LBW, howzat work?

Women's World

On the back of the copy of Women's World I'm reading there's an endorsement from Raymond Briggs. It describes the project as barking mad, but brilliant. It's an offbeat idea. Drafting the story, then cutting the words to tell it out of 1960's weekly magazines. Apparently it took two years of cutting, assembling and sticking the pieces together.

The story is told at rip-snorting speed, and even just about halfway in is already full of enough twists and turns to keep the hungriest twist and turn fan happy. There's no point trying to explain how and why it works so well, but work well it does.

BLISS on the lbw law

“So, you get a bruise, and you don't get to hit the ball, either?”

“Yep, you might get a bruise, and you don't get to hit any more balls, because you're out.”

“If it was going on to hit the stumps.”

“That's right, yeah.”

Much easier to explain with the aid of hawkeye. I can't help feeling that BLISS finds the whole thing a bit harsh. Like, bruise, ok, carry on mate, that's roughed you up a bit, hasn't it? There, there, never mind. No bruise, off you go, back to the hutch. Lack of sporting experience. Too honest to even consider that everyone (unhurt) would claim the bruise to get out of the dismissal.

What will she think when we get onto being caught off the gloves.

Or one of those non-striker's end run-outs where the bowler gets a fingertip to the ball and deflects it onto the stumps?

Team GB?

In the absence of Irish and Scots, that's actually team England and Wales. They're in the process of having a new one ripped by Brazil. Two nil down after thirty six minutes.

War and Peace

LPL is back from the War and Peace show. Finally. How was I to know there was more than one car park at the Hop Farm?

There were loads of people in army togs, some really fantastic, an American General in full jodhpurs and knee-high boots, a gaggle of sailors on shore-leave, and a spiv, appropriately enough talking on his mobile phone.

A highlight of one re-enactment was a random bagpiper wandering the perimeter of a skirmish dubbed 'bulletproof' by the announcer. Not only did the rain hold off LPL looks like she's caught a bit of sun. I liked her description of last year's “solar showers”. Containers of cold water.