cricket #2: another season comes to an end…

The fact that it’ll be October tomorrow just about sums up how the traditional 4-day county championship has essentially become shoe-horned into the very beginning and end of the cricket season (and to think that, back in 1929, Neville Cardus described cricket as “The Summer Game”!). I’m embarrassed to say that during the course of the season, I only attended TWO games (a day at each… my other attempt was completely rained off)(my ‘home’ side, Gloucestershire play just five county championship games in Bristol all season).
Gloucestershire had an awful season (understatement!). After being relegated from Division 1 last year, they came bottom of Division 2 (even Yorkshire – who had 50 points deducted following the recent racism inquiry – finished above them!).
Gloucestershire’s playing record for the season makes for dismal reading: Played 14, Won 0, Lost 6, Drawn 8.
I have to say, from my rather limited experience of watching Division Two cricket this season, the quality of the cricket has been pretty ‘ordinary’ to say the least. One significant difference that I’ve noticed is the far greater percentage of draws in Division 2 compared with Division 1:
DIVISION 1: 140 games, 48 draws; percentage of drawn games: 34.3%
DIVISION 2: 112 games, 68 draws; percentage of drawn games: 60.7%
In other words, Division 2 games are almost TWICE as likely to end in drawn games compared with Division1.
Why should that be?
Is it related to the lack of talent (mediocre batters and mediocre bowlers)?
Is it related to ‘better players’ not being attracted to join second division clubs?
Is it related to poor captaincy (being prepared to ‘play safe’)?
Is it related to poor coaching/inability to attract quality coaching staff?
Is it related to the lack of ambition/leadership (and/or finance) of the clubs?
Answers on a postcard, please…

cricket #1: membership fees…

Today is the last day of the English cricket season…
As I’m sure you will appreciate, if you’ve ever read any of my previous blogs on cricket(!), it seems that I remain one of the few cricket lovers who would still much prefer to watch a 4-day County Championship game in preference to all the Twenty20 Vitality Blast and One-Day Cup matches.
Although, for various reasons, I only attended two days of Gloucestershire five home games in Bristol this season, I continue to feel frustrated by the club’s stance when it comes to membership/season tickets (I assume it’s the same for most of the clubs).
Full Gloucestershire CC membership for this season was some £256 (which provided entry to all home County Championship, Vitality Blast matches, One-Day Cup matches and Cheltenham Cricket Festival games)… and there was a separate One-Day membership for £133 (Vitality Blast and One-Day Cup games).
I would be happy to sign up for membership if only they had a ‘County Championship only’ category (which on a basis of £256 minus £133 could be available for say £123)… BUT there isn’t one!
I’ve previously written to the Club committee, but they tell me they had previously considered the matter, but decided against it.
On the two occasions I attended this season in Bristol, the ticket price was £21. I would estimate the number of spectators at the two games I attended this season to be say 250 (ridiculous!). The vast majority of these will have been members. In the circumstances, it seems to me that the club should be doing EVERYTHING POSSIBLE to attract bigger crowds and allow people like me to attend regularly at a reasonable price.
In your dreams, Steve… in your dreams!
There are 7 four-day home County Championship games (5 in Bristol, 2 in Cheltenham). Let’s say that I would attend two days of each of the Bristol games (allowing for rain and my own incredibly hectic schedule!) - on the basis of a daily £21 ticket, that’s 5x2x£21 =£210. Sadly, I wouldn’t be prepared to pay such a sum… BUT allow me to purchase a ‘County Championship only’ membership for say £120, and I would happily do so (and the club would also benefit from the resulting increased beer+pasty sales!). The more spectators they can attract, the more beer and food revenue they will accrue… the better the atmosphere in the ground etc.
It’s seems an absolute no-brainer to me… but what do I know?
PS: Most cricket-lovers would agree that the County Championship provides an important basis for developing young talent for the England Test team. From a county’s perspective, however, it’s entirely understandable that the Vitality Blast and One-Day Cup matches are the ones that attract the crowds… and the revenue. As a result, the County Championship fixtures are largely relegated to the months of April, May and September. If that’s the case, to my mind, they should be doing everything possible (ie. financially) to attract spectators to this less desirable time of the year. 
I’m well aware that vast majority of these spectators will be old codgers like me… but don’t knock it! There’s something rather wonderfully therapeutic about us oldies gathering under our several layers of clothing, sipping our beers, watching the cricket and remembering the ‘olden’ days.
Are they afraid that membership income will be reduced due to Oldies like me opting for the ‘county championship games only’? 

kathy+stella solve a murder…

Moira and I went along to the Bristol Old Vic last night to see this rather wonderful comedy, murder mystery musical(!) from the Olivier Award-winning team behind ‘Fleabag’ (producer Francesca Moody). Written and directed by Jon Brittain, it provided a brilliant, funny and joyful (despite the murder theme!) evening’s entertainment.
Best friends for life Kathy (played by Bronté Barbé) and Stella (Rebekah Hinds) are the murder-obsessed hosts of Yorkshire’s least successful true crime podcast. But things are not going well… their careers are non-existent, their families are worried sick and their favourite crime author has just been killed… So, of course, they decide that this is just the opportunity they’ve been waiting for: it’s time to solve a crime.
It’s not easy though… with no experience and armed with only their Twitter feeds, their ‘murder gang’ of limited online devotees… but, hey, solving murders can’t be all that difficult? Can they crack the case (and become global podcast superstars) before the killer strikes again…?
Bronté Barbé and Rebekah Hinds are outstandingly good (and both have great voices, which blend together perfectly) and the other five supporting actors are also of the highest calibre.
All in all, a REALLY enjoyable whodunnit evening of silliness, fun and quality… in front of a packed enthusiastic Old Vic audience.
PS: The actor Bronté Barbé has actually been staying at Hannah+Fee’s house during the production run.
PPS: Last night’s production included captions for the hard of hearing… which was somewhat ironic for us (Moira had lost one of hearing aids earlier that morning and one of mine had stopped working!!).

september 2023 books…

The Murder Of Roger Ackroyd (Agatha Christie): First published in 1926 (nearly 100 years ago!). I’ve been intending to read it for quite some time (it's been on our bookshelves for some years!)… and it didn’t disappoint. It has the ‘usual’ Christie murder mystery features: a peaceful English village is stunned by the death of a widow from an overdose of Veronal… then, less than 24 hours later, a man she had planned to marry is murdered… oh, and there’s also blackmail… and, of course, Hercule Poirot (who had ‘retired’ and become a recent anonymous inhabitant of the village). He ends up being asked to apply his little grey cells’ to a wonderfully intriguing mystery. It’s clever, baffling, controversial and audacious… I’ll say no more!
Bournville (Jonathan Coe): Bournville, as you probably know, is a village and a factory, built by the Quaker Cadbury family in the 19th century – some 4 miles of so from Birmingham’s city centre (my brother lives in Harborne – only a mile or so away). In this novel, Coe examines Britain’s postwar history through the eyes of a Birmingham clan. Like Coe, my family has deep roots in the Midlands (in our case Birmingham). Although this is a work of fiction, the character of Mary Lamb is based closely on his late mother. Mary was born 1934 and my own mother, also Mary, was born in 1928 – and so their respective stories have a certain mirrored poignancy. Lots of the novel’s city locations (eg. Handsworth, Soho Road) also have very strong associations with my own upbringing. The book is structured by seven ‘milestones’ that Mary and her family experienced over the past 75 years or so – VE Day celebrations; the Queen’s coronation; the World Cup final; the wedding of Charles and Diana; the funeral of Diana; and the 75^th anniversary of VE Day – which take new perspectives on the past and its role in shaping the present, both personal and national (how we lived then and how we live now). I’ve seen it described as a ‘state-of-the-nation’ novel and think that’s pretty accurate. I’ve come to really enjoy Coe’s writing and observations and found this book clever, frequently very funny… but also tender and rather beautiful.
Shrines Of Gaiety (Kate Atkinson): I love Atkinson’s writing – she’s a wonderful story-teller and one of my favourite authors. This novel is set in 1926. The country is still recovering from the Great War; London has become the focus of a new night life (‘Jazz Age London’). At the heart of this glittering world is the notorious Nellie Coker – ruthless, but also ambitious to advance her six children. She owns several Soho clubs where peers of the realm rub shoulders with gangsters. But success also breeds enemies and her empire is under threat “from without and within”. It’s a long novel (515 pages) and, frankly, it took me perhaps 100 pages to get ‘into it’… but, once I had, I found it absolutely enthralling. I loved the key characters and the intricate plot. Excellent.
The Book Of Bristol (ed Heather Marks+Joe Melia): This book of Bristol-themed short stories is our next Storysmith’s bookgroup book. It comprises ten stories from a range of autors (apart from the sadly departed Helen Dunmore, I hadn’t come across the other contributors (or indeed the editirs). In truth, I thought the stories were ‘interesting’ rather than ‘compelling’(!). In addition to Dunmore’s offering, the story I most enjoyed was KM Elkes’ “Malago Days” – about the elusive angel who turns up at a struggling café along the Malago river (which in a somewhat strange way reminded me a little of Tom waits’ song “Highway Café”). No doubt I’m wrong, but I kept thinking that some of the authors had been told that “if you mention key Bristol locations and venues, then it might help your case to be included in the forthcoming book of Bristol short stories”!  
People Person (Candice Carty-Williams): I’d finished the two books I’d taken with me on holiday and so ended up ‘borrowing’ this one from Moira’s holiday reading pile. It’s about five half-siblings whose father was a negligible presence in all their lives. The half-siblings (young adults/adults in our story) had four different mothers between them; their father was never physically, mentally or emotionally present in their lives; had difficulty in remembering their names (or their birthdays) and was frequently asking them for money when times were hard. He worked as a bus driver, but spent much of his time chasing and flirting with women. I won’t go into details (*no spoilers*), but the half-siblings come together after a “catastrophic event” reconnects them. The book explores, among a whole range of things, racial discrimination within the police, toxic relationships, social media, generational trauma and the objectification of Black men and women. I have to say that this wasn’t ‘my kind of book’. I struggled to come to terms with many of the ‘easy relationships and attitudes’ between some of the young adults, but found the characters’ struggles to accept the indelible failings and traumatic legacies of their childhood… about who they are and how they want to be quite impressive. It’s witty and very readable… but just not quite my cup of tea. 

karine polwart and kitty macfarlane at st george’s…

I went along to St George’s last night (along with good friend Maria) to see Karine Polwart and Kitty Macfarlane in concert. I first saw KP at Greenbelt in 2005 and I love her music and her insights, but had never previously come across KM (apart from knowing she’s from Somerset).
It proved to be an exceptional evening.
They shared the stage for the entire evening – joining in the harmonies and choruses of each other’s songs and shared stories. The St George’s blurb previewed the evening like this:
“Karine Polwart and Kitty Macfarlane write with an eco-eye, drawing from the same deep well of greater-than-human life as inspiration for many of their songs. Karine wonders if the annual migration of pink-footed geese from Iceland to her neighbouring peatbog in south-east Scotland can teach us humans about cooperation, whilst Kitty marvels at the epic oceanic journey of the eel. And where Kitty finds human connection in those gathered to witness a starling murmuration on the Somerset Levels, Karine explores the notion of resilience by celebrating the tiny, tenacious sea-pink”.
Their musical styles and voices are quite similar and the evening felt as if they had been working together for years – whereas the basis was actually a case of each of them loving and being familiar with each other’s music.
It was a full house at St George’s and the audience was also in very good voice – encouraged and led by KP… there was a lovely, positive atmosphere in the concert hall and, strangely perhaps, on the way home, I found myself thinking: “if only the world could be filled with people and beliefs like these, wouldn’t it be a wonderful place”!
Following the last Karine Polwart concert I attended a couple of years ago, I wrote this:
“Powerful, intelligent, thought-provoking, political, tender, poignant music at its very best. She’s an eloquent poet (and she’s frequently funny too). She’s a person who reminds you that small voices are important. She’s an inspiration.
At this time when so many of us are disenchanted by politics and what’s happening in the world, last night was a wonderful reminder that there ARE decent, inspiring people who demand to be heard. 
May it be so”.
My views haven’t changed.
Photo: from last night’s concert.
PS: As ever with concerts at St George’s, I always end up bumping into old friends from the past (and present). Last night was no exception: Sharon, Angela (and her daughter), Catherine, Big Jeff, Andy, Jonty (plus Maria)… 

past lives…

It’s been some time since I last went to the Watershed cinema (getting on for three months, for goodness sake!) - I just haven’t fancied seeing any of the stuff they’ve been showing recently.
BUT, I went along yesterday to see Korean-Canadian director Celine Song’s film “Past Lives”… and was very glad I did, because it was absolutely beautiful.
At the age of 12, a Korean boy and girl are sweethearts (despite their fierce rivalry at school vying to come top of the class), but then she and her family leave South Korea to make their home in North America. 12 years later, in their 20s, they re-connect via social media (she’s a successful writer and he’s making his way through his military service while studying engineering). They share numerous conversations conducted at opposite ends of the day, on opposite sides of the world… but, at her behest, that comes to an end.
Another 12 years later (she’s living in New York and married to a Jewish American; he’s still single, emerging from a relationship) and he ends up coming to New York to see her (and her husband). They hadn’t seen each other for 24 years.
It’s a story about lost love and childhood crush… about unfulfilled dreams… about roads not taken and lives not led… about unresolved affection, regrets and what might have been. In the film, there are references to the Korean concept of ‘in-yun’, the karmic bringing together of people who were lovers in past lives… with a suggestion, perhaps, that this is a 21st-century version with (as The Guardian’s critic Peter Bradshaw puts it) “their childhoods, preserved and exalted in their memory and by modern communications”. I’ll say no more.
It’s a heartrendingly sad film and yet, in some ways, I also found it rather uplifting and even profound(?). Beautifully acted and directed (and the accompanying music is rather lovely too).
I thought it was quite wonderful… and think you need to see it. 

lockdown revisited…

It happens quite frequently for me… scouring the house looking for something (which, inevitably, I can’t locate) and then coming across something I hadn’t looked at for some time. It happened again this week and I found myself reading through my two ‘Blurb’ books covering a year of the pandemic.
At the start of Covid, in March 2020, I was conscious that the pandemic (as it became) was likely to have a dramatic effect on our daily lives… and decided to begin compiling a book-cum-diary-cum-photograph album of reflections and images. I decided that I would do this over a six-month period… Surely, by then, the perceived dangers would have passed? But, of course, it hadn’t and so I continued to record my experiences for a further six months – until March 2021.
In the event, having ‘re-discovered’ my two books (“Love in the Time of Covid 19” and “The Winter’s Tale”), I found myself flicking through the pages… and coming across reminders and a flavour of what those days were like.
I found the whole experience quite poignant and sobering.
It’s only some two-and-a-half since the start of the pandemic (or at least since it started to affect us in the UK) and yet it made me realise how many of those ‘little details’ I’d already almost forgotten.
It made me realise that in, say 10 years’ time, our recollections of a time that had such a devastating effect on so many lives, will be even ‘fuzzier’. Will our grandchildren still be able to recall the effects the pandemic had on their school lives? Will we remember those awful ‘no hugging’ days of isolation? The closed pubs, cafés and restaurants? The early morning walks? Those wonderful sun-filled March days of 2020? The need for ‘social distancing’? The pre-vaccine days and the post-vaccine days? All the government lies (I assume that all the various Inquiries will have reported by that time!!?)? All those lives lost?
Only time will tell.

august-september 2023 books…

After The Funeral (Agatha Christie): Once again, I opted for yet another Christie mystery. This one (first published in 1953) involving a family gathering in a vast Victorian country house (of course!) after the funeral of Richard Abernethie, the master of the house (whose death raised all sorts of questions in the first place). Family members were keen to discover how much their brother/uncle had bequeathed to each of them. There was little love lost between family members and then, on top of everything else, one of the family members is murdered. The family solicitor works alongside the local police inspector and tries to pacify growing family feud matters, with mixed results. He ends up contacting an old friend, a certain Hercule Poirot (of course!)… who inevitably resolves matters! Christie continues to impress me with her imaginative writing and intriguing plots; she’s very clever at raising suspicions and convincing you that you ‘know’ who the murderer is… and then, of course, you change your mind (a number of times in my case!).
In The Pines (Paul Scraton): This rather lovely novella (plus accompanying photographs by Eymelt Sehmer, created using a 170-year-old technique of collodion wet plate photography) recounts an unnamed narrator’s lifetime relationship with the forest he lives close to… fragmented stories and reflections, blurred details and sharp focus of memory about the people who live or lived close by, the ruined buildings the forest contains, the pathways through it, his own recollections, the fables and how the forest has been affected by creeping development. At times, it felt like being told stories around a campfire… all somewhat haunting and rather beautiful.
Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 (Cho Nam-Joo): This Korean bestseller chronicles the everyday struggle of women against endemic sexism. It combines fiction with extensive background references to the position of women in Korean society. It contrasts the stark, depressing differences in how males and females are raised, taught and treated in the workplace. At school, boys eat first… she suffers sexual harassment and victim blaming… in the workplace, she has first-hand experience of the gender pay gap (and the lack of opportunities for promotion). Jiyoung, she is 33, with a one-year-old child. Her life is unremarkable, except that she has begun to take on the personalities of other people… and while performing the uncompensated, costly work of motherhood, she is horrified to hear herself denigrated as a parasitic “mum-roach”. She begins showing signs of dissociative identity disorder - she starts acting like the different women in her life. The book’s back cover neatly sums up Kim Jiyoung’s character and story: she “is a girl born to a mother whose in-laws wanted a boy”; “is a sister made to share a room while her brother gets one of his own”; “is a model employee who get overlooked for promotion”; “is a wife who gives up her career and independence for a life of domesticity”; “has started to act strangely”; “is depressed”; “is mad”; “is her own woman”; “is every woman”. I found it quite a harrowing, disquieting read… but a very powerful one.
The Provincial Lady In Wartime (EM Delafield): This is the last of the ‘Provincial Lady Diaries’ (first published in 1940). It’s a rather wonderful account, for a certain breed of English Woman, of the first three months of ‘war’ – a time when they all rushed up to London to do ‘war work’ (and before any actual air raids were happening). They find themselves in trousers and ‘slacks’ for the first time and there’s a sense of excitement about breaking free from home and serving their country. In the event, certainly for the brief course of this diary, the vast majority spend their time ‘Standing By’, awaiting a call to action. Everyone is looking for a ‘job to do’, but few have their plans fulfilled. Our ‘provincial lady’ desperately seeks a suitable post ‘of national importance’ in the Ministry of Information, the BBC or some such place… but, for the time being at least, has to satisfy herself with voluntary work in no.1 Canteen next to the Adelphi! As with the previous diaries, it’s beautifully and amusingly written… but, at the same time, a reminder of the responses and the sacrifices made by people at the outbreak of the war… and the gas masks, refugees, air raid drills, ARPs, rationing, the wireless, registration cards and the like. I feel rather sad that my time with the provincial lady’s diaries has come to an end.
A Breath Of French Air (HE Bates): One of Bates’ ‘Darling Buds of May’ novels (first published in 1959; our copy priced 2s6d). I picked it off our bookshelves in between waiting for other books to arrive or be collected from the shop. I’d seen some of the television adaptations. The Larkins family pack themselves into the Rolls and make their way on holiday to France… with all the predictable issues of language, food, weather, in/appropriate behaviour, wealth and farce. Light, entertaining and very easy reading (but not quite my cup of tea).