CHAIRBOY
18-07-2007, 06:52
"Not many championship games are abandoned without a ball being bowled. During my 14-year career, I can recall Essex falling foul only once, a match against Yorkshire in 1985 at Sheffield's Abbeydale Park. Heavy rain had saturated the outfield before the match, but while the sun would start drying it out by day, overnight storms would top it up.
Being of sensible disposition, the umpires had usually called the day's play off by 11.30am, which left many hours to kill (gyms not being as popular or widely available as they are today). The pattern that emerged was snooker until five or six followed by a visit to a pub called the Frog and Parrot. By which time the heavens would open again and we knew we'd be safe to stay until closing time.
Back then, the Frog and Parrot was run a by a friendly cove by the name of Roger, who brewed his own beer on the premises. His strongest brew, 'Roger and Out', was closer to anaesthetic than ale, and so strong it was served only by the half-pint.
Essex's South African batting star, Ken McEwan, was playing his final season for the county and therefore up for any last-minute challenges. He insisted on drinking pints of the Roger and Out, something the landlord let him do, though only after fetching a bucket. But McEwan, a man hewn from tough farming stock in the Tsitsikama, was more than up to the task and sank four or five without undue distress.
The trouble was, with a sleep-in guaranteed the next day, the evening continued courtesy of the hotel night porter. Instead of Ken waking up next to his room-mate, he was stirred at 5am by the cleaner hoovering around the sofa we'd left him on once the R & O had finally kicked in.
It didn't end there. Roger sent Ken a case of R & O to the County Ground at Chelmsford, where it probably still lies, well preserved and pushing 13 per cent proof in a dark cupboard.
If it is there, it should be administered immediately to the chief executives of Yorkshire and Lancashire - a mean spirit guaranteed to cure the mean-spirited." - Derek Pringle (Daily Telegraph) - alluding to the attitude of Yorkshire and Lancashire's appeal against the decision to replay the Worcestershire v Kent fixture.
Being of sensible disposition, the umpires had usually called the day's play off by 11.30am, which left many hours to kill (gyms not being as popular or widely available as they are today). The pattern that emerged was snooker until five or six followed by a visit to a pub called the Frog and Parrot. By which time the heavens would open again and we knew we'd be safe to stay until closing time.
Back then, the Frog and Parrot was run a by a friendly cove by the name of Roger, who brewed his own beer on the premises. His strongest brew, 'Roger and Out', was closer to anaesthetic than ale, and so strong it was served only by the half-pint.
Essex's South African batting star, Ken McEwan, was playing his final season for the county and therefore up for any last-minute challenges. He insisted on drinking pints of the Roger and Out, something the landlord let him do, though only after fetching a bucket. But McEwan, a man hewn from tough farming stock in the Tsitsikama, was more than up to the task and sank four or five without undue distress.
The trouble was, with a sleep-in guaranteed the next day, the evening continued courtesy of the hotel night porter. Instead of Ken waking up next to his room-mate, he was stirred at 5am by the cleaner hoovering around the sofa we'd left him on once the R & O had finally kicked in.
It didn't end there. Roger sent Ken a case of R & O to the County Ground at Chelmsford, where it probably still lies, well preserved and pushing 13 per cent proof in a dark cupboard.
If it is there, it should be administered immediately to the chief executives of Yorkshire and Lancashire - a mean spirit guaranteed to cure the mean-spirited." - Derek Pringle (Daily Telegraph) - alluding to the attitude of Yorkshire and Lancashire's appeal against the decision to replay the Worcestershire v Kent fixture.