[Cricket] This is a wonderful piece of sports writing

[Gwylan]

... Mike Atherton remembering the 1981 Ashes series

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/...f?shareToken=dea50506b9b49b8a9c1fb46206501ecb

One of the best articles I've read this year: what a summer that was,

Sad to hear about Hendo though, a really whole-hearted bowler

 

[Eeyore]

'Phoenix from the Ashes' is an excellent read. I bought a copy when it came out and Brearley signed it for me when Middlesex came to Hove.

It was the 81 Ashes series that got me in to cricket. I was 12 and cared little for it up to then.

 

[Guinness Boy]

It was the 81 Ashes series that got me in to cricket. I was 12 and cared little for it up to then.

Good read that. I was a couple of years younger but it had exactly the same effect on me.

 

[dazzer6666]

'Phoenix from the Ashes' is an excellent read. I bought a copy when it came out and Brearley signed it for me when Middlesex came to Hove.

It was the 81 Ashes series that got me in to cricket. I was 12 and cared little for it up to then.

I was 15, dead keen and had started playing club cricket. Happiest summer of my life !

 

[Lower West Stander]

I was 15 as well. Was at the OT test.

The abuse John Dyson (in front of me at fine leg) and Rod Marsh got was something to behold. Never have been allowed now.

Lost in the annals of time but I'm pretty sure Kim Hughes "protected" Yallop when the Aussies batted.

What a summer that was...

 

[Peppermint Tea]

What a summer of cricket! I was 14 and the whole series (with the exception of the Oval test when I was on a family holiday) is indelibly etched on my memory. Loved Athers’s piece in The Times today - he really is a brilliant writer: the John Woodcock of his day.

Brearley was years ahead of his time in terms of man management and creating positive culture - extraordinary to think no one expected him - or cared - to score runs (his batting wasn’t really test class) but his value as a skipper, as a motivator, as a leader was outstanding.

 

[GT49er]

... Mike Atherton remembering the 1981 Ashes series

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/...f?shareToken=dea50506b9b49b8a9c1fb46206501ecb

One of the best articles I've read this year: what a summer that was,

Sad to hear about Hendo though, a really whole-hearted bowler

Pity about the link - just goes to a Sunday Times features page (and requires sign up to read).

It was a great summer though.

 

[Garry Nelson's teacher]

Agreed, a very evocative article. I'd forgotten that our very own Paul Parker (one of the best fielders I've ever seen) got a game in that series. Those were the days when the Oval test was a bit of an audition for a place in the touring party, which poor PP failed miserably with a duck. What a series that was. Sad to hear of those who have passed on and poor Mike Hendrick - especially as they are of the same vintage as me.

 

[GT49er]

Agreed, a very evocative article. I'd forgotten that our very own Paul Parker (one of the best fielders I've ever seen) got a game in that series. Those were the days when the Oval test was a bit of an audition for a place in the touring party, which poor PP failed miserably with a duck. What a series that was. Sad to hear of those who have passed on and poor Mike Hendrick - especially as they are of the same vintage as me.

Paul Parker had a fabulous season - century after century for Sussex, without a sniff of a call up to the England side. Such a run of form was bound to come to an end sometime - and England picked him right at that point! Unlucky!

 

[Gwylan]

Pity about the link - just goes to a Sunday Times features page (and requires sign up to read).

It was a great summer though.

That's strange: I'm not a subscriber but this was a free article for me

It was a fantastic summer. I was at uni for the first two tests and, as I'd finished my degree, I had loads of time on my hands ... so I watched both of them. I still remember the silence that greeted Botham when he returned to the pavilion with a duck, he resigned the captaincy shortly after.

I was working at the Alliance by the time the 3rd test started and I remember that climatic final day. Blokes in the office were dialling the test match score (note for younger NSC members, BT ran a service where by dialling 154, phone users could hear the latest test match score) and shouting out the results to each other.

What a summer it was - Sussex finished runners-up in the CC too.

 

[GT49er]

That's strange: I'm not a subscriber but this was a free article for me.

Strange - I've clicked on the link again and again and it takes me here -

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/

Hey ho, c'est la vie............ still, the summer of '81 was a great time for me too, so thanks for remindig me of it!