great to watch. When it is a hapless tailender like Pocock being subjected to continuous intimidatory bowling deliberately aimed at his body, it is tantamount to bullying.
Overall, the tour had been a great success for the West Indies. They had won all five Tests, and were unbeaten in all other first-class matches. The only game they lost on the tour was the second One-Day International when, amazingly, Derek Pringle was man of the match with 3 for 21 off 10 overs.
The Pocock incident was undoubtedly a blemish, as was the West Indies Cricket Board’s refusal to agree to a minimum number of overs in the day. Before the ICC had the power to regulate such things, it was up to the Boards of both countries to agree theconditions of play. The result in 1984 was that the West Indies maintained an average over rate of below fourteen overs an hour throughout the series. England had a similar over rate but they can be excused because of the time they spent looking for the ball after it had been dispatched by Greenidge, Gomes, Richards and even on occasions, Holding.
England did not have long to wait for the chance of redemption. They were scheduled to tour the West Indies in the winter of 1985/86. Revenge is a dish best served cold, apparently. Unfortunately for Gower and his team, it is particularly hot in the West Indies at that time of year. 8
6 Sachin Tendulkar became the first player to score a double century in an ODI when he got 200 not out against South Africa in February 2010. Charles Coventry with 194 not out for Zimbabwe against Bangladesh (Zimbabwe lost!) and Saeed Anwar with 194 for Pakistan against India are the other players to have beaten Sir Viv’s score.
7 See Mike Gatting’s description of the protests in South Africa to the England ‘rebel’ tour of 1990.
8 England suffered a ‘blackwash’ once again, losing the Test series 5 – 0. As in 1984, they had a single ODI victory as a consolation.
4. Australia tour of India, 2001
There are some songs that, when you first hear them, make such an impression that you just have to listen to them again, immediately. I’m not talking about songs that make you think, ‘that’s good, I wouldn’t mind hearing that again.’ There are plenty of songs like that. No, these are songs that obsess you for days on end.
It doesn’t happen very often but when it does, it temporarily takes over your life. A lot of people tend to associate ‘special’ songs with other significant things that happen in their life. The songs I am referring to are rarely influenced by outside factors or special events. They just happen. One day you are going about your business and the next, you can’t get the song out of your head.
It’s a very personal thing. Others may like the song but not necessarily share the same fixation. Over the years, I have been afflicted every now and then by this obsession. Mr Big by Free, I’ll Be Your Lover Too by Van Morrison, Last To Die by Bruce Springsteen and La Cienega Just Smiled by Ryan Adams are a few that have made their mark.
I have the same thing with certain cricketers which I will come to in a moment but first there is Bob Dylan to deal with. The best way to appreciate Dylan is to listen to whole albums. Why would you want to pick out one particular song from Blood On The Tracks or John Wesley Harding when they are all brilliant? With the advent of CDs, iPods, iTunes, Spotify and the rest, there is anincreasing tendency for people to listen to individual tracks only. CDs and iPods are marvellous, of course they are, but some things have been lost with the demise of vinyl.
There are lots of great Dylan songs but only one has really grabbed me in the ‘obsessional’ sense. This may have something to do with the fact that it wasn’t released on an album so it has to be listened to in isolation. Not only was it not released on an album, it wasn’t finished, has never been performed by Dylan and was only recorded once.
The decision by
Overall, the tour had been a great success for the West Indies. They had won all five Tests, and were unbeaten in all other first-class matches. The only game they lost on the tour was the second One-Day International when, amazingly, Derek Pringle was man of the match with 3 for 21 off 10 overs.
The Pocock incident was undoubtedly a blemish, as was the West Indies Cricket Board’s refusal to agree to a minimum number of overs in the day. Before the ICC had the power to regulate such things, it was up to the Boards of both countries to agree theconditions of play. The result in 1984 was that the West Indies maintained an average over rate of below fourteen overs an hour throughout the series. England had a similar over rate but they can be excused because of the time they spent looking for the ball after it had been dispatched by Greenidge, Gomes, Richards and even on occasions, Holding.
England did not have long to wait for the chance of redemption. They were scheduled to tour the West Indies in the winter of 1985/86. Revenge is a dish best served cold, apparently. Unfortunately for Gower and his team, it is particularly hot in the West Indies at that time of year. 8
6 Sachin Tendulkar became the first player to score a double century in an ODI when he got 200 not out against South Africa in February 2010. Charles Coventry with 194 not out for Zimbabwe against Bangladesh (Zimbabwe lost!) and Saeed Anwar with 194 for Pakistan against India are the other players to have beaten Sir Viv’s score.
7 See Mike Gatting’s description of the protests in South Africa to the England ‘rebel’ tour of 1990.
8 England suffered a ‘blackwash’ once again, losing the Test series 5 – 0. As in 1984, they had a single ODI victory as a consolation.
4. Australia tour of India, 2001
There are some songs that, when you first hear them, make such an impression that you just have to listen to them again, immediately. I’m not talking about songs that make you think, ‘that’s good, I wouldn’t mind hearing that again.’ There are plenty of songs like that. No, these are songs that obsess you for days on end.
It doesn’t happen very often but when it does, it temporarily takes over your life. A lot of people tend to associate ‘special’ songs with other significant things that happen in their life. The songs I am referring to are rarely influenced by outside factors or special events. They just happen. One day you are going about your business and the next, you can’t get the song out of your head.
It’s a very personal thing. Others may like the song but not necessarily share the same fixation. Over the years, I have been afflicted every now and then by this obsession. Mr Big by Free, I’ll Be Your Lover Too by Van Morrison, Last To Die by Bruce Springsteen and La Cienega Just Smiled by Ryan Adams are a few that have made their mark.
I have the same thing with certain cricketers which I will come to in a moment but first there is Bob Dylan to deal with. The best way to appreciate Dylan is to listen to whole albums. Why would you want to pick out one particular song from Blood On The Tracks or John Wesley Harding when they are all brilliant? With the advent of CDs, iPods, iTunes, Spotify and the rest, there is anincreasing tendency for people to listen to individual tracks only. CDs and iPods are marvellous, of course they are, but some things have been lost with the demise of vinyl.
There are lots of great Dylan songs but only one has really grabbed me in the ‘obsessional’ sense. This may have something to do with the fact that it wasn’t released on an album so it has to be listened to in isolation. Not only was it not released on an album, it wasn’t finished, has never been performed by Dylan and was only recorded once.
The decision by
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