"Rice bowls... And Paddy fields"
Larry de Silva
"Rice bowls... And Paddy fields"
by Geoff Wijesinghe
I was browsing through my collection of cricket books last Sunday when I
came across a number of interesting incidents and information, which I
thought I should share with readers.
John Arlott, the famous English commentator had no peer in descriptive,
imaginative language and a sparkling wit, a fine sense of humour, which in
those days when there was no TV, gave the radio listener a very accurate and
equally colourful picture of the state of play.
It was the 1966 Lord's Test between England and the West Indies and a
superquick Wes Hall delivery had just struck Basil d'oliviera an awful blow
on the groin or the lower abdomen as John Arlott put it.
D'oliviera collapsed at the crease and it took a good two minutes' therapy
to restore him to batting condition. As he took block again, Arlott said,
"Yes, d'oliviera ready to face Hall.... one ball remaining.
So much happened in the last frantic minutes of the tied Australia-West
Indies Test in 1961, one of the most memorable in the history of Test
cricket, that the personal agony of the late great Australian wicketkeeper
Waly Grout tended be overlooked.
Ian Chappell refers to an incident involving Tony Greig, the former South
African-born English captain who is highly popular as a commentator these
days. Greig, nursing an injured arm, was doing a stint as a television
commentator during a World vs. Australia match at the Sydney Showground in
the first World Series cricket season.
"He was probably delighted when I brought myself on to bowl and even more so
when it turned out to be one of my .... er.... less devastating overs.
"The batsman was giving me heaps. So was Greig in the commentary box. One
ball got past the bat - the only ball that did not produce a run (or runs)".
Greig lifted his mic and said, "I may have been a bit harsh about Ian
Chappell in the past, but credit where credit's due". "In fact, he has just
bowled a maiden ball".Henry Bloefield, the well-known cricket commentator
and writer, once summed up an over thus: "Well, that was a nice, tight
maiden".
"Chappelli" stats, "there never was - and there may never be - a cricket
commentator like John Arlott of the BBC.
The silver tongued, keen cricket brain, the wisdom and the wit..."
It was a one-day country match and Arlott was describing the action as
Hampshire's J. M. Rice bowled to Somerset's West Indian import Viv Richards.
The camera panned into the covers and picked up Hampshire fieldsman Andy
Murtagh, whom Arlott described as a "very likeable Irishman". Then back to
Rice, as he came in and bowled. Richards stroked the ball to Murtagh who
fielded. Or, as Arlott so delightfully put it; "Rice bowls... and Paddy
fields".
And who else but Arlott would describe an Australian slip cordon in this
fashion? "At third slip, Greg Chappell, the younger brother of the present
Australian captain, with a green, baggy Australian cap and a long sleeved
pullover".
"Next to him, Keith Stackpole, Vice Captain of the Australian side, with a
white cricketing hat, sleeves buttoned at the wrists and a sleeveless
pullover". "And at first slip, the Australian captain, Ian Chappell,
capless, sleeves rolled to the elbow and no jumper". "Something like a
progressive striptease..."
"Cricketers cop a lot of flak from the outer, some good natured, some not.
And they are capable of giving as good as they get".As one of the best and
most travelled Australian cricket journalists, Ray Robinson has a keen
appreciation of crowd humour. Perhaps this little gem was one of the reasons
he places the West Indies near the top of his list:
Ray was at a game in the West Indies in 1955, when a fast bowler by the name
of Hilton had just been sentenced to death - for the murder of his wife.
West Indies fieldsman, John Holt, dropped three catches off Australian
opener Colin McDonald in the Barbados Test.
The spectators soon had a humorous, but macabre banner erected - "Hang Holt,
save Hilton".
Mad Hamish
<larryd...@ozemail.com.au> wrote:
>http://www.dailynews.lk/2002/06/15/fea12.html
>
> "Rice bowls... And Paddy fields"
>by Geoff Wijesinghe
>
Reading this I think all of it is lifted from Ian Chappell's 2
books...
--
"Hope is replaced by fear and dreams by survival, most of us get by."
Stuart Adamson 1958-2001
Mad Hamish
Hamish Laws
h_l...@bigpond.com
samarth harish shah
immediately after their return to international cricket. It had Jimmy
Cook, Clive Rice and Kepler Wessels in it.
-Samarth.
Larry de Silva
"Mad Hamish" <h_l...@bigpond.com> wrote in message
news:3d0b2e67...@News.CIS.DFN.DE...
> On Sat, 15 Jun 2002 15:57:57 +1000, "Larry de Silva"
> <larryd...@ozemail.com.au> wrote:
>
> >http://www.dailynews.lk/2002/06/15/fea12.html
> >
> > "Rice bowls... And Paddy fields"
> >by Geoff Wijesinghe
> >
>
> Reading this I think all of it is lifted from Ian Chappell's 2
> books...
Oh of course it is......bugger, why didn't I think of it. According to
bigots like you, no Sri Lankan can say or write anything original. You
supremist moron.
Larrikin
Kalu Samantha
news:LASO8.493$ea5....@ozemail.com.au...
>
> "Mad Hamish" <h_l...@bigpond.com> wrote in message
> news:3d0b2e67...@News.CIS.DFN.DE...
> > On Sat, 15 Jun 2002 15:57:57 +1000, "Larry de Silva"
> > <larryd...@ozemail.com.au> wrote:
> >
> > >http://www.dailynews.lk/2002/06/15/fea12.html
> > >
> > > "Rice bowls... And Paddy fields"
> > >by Geoff Wijesinghe
> > >
> >
> > Reading this I think all of it is lifted from Ian Chappell's 2
> > books...
>
>
> Oh of course it is......bugger, why didn't I think of it. According to
> bigots like you, no Sri Lankan can say or write anything original. You
> supremist moron.
>
In my opinion they are good twisters. AFP or Reuters have Sin-hales as
reporters. They will produce a fake report to AFP or Reuters. These same
reporters will reproduced as a real from AFP or Reuters. Now it will look
like a true story. Larry you know these things. You are one of the master of
this trade.
Mad Hamish
<larryd...@ozemail.com.au> wrote:
>
>"Mad Hamish" <h_l...@bigpond.com> wrote in message
>news:3d0b2e67...@News.CIS.DFN.DE...
>> On Sat, 15 Jun 2002 15:57:57 +1000, "Larry de Silva"
>> <larryd...@ozemail.com.au> wrote:
>>
>> >http://www.dailynews.lk/2002/06/15/fea12.html
>> >
>> > "Rice bowls... And Paddy fields"
>> >by Geoff Wijesinghe
>> >
>>
>> Reading this I think all of it is lifted from Ian Chappell's 2
>> books...
>
>
>Oh of course it is......bugger, why didn't I think of it. According to
>bigots like you, no Sri Lankan can say or write anything original. You
>supremist moron.
>
from the article itself
"by Geoff Wijesinghe
I was browsing through my collection of cricket books last Sunday when
I came across a number of interesting incidents and information, which
I thought I should share with readers."
so Geoff himself is saying that he's passing on stories from other
sources. I identified what I thought was the source.