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Ask Bearders Book Review

Posted on August 3, 2010
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Bill Frindall was an integral part of Test Match Special from June 1966 until his ultimate ill-timed dismissal in January of 2009, ironically an Ashes year. To many, Bearders was one of the main reasons to tune into Radio 4’s TMS, he will be sorely missed by hundreds of cricket fans around the world. Buy Now

Ask Bearders is as you would expect a collection of questions put to the great statistician and fast bowler over his career as the BBC’s main cricket statistician and radio pundit he would often be heard to growl at a question posed by cricket commentator Jonathan Agnew on air.

The questions included in this book are sectioned and appear within numerous chapters such as “on the ump”, “stats cricket”, “bowling wizards” and “well fancy that”. This isn’t your usual book, there’s no story or writing style to comment on, simply Bill’s precise and often dry responses to the fans who attempt to trick him with an impossible question.

Although not meant to be a tribute as Agnew suggests in his foreword, “Ask Bearders” is a tribute to the bearded one. Although no longer here to continue his blog, a blog he started in 2001 in response to the thousands of questions he would receive over his radio career, the book serves as his final farewell to those who took the time to question his deep knowledge.

Terry Jones of England asked a question of Bill in which he described it as being one of the more unusual questions he had been asked in his first 50 years, elevating him to agony aunt status!

“My mother was to take me (aged three) to see Bradman’s last innings at Worcester in 1948 but instead went into labour delivering my brother. He was born on 28 April, …

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Ennis wins Gold but Mo Farah steals the show

Posted on July 31, 2010
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Jessica Ennis has just put the cream on a wonderful large cake by claiming Gold in the Heptathalon beating her closest rival Dobrynska in the 800 Metres but for me Mo Farah stole the show today by becoming double European champion at 5,000 and 1000 metres. It left me with a lump in my throat and pride in what he has given up to become the champion he is. Simply sensational.

How exciting have this year’s European Athletics in Barcelona been for UK Athletics and its followers?

It all began on day one with the 10,000 metres success with Mo “knows how to run” Farrah (28:24.99) and Chris Thompson (28:27.33) claimed Gold and Silver. It seemed to buoy the Great Britain squad pushing them to perform to their best, and often beyond, to bring home a huge collection of medals.

The only negative outcome from today was the performance from the Men and Women in the 4 by 100 metre relays, the guys putting in an absolutely shocking performance. Sitting comfortably in first place rounding the final bend, a mix up of monumental proportions between Mark Lewis-Francis, (who won silver in the 100m) and Marlon Devonish. Team GB could only finish fifth in their heat and failed to qualify for the final. An emotional Lewis-Franics told the BBC

“This is my fault, I’ve let the guys down,”. “Wow, it’s such a big blow. I apologise sincerely to all the guys, I just cannot believe that happened.”

Ennis ran 2 minutes, 10 seconds and 18 seconds, 2.12sec ahead of second-placed Ukrainian Dobrynska, to rack up a championship record 6,823 points total falling just eight points short of Denise Lewis’s British record.

“It’s been nerve-wracking having all the athletes on my heels,” admitted a jubilant Ennis.

“It feels so good …

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Jessica Ennis starts well in Barcelona

Posted on July 30, 2010
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Ennis clocks the fastest time in heats with 12.95 secsGold medal hope Jessica Ennis continued the strong British showing in Barcelona with the fastest time in Heptathalon’s 100m hurdles. The Sheffield born hept-athlete clocked a time of 12.95 seconds in the third heat with Jennifer Oeser of Germany second quickest with a time of 13.37 seconds.

The sub 13 second run gave her 1132 points with Oeser on 1070 points.

It wasn’t the smoothest of heats with fellow competitors Tatyana Chernova and Linda Zublin guilty of a false start in the third heat which meant that athlete committing another transgression would be disqualified.

Tatyana Chernova, who has been widely touted as the Briton’s closest rival for Gold looked out of sorts and could only manage a time of 13.73 seconds.

Jessica is the current world heptathlon and world indoor pentathlon champion.

Following her heat Ennis said:

“It felt OK, there was a bit of a headwind, it was a good start, I’d like to have run a bit quicker.”

With the recent virus behind her it appears to have had no affect on her speed, her stamina and strength will be severely tested over the next 48 hours as she aims to add a third title to her belt.

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F1 Farce as Alonso grabs controversial win over Massa

Posted on July 25, 2010
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Why oh why do I bother watching an F1 grand prix when a blatant team order instruction over the team radio changed the result of the race? Barring a catastrophe after the first few laps Ferrari were going to end  with a great 1-2 result, my complaint is the way it happens.

Ok, Alonso was obviously quicker than Felipe Massa after the one and only tyre change from super soft to hard. Massa was struggling with the change of tyre and locked up on numerous occasions before Alonso passed him. Alonso may well have passed him but surely the FIA will want to investigate this sham of “no team orders”.

When the pair returned to the pits at the end of the race, Massa was clearly upset but held back what he probably wanted to say and do!

Massa, who trailed his team-mate by 31 points prior to the race, was told by Ferrari chief engineer Rob Smedley over team radio: “Ok…. So Alonso is faster than you. Can you confirm you understand?” – to which he responded by letting Alonso through on Turn Six two laps later.

Following the move, Smedley added: “Good lad. Just stick with it now, sorry.”

During the driver’s press conference Massa was asked to comment on the call afterwards, Massa, who was denied a potential win one year to the day after he fractured his skull in the Hungarian GP, said: “I don’t need to say anything about that. He passed me.”

Formula 1′s governing body the FIA, state in Rule 39.1: “Team orders which interfere with a race result are prohibited.”

If Ferrari thinks they can make excuses that team orders weren’t in operation they are taking all F1 fans and viewers for mugs. Smedley was clearly holding back and towing …

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Alex “Hurricane” Higgins dies aged 61 – my memories

Posted on July 24, 2010
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I am totally saddened at the news Alex “Hurricane” Higgins has died at the young age of 61 following a long battle with throat cancer. Higgins has battled long and hard to overcome the illness but finally after 10 years he has lost his hardest fight.

On a personal note I remember as a youngster going on holiday to Corfu with a couple of the lads and one day while sitting at the pool Alex Higgins walked in and sat down at the seat next to me. We struck up a conversation and it lasted well into the evening. We drank, we ate and he talked! He was amazing.

The stories he came out with were pure class and had I been in the media as I am today I would have had a hell of a scoop to tell. Steve Davies came in for a lot of stick but he admired Jimmy “Whirlwind” White for the way he played the game and made it popular. He was on holiday and never minded people approaching him as long as they gave him respect.

Nothing was too much, he wouldn’t let us pay for anything. That was the kind of guy he was. Young lads on holiday for a good time, we certainly met a charming legend that week and although I’d always been more of a Jimmy fan I never took to Higgins….until that holiday.

They always say never judge a book by its cover – or should that be what you read in the press. It taught me that you never really know someone until you’ve met them or had time to talk. Media manipulates.

The Belfast-born player, who dominated professional snooker during the 1970s and 1980s, had been in remission from the disease for almost a decade.

He …

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Jeff Crowe admits error in Cricket World Cup Final

Posted on April 30, 2007
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Jeff Crowe, the match referee has come out and accepted he made a mistake in the final and despite Rudi Koertzen suggesting the teams come back the very next day to finish the game with 3 overs to bowl, Crowe stepped up to the plate.

It will be interesting to see what happens in the next few days and whether he wil be forced to resign on the back of a error strewn series. The thing that concerns me is that Crowe will be made a scapegoat for the rest of the administration and the ICC chiefs who have to be accountable for a farce of a tournament.

I’m sure we will all be glued to the web abd news bulletins to find out what happens next !!!

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The 2007 ICC Cricket World Cup – Farce !

Posted on April 29, 2007
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Australia Win 3rd Consecutive TitleThe Cricket World Cup has finished and Australia have deservedly won a third straight championship following the victory against Sri Lanka in Barbados yesterday. Let’s face it, no one even took Australia close and probably won’t for a while yet !

The great thing about Australia is the ability to switch on when it’s required. Sure they were defeated before the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand but as the fat lady sung, Adam Gilchrist guided Australia home (with a torch !) to a comprehensive win.

What really annoyed me was the fiasco of the final. The umpires seemed to have no idea what to do and were hell bent on confusing matters further. Was it the administrators who obviously couldn’t organise a piss up in a brewery to blame ? I guess only time will tell but one thing is clear, they shouldn’t be allowed to organise another competition in the West Indies – leave it to someone else !

The tournament was far too long and talk about over priced – why on earth would you charge $100 for a ticket when you now only too well the locals cannot afford the entry fee? Crazy and stinks of money grabbing. I hope they don’t make enormous amounts of profit from this, they’ve been far too greedy stopping the regular fan from watching a game they love.

I could be wrong but if it wasn’t for Mahela Jayawardene walking onto the pitch late in the day to talk with Ponting I really think the umpires would have brought the teams back to play 3 final overs today !!! If that’s the case then why on earth didn’t they play a full 50 over game spread over the two days ? Diabolical ! Agnew at the BBC sums it …

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Europe Win the Ryder Cup – Clarke’s Tears

Posted on September 24, 2006
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I’ve just been watching Europe defeat the USA in the 2006 Ryder Cup held at the K Club in Ireland and what a superb example of great golf coupled with passion and sportsmanship unrivalled in any Ryder cup I’ve certainly seen. A third consecutive team victory for Europe was always going to be overshadowed by the courage shown by Darren Clarke after losing his wife Heather to breast cancer.

In a way it was a shame Darren’s win wasn’t the win that sealed the well crafted team victory but it wasn’t meant to be. I also thought Tiger Woods showed us the true gentleman that he is, not once, not twice but three times, each time giving Darren a hug at the conclusion of his match. It was touching to watch and had me in tears at the end of the 16th hole.

Also funny to see was two holes in one especially considering none had been scored since 1995. Casey holed out yesterday to win the match and Verplank holed out to take the match dormie 4 against Harrington. Congratulations to the fans too and despite huge galleries, partisan crowds there were no stupid comments, no bad behaviour, just pure support for the great game.

Congratulations to Ian Woosnam (European captain) on the way he has held the team together especially after the pre tournament attack from Thomas Bjorn for not picking him! Tiger’s caddy almost falling in to water earlier in the round was comical, in the process losing Tiger’s 9 iron to the water Gods! All in all a great all round performance by everyone involved. The Americans played more like a team playing for each other than they have for a number of years and is surely the only way to go if they are to …

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Michael Schumacher, Hero or Villain ?

Posted on September 11, 2006
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A truly magnificent career is about to come to an end, brought even closer following his emphatic Grand Prix win at Monza yesterday. During the regular press conference for the podium finishing drivers, Michael Schumacher or Schumie to his friends announced that he would be retiring at the end of the season, three races down the line. I have to admit I was never a Schumacher fan for the first five years of his Ferrari career but something changed (and no I can’t remember why) and I have been a fan ever since. Not one of these crazy fanatical fans I add, simply a fan of great driving and tactical know how.

Schumie will be missed there’s no doubt not only for his driving but the knowledge he brings to Ferrari and the drivers as a whole, keen to look after everyone’s interest and safety. Sure he’s had his faults, no more so than when he decided to block Alonso on his final qualifying lap at Monaco. I looked at the tv screen stunned at what I saw and in real time I made allowances for the German telling myself, he didn’t do that on purpose did he ? If you were watching the qualifying session live or indeed the news bulletins for the next couple of days, it was filled with allegations of cheating from all and sundry and not least Renault boss Flavio Briatore. It was a mistake and a mistake that tarnished his reputation..

Along with Ayrton Senna, Schumacher is the best driver I have ever seen in Formula 1. I can’t compare him with Stirling Moss or any of the other older drivers; I simply didn’t follow their career because I wasn’t around! It’s always the same old case, doesn’t matter what the sport, could be …

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Australia mourns the loss of two favourite sons

Posted on September 9, 2006
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Can someone please tell me what Australia has done to deserve losing not one but two legends in the space of 5 days ? I guess this is always the way it works, just like in real non celebrity life. How many times do we go through our day to day life hearing that someone we know has died only to hear two days later that another acquaintance has died. I guess that’s the role of evolution but how much harder is it to lose two great Australian icons ? Bloody hard I tell you.

Peter Brock, nine times winner of the Bathurst 1000 died in a car rally yesterday, closely following in the footsteps of Steve Irwin last Monday. The Confederation of Australian Motor Sport and Western Australian Police confirmed that he lost control of his vehicle on a bend and collided with a tree whilst driving in the Targa West ’06 rally at 11.50am on September 8, 2006, near the township of Gidgegannup, 40km north-east of Perth. The 61-year-old Brock and his co-driver Mick Hone were in a 2001 Daytona Coupé. Hone was taken to hospital in a stable condition.

Video footage of the crash is being reviewed by police to help determine the cause of the accident. The editor of Wheels Magazine, Ged Bulmer, said that Brock would be remembered for his nine victories in the Bathurst 1000, for “He had a long and very successful career there, he was the ‘King of the Mountain’ as he came to be known.”

Brock’s children accepted the offer of a Victorian state funeral, with former partner Bev telling ABC Radio: “[Brock] was loved. He was in the public eye, and everything had to be done with a flourish and with a bang. It’s probably the way he …

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Marion Jones Cleared of Using Drugs

Posted on September 7, 2006
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Well very interesting news through today and boy am I happy with the results! Marion Jones, Ex-triple Olympic champion, has been cleared of doping allegations after her ‘B’ sample proved negative.

I don’t think I’ve ever heard of a second positive returning negative after a first positive result, certainly not in any high profile case I am aware of. I think this second test has certainly saved Marion Jones career as she only has a limited time left on track as a high class sprinter. Not only has this increased her career by a few years but it saves her having a black mark on what has otherwise been a blemish free athletics career.

Sure she has had her associations with her ex husband and Tim Montgomery, both who have lost out to drugs, but surely this now puts to rest any allegations that she had been using performance enhancing drugs? I hope so not just for her but for the sport in general that is going through a rough patch at the moment.

The American sprinter’s initial sample had tested positive for the banned blood-boosting drug erythropoietin (EPO) in June.

“I am absolutely ecstatic,” said the 30-year-old Jones, who had been facing a two-year ban from the sport had her ‘B’ sample tested positive.

“I am anxious to get back on the track,” she added in a statement.

“I have always maintained that I have never ever taken performance-enhancing drugs, and I am pleased that a scientific process has now demonstrated that fact.”

Jones, who won five medals at the Sydney Olympics in 2000, had never previously failed a doping test.

She had been under scrutiny by the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) in connection with the Balco laboratory doping scandal but was never been charged with a doping offence. …

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A bad week for Cricket

Posted on August 27, 2006
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It certainly has been a bad week for cricket and despite a great win by Sussex in the C7G Trophy, Lancashire losing by 15 runs in a low scoring final. James Kirtley took 5 wickets for just 27 runs, amazingly all by LBW, Darrell Hair was still very much in the news.

The ICC Chief, Malcolm Speed, re-iterated that Hair was still very much in the ICC’s plans despite asking for a pay off to leave cricket last Sunday. He dismissed suggestions that his fellow Australian would be “hung out to dry” and said: Darrell Hair is one of our best umpires – he’s one of the best two or three in the world. He’s a very dedicated man, he’s devoted to umpiring – that’s been his life’s passion.

“We need to let some water flow under the bridge. We have a meeting of the ICC Board in Dubai next Saturday, we’ll have had some further legal advice about all of these issues by then and hopefully we’ll be able to move forward some othese difficult questions.”

However despite Speed’s support, Pakistan will no doubt go all out to get the umpire removed from the Elite panel. Only time will tell but I certainly cannot see Hair officiating in another Pakistan game of any description. The hearing of ball-tampering and disrepute charges faced by Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq will not take place until next month.

<a href=”http://www.technorati.com/claim/zndfeuvauf” rel=”me”>Technorati Profile</a>

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Darrell Hair seeks $500,000 to quit

Posted on August 25, 2006
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Oh dear, Darrell Hair just can’t keep out of the headlines can he. Following his controversial decision last week to award the Oval Test to England after he accused Pakistan of cheating (ball tampering) it has emerged that he offered to resign from Test cricket. Ok nothing wrong with that I hear you say, but it’s not as simple as that! He offered to hang up his white coat for a price, $500,000 in fact or £266,000.

Many will see this as a sordid attempt to extract the urine/money but he insists that he was looking for a way out that would re balance the cricketing world following the decision last Sunday. Darrell Hair now 53 sent an email to the ICC, Malcom Speed, its Chairman has confirmed the Australian umpire has been under an enormous amount of stress but following legal advice had no option but to make this matter public.

And he said he was satisfied Hair had not made the offer with any “dishonest, underhand or malicious intent”.

“He was seeking to find a solution that was in the interests of the game.”

The ICC’s lawyers advised the organisation to disclose the contents of Hair’s message to the Pakistan Cricket Board as they were relevant to the disciplinary case brought against captain Inzamam-ul-Haq. Having informed the PCB, Speed then felt compelled to make the documents public in case they were leaked anyway.

Darrell Hair has since revoked the email citing it was sent after a stressful time in the spotlight. Hair doesn’t strike me as someone who bows to either pressure or stress and is certainly no stranger to controversy in Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe or India. Hair knew exactly what he was doing on Sunday and in his email to the ICC. It’s about time …

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Play Suspended following cheating allegations

Posted on August 20, 2006
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Oh Dear, Oh Dear, it just isn’t cricket ! No, really it isn’t ! The Oval Test has been turned on its head following ball-tampering allegations by Australian umpire Darrell Hair. England were awarded five runs and the ball was replaced after the umpires Darrell Hair and Billy Doctrove decided the ball had been altered artificially.

Hair is no stranger to controversy and Pakistan have publicly complained to the ICC that he is not the right umpire to officiate between the two countries. As it stands right now, the umpires have awarded the game to England and as far as they are concerned the game is over !

This is really crazy and all I hope is that Hair has seen ball-tampering and has proof because if he hasn’t and all he has done is suspect that something wrong has happened then we could be in for some serious ramifications. We probably are anyway but this is very interesting. No further play will happen today, only time will tell if it resumes tomorrow morning.

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