Merv the Swerve plays a straight bat
Mervyn King - Playing a long game?
The Governor of the Bank of England Mervyn King unsurprisingly denies early ambition for a financial job. When he was young, the conference guide informs us, he dreamt of batting for England.
The leader of the Postal Workers Union Billy Hayes had seen the same article, and as we chatted before an interview on the BBC News Channel he thought we could get him a new nickname.
"Let's get Mervyn King re-named .. Merv the Swerve!"
Now as far as I know Mervyn King doesn't have a nickname - so the Australian bowler with the big moustache might be happy to lend his moniker, times are hard and all that...
Eddie George was the first Governor to address the TUC, known to all as Steady Eddie.
But is Merv really a Swerve?
He apologised, partly, for allowing the financial crisis to happen on his watch, or at least not seeing it coming.
He said some sensible conciliatory stuff about the need for dialogue and consultation that placated the hotheads who might have walked out.
And he refused to get drawn into the debate about whether tax or spending cuts were the best way to reduce an inevitable defecit.
Even to the Brothers, that felt more like playing a straight bat to a difficult spinning ball.
You can't catch him out that way.
But he might not get invited to next year's game.
Welcome to the hustings! I'm Peter Henley, the BBC's political reporter in the south of England. From parish councils in Sussex, to European politics in Oxford, this is the blog for you. 
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