Archives for July 2009

The night before the Edgbaston Test, Graham Manou was out for a drink with former Australia fast bowler (and now BBC summariser) Jason Gillespie. It got to 9.30pm, when according to 'Dizzy', Manou suggested it was time to call it a night. "Not that I'll be playing or anything tomorrow," he added, "but you never know."

Lo and behold, wicketkeeper Brad Haddin broke a finger in the warm-up and 30-year-old Manou stepped in at the 11th hour to make his Test debut. The guy's either a psychic or simply very professional.

So, Graham who? Manou came out to bat to cries of 'who are ya? who are ya?' from the Eric Hollies Stand. But while Australia's stand-in keeper may not be familiar to English cricket fans, he's captain of South Australia and has been highly regarded as a gloveman for some time, taking over duties from current national coach Tim Nielsen when he retired.

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From: the Ashes 'Ball'
To: The Prime Minister, the Rt Honourable Gordon Brown MP

Dear Prime Minister,

Thank you so much for hosting the England women's cricket team, their guests, the World Cup, the World Twenty20 trophy and myself to a reception at Downing Street to celebrate their recent triumphs.

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While the Ashes series has been getting underway in Cardiff, England's women have been preparing for their own one-off Test against Australia starting at New Road on Friday.

Retaining the women's Ashes would cap off a remarkable five months after Charlotte Edwards' side were crowned world champions in both the 50 and 20-over form of the game.

The relevance of Test cricket in the women's game though has waned in the last few years as England and Australia are the only countries to play the four-day format.

However, there is so much history between the two sides - women's battles date back to 1934 - that the will exists to keep the tradition going.

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