Cricket – Five Miles Out

What elation

In sport there can be moments of utter ecstasy. Those instants which are the difference between victory and defeat and if your team is on the winning side can make you punch the air in exhilaration. I already covered one of those from Superbowl XXIII when Joe Montana led the 49ers on a final winningContinue reading “What elation”

The wild dogs cry out in the night

Once upon a time in the 1950s three batsmen played for the West Indies. Sir Frank Worrell who scored nearly 4,000 test runs at 49.48 and was the first non-white captain of the West Indies; Sir Clyde Walcott who scored nearly 4,000 runs at 56.68, and Sir Everton Weekes 4,400 runs at over an averageContinue reading “The wild dogs cry out in the night”

And we can’t build our dreams

Mike lived in Leicester for quite a while. The first time we went up to see him he was living on his own and I rifled his CD collection and found one that surprised me – an Elvis Presley compilation. Now I knew that he was hugely important in the history of popular music, butContinue reading “And we can’t build our dreams”

Don’t Be Too Long

I wrote some time ago about one international cricket dynasty (https://fivemilesout.home.blog/2020/09/26/im-so-tired-of-trying/ ), they were succeeded by an Australian dynasty. In fact Australia being the best team in the world is the default position for world cricket, but being young in the 70s and 80s it seems odd for the West Indies not to be theContinue reading “Don’t Be Too Long”

What It Takes To Make A Pro Blush

The summer of 1981. Riots on the streets of the UK. Mass unemployment and in particular youth unemployment as the government closed down failing industries, without putting enough retraining and mitigating actions in place (or any of those things actually). I think it has been hard to imagine how much despair there was, though sadlyContinue reading “What It Takes To Make A Pro Blush”

I’m So Tired of Trying

David Coverdale was the second lead singer in Deep Purple in the band’s third line up. Generally considered less impressive than the Ian Gillan era it is still much better than what followed it and Coverdale is an impressive vocalist. He formed Whitesnake and they were a solid metal band, though with a taste forContinue reading “I’m So Tired of Trying”

Good times never seemed so good

Neil Diamond was another of my guilty secrets. A proper teenage New Romantic/ Heavy Metal fan (and that was a pretty big dichotomy when it was all about tribes) did not like Neil Diamond. I did from when I first heard Love On the Rocks. Really there is only one form of cricket worth consideringContinue reading “Good times never seemed so good”