Katich
nothing special it seems
vin ordinaire, perhaps du pays
to the casual palate
hardly flash, no big front of the mouth
explosions, nor rich plummy overtones
of wild berry sensations,
not merlot, shiraz, scarcely Australian
but scarcer still in exacting quality
Katich travels well: Durham, Derbyshire, Hants
scores freely when required, remains
steady even when bottled up
ideal for the most testing conditions
un demi-verre: nose, one [...]
It’s started overcast but there are spots of blue between the clouds where the sun tries to peep through, a bit like the opening credits to The Simpsons. Watch out for a late call-up of Montgomery Burns to boost the Australian spin attack and the Reverend Lovejoy to act as international Match Adjudicator. For slightly [...]
Building Jerusalem
Of course you’ll require a plan and vision
No doubt necessary funds and contingencies
Not to mention the very best of materials
And professionals, artisans and trades people
Of the utmost and attested quality.
(Did Joseph of Arimathea examine City & Guilds
Or take word of mouth the lad’s dad was a carpenter?)
But that’s not all, not by a long [...]
Whatever the weather we people in Bakewell believe in hanging Aussie cricketers out to dry.
‘Cheltenham’s the next stop’ shouts the bloke on his mobile to his girlfriend. I was brought up in Cheltenham, saw my first first class cricket at the College Ground during the Festival in short trousers in awe of Tom Graveney and [...]
Will there be any play tomorrow? It’s rained all day as the pic on Platform 3b at Derby makes plain. Yet the sun starts to shine as soon as the Cardiff train pulls out. We go past Burton, home of Bass, brewers of IPA, the classic British beer, brewed to bottled for shipment to the [...]
Flintoff mission to miss thermos bumble lee’s ponting skier caught out agnew antipodes…
….so what is the opposite of inside out? Outside in?? No. Right way round, of course.
Today’s cricket front-pager in The Sprats Grauniad is Freddie missing the bus to visit Ypres last weekend. (If you want to look at cricket, poetry and war, try [...]
Cellophane
prophylactic
against undue wear
before testing the wary
a kite-marked sphere
ruby of stitched leather
awaits conquest of measures
upon the most measured pitch
to tempt the temptress
to give and lose all
modesty unbound
twenty-two yards a catalogue
of denial and penetration
will it swing rear seam? each entry
roughs up the diadem till too old
or innings done by conquest
or declaration
all manner of manipulation
lop-sided thigh polish
occult knowledge
to [...]
