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Daily Mail
19-05-2025
- Sport
- Daily Mail
The Art of Batting by Jarrod Kimber: The Ins and Outs of Cricket's greatest batsmen
The Art Of Batting by Jarrod Kimber (Bloomsbury Sport £20, 288pp) Did you know that manure changed cricket? Before the late 19th century, muck spreading was done by hand, meaning little chunks of the stuff would lurk on the pitch. If a ball hit one it would bounce unpredictably, thereby confusing the batsman. Once dung began to be liquefied and spread by machine, pitches became more reliable. This is the detail in which cricket revels. Football is simple: you have to kick the ball into their net more times than they kick it into yours. Cricket is complex and so those who play the game often exhibit a certain kind of… let's call it 'intensity'. Jarrod Kimber's book provides ample evidence of just how strange cricketers can be. John Wright of New Zealand was so happy with one innings that he glued his gloves to the bat handle, so he could replicate his grip precisely the next time he played. Meanwhile India 's Ranji (Colonel H.H. Shri Sir Ranjitsinhji Vibhaji, Jam Sahib of Nawanagar to you) was so scared of the ball as a youngster that his coach tied his right leg to the ground. Chance can play a part – Viv Richards developed his legendary love of hitting to the leg side because the off side of his school ground bordered land owned by someone who wouldn't throw the ball back. But you need to have natural talent in the first place. Experiments conducted indoors have shown that, unlike amateurs, professional batters can still hit the ball even when the lights are turned out. Very few of the so-called 'rules' of batting seem to apply universally. The greatest of all time, Don Bradman, had eyesight rated as 'poor' when he was in the army. You're always told to get your foot to the pitch of the ball, but Kevin Pietersen says he never bothered about that. And Kimber himself admits that on first seeing Steve Smith, 'I compared his chances of success to those of a dead donkey.' The Aussie now appears in sixth place on the list of all-time greats that concludes the book. David 'Bumble' Lloyd, as he discussed facing fast bowling, said: 'The thrill of the game is I know I can get hurt.' In 1953 New Zealand's Bert Sutcliffe was hit by a bouncer and had to visit hospital. On his return he carried on batting, and 'went through so many bandages that they had to try towels to stop the bleeding'. Mark Butcher remembers England's 1998 tour of the West Indies – local fans would line the road making cut-throat signals. His team-mate Alec Stewart 'played forward to a ball that almost displaced his nipple'. You'll need to be a confirmed cricket fan to enjoy (or even understand) this book. You can't make the arguments Kimber is looking to make without using statistics, but it does lead to a prose style that's more clubbing Matthew Hayden than elegant David Gower. That said, a good statistic is always a winner. I love the fact that the record for highest percentage of a side's runs in a completed Test innings happened in the first innings ever, in 1877, when Charles Bannerman scored 165 of Australia's 245 runs.
Daily Mail
21-04-2025
- Daily Mail
Moment greedy seagulls terrorise young families by stealing their hot dogs and chips on Dorset seafront
This is the moment greedy seagulls terrorise young families during the Easter holidays by feasting on their hot dogs and chips. The gulls laid in wait above a fish bar before swooping down to help themselves to a hearty lunch. One attempted to single-handedly devour a hot dog, with others loitering nearby to pick up the scraps. Another gull spotted an unguarded box of chips and helped themselves to it on the seafront at Lyme Regis, Dorset. The gulls at the coastal town are notoriously aggressive, even hospitalising a Swedish girl last August. The culprit had spotted the casualty eating a croissant and cut her hand with its beak. She was taken to hospital for a tetanus shot following the ambush. Lyme Regis Town Council have tried using gull-proof bins, flying drones and even employing bird handlers with hawks and eagles to scare off the gulls after complaints they were terrorising visitors. There is an anti-social behaviour Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) in place, which makes it a civil offence to intentionally feed the gulls and anyone seen doing so can be issued a £100 fine. Despite being a menace, seagulls are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, which makes it illegal to kill or injure them. In 2022 police launched an investigation after one harassed tourist attacked a gull with a cricket bat in Lyme Regis. A similar picture was taken last year, when a seagull in the town swooped down and stole a woman's cake. She was seen eating the sweet treat before the bird approached from a nearby lamppost. It came from behind her and pounced quick as a flash to take the snack from her grasp. The man sitting next to her appeared nonplussed as he carried on eating his pie. Photographer Graham Hunt said: 'There were quite a few seagulls flying around the beach. 'It came down and snatched the cake from her hand. She looked a little startled but the man she was with just carried on eating.' Speaking last year, Lyme Regis Town Council clerk John Wright said: 'The town council is very aware of the seagull issue in Lyme Regis and has tried many ways over the years to deter them and make people aware of the dangers. 'This has included bringing in birds of prey, flying a drone, issuing advice leaflets to residents, installing signs on the seafront warning people of seagull thieves, and introducing bins on the seafront which make it harder for gulls to pull waste from them. 'The council also has two enforcement officers who are authorised to issue fixed penalty notices of up to £100 to anyone who intentionally feeds seagulls. 'However, due to the number of food outlets in Lyme Regis and the resulting waste, this makes the town an attractive place for seagulls to find food. 'The seagulls may be more aggressive at the moment because it is breeding season and adult gulls are protecting their chicks.' In the nearby Dorset town of Weymouth, a seagull became a regular customer at a shop, known for stealing crisps. A video captured the bird red-breaked as it stole one of the packets from the shelf The gull, nicknamed Steven, was a regular visitor of the Central shop in Weymouth, Dorset, with staff even putting up a joke warning sign about their 'resident shoplifter'. In the video, the bird brazenly saunters in through the open doors and waddles over to the nearest shelf stocking food which he helps himself to. Staff had moved the Flamin' Hot Walkers crisps to his favourite position in the hope the spicy surprise will put Steven off. However it did not work and after pinching a packet of the hot crisps, the gull took it outside and ripped it open before devouring the contents. Shop supervisor Sally Toogood said: 'He has been quite a pest. We thought we would need footage and to put a sign up to make people believe it. 'He hangs around outside, waits for any opportunity to come in and grab a packet of crisps. 'He takes it off the shelf, shakes it open and all of his mates come down as well. He didn't seem to be bothered by the spicy crisps.'
