The talk in cricket
There's taking the p*** and there’s asking for the impossible. Lancashire’s Mal Loye thought cricket’s drug-testers were doing the former when they expected the latter following this month’s thrilling C&G Trophy semi-final at Worcester. Loye had been on the field, in temperatures close to 100 degrees, for all seven hours of a game that went to the last delivery.
The 30-year-old batsman threw himself about and gave chase as Worcestershire scored 254-5. Then he opened Lancashire’s innings and was still there at the end, unbeaten but distraught on 116 as the visitors fell seven runs short of their target.
If all that wasn’t enough, Loye returned to the dressing room — virtually on his knees — to discover he was required to provide a urine sample to the drug testing unit.
Having already relieved his body of pints of liquid through sweating, Loye simply could not oblige until long after most had left New Road. A penny for his thoughts? Probably best not to ask, but apparently he passed (so to speak).
Cook adds home-made taste
Middlesex recently awarded county caps to five players.
But which member of the quintet formed by Ashley Noffke, Joe Dawes, Simon Cook, Chad Keegan and Ben Hutton is the odd one out?
It’s actually Cook who is the only home-grown player. Noffke and Dawes were both born in Queensland while Keegan and Hutton first saw the light of day in Johannesburg.
Kenya believe it? Sadly, not
Talking about recruits from far away, all that shines once or twice isn’t gold. Collins Obuya was supposedly destined for great things after a good game or two for Kenya in the World Cup. Warwickshire thought so, anyway, signing the previously unknown leg-spinner.
Well, Obuya played just two championship games, taking three wickets at 60 apiece, and now heads home injured (pride as well as body, presumably). Obuya’s replacement is West Indian paceman Corey Collymore, another household name — at least in his own household.
A role reversal for Vaughan
Vodafone, England team sponsor, has introduced a mascot scheme which allows one youngster per Test to spend time in the home dressing room. Or is it the other way around? “When Michael Vaughan walks out to toss against South Africa at Trent Bridge he will have his biggest hero by his side, 11-year-old Tendayi Darikwa,” said the press release. We hope Michael came away with Darikwa’s autograph.
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