Great stuff. ‘Spofforth’ appeals to me as onomatopoeically descriptive of an MCC stuffed shirt spitting out his cucumber sandwich as the Demon rattles the pickets behind the keeper.
Good call. The Windies would have the most colourful and imaginative names of all. Snuffy, Vibart, Foffie, Elquemedo and Clairmonte as well as Eldine among many. Some of them sound like exotic nicknames (maybe they are?)
Greg, I think you're sent me a direct message but I've no idea how that function works, so feel free to drop me a line at my email address: gideonhaigh@hotmail.com. I know how email works!
"Including Kepler, though, means I can’t in all conscience find a place for Marnus Labuschagne - two South African flourishes would be one too many."
Gideon, your uneasiness brings to mind Edmund Blackadder's Puritan aunt, Lady Whiteadder: "Chairs? You have chairs in your house? Wicked child! In our house, Nathaniel sits on a spike and I sit on Nathaniel - two spikes would be an extravagance!"
Cricket perhaps more than any other sport has allowed distinctive names to roll around in the mind. Perhaps it is part of the sport's ingrained class consciousness? As a football writer once claimed, Pelé
(who actually detested his own infantile moniker) would have been very differently appreciated had he been a cricketer and known as E.A. do Nascimento.
Lenny Pascoe would have been perceived rather differently had he been known by his birth name, Leonard Durtanovich. And L. O'B. "Chuck" Fleetwood-Smith matched the name brief with an outstanding interwar raffish look and life story.
As Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds is Lalor/Haigh approved, how appropriate it is that Conway Savage is actually Conway Savage's real name. Vale Conway. Speaking of Conway, his niece Cash Savage is in an excellent band, Cash Savage and the Last Drinks. Check out their song $600 Short On The Rent.
Bob Cunis must be a lock for the NZ team, particularly given his insipid statistics as an all rounder.
"Funny name, Cunis - it's neither one thing nor the other." - John Arlott
Great stuff. ‘Spofforth’ appeals to me as onomatopoeically descriptive of an MCC stuffed shirt spitting out his cucumber sandwich as the Demon rattles the pickets behind the keeper.
He was definitely adjacent.
Let’s have your Windies list as well, please. Try to include Eldine Baptiste.
Right-o. Eldine is a great start.
Good call. The Windies would have the most colourful and imaginative names of all. Snuffy, Vibart, Foffie, Elquemedo and Clairmonte as well as Eldine among many. Some of them sound like exotic nicknames (maybe they are?)
Greg, I think you're sent me a direct message but I've no idea how that function works, so feel free to drop me a line at my email address: gideonhaigh@hotmail.com. I know how email works!
Thanks Gideon. Just sent it
And I love using Wally Grout as rhyming slang for "your shout!"
Thus the title of Wally Wright's book: It's Your Wally Grout.
Xavier Doherty
Luke Pomersbach
Ben Hilfenhaus
Gary Gilmour
Michael Kasprowicz
These are some unique sounding names
Good areas, although Gary Gilmour not unique: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Gilmore!
https://youtu.be/ZA58GjoTmes?feature=shared Don't think the song was about Gus
Great song. On my playlist already.
And you got to have Marnus, Scotty Boland
The vegetative Graham Onions makes the England side. Great article.
“Jackson Munro Bird the third” is living rent-free in my head on repeat.
Who doesn’t love a Wally, indeed.
"Including Kepler, though, means I can’t in all conscience find a place for Marnus Labuschagne - two South African flourishes would be one too many."
Gideon, your uneasiness brings to mind Edmund Blackadder's Puritan aunt, Lady Whiteadder: "Chairs? You have chairs in your house? Wicked child! In our house, Nathaniel sits on a spike and I sit on Nathaniel - two spikes would be an extravagance!"
Cricket perhaps more than any other sport has allowed distinctive names to roll around in the mind. Perhaps it is part of the sport's ingrained class consciousness? As a football writer once claimed, Pelé
(who actually detested his own infantile moniker) would have been very differently appreciated had he been a cricketer and known as E.A. do Nascimento.
Lenny Pascoe would have been perceived rather differently had he been known by his birth name, Leonard Durtanovich. And L. O'B. "Chuck" Fleetwood-Smith matched the name brief with an outstanding interwar raffish look and life story.
Not too many hyphens in Aussie ranks, that's for sure. All the more reason to cherish JFG.
You'd approve of Rick Darling then?
I always liked Ishant Sharma. You can just find and replace him right into Lennon's song, "Ishant Sharma's gonna get you" etc.
As Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds is Lalor/Haigh approved, how appropriate it is that Conway Savage is actually Conway Savage's real name. Vale Conway. Speaking of Conway, his niece Cash Savage is in an excellent band, Cash Savage and the Last Drinks. Check out their song $600 Short On The Rent.
I didn’t know about Cash was his niece, will check her out.
There are some disappointed Ted a'Beckett fans out there...
And I suppose we now have to add Mahli Beardman...
I liked that Moises Henriques was his first wicket.
Great article Gideon. I’ve always loved the name Bransby Beauchamp Cooper from cricket’s inaugural Test too…
Buried in Geelong East Cemetery.
And now Mahli Beardman