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Articles by Douglas Heath

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About Douglas Heath

Douglas Heath began his lifelong love affair with cricket as an 8 year-old schoolboy playing OWZAT? Whilst listening to a 160s Ashes series on the radio. He later became half-decent at doing John Arlott impressions and is a member of Middlesex County Cricket Club. He holds no truck at all with the T20 version on the game. More Posts

Great cricket XIs

A friend of mine composed the best England Test team of his lifetime (he was born in 1959) which I will now share with you. Gooch, Cook, Root, Pietersen, Stokes , Botham, Knott, Swann, Broad, Andersen, Underwood. Having been born five years earlier, I might have included Ted Dexter, Fred Trueman [...]

May 6, 2024 // 0 Comments

First round of the Championship round-up

Sussex supporters are entitled to feel aggrieved that they only drew with Northamptonshire. Had the start been at 10-30am – and floodlights been switched on – neither of which happened, they might have beaten Northants who were 173-9 at close of play and only 64 runs needed for victory. [...]

April 9, 2024 // 0 Comments

Dead In the Long Room/Andrew Green

Dead In The Long Room is a novel which works on several levels: as a murder mystery, as a depiction of Edwardian literary life and as a description of the pavilion at Lords. The story is of a murder of an actor Harold Wilde during the Authors v Actors match at Lords. This fixture still takes place [...]

March 19, 2024 // 0 Comments

Coverage of the Third Test

Away from my TV, I have been following the Third Test v India on Talksport. You can see the difference from TMS even though the latter is more sanitised and diverse than in the past version. David Lloyd has joined the Talksport team. He knows his cricket at every level but overdoes the [...]

February 17, 2024 // 0 Comments

Indian cricket in perspective

The surprising aspect of the Second Test is that – given a wicket was prepared to deteriorate and encourage spin – it was the speedsters on both sides who dominated. Jimmy Anderson bowled really well but it was Jasprit Bumrah that was man of the match with his nine wicket haul. It was [...]

February 6, 2024 // 0 Comments

Thoughts on a great Test victory in India

In an era of Test match decline Ben Stokes has done so much to restore its status. The final day, resulting in an improbable England victory, was as exciting as it gets. So much so that I dared not leave the TV transmission for fear of missing something. Ollie Pope’s 196 put England back into [...]

January 29, 2024 // 0 Comments

The Cricket World Cup comes to life

Australia’s 3-wicket win at Kolkota was the most enthralling game so far in a rather tepid World Cup. South Africa chose to bat as the advantage seems to pass to the team that does. However they were soon 24-4 and Australia in pole position. David Miller’s century brought some honour to [...]

November 17, 2023 // 0 Comments

MCC v India

I switched onto TMS at 7-30 am to hear an interview with an author critical of the MCC’s governance of cricket. The theme was typical of the contemporary cricket writer: the MCC  was a cosy, private, right wing members’ club and largely incompetent. Later I listened to the preview of the [...]

November 15, 2023 // 0 Comments

England win O.D.I.

England won by 100 runs over New Zealand at Lords but it was a sterile, dull match. Various reasons were discussed but the accepted one was the 12-30 start. This meant the match went onto until 7-30 pm and began at lunchtime. My neighbour in the Upper Mound stand and his wider were my guests for a [...]

September 16, 2023 // 0 Comments

Stuart Broad

One of the many joys of writing for The Rust is you can express opinion of a contrarian nature. Although watching live at Trent Bridge eight years ago Stuart Broad taking 8-15 was one of my great memories, I was relieved that he has now chosen to retire. Quite simply it has opened up a more [...]

July 31, 2023 // 0 Comments

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