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Don Bradman’s eleventy-first birthday, a thread

On the occasion of the 111th anniversary of Donald George Bradman’s birthday – August 27 2019 – I searched up a number of unusual non-cricketing items about The Don from contemporary newspapers, with thanks to the National Library of Australia’s glorious Trove database:

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Dennis Lillee at 70, a thread

A thread I posted to Twitter to commemorate Dennis Lillee’s 70th birthday on July 18 2019:

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Sunil Gavaskar at 70, a thread

A thread that I posted to Twitter to commemorate Sunil Gavaskar’s 70th birthday on July 10 2019: Continue reading “Sunil Gavaskar at 70, a thread”

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Sydney Thunder pre T20 era XI

As part of a debate that developed downstream from a team listing put together by Brad Hodge and tweeted by @7cricket a few days ago (see below), I have assembled a hypothetical Sydney Thunder squad of players from the pre-T20 era.

Criteria for inclusion:

  1. They must have played for a club (or a predecessor) that competes in the Thunder Conference of the 2018-19 Kingsgrove Sports T20 competition in NSW Premier Cricket (that is: Bankstown, Blacktown, Campbelltown-Camden, Fairfield-Liverpool, Hawkesbury, Northern District, Parramatta, Penrith, Sydney University, Western Suburbs, ACT, Central Coast)
  2. They must not have played in a major T20 tournament since the birth of the format in 2003. (I have included the ICL in this definition, which disqualifies Michael Bevan)

Continue reading “Sydney Thunder pre T20 era XI”

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The Seventh Test Sydney 1971

On Wednesday August 1 2018 at Edgbaston an England team walks on the field to begin a Test match for the 1000th time.

Among the reflections, the listicles and the shallow on-line polls, people have been choosing their greatest and/or favourite Test matches of the previous 999 (actually 1004 if you count washouts and cancellations). Headingley 1981 and Edgbaston 2005 are both, quite rightly, very popular selections. Lack of television footage and eyewitness recollections from The Oval 1882 have prevented it from polling as high.

I’ve chosen a different Test as a personal favourite, an eventful match that occupies a seminal place in England’s Test cricket history. I give you 1970-71’s Seventh Test against Australia.

Continue reading “The Seventh Test Sydney 1971”

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Yesterday’s Papers Today: the Adelaide Test 1932-33

Third Test, Adelaide, January 13-19 1933: England 341 and 412, Australia 222 and 193. England won by 338 runs.

One of the most infamous Test matches in the history of contests between Australia and England began on Friday the Thirteenth of January 1933. The timeless Test ended the following Thursday in a decisive England victory and the unfolding of an international incident. Continue reading “Yesterday’s Papers Today: the Adelaide Test 1932-33”

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Yesterday’s papers today: the Brisbane Test of 1950-51

First Test, Brisbane, December 1-5 1950: Australia 228 & 7/32 dec, England 7/68 dec & 122. Australia won by 70 runs.

But first, an assurance by England captain Freddie Brown that all is well in the touring party: Continue reading “Yesterday’s papers today: the Brisbane Test of 1950-51”

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Yesterday’s papers today: Broadcasting the Ashes 1928 1932

Broadcasting the Ashes of 1928-29 and 1932-33 – some clippings from the newspapers of the time as preserved by Trove, the glorious digital archive hosted by the National Library of Australia:

Continue reading “Yesterday’s papers today: Broadcasting the Ashes 1928 1932”

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A bit of light reading about the 1999-2000 England womens tour

England’s women’s cricket team headed to the Antipodes in January 2000 to play one-day internationals in Australia and New Zealand. By the time they were ready to head east across the Tasman, England had lost the ODI series to Australia 0-4 and Karen Smithies had resigned as captain.

Working for Cricinfo at the time I covered every ODI of the Australian leg of the tour, and I believe I have the only comprehensive documentation of these games. Continue reading “A bit of light reading about the 1999-2000 England womens tour”