November 9th, 2010, 06:08 AM | #21 | |
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David Gower.. |
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November 9th, 2010, 08:46 AM | #22 | |
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November 9th, 2010, 10:59 AM | #23 |
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Isn't cricket great, though?
Last edited by Aubrey; November 9th, 2010 at 10:59 AM.. Reason: Typing fixed |
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November 9th, 2010, 11:07 AM | #24 |
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November 9th, 2010, 03:01 PM | #25 |
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it's a great way of having a few beers in the sun!
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November 9th, 2010, 03:18 PM | #26 | |
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Before the start of play, Collins, not a huge man physically, spoke to Mailey in the dressing room. "There's a bloke outside just told me it's worth 100 guineas if we chuck the test match. Lets throw the bastard down the stairs." Mailey, a man of sunny and amiable disposition, sprang to his feet, eager to help his skipper do exactly that. The "bloke" was glimpsed disappearing over the horizon. That was then.
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November 9th, 2010, 05:35 PM | #27 |
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That News of the World expose is one of the best pieces of journalism I've seen. I wish I was clever enough to set up a sting like that.
Regarding Herbie Collins, I used to know Hunter "Stork" Hendry, who had the time of his death in 1988 was the oldest former Test player. Stork was convinced that Collins had thrown the deciding test at the Oval in the 1926 series when Australian captain. I've not heard this elsewhere and throwing a Test match is not the easiest thing to achieve, but Collins' decisions in that match are open to criticism, at the very least. He was a gambler, and he lost the captaincy after that Oval Test. |
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November 9th, 2010, 05:47 PM | #28 |
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Really it's only the captain who has any real chance of throwing a match and that would be very difficult to do.Otherwise it has to involve quite a few key players and it wouldn't be possible to keep this quiet.
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November 9th, 2010, 11:30 PM | #29 | |
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The Oval test of 1926 marked the end of several careers because the series defeat went down like a turd sandwich in Australia. One of those departures was Arthur Mailey, which is a bit strange because he played very well in the game, taking 9 wickets for 266, far better than any of his colleagues. There may have been some politics involved. Certainly there was a dressing room incident of some description which was reported in Australia, in which Mailey was alleged to have misbehaved arrogantly in the immediate aftermath of the defeat. Mailey's cricket bat may have discovered the power of flight on his return to the dressing room. In his book he sort of sidesteps "misbehaviour" but staunchly refutes "arrogance", commenting grimly that he showed the proper humility required of a number 11 batsman who has just failed to score 290 runs and win the game. As for Collins, I don't believe one man, even the captain, can throw a game unaided. That needs collusion. The scorecard of the 1926 Oval test match is intriguing. http://www.cricinfo.com/australia/en...tch/62553.html The first two innings left the game quite evenly balanced. The decisive factor was an opening stand of 172 runs between Jack Hobbs (exactly 100, b Sid Gregory) and Herbert Sutcliffe, a great Yorkshireman, who was eventually clean bowled by Mailey for 161. Hobbs and Sutcliffe were one of the best opening pairs England has ever had; a great stand from them doesn't invite any sinister interpretation. I note that extras was the 3rd top scorer in England's innings and even Frank Woolley was dismissed cheaply; only Maurice Tate at no 9 exceeded 30 runs after Sutcliffe was dismissed. The ongoing question was and still is why did Collins give 41 overs to Arthur Richardson, an inexperienced player and who was really a batsman who could bowl a bit (offbreaks at medium pace, a bit like Peter Willey); the pitch was rain affected and Collins had the 2 best spinners then in circulation in Grimmett and Mailey. But here's a possible explanation of what happened:
More significant than the partnership of Hobbs and Sutcliffe was Australia's batting collapse in the 4th innings. Statistics never tell all the story but 125 all out is a rotten, diabolical performance. Bertie Oldfield at no 9 top scored with 23 and Wilfred Rhodes took 4 wickets, so the Oval pitch must have been turning quite a lot. Even so, 125 was just inexcuseable when England had just scored 436 on exactly the same track, and I suspect this extraordinary degree of underperformance was why so many players were axed (Mailey quite unjustly IMHO) and why this dark murmur of skullduggery has lingered on, a whole lifetime into the present day. That and Collins' well documented gambling addiction, which however was expressed on the racecourse, the dog track and in poker. I think there's plenty of reasonable doubt. Herbert Collins couldn't make it rain, God did that. Herbert Collins could have underbowled Mailey and Grimmett and set unhelpful fields, but neither of these men would have sat still for being deliberately undermined in field placings and Oldfield, a longstanding friend and collaborator of Mailey's in the field, would not have held his peace over such a thing either. In no way could Collins have induced all ten of his colleagues to register scores below 25 runs in the last knock. England's bowlers did that. If Collins was suspected of serially throwing games, the Oval test might fit into a pattern. But it was an isolated event. This is the main reason why I am inclined to think that Collins was innocent, because crookedness is a habit, a lifestyle choice, and I am unaware of a serial track record in his case. I dont think anyone throws just one game in their whole career; they either never throw a game or they throw games whenever a good opportunity to make quick cash arises. But I guess we'll never know for sure.
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November 10th, 2010, 01:54 AM | #30 |
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No, exactly, and Herbie Collins isn't here to defend himself. He certainly wasn't a serial offender.
If he was here I would definitely ask him why he bowled a part-timer for 42 overs and left his best bowlers cooling their heels. It's fair enough to have a plan, but when it doesn't work you have to change things. Even I can see that, and he was the Australian captain so I think it should have been pretty clear. Maybe they just had a popgun attack, I don't know. It rained again before the Australain fourth innings, so they were on a sticky like England had been but the game was gone by then. I've got a book here somewhere on all the Australian captains, which I haven't been able to put my hand on. I will see what I can dig up. |
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