A TFT subscriber from the ECB coaches association has been in touch. The game desperately needs an influx of new coaches so I’ve agreed to help out by publicising the recruitment drive here. If you would like to get involved with cricket coaching, you’ll find some useful information below. Alternatively, if you have any ideas which might help, please feel free to discuss these in the comments. I know your ideas will be greatly appreciated. Initiatives such as All Stars cricket have...
5 Village Cricket Stereotypes
Here’s Daniel Splarn’s village cricket stereotypes – an entertaining look at the characters we see every week on the village green. The Permanently Angry Fast Bowler We’ll start with an absolute staple of village cricket: the habitually furious fast bowler. A perfectly sound and decent bloke off the pitch, this 33-year-old insurance broker becomes a different beast entirely once he’s crossed that white line. You’ll find him striding towards the wicket for another 45 overs of...
Cricket In The Jungle: Singapore
As England lick their wounds after their capitulation in Bangladesh, we’ve got some time to … err … try to forget about it all. Here’s a new article from an old friend of the site, a certain Mr James Hindle. He’s been living in Singapore for the last couple of years and has been plying his idiosyncratic brand of cricket with a league side over there. Here’s his report on the local cricket scene … After Tristan Allen’s excellent 2013 piece on Australian...
Who’s Your Favourite Bat Man?
It’s time for a change of pace today. Rather than Maxie and I charging in off the long run with another polemic about the Lord’s debacle, I’ve decided to gently introduce a new topic – cricket bats. When Maxie and I started TFT a few years ago we wanted the blog to cover amateur cricket too, and become a forum for club and village cricketers like ourselves. We’ve done a bit of this now and again, but not nearly enough. The oscillating fortunes of the England team have generally dominated...
Controversy On the Village Green
Evening all. Every so often Maxie and I write about the laws of the game. It’s not because we’re sticklers for the rules – although I quite like the idea of Maxie playing Statto in Skinner and Baddiel’s Fantasy Football League – it’s because we play a little club cricket, and now and again controversies do arise. For instance, a couple of years ago Maxie wrote a piece about full tosses being called no-ball. The regulations aren’t as simple as you might think. However, that doesn’t prevent...
When Is A Full Toss A No Ball?
Scenario one. An erratic spinner steps up to the crease and delivers a slow, waist-high full toss, which the batsman pulls away effortlessly for six. The umpire then raises his arm and signals no ball. The fielding captain complains. Who is in the right? Scenario two. A medium pace bowler bowls another waist-high full toss, which hits the top of the stumps. The umpire makes no signal. The dismissed batsman complains. Again, who is in the right? This thorny old issue – of no balls for height –...