Quite a lot has gone on in the game today, but it is only fair to start with the sad news of the death of Graham Dilley. "Picca" was a decent cricketer and a good coach who will forever be remembered for his exploits alongside Ian Botham in 1981. He bowled quickly and could hit a ball hard on occasions. 52 is way too young to die and my heart goes out to his family. Rest in Peace Graham.
Closer to home I had a look at the excellent newsnow site today and did a double take. I was sure a leading article said "Derbyshire sign Dravid" when in fact it was a local newspaper report on Derbyshire signing David (Wainwright). Thrilled as I am with the Wainwright signing, I was momentarily disappointed that we had not picked up the Indian batting legend as an overseas star...
Over on the Forum there was also one litigation-worthy comment earlier today which has prudently been removed at the first opportunity by the administrator. It is neither fair nor sensible to put personal comments about individuals into the public domain and everyone should keep that in mind. I know that I have written about that before, but everyone should keep it in mind when posting on the internet. Fair, critical comment is one thing, but personal comments are neither nice nor clever.
I was sorry, though not surprised to see that Leicestershire are to allow James Taylor to talk to other counties. I had a feeling that Martin van Jaarsveld was the replacement for him when the signing was announced last week. Despite winning the T20, the county are far from wealthy and cannot pay big money to five or six players. I think Taylor will succumb to the predatorial approaches of either Warwickshire or Nottinghamshire and whoever lands him will get a smashing player. Mind you, if there's any justice he will be with England in the next couple of years, so they may not reap the dividend of his talents for too long.
That's pretty much it for tonight. Keep well and keep reading - remember, it's only 177 sleeps until April...
Your blog was the first news I have seen with reference to Graham Dilley's sad demise due to my own work commitments, both today and tonight . What a very sad and shocking story. As you rightly say, 52 is no age at all and it rather focuses you on your own mortality.
ReplyDeleteMy own recollecions of Graham as a player shifted from seeing a young bowler with a rather ungainly, somewhat mechanical action in the beginning to one of an effective quick bowler, perhaps more so once he moved to Worcestershire. From sometimes being matched or surpassed in pace by Kevin Jarvis at Kent, he suddenly seemed to click at looked a class quick bowling act. Not bad with the bat either.
RIP Graham.