:20
Tom Evans
um Are you ready to stump the host? You promised us two questions, didn't you? This is the section where our guest sets Jamie and myself a cricket trivia question with the intention of
Cricket Trivia and Farewell
00:55:32
Tom Evans
s stumping us.
00:55:32
Tom Evans
Thank
00:55:33
Scott Oliver
OK, so the first one is from my league cricket research and it's a number And if you get within 200 of that number, I will consider it a correct answer.
00:55:45
Scott Oliver
um So what is the largest crowd recorded crowd number for a club cricket match in the world?
00:55:56
Scott Oliver
um It happens to have been 1921
00:56:00
Scott Oliver
priestly cup final which is the bradford league knockout and it was i think it was salter featuring sf barnes against keithley so yeah what was the crowd and i've never heard of a bigger one than this and the bradford league website claims it's the biggest ever so that's good enough for me
00:56:21
Jamie Bowman
yeah to say You have to call him the great SF Barnes, by the way.
00:56:24
Tom Evans
where Where was this held? Can you tell us that?
00:56:26
Scott Oliver
Yeah, the great SFBond. It was at Bradford Park Avenue they've once.
00:56:30
Tom Evans
It was at proper ground.
00:56:31
Scott Oliver
i think mr Yeah, ground,
00:56:35
Jamie Bowman
I've been there and it is quite big.
00:56:36
Tom Evans
and no Yeah, and they weren' they weren't very fussy about capacity in those days. Hmm.
00:56:43
Tom Evans
Hmm.
00:56:45
Jamie Bowman
I'm thinking about 40,000.
00:56:48
Tom Evans
40.
00:56:49
Jamie Bowman
Yeah.
00:56:49
Tom Evans
I'm thinking lower. I'm
00:56:51
Tom Evans
going to say 12,000.
00:56:51
Tom Evans
I'm going to say 12,000.
00:56:52
Jamie Bowman
Wasn't a lot to do in them days, was there?
00:56:55
Tom Evans
That's incredible.
00:56:55
Scott Oliver
ah
00:56:58
Scott Oliver
well it's much Tom you're much closer it's 14 179 um for a
00:56:59
Jamie Bowman
Oh, God.
00:57:06
Scott Oliver
um for but for a club match and apparently pro rata that that was something like 36 grand they took on the gate that day so uh yeah tidy crowd
00:57:08
Tom Evans
kind
00:57:20
Scott Oliver
So but i think the second question is, I'm going to read you a list of names.
00:57:20
Jamie Bowman
Amazing.
00:57:26
Scott Oliver
It's a sequence, and you have to give me the last three names in the sequence in order. So Clive Lloyd, Vivian Richards, Mohinda Armanath, David Boone, Wasim Akram, Aravinda Da Silva, Shane Warne, Ricky Ponting,
00:57:49
Scott Oliver
adam gilchrist ms dhoney who are the last three names in that sequence do you know what the pattern is
00:57:59
Tom Evans
Yeah, I do. It's player of the match in World Cup finals.
00:58:04
Scott Oliver
correct
00:58:06
Jamie Bowman
Wow, well done, Tom.
00:58:06
Tom Evans
um So the penultimate one is Ben Stokes. ah
00:58:14
Tom Evans
Who was it last week?
00:58:16
Tom Evans
Australia bowled India out quite cheaply, didn't But I feel like...
00:58:17
Jamie Bowman
you know australia Yeah, it wasn't it? It would be an Australian because they beat New Zealand.
00:58:23
Tom Evans
i But I feel like it was a batter. I i feel like they had a sort of a...
00:58:30
Tom Evans
I can't remember they if they won batting. Did they win chasing? ah
00:58:34
Scott Oliver
No.
00:58:35
Jamie Bowman
Yeah, i
00:58:36
Tom Evans
and as As soon as I realised Australia were going to win the World Cup, I tuned out. ah
00:58:42
Scott Oliver
a clue on this one? Yeah, so
00:58:44
Jamie Bowman
yeah go on.
00:58:44
Tom Evans
No, not yes. not thinking about the clues said yet.
00:58:46
Jamie Bowman
Oh, no, all right.
00:58:49
Jamie Bowman
So did ah did did Australia, they bowled New Zealand out cheaply, didn't they? Is that is that right?
00:58:55
Tom Evans
In 2015, yeah, yeah, very cheaply. And knocked them off very quickly.
00:58:59
Scott Oliver
we're doing...
00:58:59
Jamie Bowman
Is that the last one? Is that the one we're looking for?
00:59:01
Scott Oliver
2015 is the most difficult one in the sequence. That's why I came up with this question. You've got Spen Stokes. So the 2023 one is an Australian batsman who had a very good year in high-profile matches and is still a key part of the test side.
00:59:19
Tom Evans
Travis Head.
00:59:20
Scott Oliver
Correct. So, yeah, 2015 World Cup final man of the match, you've done it. But going struggle.
00:59:28
Tom Evans
okay
00:59:29
Scott Oliver
Yeah.
00:59:30
Tom Evans
Ah, now, I've got a thought, right? Hear me out. And this isn't my answer, yeah? I'm just going to discuss it with Jamie, right?
00:59:40
Jamie Bowman
mean
00:59:40
Tom Evans
So don't take this as my answer. Was it James Faulkner?
00:59:43
Jamie Bowman
He was a very good one-day bowler, wasn't he?
00:59:46
Tom Evans
that That was her his his time as well, like mid-2010s. That was his. They board New Zealand out very cheaply, about $150, think.
00:59:55
Jamie Bowman
and Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:59:57
Tom Evans
Not come up in no time. I don't think there was time for a batter to be one of the matches in that game.
01:00:02
Jamie Bowman
That's not a bad guess. I like that. I like that.
01:00:05
Tom Evans
Have you got any any advance on James Faulkner?
01:00:09
Jamie Bowman
Just trying to think, if there was it was there a spinner? who It wouldn't have been... No, because he said it was the hardest to get. So, yeah, I kind i kind of like your theory on this. Tom, let's go for that.
01:00:21
Tom Evans
James Faulkner.
01:00:24
Scott Oliver
That is very good.
01:00:27
Jamie Bowman
Oh, Tom, that's superb! ah
01:00:31
Tom Evans
I earned that one.
01:00:33
Jamie Bowman
um not superb
01:00:34
Tom Evans
Thank you. Thank you, Mark Nicholas, and thank you, Scott.
01:00:39
Tom Evans
Good one. Yeah, what did be was it if it was for his bowling, I take it, because they wouldn't down him in the back.
01:00:43
Scott Oliver
Yeah, they only got a three-fer, but perhaps they just didn't want to give it to Mitchell Stark because he was going to get a player of the tournament.
01:00:44
Tom Evans
Yeah.
01:00:50
Scott Oliver
So... It was probably the least sort of convincing one and the lowest profile player probably of all of those.
01:00:52
Tom Evans
Yeah.
01:00:58
Scott Oliver
Yeah. So good.
01:00:58
Jamie Bowman
He was in good nick, wasn't he, back then?
01:00:59
Scott Oliver
Yeah. Yeah.
01:01:02
Jamie Bowman
And played for Lancashire, didn't he, as well? Very good.
01:01:05
Scott Oliver
yeah
01:01:06
Tom Evans
Yes, of course. Yeah, it was the one ponting Gilchrist sequence that clued me in to what you were what you were doing as well, what the sequence was, sort of the the domination of that Australian team.
01:01:17
Scott Oliver
yeah
01:01:18
Jamie Bowman
Very good.
01:01:19
Jamie Bowman
Very good. very good
01:01:21
Tom Evans
Excellent. Good stuff. um I guess it just remains me to say thank you very much for coming on, Scott. That was a that was a fascinating hour so, perhaps a little bit more of chat.
01:01:33
Tom Evans
Thank you.
01:01:34
Scott Oliver
Thank you for having me. Very enjoyable.
01:01:37
Jamie Bowman
I do urge you to go out and get Scott's books. that They are just superb reads. They really are. So, yeah.
01:01:45
Tom Evans
nice one great stuff Jamie enjoy your and enjoy your break we'll be back um we'll be back soon with another hopefully another great guest and another good podcast for you um thank you very much for listening don't forget to subscribe like share review do whatever you can to spread the word about um about the last hour cricket podcast and Yeah, we'll be back soon. Don't forget to watch this space as well. Watch out on Merzside Cricket Online on the Facebook group and on the website for details of how you can download your your free chapter of Scott's second volume of Sticky Dogs and Stardust.
01:02:21
Tom Evans
Great title, by the way. Was that your word? Did you come up with that?
01:02:25
Scott Oliver
Yeah, it was. It took a while to come out, but you know a bit of alliteration never hurts. And herz yeah that it gets both sides across.
01:02:30
Tom Evans
Yeah. Yeah.
01:02:32
Scott Oliver
So, yeah.
01:02:34
Tom Evans
Really, really evocative.
01:02:34
Scott Oliver
Yeah.
01:02:36
Jamie Bowman
well.
01:02:36
Tom Evans
Great stuff. um yeah thank you Thank you, Scott. Thank you, Jamie. Thank you, everyone, for listening. Take care.
01:02:41
Tom Evans
Bye-bye.
01:02:42
Jamie Bowman
know
01:02:42
Jamie Bowman
yeah well