Says it all really.  But I just wanted to thank all of you for your support with this blog in the last year - astoundingly there have been  over 167,000 views according to my new found friend Google analytics, which encourages me to keep going.  

They do say that when you get older there are two things you must do - keep the body moving and the brain ticking over.  Well, the first is slowing down due to the ravages of anno domini and avoirdupois but this blog keeps the second one going.  

So, to each and everyone who follows these ramblings and rants, I wish you, your friends and loved ones a happy, peaceful, healthy and enjoyable 2022.  Thank you again.

 

 THE DAYS BETWEEN...

......the celebration of Santa`s birthday and the crash, bang wallop of another new year are a bit of a dead end really but at least they give the opportunity for a little light reflection on the year just on the way out.  I`ll resist the self indulgence of picking out highlights of my year, perhaps because they were a little thin on the ground during this Covid stuff;  but I will mention my granddaughter`s wedding which finally happened in October after a couple of Covid related postponements.  A glorious family day, never to be forgotten.

Instead I have been looking through the posts I have concocted this past year - 165 of them - and I`ve tried to pick out a couple which I suggest might sum up my priorities and the way I see the world in what are now my evening years.   Now I suppose it might be true that the older one gets, the more one looks back on childhood and those places that made those formative years so very special.  So I`ve selected a post I wrote back in May after we had had another memorable week in the New Forest. 

I`m not quite a child of the New Forest but pretty close by, having spent the years during and immediately after World War 2 on the Waterside - that area between the shoreline of Southampton Water and the New Forest - it holds special memories for me and whenever we return there it feels more and more like going home.  Anyway, here`s what I wrote in May which I hope captured my affection for the area, its peace and quiet and its escape from the rest of life`s troubles and misadventures:-

https://snoppersays.blogspot.com/2021/05/quiet-places.html 

(To see the post, please highlight the above link, right click and there`s an option to `go to.....`)

And the other post I have chosen is a deliberate attempt to get away from these dismal, dog end days of late December and remind myself of those times spent in the summer sun watching the cricket down at Canterbury.  At least we have now turned the corner of the winter solstice and - like Southampton finally looking up the Premier League table rather than down - I am already looking forward to the return of the sun and those lazy, hazy days when the world will surely seem much brighter than it does today:-

https://snoppersays.blogspot.com/2021/07/a-day-of-contrasts-yesterday-and-calm.html

Perhaps these two random samples out of the 165 might tell you more about me than anything else.

 

.......of a weird kind of sporting festive period.  Woke up on Boxing Day morning, switched on the Teletext thingy to see that England had once again disappointed the nation by being outplayed by Australia in the Test Match at the MCG.  As the mere twelve hours of play needed to complete yet another comprehensive Australian victory and thus retain the Ashes, a hint of despair descended on me.   Clearly a case of ashes to dust.  I never mind losing, it`s losing without any fight that causes the despair.  Or maybe it`s just the hope that does it.

So, could things get any better?  Of course - Southampton going to West Ham`s taxpayer gifted London Stadium and coming away with a 3-2 victory thanks to Jan Bednarek`s winning goal (see my previous post.)  I`m surrounded here by West Ham fans, some of whom I have not heard from since Boxing Day but to be fair one of them kindly handed me a matchday programme (£3..50 from all good stockists) and took the result with good grace.

And then yesterday the Saints pulled off a well deserved point by holding Tottenham to a 1-1 draw at St. Mary`s, despite being down to 10 men for over an hour and showing the kind of resolute defending and collective spirit that of itself earned those little bits of good fortune that came their way.  21 points from 19 games at the half way stage of the season is an encouraging sign and another three points against struggling Newcastle on Sunday would be even more so.  That`s if Newcastle turn up as they apparently have issues with Covid and injuries to their two best players which has meant that their game tomorrow against Everton has been called off.  (Saints had four Covid casualties and several injured players for yesterday`s game but they just got on with it.)

Elsewhere a number of games were postponed either because of Covid, waterlogged pitches or bad weather in Scotland so there were no games for Gillingham, Fort William, Brechin City, Truro City or Stoke Gabriel and Torbay Police FC.  Vale of Leithen did play but recaptured their losing ways by going down at home 6-0 to Rangers B and Aldershot went down 1-0 away at Dagenham and Redbridge, a game enlivened by the return of Scott Wagstaff following his own recent bout with Covid.

A special word for Maidstone United this weekend.  They went to near neighbours Tonbridge on Boxing Day and won 1-0 and followed that up with a convincing 4-1 win yesterday against Welling - a result that sees them joint top of the National League South but second in the table only because Oxford City have scored more goals than the Stones.  Could promotion be on the cards?

Every picture tells a story and this one can paint a thousand words.......

 

JINGLE BELLS.....

Well, just one more sleep and in keeping with all the other myths, legends and fairy tales surrounding the most wonderful time of the year I`m expecting a bearded gentleman on a sleigh pulled by assorted reindeer to land on my roof, climb down the chimney, scoff the mince pies and other goodies I`ll leave out for him and if I`ve been a good boy he might, just might, leave some presents for me to open in the morning.  Can he do better than last year`s pair of socks and a satsuma, I wonder?

Now I`ve been doing this blog for a number of years and from time to time I keep tabs on who my `audience` might be.  Happily, something called Google analytics - I won`t bore you with it -  surprisingly shows that my blog is actually seen in a number of countries across the world.  Today, for example, I see that in just the last couple of days I have been followed by people in Japan (I seem to be big in Japan as they top the viewing list,) the UK, South Korea,  Germany, France, Canada, Belarus, Portugal, Spain, Netherlands, Norway, Singapore, Indonesia, Romania and Sweden.  Quite frightening really - never knew there were so many sad people in the world but at least it`s a comfort to know it`s not just me.

So, wherever you may be across the globe, I wish each and every one of you a healthy, happy and peaceful  Christmas.  

 

With so many football matches called off this weekend thanks to assorted Covid outbreaks, at least it`s a chance to concentrate more on the more minnow-esque teams that I follow.  (I`m a bit puzzled though as to why so many games in the Premier League have been called off, when each club has a big squad of players to choose from.  OK, if their first choice players are unavailable, surely they have enough other players to `fulfill the fixture?`  Nice idea but I suppose Premier League football is all about TV rights and money - sigh;  I remember when it used to be a game.)

Anyway, Southampton`s home game against Brentford was off, as was Gillingham`s home encounter with Crewe Alexandra and Maidstone United`s trip to Maidenhead became a Covid casualty as well; whilst  Fort William fell victims to Formartine United`s frozen pitch. 

In the minnow games that did go ahead, Stoke Gabriel and Torbay Police FC (SG&TPFC) again suffered a narrow 3-2 defeat at home, this time to AFC Torridgeside in front of a crowd of 49 at the JG Churchward Memorial Ground; and Vale of Leithen - hot on the heels of last week`s first win of the season - went down 4-0 at home to Civil Service Strollers in Scotland`s Lowland League.

Better news with Aldershot Town achieving their sixth straight win in a 2-1 victory over Kingstonian in the FA Trophy but in the same competition Truro City lost in a penalty shoot out against Dagenham and Redbridge from the National League after a 1-1 extra time conclusion which, to be fair, was a decent display against a team two tiers higher in the football pyramid.   And last but not least Brechin City managed a 4-0 home win against Deveronvale in the Highland League to overcome their disappointment at losing the midweek Scottish Cup replay on penalties away at Darvel (no, me neither.)

Who knows what the next few days and weeks will bring to this sporting life?  Or, indeed, in life itself.

 

MR. GRUMPY STRIKES AGAIN..

Devotees of these pages will be aware that, at this time of the year, my Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) kicks in, so I apologise in advance if what I am about to say just adds to the gloom.  And it is yet another gloomy day, bleak, dank, global darkness seems to be descending.  However, dear reader, do not despair as I promise you - and myself - that this post will end on a more cheerful note.

But it`s not been a great week.  Started off with a funeral to attend on Monday morning for a good friend and neighbour who left our peaceful enclave after becoming very ill rather too quickly.  The house opposite where she lived for more than 40 years is `on the market` and as I write a succession of would be purchasers are checking out the house and no doubt the neighbours as well.  

To add to the week`s gloom, Mr. Covid is running wild, the prospects for `the most wonderful time of the year` aren`t looking great.  The test cricket in Australia is disappointing unless you`re Australian, football matches are being called off - Fort William`s game against Formartine United is off because of a frozen pitch, which at least makes a change from Covid related cancellations; turmoil continues to surround anything and everything to do with HM. Gov. and the whole country is crying out for some proper leadership.

But the shortest day of the year is nearly here and so in a desperate attempt to cheer myself up, I`ve once again been looking back at some photos I took in happier, sunnier days.  This was Soar Mill Cove on the south west coast path between Hope Cove and Salcombe in south Devon.  I remember it well - gorgeous day, gorgeous view and, well, just gorgeous.  Made me feel better anyway.......

(Please click on photo for a better image)  

 

Well I suppose by any standards the new Covid variant is an ill wind.  It is threatening many aspects of life that we all hold dear - even life itself - and I do sympathise with anyone who either themselves or their friends and family find themselves caught up in the slings and arrows that this pandemic is throwing at us.

And yet.....and yet for some of us it truly is an ill wind that blows no good. This coming Saturday would have seen an event of monumental importance to those, like me, who in our infantile sense of priority seem willing to follow the fortunes of Southampton Football Club. You see, to do so belies a warped sense of priority, it singles us out hopeless cases perhaps more suited to treatment in the Priory or even suitable cases for sectioning under certain legislation.

But we march on, as the club mantra goes, and having achieved the unexpected bonus of a point away at Crystal Palace the other evening we have been looking forward to the admittedly outside possibility of actually winning a game at St. Mary`s Stadium this coming Saturday against mid table Brentford.

And what happens?  Mr. Covid and his new found variant happens and thanks to an onset of infections in the Bees camp, the game has already been called off.  Curses.  Foiled again.  But maybe not too surprised because Brentford manager Thomas Frank has been pleading with the Premier League to postpone matches this weekend - well, he would, wouldn`t he?; as he`s clearly petrified with having to play the Saints at St. Mary`s.  

But there is as always a bright side to be looked upon and it is that I can now spend my Saturday afternoon free of the mental anguish that besets Saints supporters every time the team crosses the white line and takes to the field.  And perhaps my neighbour will share my relief with his beloved Gillingham`s game has also being called off for Saturday.

Maybe, instead, I will find something else to trouble my infantile octogenarian mind? After all, there`s plenty to choose from. 

 Well, that`s true.  I`ve had my own `issues` over the years, some of which I have confessed to in these pages.  By most people`s standards they don`t amount to very much - a fear of snakes;  an aversion to advanced dentistry and a general reluctance for anything `medical.`  I don`t `do` medical, hospitals, illness - that sort of thing and I suppose I have been more than fortunate to have avoided much to do with the medical world.  I have only had one extended hospital stay and that was 75 years ago when, at the age of seven, I spent six months in Southampton Children's Hospital and missed a year`s schooling with a kidney complaint.  I guess I have just been lucky.

So it`s with some reluctance and surprise that I find myself volunteering for some surgery to sort out my wonky knee.   Years of cricket, football, refereeing, golf, coast path walking and general wear and tear have caught up with me in recent times, movement has become too restrictive and it hurts more than it should so I am booked in to have a new knee in the new year.

Can`t say I`m looking forward to it but needs must and if it means dealing with another personal demon, then I think I`m up for it - I will go with the medical flow and hope it all works out so I can get back to enjoying the great outdoors once again;  I long for the south west coast path, the New Forest and the Pilgrims Way.  I`ve missed all that.   Wish me well.

 

ANOTHER ONE OF THOSE DAYS.......

I guess you can tell by the illustration that, as bunnies go, I`m not an especially happy one this morning.  The reason?  Well, it`s time to report on another weekend`s football and with the odd exception, there`s not much to lift the gloom.

Think it might be best to just list the results, so here goes:-

Arsenal 3 - Southampton 0. (Well, what can you expect when we had to recruit a 40-year  old free agent goalkeeper on a month long contract as our two `proper` keepers are both out injured and our third in line is about 12 years old;  and there were suspensions and injuries as well.  And we`ve never ever won a Premier League game away at Arsenal.  So there.)

Fleetwood Town 2 - Gillingham 1.  (My neighbour`s heroes seem to be taking up residence in the drop zone of League One - how long can chubby manager Steve Evans survive, I wonder?)

Fraserburgh 12 - Fort William 0.  (A classic top v bottom outcome in the Highland League.)

Truro City 2 - Farnborough 2.

Maidstone United 4 - Dartford 0.  (The Stones coming out on top in a top of the table local derby.)

Stoke Gabriel and Torbay Police FC 2 - Elburton Villa 3. (Another narrow defeat for the minnows in the South West Peninsula Premier Division East, but one which keeps them bottom of the league on goal difference only from Sidmouth Town.  SG&TPFC are currently minus 64 and Sidmouth minus 63 - it`s tight at the bottom, to be fair.)

Bo`ness 0 - Vale of Leithen 1.  (Miracle do happen.  Vale`s first win in 22 games, as a result of which their goal difference now shows a more healthy minus 116.)

Brechin City`s game was again called off due to waterlogged pitch at Keith but I`m pleased to note that our street`s local hero Scott (`Shot`) Wagstaff was back in business coming on in the second half of Aldershot`s impressive away win at Eastleigh, having missed the last few games with `a knock.`  Good to see him back in action. 

 

 ONLY A WHIMSICAL NOTION..

Very sorry to learn of the passing of Mike Nesmith.  He is of course remembered chiefly as a founder member of The Monkees who, as a manufactured band way back in the day, found world wide fame and fortune.   His leaving us, peacefully in his sleep at home at the age of 78, means that Micky Dolenz is the last surviving member of that group.

But there was so much more to Nesmith, principally as a gifted songwriter in his own right and I do recall that, about 35 years or so ago, one of my sons bought me a Cassette (remember them ?) of Mike Nesmith`s album `The Newer Stuff.`   I played it and played it in the car and was captivated by the invention, the skill and the imagination that went in to his lyrics about a whole range of places, subjects and emotions.

Perhaps the best known of that album is `Rio` in which he said that it was `only a whimsical notion to fly down to Rio tonight. I probably won`t fly down to Rio.  But then again I just might.`  

Another case of `Thank you for the music.`

 

Well it`s been quite a week.  One which has seen another litany of buffoonery from Boris and his chums and which has not only brought justified outrage at the goings on at the heart of `government` but also the apparent morphing of the fat controller himself into an established national embarrassment.

Going back to the Owen Patterson fiasco things have become progressively more worrying and, yes, embarrassing too with the ongoing sagas about the alleged Christmas party last year, the `financing` of the redecoration of No. 10 and the diversionary tactics designed to distract minds from the chaotic shambles that passes for leadership. (Imagine having to set up an inquiry to determine whether a party took place in your house and whether you attended it or not.) As if there are not more serious and pressing issues that they should be concerning our elected representatives.

It is, of course, the pantomime season and we expect some jolly japes at this time of the year, some over acting, some posing, some jokes and all that but it really is depressing to see the leadership of the country themselves reduced to the role of pantomime villains.   I watched some of the parliamentary proceedings this week, notably Prime Minister`s Questions on Wednesday and it really was like watching a true life pantomime but one which this time was played out before an audience that rightly expected better.  In a theatre they would have been booed off the stage.

More than that, there were times when the claim, counter claim, denial and ya boo of it all took me back to the school playground of my boyhood but I suspect that, even back then, we scamps running around and feeling our way around life probably behaved with more insight, honesty and sense of right and wrong than the pantomime dames on all sides of Parliament`s stage.

There was a by-election in this parish yesterday, with the main political parties fielding candidates and for the first time in a lifetime of using my vote, I really could not bring myself to visit the polling station and vote for any of them.  I wonder why. 

 

We seem to live in a world where priorities take on different meanings for different people depending on their circumstances.   Woke up this morning feeling fine, with something special on my mind, to quote Herman and his Hermits.  And immediately my senses are invaded and thrown off course by the latest disclosures about an alleged `party` that might or might not have taken place in Downing Street on 18th December last year, when the country was supposed to be in lockdown.

It`s going on a bit - nonstop reports, `analysis,` comment from all parts; perhaps most tellingly from those who lost loved ones to the Pandemic at the same time as the `party` might have been in full swing.  It`s all very troubling and I may not be the only one who is waiting for Prime Minister`s Questions at high noon to see what Boris has to say for himself.  If it`s all true then maybe, just maybe, this might be the beginning of the end for Boris and all his eccentric blustering because what we really need, especially now, is some proper good old fashioned principled, honest leadership.   (There`s a Cabinet member from Southampton who might do nicely?)

But while all this is going on there are, of course, perhaps more pressing matters that should be concerning Parliament - the Covid pandemic, of course, the scandals emerging about the evacuation from Kabul, the threats emerging around Ukraine, the continuing migrant crisis and on and on they go.  And I woke up to the news that England had been dismissed for 147 in the first Test against Australia in Brisbane.

It reminded me that, when besieged by the stresses and strains of fighting the Tory leadership contest back in 1997, John Major took time out to write a Daily Telegraph obituary for his boyhood hero, Denis Compton.  Maybe he had his priorities right after all?

 

It might be a bit obscure but I have become an avid watcher of `Cornish Walking Trails,` in which a very personable couple do what it says on their YouTube Channel - they go out walking around Cornwall and show the videos most weeks.  They are proper Cornish - they know the places to go to avoid the emmets and find the quieter places in that unrivalled part of the country.  (It helps that Andrew is a Saints fan and was once a ball boy at St. Mary`s.)

Their latest video showed their walk from Trevarrian to Mawgan Porth and then along past Beacon Cove towards the heights above Watergate Bay. Go on to You Tube and search for Cornish Walking Trails and you will be able to see it.  Trouble was that they were doing that walk during Storm Arwen which played quite a bit of havoc for them.   They managed Mawgan Port alright but when they attempted the stretch around Beacon Cove, the strength of the gale got the better of them which meant they had to abandon the last leg of their walk and make it safely back to Trevarrian.  So near and yet so far.

Quite a few years ago now we went to Mawgan Porth twice in one week.  On one occasion we had intended to walk from there to Bedruthan Steps along the coast path but we were ourselves driven back half way there by torrential rain.  But the second visit was more successful.  It was a beautiful early October day and we set off to do the walk shown on Cornish Walking Trails.  It was glorious and we managed to get all the way past Beacon Cove to the high ground overlooking Watergate Bay, where we stopped for a picnic.

I`ve dug out a couple of photos I took from that walk we did and it occurred to me that, if Sarah and Andrew had managed to overcome Storm Arwen, these are the sights they would have seen and enjoyed as much as we did.  Here`s Beacon Cove:-

....and here`s the view overlooking Watergate Bay.....

(Please click on photos for better images)

Maybe our friends from Cornish Walking Trails will try again another day...and it would be nice to think that we might do the same.  At least it`s cheered me up on this miserable, cold, dark December day.  

 

Some things will never change.  Or so it seems for us Saints fans.  Yesterday was a case in point - 1-0 up eight minutes in to time added on in the home game against Brighton and a late, late, totally avoidable goal conceded to snatch just one point from a probable three. It really did feel like a game lost rather than drawn but it confirmed a telling statistic - that in Ralph Hasenhuttl`s three years as Southampton manager, the Saints have conceded 71 points from winning positions.  

We now sit in 16th place in the Premier League with Arsenal away next week which we will have to face without a fit and proper goalkeeper and a litany of other injuries and suspensions.   The natives are restless - calls for the manager`s head after this latest succession of tactical mishaps and curious decisions.

And yet we like Ralph - a decent guy and the longest serving manager since the club has been in the Premier League.  At his press conference the other day he was asked how he felt after three years at the helm and he replied that he and his wife were very happy in the beautiful south, he enjoyed working for Southampton FC and he was struck by the respect he is given in and around the city.  Seemed happy enough....but patience seems to be wearing a bit thin for the more vociferous among the fan base.

But that same vocal minority of `supporters` might do well to remember the reality of Southampton`s situation.  `Owned` by an absent Chinese businessman, strapped for cash, always with an eye to survival in the Premier League rather than challenging for anything higher but with a manager who has kept the club in the League for the three seasons he has been here.  No small achievement.  In my 70+ years of following the Saints it is as ever was.  OK, there have been the odd successes but for most of those years the default condition of fans has largely been one of accepting of our fate along with a healthy dose of confusion and bewilderment.  But we keep the faith and keep going. That`s just the way it is.  Somethings will never change.  That`s just the way it is - you`d better believe me.

So much for this weekend`s Saints ramble.  Elsewhere, a number of non-events saw Maidstone, Gillingham, Fort William (waterlogged pitch at Keith), Brechin City (waterlogged pitch at Darvel) and Stoke Gabriel`s games all called off or postponed, leaving only Truro City and Vale of Leithen to have played among my `other` teams....and Truro went down 3-1 away at Chesham and Vale lost 5-0 to Stirling University, leaving their goal difference standing at minus 108.  That`s just the way it is;  some things will never change.

 

As ever, a mixed bag of results this weekend; apologies for the late reports but I`ve been waiting to see how Brechin City fared in their Scottish Cup game last night against Darvel from Ayrshire and who play in the West of Scotland Premier Division.  Like me I expect you could hardly wait to hear the result. Well, it ended in a 1-1 draw on a difficult night in the aftermath of storm Arwen, so the two teams will meet again on Saturday at Darvel`s Recreation Ground to see which of them will face Arbroath in the next round.

So, on to other matters.  The odd bit of good news saw Truro City travel to Binfield in Berkshire for an FA Trophy clash and they returned to Cornwall with a 3-2 win to set up a home tie in the next round against Dagenham and Redbridge.  Maidstone United crept through on penalties after a 1-1 draw at home to Billericay - the Stones will have to travel to Maidenhead for their next tie in the Trophy.  I think that might be it for this week`s good(ish) news.

As a lifetime Southampton fan I`ve got used to losing away at Liverpool, so the 4-0 defeat was not unexpected;  I`m just taking comfort in the knowledge that the week before Arsenal got stuffed by the same score at Anfield, but I put Saints defeat down to Liverpool`s excellence and Saints manager Ralph Hasenhuttl`s bizarre tactics which didn`t work and to which he has confessed and been let out on police bail pending further enquiries.

I felt sorry for my neighbour whose Gillingham were on course for an honourable draw against the blue few of Portsmouth at Priestfield, only to be undone in the last minute of the game to lose 1-0 but also to take what is hopefully a brief residence in the relegation zone of League One.

Back in Minnowland, there was a real local derby on Saturday when Stoke Gabriel(and Torbay Police) FC entertained near neighbours Dartmouth in the South West Peninsula League Premier Division East which ended with the visitors winning 4-0. Not very neighbourly, to be fair.  Vale of Leithen didn`t have a game and Fort William`s match at Rothes was called off due to a waterlogged pitch at Rothes.

But there is good news for The Fort, whose Claggan Park ground will host a friendly tomorrow evening against Greater Lochaber Thistle - the first time the ground has been used following extensive repair and maintenance work.  Let`s hope this might mean that Fort William can soon play their home matches, err, at home.

 

FAIR DELIVERY ?

Among the presents I was fortunate to receive on my last birthday was a subscription to `The Cricketer` and I am thoroughly enjoying reading this splendid publication when it arrives on my doormat each month.   It is like it says on the front cover - a magazine for those like me who have spent a lifetime in love with what I consider to be the truly beautiful game.

But cricket has been going through a difficult time of late, as witnessed by the goings on at Yorkshire and the more general suspicion that racism might have extended to most parts of the county game, if not at the game`s highest level.

It`s now reported that the hitherto much admired editor of The Cricketer - former Middlesex bowler Simon Hughes - has been dismissed from the role after appearing to `take a soft line` on the issue of alleged racism.  He is understood to have upset fellow members of the staff at the magazine with his recent podcast comments about the issues at Yorkshire in which he compared the alleged use of the `P` word to being insulted by team mates for being bald during his own playing career.  This was followed by the predictable backlash on social media which in turn led to an internal review and which led to the decision not to renew Hughes`s contract.

He also caused a bit of a fuss last summer when he criticised the ECB`s decision to suspend Ollie Robinson from the England Test team after it emerged that Robinson had posted historic racist tweets in his days as an innocent youth, which Hughes described as a `total over reaction and a media lynching.`  

In what is now becoming a familiar tale, former England captain Michael Vaughan has been exiled by the BBC and BT Sports for the forthcoming Ashes tour as a result of racism allegations made against him despite his strong denial about the comments he made all of twelve years ago.  

Seems to me that what`s missing in cases such as this is `due process,` when allegations of this nature are made but where people are entitled to a fair hearing before any conclusions are drawn as to guilt or innocence, especially in cases going back a number of years when a different `culture` predominated.   Doesn`t necessarily make it right, of course, but it would help if things were considered in their proper context.   Instead we have rush to judgment, for which a former Lord High Chancellor, Thomas Erskine, said that there should be a solemn pause before being reached and in more modern times, John Grisham was convinced that the trouble with rushing to judgment is that it makes a fair trial hard to get.

In the cases of Hughes and Vaughan they may not be facing a fair delivery, the ball may have pitched outside off stump and gone on to miss the wickets - perhaps they should have called for a review?

 

I`m finding it difficult to curb my enthusiasm but there is an upcoming election hereabouts due to the resignation of a local councillor from whom we never heard anything.  The usual suspects are being dusted off and presented to the electorate in all their finery via leaflets and campaigning on the local village F***book page. I`ve even had one banging on my door this morning, such is their apparent desperation.

They are vying for a seat on the local Borough Council and the mere fact that one gets elected to the vacancy immediately means that the successful candidate is entitled to a minimum allowance of at least £5,000 a year plus `expenses` just for turning up.   There are as many as 54 Borough councillors so the annual bill for the council taxpayers is pretty hefty and it gets even bigger when councillors become chairpeople or vicechairpeople of the myriad committees, for which they receive increased `allowances` - the self styled `leader of the council` gets £20,000 a year minimum so questions surrounding value for money become relevant.

Anyway, I`ve had a look at the candidates and they all represent either Conservative, Liberal Democratic, Green or Labour - all very predictable.   Trouble is, the Conservatives already have a stonking majority and so even if you aren`t an aficionado of theirs and you feel inclined to vote for someone else it`s not going to make any difference to the way the council behaves.  Around here Conservative votes tend to be weighed rather than counted.

So it`s all a bit pointless, to be fair.  Could even be a case of `None of the Above.`  I`m thinking about it.

 

I see that the powers that be who run football are about to meet to consider a number of proposals deigned to improve `the match day experience.`   These include extending the half time break from the maximum allowed at the moment of 15 minutes to half an hour.   This is so that the half time `entertainment` for paying customers can have extravaganzas such as musical turns and other japes  ( and allow the customers to spend even more in the retail `concourses` I suspect.)

Back in the day when I plied my amateur trade as a box-to-box midfield dynamo with a good engine and an eye for a pass for Maidstone Dolphins in Division 3B of the Maidstone and District Saturday League, things were a little different.   Our home games were played in places such as Mangravet or Park Wood with changing rooms not best equipped to deter would be malcontents and so our first duty at half time was to ensure that our paltry belongings were still in one piece.  Each of us then managed to suck half an orange and have a cigarette before emerging for the second half and it occurs to me that if FIFA`s expected ruling on extending the half time break had been around in those far off days then we might have managed a whole orange and perhaps two cigarettes.  

 

JUST ONE OF THOSE DAYS.....

......when the raindrops of football kept falling on my head.   A painful litany of defeats for some of the teams that have the unnerving habit of producing results that  are disappointing.  I shouldn`t really complain about Southampton losing at Norwich of all places but I will.  The 2-1 loss to the team propping up the rest of the Premier League came as a particular setback given that the Saints had been on a five game unbeaten run and dominated the encounter at Carrow Road.  A win would have propelled Southampton into something like 7th or 8th place but as it is they remain 13th with the prospect of a visit to Anfield next Saturday.   Another of those days beckons I guess.

A quick round up elsewhere beginning - and why not? - with my neighbour`s Gillingham going down 2-0 away at Crewe`s Gresty Road;  Fort William, bless them, suffered a 10-0 drubbing at the hands of  Deveronvale, who play at Banff - a mere 130 miles away and fellow minnows Stoke Gabriel and Torbay Police FC went down to the narrowest of margins, a 2-1 reverse away at Cullompton Rangers. 

There were some wins, however - Truro City went all the way to Kings Langley in Hertfordshire (a mere 525 mile round trip) and managed a 1-0 win;  Maidstone United beat Chippenham Town by the same score but it was once again Brechin City to go nap for th second week running in a 5-0 win away at Lossiemouth.   Mercifully, Aldershot Town didn`t have a game - they entertain Torquay United on Tuesday evening when we hope that our street`s hitherto pacy representative Scott ("Six pack") Wagstaff will have recovered from his recent `knock.`

In the end I suppose the results were mixed but somehow Southampton`s unfathomable defeat at Norwich was just silly.   Oh well, I`m never gonna stop the rain by complaining.....

 

THE ROAD TO CHILDHOOD..

Sometimes I wonder whether it`s just the time of the year, when the days dwindle down to a precious few, when the deep midwinter beckons and my dotage gathers momentum;  but I often find myself looking back to the days of my New Forest childhood and wondering where the years have gone.   I came across this photo the other day and immediately it brought back wistful memories of those long ago childhood days. 

It`s a photo of Summer Lane, the New Forest road that leads from Beaulieu to Exbury and it pretty much shows the forest lanes in all their peace and tranquility, even though my earliest memories of such places may be tinted with the recollections of wartime, as I spent my first five years during the conflict of WW2.

At the time my mother and I lived in the village of Blackfield with my aunt and uncle whilst my father, having been captured at Dunkirk, was confined to a PoW camp - Stalag V111B at Lamsdorf in Silesia.  If there were any `advantages` of having my earliest years in Blackfield they may have been that in one direction, just a couple of miles away, was Lepe Beach which was used as one of the departure places for the Normandy invasion in 1944.  In the other direction, another couple of miles away, was the village of Exbury, owned by the de Rothschild family, but their estate was taken over for the headquarters of  the Naval establishment of HMS Mastadon, which  played an important role in the strategic planning for D-Day

It`s all different these days, of course - Exbury Gardens being famous for their spectacular displays of rhododendrons and azaleas - but Summer Lane hasn`t changed.  It`s a lovely drive towards Hill Top on Beaulieu Heath and each time I make the journey I get that feeling, as with all the other New Forest lanes, of being `home` again.   Click on the picture and you`ll see why perhaps........

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FADED AWAY...

.....as old soldiers do. Hardly a week goes by these days when there is not a report of an old comrade, an old friend passing away.  One of the inevitabilities of getting older, I suppose. and there was  sad news for me yesterday when I heard that the gentleman in the photo above had left us the day after his 101st birthday.  I had the privilege of serving with him during my National Service days in the 10th Royal Hussars, based in what was then West Germany in the early 1960s.  He was Major Dougie Covill, DCM, MBE and he had a very long and distinguished military career and a full and rewarding life in his later years.

He was born in Croydon and joined the Army in 1937 whilst being a bit under age.  The 10th Hussars (`The Shiny Tenth`) were part of the 1st. Armoured Division sent to Normandy in May 1940.  In late 1941 the regiment was in North Africa and Dougie was by then a tank troop sergeant and in this front line role he fought in all the 8th Army battles in the Western Desert, Libya, Tunisia and Italy until the end of the war in May 1945.   He was wounded twice and awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal (DCM) for acts of conspicuous bravery.

After the war the regiment moved to Austria and then to Lubeck on the Baltic coast, where Dougie met and married Inge in 1947.   After many years of moving through the ranks of Army life, in 1959 he was commissioned as Quartermaster for the 10th Hussars and it was in that capacity that I grew to know and respect him and he finally retired from the Army in 1970 with the rank of Major.

He then played a number of active roles with equal distinction, among them as Chairman of the Distinguished Conduct Medallist`s Association and Hampshire County President of the Royal British Legion, which resulted in his award of the MBE.   He represented Alresford on Winchester City Council and became Lord Mayor in 1987. 

In one of my former lives I was once despatched to Winchester to attend some meeting or other - possibly one of those tedious seminars - which was held in Winchester and  the delegates were welcomed by Dougie who opened proceedings in his mayoral capacity, so it was an opportunity to meet up with him again and recall our time together with the Shiny Tenth in Paderborn back in the 1960s.  The grandeur of his office had not affected Dougie - same smile, same easy going nature, always time for people - and he is missed by us former 10th Hussars who knew and admired a true gentleman.  It was a privilege to have known him and it is sad to learn that he has faded away like old soldiers do.   Rest in peace, Dougie - you`ve earned it.

 

INNOCENCE RECALLED...

A few disappointments lately in the relative serenity of the world of cricket - England losing the T20 World Cup semi-final;  New Zealand losing the final and the growing controversy over alleged racism in county cricket which has ended up with questions in the House and appearances before a committee of MPs.

Now there is a difference between racism, other unacceptable forms of discrimination and the dark arts of sledging and genuinely innocent banter.   Sometimes it`a a job to tell them apart without the context but the lines seem to be clearly drawn between the allegations surrounding racist remarks in places like Yorkshire and the good old fashioned wind-ups that added a certain piquancy between the likes of Glenn McGrath and Eddo Brandes.  

You might recall the occasion when the rotund lower order Zimbabwean  batsman arrived at the crease and proved difficult to remove.  In a fit of frustration, McGrath enquired,"Strewth Eddo, how did you get so fat?"  "Well, each time I make love to your wife, she gives me a couple of doughnuts."  After that exchange, Brandes didn`t trouble the scorers further as I recall.   

Now the photo above shows the old cricket ground in the Kentish village where, back in the 1950s and 60s I played cricket on Saturdays - the church in the background is where Mrs. S and I were married 60 years ago - and when those games were played between other nearby villages in a spirit of friendly rivalry - no leagues to worry about, unspoken respect for the game and for our opponents and courtesies such as clapping incoming batsmen to the crease and never questioning umpiring decisions.

Sounds innocent...sounds idyllic.... but that`s just how it was.  We  were blissfully unaware of any need to do or say anything that would disrupt the enjoyment of those sunny Summer afternoons.  On Sundays I played for another village team at Basted just a couple of miles away and the recent controversies at Yorkshire - and now Essex - have recalled to mind the annual game we had at Basted against a team from south east London - Dominica.  As the name suggests that was a team of gentlemen of Caribbean origin who looked forward each year to their game against us on that tiny ground on its Kentish hillside overlooking the Bourne Valley.

Those games were a delight, made even more so by the qualities of our visitors - their cricket, their personalities and the sheer fun of being in each others` company.  Never a word out of place, never anything crossing our minds but the enjoyment of those blissful days. 

It`s called innocence I suppose - of a different time, a different place and as I am often accused of having failed to grow up properly, I do look back on those years and wish they could still be here today.  So do people at Headingley, I imagine.  Just to confirm the mists of time and the recollection of innocence, here`s a photo of Basted Cricket team back in the days just before I joined them :- 

If only.......

 

Well, with the international break in full swing, not much to report on the football front so it will be short with just a hint of sweetness.  I can`t resist mentioning, however, that the odd Southampton player has featured in one or two international successes over the weekend.  

The lethal combination of Stuart Armstrong and Che Adams contributed to Scotland`s 2-0 World Cup qualifier win away at Moldova and Moussa Djenepo helped Mali to a 3-0 win away in Rwanda - a difficult place to go to I imagine.  I had expected to see Saints` Chelsea loanee Slough born Albanian centre forward Armando Broja appear against England on Friday evening but it seems he was either injured or unwell.  Saving himself for Norwich away next Saturday I hope.  Meanwhile, our Norwegian playmaker Mohammed Elyounoussi  played in the 0-0 draw with Latvia and Jan Bednarek featured for Poland in their 4-1 win in Andorra.

On the domestic minnow-watching front Vale of Leithen went down by the narrowest of margins - just 2-1 - against The Spartans in the Lowland League and Maidstone drew 0-0 against Havant and Waterlooville and away from minnow land, Gillingham secured a creditable 1-1 draw away to Sheffield Wednesday and Aldershot Town finally managed a 2-1 win at home to Grimsby.  

Truro City play today against Bognor Regis Town but neither Fort William nor Stoke Gabriel had a game yesterday;  which leaves Brechin City to be the star of the show this week with a 5-0 away win at Formartine United in the Highland League Cup.

Today however I shall mostly be concerned with the cricket T20 World Cup final in the hope that New Zealand finally get their hands on that trophy.  C`mon you Kiwis....

 

So, England lose the T20 World Cup semi-final or, to be more accurate, New Zealand came through victorious.   I have no complaints about that result for a number of reasons.  Of course, cricket buffs like me go back two years to that extraordinary day at Lord`s when England somehow managed to win the 50 over World Cup by beating New Zealand off the last ball of the super over.

I was as pleased with that result as any other England supporter but I felt for New Zealand that day and it really was one of those games when neither team deserved to lose...or even to win.

The Kiwis now face either Australia or Pakistan in the final and I really don`t care too much which of those two make it through but I also really hope that New Zealand can win the title for a number of reasons, not least because they deserve it.  It will provide some redemption for their defeat in 2019 but also because it will be a just reward for the way they play the game.

There was an incident in the late stages of yesterday`s game against England when the Kiwi batsmen declined to run because they felt there had been an obstruction to the England bowler who was attempting to stop the ball.  To behave like that in the pivotal stages of a high pressure game did not go unnoticed.   As Nasser Hussain said on commentary, "That is just so New Zealand" and he was quite right as it encapsulated their approach of fairness and respect for the spirit of cricket.

If they do win the final at the weekend it will be a fitting result and one which will bring a  feeling of quiet satisfaction in memory of those dramatic events on that remarkable day at Lord`s.  They`ve got this far - now go and win it.

  

.......is defined in the Cambridge English Dictionary as "a willingness to give your time and energy to a job, to an activity or to something that you believe in."

That`s a pretty reasonable definition but I suspect for many people commitment can also be exemplified from experiences gained through life`s rich pageant.   For me, I have clear memories of when I realised what true commitment really is.  In my formative years I learnt to swim by the simple expedient of my father throwing me into Southampton Water from a small jetty to the rear of our house at Hythe.  Fortunately the tide was in and I swam alright but I have always thought that that episode not only evoked a sense of commitment for myself but also for my father, who must have known that  my aquatic baptism would be an activity that he believed in.  It turned out OK though.

Now over the last week or two I have been surprised (perhaps I should not have been) by the number of Premier League managers who have lost their jobs so far this season - Xisco Munoz (Watford,) Steve Bruce (Newcastle,) Nuno Espirito Santo (Tottenham,) Daniel Farke (Norwich) and Dean Smith (Aston Villa.)  And with those dismissals came the usual speculation as to who might replace them.  Some have been resolved already - Claudio Ranieri is at Watford, Eddie Howe at Newcastle and Antonio Conte at Tottenham.  

But it`s the remaining two where speculation has become rife and that is particularly concerning for us Southampton fans when we see that `our` manager, Ralph Hasenhuttl has been linked with both vacancies.  And this is where the business of commitment comes in, for me at least.  Ralph has been at St. Mary` for three years now and it has taken him that time to sort out the wheat from the chaff, bring in new players and begun at last to form a team and a squad in his own image.

During his time with us there have arguably been more downs than ups including two 9-0 drubbings at the hands of Leicester and the Damned United.   Now in normal football times those results alone would have seen the manager shown the door but the response of the Southampton boardroom after the second of those thrashings was to offer Ralph a new four-years contract which showed belief in him as an individual and what he was trying to achieve - a resounding demonstration of true commitment.  Ralph signed the contract on offer and maybe, just maybe we are beginning to see the rewards for that commitment.

So in my octogenarian naivete I hope it`s the case that Ralph will return the compliment, come out and say that he is flattered by the interest shown in him by other clubs but feels that he has a commitment to Southampton, is happy here and is going nowhere.  That would indeed live up to the Cambridge Dictionary`s definition as Ralph has already shown his willingness to give his time and energy to the job at Southampton, which he seems to believe in.   I hope I`m right..