Just in

Articles by Douglas Heath

Avatar photo
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

At Lords for the T20 blast

Readers know I am no fan of 20/20 but to be invited to Lords on a warm summer’s evening is most pleasant. My host is an old friend and an Arsenal fanatic who has a debenture seat in the Mound Stand. These are much prized as many including me prefer the airy space of the Upper Mound Stand to [...]

July 24, 2015 // 0 Comments

Emerging from the shadows

Spotted today on the website of The Guardian, this fascinating tale of a forgotten England captain by John Ashdown is worthy of reaching as wide a readership as possible, which is why today we recommend it to our readers – [...]

July 22, 2015 // 0 Comments

Lords (again)

I returned to Lords and for a variety of reasons found it a more enjoyable experience than the Friday. The Saturday test of the Ashes is one of the great sporting experiences and as I sat in the sun in the front row of the Mound Stand I could not think of anywhere else I would prefer to be. I was [...]

July 19, 2015 // 0 Comments

The great Rust debate

Yesterday I went to Lords so let me put in my ha’porth on our debate on watching at home v being there. I’m approaching this from the perspective of the crowd. If you watch at home you’re being selective in terms of watching on your own or with mates and you might miss out on [...]

July 18, 2015 // 0 Comments

Assessing the Ashes

When the sports editor asked me for a piece to preview the Ashes my heart dropped. There has been so much hot air in the media, so much raking up of old incidents and generating new confrontation that I suspect most cricket followers like me would really like battle to commence, as it will this [...]

July 8, 2015 // 0 Comments

The gap between reality and ‘how things should be’

At the outset of this piece I wish to stress that it merely represents my opinion and gut instinct. You could argue that opening with a statement such as this is nothing but a slimy ‘get out’ device designed to avoid or deflect accusations that what I’m about to express has no basis in [...]

July 7, 2015 // 0 Comments

Mike Brearley and the Art of Captaincy

A few years ago I was invited to Lords by the treasurer of Middlesex for a game by the touring West Indies. Mike Brearley was there too, in sandals, and after lunch I stood next to him on the balcony.  If your definition of a good analyst is adding value then Mike Brearley was in a class of his [...]

July 1, 2015 // 0 Comments

When sport disappoints

Sport is a life-enhancing part of life, or it ought to be. We spectators come to it every time expecting or hoping to be lifted out of our mundane existences and transported to a world in which magical things happens and we can marvel at the athletic skills of people more talented than ourselves. [...]

June 8, 2015 // 0 Comments

Yorkshire fails?

Yorkshire has never been more powerful or prominent in cricket than today. ECB  Chairman Yorkshireman Colin Graves will this week be officially in situ though when he was not he still labelled the West Indies “mediocre” ; half the English side could bear the white rose  (Lyth, Root, [...]

May 12, 2015 // 0 Comments

Someone’s gotta do it

When I was at school, most chaps worth their salt were sport-obsessed – following the fortunes of individuals and/or club, county or international teams – if not also participating themselves at whatever level their talents justified. Within the ‘participating’ subset, at my rather [...]

May 3, 2015 // 0 Comments

1 … 17 18 19 20 21 22

Copyright © 2026 The National Rust | Design by Premonition