“Hi Jim.”
Ello David Harris!
“On missed cricket epics, I might have mentioned on CC Live once or twice that on St Stevens’ Day, 21 May last year, I left at lunch when the DI was on 60, as it was the first chance to see an octogenarian parent since lockdown.
What followed was absolute carnage as Stevo flayed Glammy’s bowlers to all corners into the teeth of a howling gale, reaching 190 as part of a ninth-wicket stand of 166. Miguel Cummins, in the Jack Leach role, made an apt 1. I followed it on CC Live from the train, while it seemed like everyone else was watching on the stream.”
Lovely David. And I bet Stevo’s exploits made the memorable day even more special.
These are great:
@Jimbo_Cricket trans Pennine express from manchester for the CWC semi final against aus in 2019. Couple a few seats ahead of me had sky on his phone, slightly ahead of my tms through bbc sport, went to google’s live text and ended up slightly ahead of them. Well chuffed
— matt (@dvtavfc) June 27, 2022 @Jimbo_Cricket There will be heaps of these, but, 2019 CWC final. Gatwick airport. Plane taxiing, bad signal, no headphones. Was told in no uncertain terms by cabin crew to turn off my phone as England sneaked super over. Phew.
— Victor Manley (@VictorManley7) June 27, 2022 @Jimbo_Cricket Headingley 19. Sat on the tarmac at Leeds w/ plane delayed. Woakes had just fallen when had to turn off phones for the 1 hour flight & assumed it would be all over by the time we landed. Then frantically hitting refresh in the passport queue at the other end.
— JoannaWilliamsDurkin (@Durkbot) June 27, 2022 TMS OVERSEAS LINK:
If you are overseas and wish to listen to Test Match Special, the link to our coverage is here on YouTube 👇
Not available to listeners in the UK, Sri Lanka, India, Australia, New Zealand, Pakistan and Bangladesh.#BBCCricket #ENGvNZ
— Test Match Special (@bbctms) June 27, 2022 Gah! Still this thread of furtive OBOing is fun, keep ‘em coming!
“Hi James,”
Hello David Nicholson!
“Picking up on Elliot Brooks’ question, my most memorable experience of not watching cricket was the fourth and final day of the Trent Bridge Ashes Test in 2005. I was at a wedding of some very close friends with the wedding breakfast perfectly timed to coincide with the climax of the game. Not only was I furtively checking for updates on my phone and occasionally nipping out to the loo via a small TV in another bar, but I was also furtively trying to give hand signal updates to my brother who had been employed to play the cello all through the afternoon.”
Haha. This sounds like a Two Ronnies sketch, David. Also got me wondering what you mimed for Geraint Jones’s dismissal? Or Hoggard’s bunted drive for four?!
This sounds so stressful Alex. I bet that jazz sounded particularly good after the result had finally sunk in though? Paaaaaaarp parp PPPPAARP!
@Jimbo_Cricket 2019 Cricket World Cup Final – Edinburgh Jazz Festival. Flicking between watching on my phone with sound off and OBO. Had no idea what had happened in the super over without commentary until OBO updated. England were celebrating but I still wasn’t sure we’d won…
— Alex Mennie 🥃🍸 (@menniedrinks) June 27, 2022 This is exactly what I was getting at John! DANGEROUS!
“Morning James,”
G’morning Max Savochkin.
“Speaking of the best time not watching cricket, mine is definitely last winter when I was working in a German office, sat next to a French woman, following the first Test of the India series on the OBO. It was a godsend because all I wanted to do was discuss how magnificent Root’s start to the year had been, but without the OBO I would have had to content myself with explaining why cricket lasts five days and sometimes ends in a draw to some bemused Europeans. I must admit to getting a slightly odd look when I fist-pumped the Root 200 update!”
Ahh the silent fist pump, Henman-esque, that and the impromptu howl of despair probably the two most common furtive live text checking reactions I reckon?!
@Jimbo_Cricket leaving home for Heathrow in 2005 and fully expecting England to wrap it up, only to find the pub rammed with Australia needing 9 to win. No time to watch, followed online and we won as I passed through the gate. You could hear the cheer a mile off. Great series
— Angus Stuart (@angstBali) June 27, 2022 Old School indeed, Dan.
@Jimbo_Cricket an old school entry for experiences of not watching the cricket: Kabir Ali’s final over rescuing a tie from the jaws of defeat against South Africa in 2005, experienced through the medium of Ceefax. Nothing quite like the interminable wait for the page to update…
— Dan Spicer (@spicer_dan) June 27, 2022 Here’s a lovely discursion from Elliot Brooks on email:
Morning James – keeping up to date with this third Test via the OBO, while being busy with work/life, reminded me of one of my most precious cricket experiences. I was at a horror film festival during the Headingley Heist in 2019 and, during the brief 10-minute gap between films, would check the OBO in utter disbelief at what I was seeing. It’s genuinely the most excitement I’ve had following a cricket match, and for one I wasn’t even watching live.
Question for fellow OBOers; what are your best experiences of not watching the cricket? I think this is a peculiar sport in that, because of the long run time, fans will always have missed some moment of greatness, so a lot of the lived experience of the sport is through desperately sought second-hand reporting.”
So true Elliot, one of the wonderful things about cricket is how it seeps into life, everyday or otherwise. Before I got the chance to write on the OBO, which is a real thrill, I would be that guest at a wedding furtively checking my phone under the table for the latest score or update or sneaking off from a birthday party to fire up the 4G in the gents. Who am I kidding, I still am.
What cricketing moments have OBOers ‘missed’ but not really missed? And where were you/what were you obliged to be doing instead? Fire away!
As the rain pitter-patters at Headingley the Sky crew of Knight, Hussain and Atherton are discussing Zak Crawley’s skittish innings from yesterday. Nasser is inclined to give him the Edgbaston Test as a last chance saloon. Athers isn’t so sure.
Here’s Jonny Liew:
That’s not all, join the effervescent Tanya Aldred as she helms the County Champo live blog:
There’s plenty to keep you busy in the meantime. England’s women are in Taunton to play a Test (yes you heard that right…) against South Africa.
Join m’colleague Dan Gallan on the tools for that one:
Delayed start due to rainThe rain is falling in Leeds. The forecast is for it to clear up around lunchtime so we should still get a result in.
Here we go again…Another day five of an absorbing Test match with the gates flung open to the masses. It’s easy to be cynical in this day and age and God only knows how long it will last but it does truly feel like the McCullum/Stokes partnership has given a big old shot in the arm for Test cricket in this country.
You can feel it in the stands, in the pubs and the taverns, in the excitable conversations on the train or on the walk to the ground, even in the press box. There’s a buzz. A Baz n Ben Buzz.
It feels fun, exciting and yes – a little bit dangerous. Who knows what the future might hold, frankly just thinking about the next week can be terrifying enough at the moment. So I for one am just going to enjoy the ride, the distraction. Whether it be Root’s reverse ramps, Bairstow’s backs against the wall blitzkrieg-ing or Matt Potts quietly but efficiently announcing himself on the world stage. Test cricket is one of the best things in life.
Gah… it is raining in Headingley. Cricket eh?