Emergency meeting

I say!

I had to attend an emergency meeting of the Pitch Inspectors Standing Sub-committee (Official Facilitators) a couple of weeks back. It was the usual stuff. Lots of drinking...

And lots of eating...

And lots of discussions about whether or not the Aussies have twigged the (previously) secret plans to mix selected tomato by-products with heavy clay loams for the next Ashes pitch at the Oval, in order to produce a slow turner specifically suited to Monty Panesar.

Well, I told them straight out that they obviously already know - having tortured it out of poor Menzies IV when he was in the slammer recently, Downunder. The cat (not Tuffers, so to speak) was already out of the bag. We unanimously agreed on Plan B (still, fortunately, a secret).

The meeting was held at a location where there is a stunning statue of an historic figure, as shown below.

If you can guess who and where it is, I'll reveal Plan B.

By the way, I understand that the spread at Duneditin 2008 will be superior.

MM III

More from Menzies IV Downunder

I say!

It seems that Menzies IV is now out of the slammer, largely thanks to Mrs M who by a fortunate coincidence knows the local DC (or whatever is the equivalent in Australia), and is continuing his travels. Here are the latest snaps.

Hairdo didn't see the warning sign.

l to r Hairdo, martian. Or should that be the other way round?


Later on, they put the koala on the braai. Tasted a bit like chicken, they said, but not as good as elephant biltong.

MM III

Tower Trail 2

I say!

Whilst we wait for more news from Downunder, here are some more snaps from the Clackmannanshire Tower Trail. During the entire trip, with one notable exception, I forswore the bibulous path.

Above is Alloa Tower, which unsurprisingly is situated in Alloa, now a town of little beauty. Alloa Tower is a grand affair, built mainly in the 15th century by the Erskines. In the 18th century some impressive gardens were created, which now have houses on them. John Erskine became the 6th Earl of Mar and supported the 'Old Pretender' and the Jacobite cause, but lost the castle for his troubles.

Below is the view from what was once a thriving harbour on the Forth which served the town of Alloa and the tower. One can just make out some snow on, I think, Ben Ledi.



Above is a view of Clackmannan Tower from the west, and below, from the east. Clackmannan Tower was mostly built in the 15th century, on foundations layed down in the 14th century. Malcolm IV may have lived here for a while. A considerable part of the tower collapsed in 1948, but has since been repaired by Historic Scotland. Clackmannan Tower has excellent views over the Forth Valley, shown in the final view below.


MM III

The booze cruise that got out of hand

I say!

Mrs M is rather concerned about Menzies IV on his travels Downunder.

First of all, the after effects of drinking the green slime do not appear to have worn off yet, as the following snap of Zapper and Hairdo clearly shows.


Then, there was the report we received that their recent booze cruise jaunt got a bit out of hand and resulted in somewhat of an accident with the boat itself. Below are the lads inspecting the damage the morning after.


Small wonder, then, that Menzies seems to have ended up in the slammer.


I expect Mrs M will want to bail him out.

MM III

Clackmannanshire Tower Trail

I say!

Just to follow on from my last post, if any more proof was needed that the great game of cricket was popular in Ancient Rome, I have it on good authority (cricinfo, in fact) that Julius Caesar was a right-hand bat and fast bowler.

Anyway, on our spring visit to dear old Blighty, Mrs M and myself enjoyed a tour of some of the medieval fortified towers in Clackmannanshire. Here are some snaps from the trip.


Above and below are views of Castle Campbell, which stands in a rather spectacular setting above the village of Dollar. Mary Queen of Scots once visited this castle. There was a battle over it in 1654 when some of the buildings were destroyed by forces loyal to Charles I.


Below is the view from the castle down into Dollar.


The two snaps below show views of Sauchie Tower. Sauchie Tower was built in the mid-15th century by Sir James Schaw of Greenock. We noticed some completely collapsed ruins in the near vicinity, which was where a large hall and kitchen used to stand.


More snaps from the tower trail to follow.

MM III

The Ancient Romans and cricket

I say!

In a recent post, I noted that a form of cricket, called lapta, has been popular in Russia since 1600. Of course, the great game is much, much older than that. As I explained in post long ago, in a far off blog, it was popular amongst late neolithic Orkadians several thousands of years ago, and as I shall show in a future post, it was also enjoyed by the Ancient Egyptians.

J.C., a demon bowler and opening batsman of no little talent, noted for playing with an exceptionally straight bat, sent me the following snap from his recent trip to Rome, which shows, without doubt, that cricket was held in high esteem in Ancient Rome.

In his snap we can clearly see a monument in honour of the wickets. Compare it with the following snap I took at the Stanford Cricket Ground in Antigua and you see that the structure of the wickets has not changed much since played by the Romans, though the bails were slightly taller in ancient times, providing more of a target for the bowler to aim at, and therefore giving them somewhat of an advantage. Despite this, there were many centurians in Ancient Rome, obviously given that title because they had scored 100 runs in a match.




J.C.'s snap was taken at The Forum. He told me that he remembered a visit to the same venue on a school trip many years ago. The teacher, on seeing the Roman wickets, was heard to mutter: “They wouldn’t be standing if Shack were here…”

To explain that a little further - Derek Shackleton (he of the not-a-hair-out-of-place Brycreemed medium pace bowler) was a star for Hampshire (late 50s/60s).

Below is a further snap taken by J.C. showing further monuments to various fielding positions around the wickets. The gully area is particularly celebrated.


MM III