BURT DICKLEY

Patrick hasn't heard of Sandy Roberts:

Singing Cockleys and Moises, alive-alive-oh

I think there is another reason why the selectors summoned Burt. It's his name.

Say it. Burt Cockley. What image comes to mind when you say the words Burt Cockley? Well, he sounds like a gardener, for a start, but it is also not the name of a modern Australian cricketer. It is a throwback to another age. In fact, when I first saw a headline saying "Australia summon Burt Cockley", I assumed it was a link to an archive story from the 1930s. Players just aren't called Bert, let alone Burt, any more.

In case you haven't heard of Sandy:

Despite this impressive resume, Roberts is often remembered for his infamous gaff in introducing the 1981 Miss Australia, Leanne Dick as "Leanne Cock" during a Mt. Gambier Cup meeting. (Ironically, Dick's surname after marriage is Cockerill).

Comments

[Big Ramifications]

What image comes to mind when you say the words Burt Cockley?

I'll go "a tockley" for $15, thanks Tony.

[Tony]

You still reading your old copies of Men Only, Mayfair and Knave?

[Big Ramifications]

Surely there can't be plots involving cricket? The answer is an emphatic yes, for in the 18th and 19th centuries the game was supported by wealthy backers who wagered vast sums on the outcome of matches.

Cricket needed to attract large paying crowds and Broadhalfpenny Down, despite its isolated position, drew attendances of 20,000 as the Hambledon Club took on the might of All England and other major teams.

In the Bat & Ball, landlord Richard Nyren and fellow players planned a revolution in the game. By the time Hambledon went into decline and the game moved to Thomas Lord's ground in London, it had changed out of all recognition. The first laws of cricket were hammered out in the Bat & Ball, a tiny wicket of two stumps had become the familiar tall one with three stumps, curved bats like hockey sticks had become straight and underarm bowling was replaced by a round-arm version (over-arm bowling came later). Both pub and ground remain today and the pub has many artefacts of the ancient game, including a curved bat.

Cask beers are served from Fuller's and Gale's.

• Bat & Ball, Broadhalfpenny Down, Hyden Farm Lane, Clanfield, near Hambledon, Hampshire, off A3; +44 (0)23 9263 2692.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2009/nov/05/10-plotters-pubs-bonfire-night

[Big Ramifications]

I heard on the radio a moment ago that The Man With The Golden Tockley will be making his Australian debut in the dead rubber. Or should that be Burnt Tockley? Ouch.

[big ups to ex Perth Glory coach Berndt Stange [pronounced "stanger"] who was affectionately known as Burnt Snaggers]

[Adsy]

Last tango in Mumbai washed out.

Burnt Tockley unable to get his end in the "dead rubber" after all.

Snigger, snort, hehe hehe.

Sorry.