There Is More To Life Than Football
The start of the season is only a fortnight away and I'm sure everyone is very excited about the resumption of competitive football action, but can I dwell for a little on our national summer sport please..
Yes, that’s right, in case you had forgotten, it is still summer time in the UK, despite the fact we have had more rain this year than Noah - possibly - had to contend with when building that Ark of his and pairs - convenient wouldn’t you say - of animals were heading his direction.
I've always been a little suspicious of that Bible story but, for fear of being struck down by the Alimighty, I've never openly questioned the idea of animals living together on a wooden boat with a bearded man as the world flooded for a few months. The Lord moves in mysterious ways etc..etc...
Strictly speaking, while football may be back on the back pages, it is still cricket’s time in the sun, or rain, whatever, so I’d like to write about it. Look, it’s my blog, and I know some readers just like to read about football, but tough.
For a start, while the transfer merry-go-round in the North-East has ground to a worrying halt and our football teams are still stuck in the phony war of pre-season friendlies, there is actually something to get vaguely excited about in the cricket at the moment.
For example, while Newcastle and Sunderland are testing the patience of their supporters with their lack of success in the transfer market, Durham have quietly signed one of the best players in the world in the form of the West Indian Shivnarine Chanderpaul.
Put it this way, if Newcastle had lured Kaka to St James’s Park and Sunderland had poached Carlos Tevez from West Ham this summer, they would have achieved something similar to the coup pulled off by Durham last week.
Chanderpaul is well established among the top five batsmen in the world and is in the form of his life this summer. Not only that, but while Newcastle make quiet boasts about qualifying for the Uefa Cup and Sunderland talk confidently about consolidating their place in the Premiership next season, Durham are challenging for the Championship title and will play in their first major cup final next month against Hampshire.
If English football’s supposed hot bed is cooling, things are warming up nicely for our cricketers at Chester-le-Street and I, for one, am thrilled by the ambition Durham have shown with the signing of Chanderpaul.
If you’ve got a few days off this week and, if the weather stays as good as it has been these last 48 hours, it is well worth heading to the Riverside to watch him - as well as the rest of the team - play against Warwickshire.
As for the Friends Provident Trophy Final at Lords on August 18, I’m confident it will be a considerably more exciting than Sunderland’s trip to Wigan or the arrival of Aston Villa to Newcastle on the same day. I know where I’ll be anyway.
And it is not just Durham who are facing an exciting second-half of the season after India beat England in the Second Test on Tuesday.
Our national side have not lost a series at home since 2001 - rather more successful than our national football team and the supposed Golden Generation don’t you think? - but, unless they win the final Test of the series at The Oval next week, they will have lost that proud record.
The games against India have been tight and enthralling and, while I will welcome the return of the football season like everyone else, let’s not forget there is more to our regional and national sport than a bunch of over-paid and over-hyped individuals trying to smack a round piece of leather into a big net!
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Luke Edwards - is Chief Sports Writer of The Journal and uses his blog to give a unique and entertaining insight into events at Newcastle United and Sunderland.
I see your mate Kieron is away then!
Note From Luke
It certainly looks that way. Think it's probably best for everyone concerned don't you?
Sorry, to disagree but there isn't more to life than football. Kick off starts in less than 2 weeks and it has already been a long summer.
I find it incredulous that you want to talk about cricket at such a key stage of the year. Is there not a cricket forum somewhere out there.
Maybe its a cool sport if you live in Surrey or somewhere but up here its football first and anything else is pretty trivial.
Cricket is one of them games where its great fun if you are batting, but so very boring if you watch it or god forbid have to field.
No its football for me, and many like me! Cricket, thats just something (like tennis) we have to put up with until the footie season kicks off.
Note From Luke
Put up with (snort of indignation befitting toff at Lords), put up with etc..etc...etc
pity they couldtn have kept styris as well or they would of had a pair capable of winning a county game between them.
shiv batting his way and styris likewise batting his way at the other end is he kind of batting countys dream of.
durham getting chanderpaul would be like newcastle getting a back 4 that that can score 20 goals a season and keep numerous clean sheets.
Note From Luke
Finally someone who understands!
Good meeting with Mort...did you play chess?
Note From Luke
Actually my old friend, we listened to heavy rock music and danced all night in the Platinum club. Oh the laughs we had, phew, that Mort is crazy guy!
Seriously, it was a very good meeting and I was very impressed with what he had to so say. I'm going to write a blog entry on it now in fact
Hurry up with that new blog post, then...
You know how I feel about posts about things other than Newcastle... :)
Note From Luke
Quite demanding aren't you! New post is up on site now. I look forward to hearing your thoughts
Wa not aal primitive Luke yi knaa, mind you, test cricket for me is a great time filler during close season, whilst county stuff is for hardcore fans, but you just watch your tongue young man, footy is your bread and butter on this blog. If you start deviating I could cram your blog with 911 conspiracies and you'd wish you'd never started. Anyway, Dyer hopefully gone and Smithy hopefully in. He'd do a better job than Dyer in any position, and probably score more goals, if his fitness is o.k. now. So Mort finally speaks, even if he does sound like he's representing a client in the Old Bailey. No reference to the 50 mill. war-chest or names to stun the soccer world as first heard on arrival. At least he never mentioned Keegan, Shearer or Alice through the looking glass which is what we next expected to hear from the Chronicle,.
We now desperately need some quality defenders in before the big kick-off as a Bolton beating will sit very badly on our shattered nerves after this roller-coaster ride of big promises, Phew!!!! I'm knackered before a ball's been kicked in anger. p.s. Luke, picture a huge rectangular wooden coffin made out of massive logs, with the same water displacement as the Titanic, without a curved hull or little house on top with a giraffe's head poking through and that is as accurate a description of Noah's Ark as is possible. Imagine all the animals are just babies and the idea becomes much more palatable. Every civilization on our planet from Zulu's to Apache's has a legend about 8 humans saving animal-kind from a worldwide flood. You started it. Busker.
Note From Luke
Ronnie, I wish I never had. How did one of the great feats of engineering - The Titanic - and some guy could Noah's wooden raft, packed with animals which normally eat each other, survive? Divine intervention or made up story?
Luke, congratulations on the Mort article an excellent piece of balanced and non sensationalised writing which was delivered at exactly the right time.
Note From Luke
Thank you Jason, much appreciated.
No Luke nothing to do with wasting an opportunity, you missed it!…Mort n. [F., death, fr. L. mors, mortis.]
The Seventh Seal, an existential Swedish film directed by Ingmar Bergman about the journey of a knight across a plague-ridden desolate land in which the mortal in question plays chess with 'Death' to save his life!
Too obscure! I feel a headache…and a theme coming on.
Note From Luke
You've got a headache! I worry about you sometimes, I don't even play chess very well and I certainly wouldn't want to play for my life with Chris Mort or anyone else for that matter.
Let me explain, your work is your life, and thus it is important to forge a relationship with the aforementioned Mr, Death (Mort). The relationship to chess is a candid reflection on benevolently expedient questioning, i.e. giving him an easy ride in order to fulfil your ‘goal’ or your ‘lifeblood’ if you like, Blimey, could you not figure that one out, maybe you should stick to playing KerPlunk with Kieron Dyer!
Note From Luke
You have far too much time on your hands Commulus. I also work to live, not live to work, it's all about finding the correct work life balance dummy.
As for Kieron and Kerplunk, we did play a game of cards once and I won and it was poker, not snap before you ask.
As for giving the new chairman an easy ride, I put to him a few of the things that were concerning fans and pundits and he answered them. That's not giving him an easy ride. I was impressed with what he had to say and that probably comes across in the article, presuming you read it all!
A very old Turkish tribesman claimed to have gone up to Mt. Arrarat with his grandfather 90 odd years ago, during a peculiarly hot summer when the glacier had significantly shrunk. He claims to have seen half of the ark, with 3 levels, filled with compartments, some of which still had cages with metal bars. They do that in zoos to separate carnivors I believe. But if it were a divine operation to save every kind of animal into another ' earth ' I reckon he could get that together. I hope he's heard the prayers of the nation of Geordies earthwide to grant us at least one title and a cup or two before we shuffle off this mortal coil. Maaaan!!! this blog shore is gettin' heavy....but cultured. Whew!!!
I never knew Cricket could be so interesting. Isn’t that Chris Mort with the scythe on the weather vein at Lords?
Ps Lambert: metal bars on the Ark…in the Neolithic Age, surely not!
Note From Luke
So poor Ronnie is the target of your venom this morning? Weren't you on the ark?
Well said about Durham cricket. The county has only enjoyed first class status for a dozen years and has already provided three England players (plus SJ Brown) and the ODI captain.
And now in a major cup final and challenging for the championship. Amazing.
If only the football clubs could do as well.
Note From Luke
My sentiments exactly Alan!