tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88042849700711920912024-03-27T17:18:40.173+08:00Andrew Harding's Blog Extracts from his books, The Agnes and The Knowledge, and some writing on cricket tooAndrew Hardinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15954270826267048283noreply@blogger.comBlogger29125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8804284970071192091.post-33265347584697892272021-11-04T00:47:00.004+08:002021-11-04T00:47:32.252+08:00Sydney Barnes: The Demon Bowler<p>In the current situation where there is little cricket and
many people are restricted in their movement, a fad of selecting all-time XIs
and the like has taken hold. In such selection there is no doubt that everyone
who is not actually perverse would list Bradman first. After all he was the
greatest batsman ever. But what of bowlers? Opinions of course vary. But in
truth the name of Sydney Barnes should go down as automatically as Bradman’s,
because he was the greatest bowler ever. However, whereas Bradman’s career,
interrupted by World War II, ended in 1948, Barnes’ first class career and the
whole of his test career occurred mainly before World War I, and most of his
career was not actually in first-class cricket. The case for Barnes needs a bit
of explaining, but it is nonetheless a powerful one.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It is, in the first place, difficult to judge players who
lived so distantly from our own times that almost every criterion of greatness
is hard to apply. Statistics? Well, bowlers generally did very well on pre-1914
pitches, whereas batsmen generally struggled. Opposition? Test matches were far
less frequent than nowadays, opposition at the highest level being confined to
matches between England, Australia and South Africa during Barnes’ career. Of
course, the strength of opposition is only ever relative, and some English
counties were only good enough to lose as opposed to being trounced by the big
ones - Yorkshire, Lancashire, Nottinghamshire, Surrey. Worse than this,
selection was riddled with prejudice and inconsistency. In England the county
hosting a test match got to select the England team. Can you imagine how that
worked? Yes, selections were eccentric. As an example of prejudice, a county
member in England could get a professional bowler to bowl at him in the nets at
any time (yes, I did say member, not player). Bowlers were usually
professionals, while batsmen were usually amateurs; at least they were amateur
in theory if not in practice. The point was that professionals needed the pay
in order to live, whereas amateurs did not. Bowlers were subject to economic
distress and class oppression, to put matters plainly.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">So, assessing somebody like Syd Barnes is extremely
difficult, even leaving aside his uniqueness and his obdurate and contrary
nature as man. The extraordinary thing is that Barnes, although he played for
England 27 times and was always, if available, a shoe-in, actually preferred to
play in league cricket and latterly in minor county cricket. Indeed, to this
day Barnes is the only man to be selected for England from the leagues. This
was mainly because, as a professional born in 1873 into a working-class family
in Smethwick in the English midlands, he had to earn enough money to keep his
family – a family to which he was devoted and that remained totally devoted to
him until he died in 1967 at the age of 94. Barnes was ahead of his time and
would have approved greatly of Packer’s ‘World Series Cricket’, where
cricketers were finally able to demand payment according to their worth. Barnes
was well aware that one could not play cricket for ever, although he came close
to that, playing his last game at 72 years old. When asked at 80 years old to
bowl the first over in a charity game involving the Australians in 1953, he
joked that he had better not take the new ball for fear of precipitating a
collapse! He had no concept of retirement and was still working for
Staffordshire County Council, executing official documents in a beautiful
copperplate hand, when he died. He also resented the class structures that
dominated the game, and got into many fights with club committees, and other
representatives of established order. He did not care if they were club
chairmen, lords, or England captains, or even all three at once. Yet everyone
wanted Barnes on his team, despite his reputation for being demanding and
difficult – because he was a truly great bowler who routinely won matches. It
was often said in England that he was the difference between beating and losing
to Australia, depending more on availability than on form.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Statistics are not all, but no great player ever had modest
ones, and Barnes’ are astonishing. In the leagues in Lancashire he took 4069 wickets
at 6 apiece. At minor county level, for Staffordshire, he took 1492 wickets at under
9 each. In first class games he took 719 wickets at 17 each. His first-class
career spanned 36 years between 1894 and 1930, when he was 57, but during that
time he played only 133 games. But – just consider this – at test level he took
189 wickets in 27 tests at 16 apiece. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But for the last statistic you might have been tempted to
say this is all very well, but league cricket and minor county cricket was not
played at the highest level, and even county cricket was variable in quality.
But let me correct this. As far as we know league cricket was serious, intense,
of high quality, and eventually attracted some of the world’s best players. Barnes
was the first but by no means the last. Even Gary Sobers, Learie Constantine,
and Frank Worrell played league cricket. They in turn were forerunners of the
international players in county cricket and its equivalents across the world. The
difference was not one of quality but of social class, and although English
cricket to many means the MCC, cucumber sandwiches and graceful 19<sup>th</sup>
century pavilions, it is also historically very much a working-class game too,
one of beer, rough humour and tough cricket. Barnes played in the leagues not because
he did not relish real opposition, of which there was plenty, but only because
the counties – principally Warwickshire and Lancashire – could not offer him the
living he sought. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">You may then say that any good bowler would flourish in the
generally damp middle and northern English conditions. True enough, but Barnes
flourished more than anyone, and knew how to exploit the conditions like no one
else. Tellingly, however, he was also able to deal with very different
conditions in Australia and South Africa. In fact, he was for the most part as unplayable
in those drier climes as he was in England, and did well even on very flat
pitches, where he regularly took plenty of wickets and was also very hard to
score off. Two thirds of his many Australian scalps were achieved in Australia.
Can Jimmy Anderson or Dale Steyn claim as much?<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">So, what was the secret? What made Barnes the most demonic of
bowlers?<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Barnes was not an express fast bowler, although in early
years he tried to be. He was a new ball bowler who bowled right-arm at what we
would now call a brisk medium pace, but it was his ability to make the ball
talk that put him ahead of his time technically. When someone had the
misfortune to compare him to Bill O’Reilly and point out that O’Reilly had a
googly, which Barnes did not, the gruff reply was that he never needed one of
those. Barnes was a master of swing (called ‘swerve’ in those days), seam and
spin, bowling from a great height as he was tall and straight-backed, with a
very high action. From 1920s footage it seems he had a relatively short run,
rocking back with his right arm before it came through delivery, brushing his
right ear. He made the ball swerve, seam and spin, according to the situation, and
also lift nastily from a length – an he was a master of length. He was taught
how to bowl an off-break, but everything else he taught himself. He claimed to
have had only three hours’ coaching in his life. He insisted testily in an
old-age interview that he spun the ball rather than cut it. His trade mark was
the ‘Barnes ball’, which dipped in from outside off to pitch leg, spinning
sharply away to hit off stump. Simply unplayable, and unrepeatable by any other
bowler, including his excellent England foil, Foster, and his idol, Richardson.
Let me add here that, as a spin bowler brought up bowling on Staffordshire
marl, which was suitable for spin but very slow, it seems to me that Barnes
would have had to maintain a perfect length and be quick through the air to enjoy
his extraordinary successes in his home county. As one Staffordshire player put
it to me, ‘tha’d as lief bauwl long ‘ops as a good length on this’ (translation:
if you bowl a good length you may as well bowl long hops on this surface). And
I can affirm the truth of the story that in games where Barnes bowled for
Staffordshire the opposition would have the first seven batsman padded up as
the innings began. One can well imagine a number seven wandering off to find a
cup of tea only to have his name called out in a panic as the fifth wicket went
down.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Uncannily Barnes was able to be more effective with his varied
armoury than any other bowler during his playing career, but also under any
conditions. Take, for example, one of his greatest feats – at Melbourne in the 2nd
test of the 1911/12 ashes series. In one of the most remarkable spells in test
history, on a shirt-front perfect batting wicket he took four wickets for one
run in seven overs, and altogether in this spell, 5 for 6 in 11 overs, with 7
maidens. The wickets were those of some of Australia’s greatest players –
Bardsley was yorked by his first ball, followed quickly by Kelleway lbw, Hill
bowled, and Armstrong caught by the wicket-keeper. Trumper he did not dismiss on
this occasion – that had to wait for the second innings (bowled for 2, Hill
caught by Gunn for 0), as England romped home by 8 wickets. Altogether he took
34 wickets in that series at an average of 22 – a critical contribution to
England’s crushing 4-1 victory. An improvement on 1907/8 when he merely took 24
wickets at 26 in England’s 1-4 loss to Australia. On that tour, however, he
also won a match with the bat, steering England with last man Fielder to a famous
one-wicket win at Melbourne with 38 not out, the last run famously got as
Trumper failed to hit the stumps from cover point. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">On Barnes’ first tour to Australia in 1902 he collected
13-163 in the 2<sup>nd</sup> test, following a 5-for in the first test, but was
then injured. His performances against Australia both at home and away are
remarkable in particular because when you look at his victims they were
invariably the likes of Hill, Armstrong, and Trumper for single-digit scores;
they greatly feared facing him, and said as much publicly – at least they
flourished mightily whenever Barnes was not playing. You could make out a case
that Trumper and Hill, two of Australia’s greatest ever, were Barnes’ bunnies,
so often did he dismiss them. In the triangular series in England in 1912 he
took 5 wickets on no less than 8 occasions, including 8-29 (13-57 in the match)
at the Oval against South Africa, for whom he seemed to reserve his most
demonic bowling.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Barnes’ most remarkable series was, however, his last
against South Africa when he was 40 years old. He missed what would have proved
his last test match in 1914 against South Africa because the MCC refused to pay
for his wife’s accommodation (typical Barnes umbrage). It did not stop him
establishing what is still a series record with 49 wickets in only four test
matches: 1st test, 10-105; 2<sup>nd</sup> test 17-159 (a world record until
Laker’s 19-90 in 1956); 3<sup>rd</sup> test 8-128; 4<sup>th</sup> test 14-144
(England struggled to achieve a draw in that test, in spite of Barnes’ crushing
performance). England won the series 4-0. The South Africans were simply unable
to play Barnes’ bowling. It was not as though the conditions were awkward.
England managed 400 in the match in which Barnes took 17 wickets, and achieved
that three times in the series. South Africa reached 300 twice in spite of
Barnes’ overwhelming onslaught.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">As a man Barnes was not clubbable in anybody’s club. He was
proud, unsmiling and unyielding. When barracked in Australia for slow
field-placing he simply sat down and waited for it to stop before continuing. On
the way to Australia in 1901 the ship carrying the English team got into
difficulties in the Bay of Biscay. The captain Archie McLaren comforted his men
with the immortal line, ‘at least if we go down with this ship, that bugger
Barnes will go down with us’.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Barnes’ long-term impact on the game was immense. He was an
early promoter of professionalism, living to see the abolition of the gentlemen
v players distinction. Technically he opened possibilities that had never been
dreamed of. As for his prickly personality, it is interesting that he was
tolerated and managed in spite of some very difficult situations and the
pervasive class structure. Nowadays it seems any player who displays the
slightest similar tendency will be pushed out of the team, described as
arrogant and undermining team spirit.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">So, when you list your GOAT team, 9 of them will be a
subject of choice; but after D Bradman you need to list SF Barnes. <o:p></o:p></p>Andrew Hardinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15954270826267048283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8804284970071192091.post-59932099168700065662021-11-04T00:46:00.004+08:002021-11-04T00:46:23.869+08:00Captain Courageous: The of Porbandar<p>As everybody knows, there are two theories of how captains
should be selected. The Australian theory is that you pick your team and choose
the captain from amongst those selected. The English theory is that you choose
the best captain then select the team around him. Looking at India in 1932 one
might be forgiven for thinking, given the selection of the Maharaja of
Porbandar to lead the first Indian test tour to England, that the Indian theory
was to pick the team and then find an unqualified royal person to appoint as captain.
The Maharaja, or to give him his full title, <span style="background: white;">Lieutenant-Colonel </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maharaja" title="Maharaja"><span style="background: white; color: black; text-decoration-line: none;">Maharaja</span></a><span style="background: white;"> </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rana_(title)" title="Rana (title)"><span style="background: white; color: black; text-decoration-line: none;">Rana</span></a><span style="background: white;"> </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shri" title="Shri"><span style="background: white; color: black; text-decoration-line: none;">Shri</span></a><span style="background: white;"> </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sir" title="Sir"><span style="background: white; color: black; text-decoration-line: none;">Sir</span></a><span style="background: white;"> Natwarsinhji Bhavsinhji </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sahib" title="Sahib"><span style="background: white; color: black; text-decoration-line: none;">Sahib</span></a><span style="background: white;"> </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maharaja_Bahadur"><span style="background: white; color: black; text-decoration-line: none;">Bahadur</span></a><span style="background: white;">, </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_the_Star_of_India" title="Order of the Star of India"><span style="background: white; color: black; text-decoration-line: none;">KCSI</span></a><span style="background: white;">, </span>then aged 31, had limited
experience playing cricket, and was qualified only by the fact that it was
thought a royal person was needed to maintain order amongst a team of mixed
abilities and mixed religions. In the measured and somewhat generous tones of
Wisden:</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><span style="background: #FCFCFC; color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">For reasons apart from cricket the necessity existed of
having a person of distinction and importance in India at the head of affairs,
and it was almost entirely because of this that Porbandar led the team. No
injustice is being done to him, therefore, by saying that admirably fitted as
he was in many respects for the task, his abilities as a cricketer were not
commensurate with the position he occupied.</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Well, you can say that again. His first-class batting
average was 6.00, with a highest score of 22. He played only seven innings all
told in six matches, didn’t bowl, and was not noted for any special ability as
a fielder. On the 1932 tour, he made first class scores of 0, 2 and 0, giving
rise to the joke that he acquired more Rolls Royces (3) on tour than runs (2).
It seems the two consisted of a leg glance against Glamorgan. Perhaps they
still recall that at Cardiff, but I doubt it. Still, as one who has, I assure
you, never scored two with a leg glance against Glamorgan or indeed any other
county, I am not in a position to criticise.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Now it would be easy to portray the Maharaja as a figure of
fun, elevated beyond his abilities purely because he was a Ruler in a society
that still (though not for much longer) celebrated royal status; and as
enjoying that status without contributing much except to the British shipping
company engaged to ship the Rolls Royces back to Porbandar. I say ‘not for much
longer’ because about 500 monarchies were abolished, including that of
Porbandar, with the Indian Constitution coming into effect in 1950. Nonetheless
one notes that even modern IPL teams have bizarre regal names like Bangalore
Royal Challengers, Rajasthan Royals, and Chennai Super Kings; so perhaps
royalty still has some mystical association in the modern republic. It would
indeed be easy to make fun of the Maharaja, but I wish to make out a case for
taking HRH quite seriously as a captain courageous. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Consider his situation. He was, to begin with, third choice
captain for this All-India tour. He was obviously not highly rated by the
selectors. What he faced was the likelihood of being blamed for an ignominious
tour, a laughable contribution by himself, being compared to his disadvantage
by those more eminently able to captain the side, such as CK Nayudu, and
finding himself the meat in a sandwich of quarrelsome factions within the
Indian team. It was not called ‘All-India’ for nothing. Even the name suggests
a diverse bunch of cricketers who hardly knew each other, divided by religion
and language, and such was the fact. All-India included what was to become
Pakistan only 15 tumultuous years later, and contained Muslim as well as Hindu
and Sikh players.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Yet he stepped up for the sake of his country, and it has to
be said that the tour was not by any means a failure. In fact it laid the
foundation for later glory by educating the players in the difficult matters of
forming a viable team, coping with English conditions, and sustaining effort
over an extremely arduous tour which would make modern players gasp in
astonishment. The Maharaja managed his team more than he captained it, and he
made a crucial contribution by squashing factionalism during the night before
the single test against England by assuring Nayudu’s captaincy, whereas some of
the team, disliking Nayudu’s authoritarian style, wanted Wazir Ali as captain.
As it turned out India were soundly defeated, but did not give too bad an account
of themselves, especially considering that two of the best three Indian batsmen
of the era, the Nawab of Pataudi and Duleepsinhji (Nayudu being the third),
were engaged to play county cricket and were unable to represent India, who
played against an England at full capacity. Nayudu’s captaincy was especially
praised, and he had a successful English season with five centuries and an
average of 40, including a superb innings of 118 not out against the MCC, at
Lord’s during which he hit a mammoth six prompting the report that the ball
‘was last seen leaving the home of cricket in an easterly direction’. Although
short of really good batsmen, India did (unusually as it turned out) have three
excellent fast bowlers in Amar Singh, Mohammad Nissar, and Jahangir Khan, the
last of these (yes, you guessed it) the very man who killed a sparrow (not a pigeon)
bowling at Lord’s, although that was in 1936. Amar Singh was rated one of the
very best fast bowlers form any country during the inter-war period. However, they
had no quality spinner, nothing like a Kumble or a Harbajan or an Ashwin to
torment the English batsmen.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The Maharaja’s role was really in effect to manage the team
and lead them (not usually on the field, as he only played four first class
games) through the complex protocols and an absolutely crippling playing schedule
involving 37 matches between April and September – a full English season of 26
first class games with a few add-ons, which must have left the team completely
exhausted. He accomplished this arduous task very well, and for what was
largely a learning exercise the tour can be marked a success, the Indians
winning more matches than they lost. They were only humiliated once, caught in
the second innings on a sticky dog against Yorkshire at Harrogate, and bundled
out for 66 by Macaulay and Verity. They were not the only ones to suffer such a
fate at the hands of Yorkshire’s strong bowling attack.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It clear that the Maharaja knew what he was taking on. He
was a public-intellectual prince who later wrote books about the fate of India.
He was also a painter and a musician, joint composer of the “Oriental Moonlight
Waltz” (1930). In photographs he looks at the camera with penetratingly intelligent
eyes under heavy rimmed spectacles and a wave of brylcremed black hair brushed
back. He looks like the kind of man who would take on a hopeless task just
because his country needed him. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">He was born in 1901, and educated at the Rajakumar College
in Rajkot, taking first place in the diploma examination for princes’ colleges.
He assumed the throne of Porbandar in 1920 and ruled until the end of the
monarchy. He died in 1979. His sense of public duty was manifest in his
writings, which do not embody anything like sour grapes for the loss of his
throne, but rather hope for India’s future in the world. He funded development
projects such as the Maharana Mills, where he sold the land at far less than
market price, bringing prosperity to his state. He was also instrumental in
setting up the Gandhi memorial house in Porbandar. He received a number of
honours, in particular that of Knight Commander of the Order of the Star of
India (KCSI) in 1929.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">There is more than meets the eye in terms of contributions
to the game. If the 1932 tour had been a disaster, which might have been a fair
prediction at its outset, it is doubtful that Indian cricket would have
developed as fast as it did. Royals such as the Maharaja of Porbandar, the
successive Nawabs of Pataudi, and Hanumant Singh (the Maharajkumar of Banswara)
played a large role in making Indian cricket what it is today, whether on or off
the field.<o:p></o:p></p>Andrew Hardinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15954270826267048283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8804284970071192091.post-46530866149726472392021-11-04T00:44:00.005+08:002021-11-04T00:44:52.335+08:00Cricket v Baseball, England v USA …<p>One of the world’s great puzzles
is why the Americans abandoned the great game of cricket to play the inferior
game of baseball. Imagine also how it might have been if cricket had spread from
the US to Japan and Mexico in baseball’s stead?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black;">Writing about the tour of the
‘Gentlemen of Philadelphia’ (the ‘Phillies’) to England in 1908 I realised that
if England and the Yankees themselves had taken American cricket seriously, the
US would have without doubt become a power in cricket, excelling probably South
Africa and New Zealand at least and maybe even challenging England, Australia
and India. They would have had the benefit of large diasporae – English,
Indian, Pakistani, West Indian, Australian, South African – and the resources
to produce really good teams as they once did in the late 19<sup>th</sup> and
early 20<sup>th</sup> centuries. My verdict on the Phillies was this:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><span style="color: black;">“Overall
in terms of first class recognized games, the Phillies won 4 and lost 6. They
won most of their games overall. They performed as a lower than average but
still respectable county side. Unfortunately most counties fielded inferior
teams against them, probably underestimating their strength. Remember they were
representing Philadelphia not the USA. Great players such as Hendren paid
tribute to Bart King as <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">one of the very
best quick bowlers ever seen in England</i>, including Barnes, Lohmann, Hirst
and Spofforth. As the democratic balance shifted to baseball, the chances of
the US becoming a good test team slipped away, but imagine what might have been
… With King as a potential match-winner, they might have been very dangerous in
low-scoring games. The Phillies clearly had not enough batting strength, but
perhaps other US teams had what was needed, I don't know.<br />
Still the US did play the first ever international match v Canada in 1844, long
before England and Australia began their epochal Ashes series. The future is
something else, but this side of the pond we are still hoping - see 'Nederland'
by Joseph O'Neill.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black;">The explanation for the lurch
towards baseball is sometimes attributed to a greater regard for democratic
values in the US compared to England. The cricket teams do seem to have been a
place for the over-privileged sons of wealthy aristos who had time at college
or later to play the longer game. But this explanation is actually questionable.
After all, in England the game reached down to the lower classes, which
although discriminated against in various ways were still able to fill village
teams (the blacksmith usually opened the bowling), work as professionals in
county and league (the latter exclusively working class), and of course to play
for England, which even fielded an Indian (Ranjitsinji – mind you, he was a
prince). The explanation also fails to consider why Australia (surely even more
democratic than the US?) stuck to cricket as its national game and never took
up baseball seriously. Perhaps the explanation is rather that cricket failed to
democratise in the US in the way it did in Australia and in England itself. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black;">Even more telling, why did
cricket, the game of the hated imperialists, flourish in India of all places, followed
by Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, attaining the status of a religious
cult, even though it was initially the sport of the maharajahs? (To some extent
I suppose it still is – at least they become maharajahs after they play well
for India). In England admittedly democracy was slow in arriving at Lord’s: the
last Gentlemen v Players match was in the early 1960s, when amateurs and
professionals still used different changing rooms and gates onto the turf. The
first professional captain of England was not until after World War Two (Len
Hutton).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black;">The answer I think is that in the
US baseball had many advantages for the working man. It took less time, did not
depend on the aristocracy, and involved fewer players. People such as the
Gentlemen of Philadelphia are to blame in failing to be inclusive (what if they
had called themselves just ‘The Philadelphians’?) No doubt also in the vastness
and diversity of the US cricket remained a niche preserve of the Anglos living on
the East coast. The English had enough trouble teaching the game to the Welsh,
Scots and Irish (all now fully involved), let alone having to deal with Hispanics,
Africans, Asians, and native Americans. Interestingly enough, on this theme,
the first Australian team to tour England consisted entirely of aboriginals!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black;">Faced with a puzzle it is usually
explanatory to follow the money. It could be that land prices in early 20th
century America were prohibitive. It needed astute entrepreneurship even in
England to create Lord’s Cricket Ground in central London in 1813. But on the
other hand the Americans were able to devote much land to baseball. Perhaps the
economic explanation is that the Eastern seaboard cities like New York were too
cosmopolitan to sustain a game reserved mainly for upper class Anglos. Unlike
London and even Sydney there was no widespread cricket culture to draw on.
Baseball on the other hand was convenient and appealing to the working classes.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black;">Now, in the 21<sup>st</sup>
century, roles are different. The US does have a team, mainly consisting of
players of South Asian descent, and a new cricket stadium is under construction
near Dallas, Texas. Elsewhere the emerging forms of the game are more and more
resembling baseball. Games in the Indian Premier League and its equivalents are
over in three and half hours, played in coloured clothing, under lights in the
evening, relayed by ‘spider’ cameras, with no draws, but with lightly-clad cheerleaders,
and rousing music … all we need are mits for the fielders and the
transformation will be virtually complete. The Americans will have had the last
laugh as the global economy of the game wins out over tradition.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black;">Well, not quite … I notice that China
played Bahrain the other day at cricket. The Chinese lost badly - but note that
they have a women’s team too, as do Japan, Mexico, and Thailand. Chiang Mai
even has a cricket academy run by a couple of Australians. These new teams are in
the main not teams of expat Pakistanis etc., but are indigenous. Japan even has
a T20 league. The Netherlands, Denmark, and Afghanistan are familiar ICC competitors
(see The <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Taliban Cricket Club</i> by
Timeri Murari), along with the likes of Nepal, Namibia, Singapore, Hong Kong,
Papua New Guinea, and Bermuda. Indeed Afghanistan along with Ireland has now
been elevated to test status. Cricket has spread beyond the world of the common
law and tea at 4 o’clock (one of cricket’s charms – which other sport stops for
tea at 4 o’clock?), and is now even more global than baseball. If you believe
that global economy trumps culture, then in the 22<sup>nd</sup> century we can perhaps
look forward to a world-series of day-night ‘Crickball’, the final being say in
San Francisco between Bangalore and Shanghai. Fortunately, as a traditionalist
when it comes to the great game, I will not be around to see that.</span><o:p></o:p></p>Andrew Hardinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15954270826267048283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8804284970071192091.post-42163282737263243722021-11-04T00:44:00.000+08:002021-11-04T00:44:06.863+08:00Fatso: The Big guys of Cricket<p>In every generation there have been cricketers who were
overweight. Until recent decades fitness was not even regarded as strictly
needed for the game, even at the highest level, and we have all played in teams
with a fat guy fielding at slip or else ‘hidden’ in the field. But have we gone
too far in our demands? Would some of the best cricketers of the past not have
made it under current fitness regimes? In recent years, overweight players have
increasingly come under criticism. It was not too pleasant when Jos Buttler
body-shamed Vernon Philander in the 2<sup>nd</sup> test earlier in 2020,
referring to his ‘fat gut’. Rishabh Pant has been referred to on field in the
same way. Philander was noticeably perhaps, but not very, overweight, but it
did not prevent him being one of the very finest medium-fast bowlers of recent
years with a record that speaks for itself.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Fitness became an issue in the early 1960s. On their way to
Australia in 1962 the England cricketers encountered the runner Gordon Pirie on
board their ship, and he was asked to advise them on fitness regimes. These
were strenuously resisted by the likes of Trueman and Cowdrey, who, it is said,
on their forced runs used to take a short-cut between decks. On disembarkation
Pirie described the English players to the Australian press as ‘unfit,
overweight bar flies’: not, I suppose, a good start to the tour. In the early
1970s England’s Ray Illingworth complained that he could hardly stop fours with
an off-side consisting of Colin Cowdrey, Colin Milburn, Tom Graveney, and Ken
Higgs, all heavyweights who had little chance of stopping a ball unless it came
straight to them, although Cowdrey of course had the defence that he was a
superb slip catcher despite his fitness issues. And Milburn was great at short
leg.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">During cricket’s early years fitness was definitely not an
issue. The great WG himself played until he was 50, and was decidedly
overweight; yet he is regarded as one of the very greatest cricketers ever.
Another early giant in both senses was Australian captain Warwick Armstrong, originally
a lithe young man whose eventual 133 kg did not prevent him being a successful
allrounder as well as captain. It was said that the Lord’s pitch was never the
same after Armstrong sat on it. In 1898 William Nicholson’s famous lithograph
‘Cricket’ portrays the game as played by a batsman who is middle aged
and very much overweight, with a backside the size of Brazil, as Bridget Jones
would have it. One assumes this would have been a common sight in the late
Victorian or Edwardian period.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Then of course there was Colin Milburn himself, whose ample
proportions caused mirth when he got literally stuck in a toilet at Northampton.
But Milburn pulled in the crowds and many who saw him would say that nobody in
history, no, not even Percy Fender or Gilbert Jessop, hit a cricket ball as
hard as Milburn. His off drives seemed to scorch the turf, and his fierce pull
shots literally broke benches. So what, if a better point fielder could have
saved 16 runs? <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Sri Lankan captain Arjuna Ranatunga was another plump guy
who is the subject of a famous story. Shane Warne was being successfully
blocked by Ranatunga and asked Ian Healy how he could ‘get this guy out of his
crease’. ‘A Mars bar on a good length – that should do it’, came the reply. Not
to be outdone, the overhearing Ranatunga added, ‘not if [David] Boon gets there
first!’. Boon, persistently paunchy and big-moustachio’d, was a highly
successful batsman who was also one of the greatest short-leg fielders.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Inzie – Inzamam-ul-Haq, Pakistan captain and great batsman,
was seriously overweight, but despite his resemblance to a large sack of
potatoes a highly popular batsman of exquisite timing but little inclination to
run. This disinclination was usually acquiesced in by his batting partners who
were in severe danger of being run out, unless there was a two in the offing
that could be finessed into a rather comfortable one. They were not, however,
in as much danger as Inzie himself, who holds the record number of runouts in
test cricket.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">A number of factors contributed to a new emphasis on fitness
from the 1990s. One day cricket and the Packer World Series demanded better
fielding. Five-day tests with no rest day became troublesome for injury-prone
bowlers. Even Shane Warne, whose frame was built from meat pies and burgers,
started going to the gym, after seeing Brett Lee emerging therefrom ‘looking
like a Gucci model’. It was said at the height of his career that ‘it’s not
over til the fat boy spins’. Mike Gatting, however, seems never to have made it
as far as a gym, although you might say he could bat a bit. ‘Gatting could be a
bit wider at slip’, intoned a commentator. ‘If he was wider he’d probably
burst’, came the reply.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Now the issue is not whether players should be fit, but what
kind of fitness regime is desirable. Older players shake their heads when they
see the rigour of modern regimes. Geoff Boycott was dismayed when Martyn Moxon
injured himself using weights and missed half a season’; ‘Weights? Weights?’,
expostulated Boycott, ‘Oh dearie me’. Fred Trueman claimed he just needed to
bowl – and he bowled a thousand overs a season; his partner in crime Brian
Statham said all he needed before bowling was a cup of coffee, a fag and good
cough. Medium-pacer Derek Shackleton turned up to the Hampshire nets in the late
1950s, and after passing the outside edge with his first ball and the inside
edge with his second ball, walked off saying everything was fine – and it was. Nowadays
bowlers have extensive fitness advice and facilities, and nutrition regimes. Bowlers
will be regarded as hugely overworked if they bowl 400 first-class overs in a
season, never mind 1000.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Fat guys have been gradually weeded out of the game but
occasionally one survives the filter mechanisms. In 2020 English grounds were
darkened (although there was nobody there to witness it) by the enormous hulk
of West Indian offspinner, Rakheem Cornwall, officially the heaviest man ever
to play test cricket at 140kg. Cornwall fields at slip and proverbially catches
swallows in that position. His ‘run in’ is more of a painful-to-watch slow
walk, and when batting he does not run, dealing only in boundaries. Yet 10
wickets in his second test against Afghanistan earned him a place on the England
tour and one uneventful test appearance. In domestic cricket he carries all
before him in all formats.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Jesse Ryder of New Zealand was another unfiltered plump guy
who was mercilessly criticised for his lack of fitness, but again, his figures
speak for themselves, and he was in much demand during a short career resulting
in a test batting average of 41; by all accounts Jesse was a brilliant gully
fieldsman and a useful medium-paced bowler.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Fat men have more often been good batsmen (Colin Cowdrey,
David Shepherd, Peter Burge), good spin bowlers (Warwick Armstrong, Jack Simmons,
Athol McKinnon), and occasionally medium-pacers; but never really fast bowlers,
for obvious reasons. Left-arm quick Fred Rumsey of Worcestershire was one who
tried to be quick in spite of a pear-shaped frame, but he was never more than
fast-medium. Shannon Gabriel, on the other hand, although he looks somewhat
overweight, is also genuinely quick.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">So it seems to me that fitness is fitness for purpose not
fitness for fitness’ sake. They say if you are good enough you are old enough,
but why do they not say if you are good enough you are fit enough? Admittedly,
everybody should be good fielder, and useless outfielders are probably no
longer tolerable. Shimron Hetmyer manages to be a good outfielder despite the
extra pounds, and his lofted drives certainly pack a punch. This is more of a
problem in white-ball cricket, in which you will not be likely to stand at slip
for three hours - the fall-back for the big guys seems to be a spell at
short-third-man. But there has to be a balance, and so long as players try to
keep fit, and maintain a decent diet, it should not be made politically correct
to look like Brett Lee or Hardik Pandya, if large contributions are being made
in batting or bowling. Apart from that the fat guys are often characters of the
game and we do not want all cricketers to look the same. David Shepherd became
a much-loved figure, so to speak, as an umpire with a ballooning paunch. Who
can forget Cowdrey’s late cut or him pocketing a catch, and then producing it
delightedly while the crowd looked to the third man boundary? Who can forget
David Boon’s pull shot, or him standing truculently at short leg, his moustache
visible to the square-leg umpire behind him? So, I say long live the Ryders and
the Ranatungas, the Shepherds, the Warnes, the ‘Flat-Jack’ Simmonses, the
Cornwalls, and the Inzamams. Without them the game is reduced to a robotic game
of percentages, whereas it has always been a game of character. <o:p></o:p></p>Andrew Hardinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15954270826267048283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8804284970071192091.post-91412611177209087242021-11-04T00:36:00.003+08:002021-11-04T00:36:31.621+08:00Laker’s Match, and a Record That May Never be Broken <p><span style="font-size: 12pt;">At
Manchester in 1956 the England off-spin bowler Jim Laker took 19 wickets for 90
runs as Australia crumbled to an innings defeat. It remains statistically the
best set of match figures in the history of the game. Nobody has ever taken 18
wickets. Syd Barnes took 17 against South Africa in 1913.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">England and Australia went to Manchester for the fourth test match with the series level at
one-all with one draw. England won the toss (what a good toss to win, as it
turned out) and batted well, making 459, with Richardson and Sheppard scoring
centuries and Cowdrey 80.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Australia’s
first innings was an extraordinary affair. By dint of some careful batting by
McDonald and Burke, they had reached 48 in 80 minutes before the first of
Laker’s 19 wickets, that of McDonald, fell. Burke followed at 62, after which
the innings collapsed in a terrible heap, the last 8 wickets falling for only 22
runs, Laker taking 9 for 37. One oddity of this match is that Tony Lock, the
other member of the infamous Surrey ‘spin-twins’, took Burke’s wicket, but took
no other wicket in the match.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Australia
were asked to follow on, and their second innings promised a far better effort
as Burke and McDonald again started quietly but confidently. The innings inched
forward very slowly, as australis tried to dig themselves in and out of
trouble. Again, however, once the breach was made with Laker dismissing Burke
for 33, the innings slowly subsided. Harvey was out for a pair, having been dismissed
twice by Laker in three balls in the match. Ian Craig batted 260 minutes for
38, but four wickets went down between 114 and 130. Mackay, Miller and Archer
all went for nought. The match was as good as over at 130-6, but the last four
wickets added an excruciatingly slow 75 before Maddox was last out at 205,
giving England victory by a massive margin of an innings and 170 runs. This
meagre total had taken 150 overs to attain.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The grainy
footage of that test match leaves two strong impressions. First, that Laker
bowled quite beautifully, spinning the ball viciously but maintaining perfect
control, bowling mainly round the wicket, and turning the ball consistently but
not prodigiously (for anyone who has seen Shane Warne). And secondly, that the
Australian batsmen had really no idea how to play Laker, which might have been
already evident from the fact that he had taken an all-ten for Surrey against
them earlier in the season. In fact, the way they played Laker is almost
bizarre in its repetitive incompetence, astonishing considering the batting
talent available, with Lindwall, a test century-maker, coming in at nine and
Benaud, a genuine allrounder at eight, not to mention Harvey, Craig, Miller,
McDonald, Burke, Archer and Mackay – all very good players indeed. Even Maddox
at ten and Johnson at eleven were no rabbits.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Of the 19
wickets taken by Laker, in no less than 17 cases the batsman played back or
half-prop, or at best with a kind of desperate lunge, leaving a large gap
between bat and pad. In no case did the batsman seem to move down the pitch to
meet the ball on the half volley; in no case did he seem to even play solidly
forward, or else right back in his crease. Altogether five were bowled; three
were out leg before; nine were caught close to the wicket at short leg, or
slip/ gulley in the case of the only two lefthanders (Harvey and Mackay), off
the inside or outside edge. Oakman took five catches, Lock three, and all at
short leg. Most of the batsmen seemed to be out exactly that same way in both
innings. Only two brave souls were out actually trying to hit Laker – Benaud
holing out to long on and Archer stumped. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">However, Australia
had had almost no experience – or no good experience - of this type of bowling.
True their own captain, Johnson, was an offspinner, but he was a rare bird, and
not noted as a particularly great off-spinner (he was cheekily dubbed
‘mixomatosis’ because he only seemed to dispose of rabbits). In fact Australia
had, and still have, not produced many off-spinners of note. For the 1956 team
Trumble was far in the past, and Mallett, May and Lyon yet to come. Johnson was
not only rare but a very different type of bowler from Laker. Bowling on mainly
flat pitches, his technique was to tease the batsman with flight and dip,
whereas Laker’s skills, never more apparent than in 1956, had been honed in the
era of uncovered pitches in England’s damp and uncertain climate. The
Australians of 1956 had only faced English off-spin, if at all, in test
matches. They had faced Appleyard in 1955/6 (as different from Laker as chalk
from cheese), and earlier Laker himself, but not very often, and had faced even
less of Tattersall of Lancashire, and McConnon of Glamorgan. The other
outstanding England spinners post-war were Wright (legspin), and Lock (slow
left arm). Of the Australian batsmen Colin McDonald, an opener, proved the best
at playing Laker. He scored 89 in Australia’s second innings, having,
curiously, scored the same number of runs when Laker took all ten for Surrey
against them.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">As we have
seen, one very curious fact is that Lock took only one wicket for 106 in the
Manchester test. At the Oval for Surrey back in May, when Laker took ten for 88
in the first innings, Lock took seven for 47 in the second. Lock’s
wicket-drought, in addition to Benaud’s and Johnson’s figures, seems to give
the lie to the idea that the pitch at Manchester was a ‘dust bowl’, as some
have claimed. For comparison, Australia’s spinners, Richie Benaud and Ian
Johnson, took 6 wickets in England’s only innings, in 92 overs for 274 runs.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In fact the
pitch did become hard to bat on, but after rain, so was something of a sticky,
not a dust bowl where the pitch had broken up - and certainly not impossible
when you consider that as dangerous a bowler as Lock, who generally carried all
before him during the 1950s, achieved so little success. By contemporary
accounts Lock was very frustrated at this lack of penetration in conditions
that so suited Laker, and bowled too fast to really grip the surface and cause big
problems. In this match Lock conceded 106 runs for his single wicket, off 69
overs with 33 maidens – Australia had successfully blocked him on this occasion,
and he was in fact only marginally more expensive than the unplayable Laker,
whose 19 wickets cost 90 runs off 67 overs. It was certainly slow-going at Old
Trafford. Although their success bowling together had over the years earned
Lock and Laker the reputation of being Surrey’s ‘spin twins’, they were in fact
more rivals than partners in crime, even if they each benefitted from the
pressure created at the other end, while being nicely contrasted in style. Part
of the success of the spin twins was that they were not especially good mates (unlike,
say the fast bowlers Trueman and Statham) and were constantly in competition
with each other – very bad news for batsmen.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The final
test was drawn, England taking the series 2-1. Laker continued to torment
Australia, taking 7-88 at The Oval.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Laker was
used to attaining remarkable figures, at the test trial at Bradford in 1952, he
came on before lunch, by his own account feeling rotten after a bad night with
his infant child, and initially refused to bowl. However, taking an early
wicket he was encouraged and finished the inning with 8 for 2! He insisted ever
afterwards that one of the two runs was actually a leg bye that the umpire did
not signal.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">There have
been few occasions on which a bowler has exerted such dominance over a powerful
test batting line-up as Laker did over Australia in 1956. He was indeed the
perfect off-spinner, bowling off a very short run, with a simple but rhythmical
high action, the right hand almost seeming be thrown aloft before the large
fingers exerted their magic. The ball was said to fizz and even, some said, hum
through the air when he bowled, the ball curling away from off stump late in
its flight before spinning sharply back towards it, the arm ball also causing
havoc as the batsman searched for the spin that was not there. His accuracy was
legendary. Was the proverbial phrase, ‘he could land it on a sixpence’,
invented for Laker? If not, then it should have been. I would hazard a guess
that his 19-90 will never be exceeded.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>Andrew Hardinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15954270826267048283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8804284970071192091.post-59029346300702342442021-11-04T00:35:00.002+08:002021-11-04T00:35:11.434+08:00Johnny Briggs: Lancashire's Popular 19th Century Hero<p>Was ever a cricketer more loved than Johnny Briggs?</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">There may, I suppose, have been a few, but at his funeral in
1902, no less than 25,000 people turned out to honour a man who may be counted one
of the first great left-arm spinners, and who filled a career of more than 20
years with cleverly taken wickets, carelessly acquired runs, and numerous quotes
from Shakespeare. Despite his tragic early demise at 39, his achievement was
great. He was the first man to take 100 test wickets, and he held the title of
taker of most test wickets in 1895 and then from 1898-1904. Even now he is the
taker of most wickets ever for Lancashire except for Brian Statham. With more
than 2,000 wickets and 14,000 runs, having scored ten first class centuries,
including one in his second test match against Australia, he was also the
greatest allrounder ever produced by Lancashire.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Johnny Briggs was born in Nottinghamshire in 1862, the very
year in which overarm bowling was finally legalised. He was short, chubby, and,
having been taken onto the professional staff at, astonishingly, 13, he made
his debut for Lancashire in 1879 at the age of 16 – incredibly young for a spin
bowler. At that age he was actually known more for his batting and fielding
than for his bowling. His nickname was, naturally, ‘Boy’, and that stuck to
him. Indeed, his countenance continued to be quite boyish despite a thick,
handlebar moustache. He had large, friendly eyes and, unlike (it must be said) many
of his left-arm spinning brethren, was a sunny character, greatly appreciated
by crowds both at county and test level, including in Australia. Whether Johnny
bowled or batted or fielded, something was likely to happen, one way or
another. Apart from being a great bowler and an entertaining batsman he was
also a superb fielder, especially in his youth. Within five years of his county
debut he suddenly emerged as a mature bowler, and this was, oddly enough,
shortly <i>after</i> he made his debut for England in 1884; and he was on his
way to becoming a great bowler, and a rapidly improving batsman too.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It is an interesting question, from where did Johnny acquire
his skills at such an early age? After all, there was at the time little in the
way of a slow-left-arm bowling tradition, even in the North of England, which
produced three great slow-left-armers, but all at more or less the same time:
in order of emergence, Ted Peate, Bobby Peel, and Johnny Briggs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lancashire had, however, another left-arm
spinner, George Nash, who was twelve years older than Briggs, and Johnny may
have learned from him. But Nash made his debut for Lancashire in the same year
as Briggs, despite being much older, and they were essentially in competition
for the place. This competition was easily won by the younger man, although
Nash was still playing for Lancashire occasionally 16 years later, and must
have been a good bowler, taking altogether 232 wickets at 12 apiece. But he
only played 53 first-class games, and unlike Briggs, was not an allrounder - that
may have made all the difference in terms of selection. If Nash did influence
Johnny Briggs, it seems Johnny must have quickly grown beyond what he could
have learned.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Briggs first played for England before he was even well
known as a bowler. Indeed, his selection is a bit of a mystery. He toured
Australia with Arthur Shaw’s team under Shrewsbury’s captaincy in 1884/5, and
although he barely bowled in the five-match test series, he batted at number 7
or 8 and scored a brilliant 121 in 150 minutes in his second test at Melbourne.
Peel, on the other hand, who was ultimately his main rival, bowled an
extraordinarily large number of overs, taking 21 wickets. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Taking 79 wickets for Lancashire at 10 apiece in 1885, Briggs
first came to national attention as a bowler in 1886. He was selected for the first
test against Australia at Manchester, but did not bowl in that match. England’s
premier spinner was Yorkshire’s Ted Peate, who had a poor game. With Peel
seemingly out of favour with the selectors, in the Lord’s test Briggs
effectively replaced Peate on a permanent basis. He was brought on with the
match evenly balanced after England, boosted by 164 from Shrewsbury, had scored
353. Briggs was immediately successful, taking 5 for 29 and 6 for 45 as
Australia were forced to follow on, collapsing twice, and losing by an innings
and 106 runs. Scoring was very slow and Briggs must have been virtually
impossible to score off, bowling 72 (four-ball) overs for 74 runs. In the third
test, Briggs again had a good match, scoring 53 in a stand of 90 with Read in
England’s innings, taking 3 for 28 in Australia’s collapse to 65 all out, then
3 for 30 in the second innings, bowling with Lohmann who took 12 wickets as
England crushed Australia by an innings and 207 runs. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">At Sydney a few months later, on what was already Briggs’
second tour of Australia, he played in an astonishing test match in which England,
bundled out for 45 in their first innings, won by 13 runs as Australia were
bowled out by Billy Barnes. Briggs did little with the ball but top scored with
a crucial, match-winning (as it turned out) 33 going in at number eight in
England’s second innings. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In the second test, also at Sydney and also low-scoring,
Briggs’ 3 for 30 in the second innings helped England to another win by 71 runs,
in spite of their extreme difficulty with the fast bowling of Ferris and
Turner. By this time Briggs was an integral part of the England set-up, and was
an automatic selection in spite of having to compete with another great
left-arm spinner, Yorkshire’s Bobby Peel, who had made his debut earlier. Peel
was soon back in contention, taking nine wickets at Sydney against Australia in
1888, while Briggs was not used. They often played in the same team, as at
Sydney in 1894, which witnessed one of the most amazing reversals in test
history, a match in which both spinners played an important part. Australia
hoisted a huge first innings score of 583, courtesy of a double hundred by Syd
Gregory and 161 from George Giffen. When Briggs came in to bat, England were on
the edge at 211 for 6, but a lively 57 from Briggs helped them to 325.
Nonetheless they had to follow on. Again England were on the edge at 296 for 6
when Briggs came in to bat, and his useful 42 helped them to 437. Australia
needed 177 to win, and were going well at 130 for 2 when overnight rain changed
the conditions in England’s favour. Peel (6 for 67) and Briggs (3 for 30) went
through Australia like a knife through butter to give England victory by just
10 runs. Briggs’ two contributions with the bat and his second innings wickets
in support of Peel constituted, again, a match-winning performance. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Over several seasons and tours, Briggs and Peel alternated
in the England side. Both were classified as all-rounders, and when one failed
to fire, the other invariably did. When they bowled together they were
formidable. But selection was a lottery in those days, home test teams in
England being selected by the club hosting the test match. So little need be
attached to the several occasions when Briggs was not included. Nonetheless,
Briggs toured Australia a record six times, and was as well known and as popular
on the hill at Sydney as he was at Old Trafford and around England. In 1892 at
Sydney, Briggs took the wickets of Giffen, Blackham and Calloway in successive
balls. This was, oddly, the first test hat trick not taken at Melbourne, and
the first test hat trick by a bowler on the losing side (by 72 runs), a
disappointment probably more than equalled by Bobby Abel carrying his bat in
England’s second innings for 132 not out, Briggs making the second highest
score of 28.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Briggs’ best test performance was on England’s first tour of
South Africa in the second test at Cape Town in 1889. The South Africans were demolished
by Briggs, all out for 47 and 43. Briggs was unplayable, with the astonishing match
figures of 15 wickets for 28 runs, 14 of which were bowled, which is
astonishing for a left-arm spinner. Other notable performances were 6 for 49 against
Australia at Adelaide in 1892, and 5 for 34 against Australia at The Oval in 1893.
As a batsman, Briggs was talented but mercurial. He was good enough to open the
batting for England on three occasions, including with Archie McLaren, but he
never approached his top test score of 121 in his second test, and had a
tendency to be out for nought, except when adding some breezy and useful runs
at number eight. He was criticised for showing lack of application, but the
1880s and 1890s were very slow-scoring times. Crowds no doubt thought Briggs a
breath of fresh air with the bat.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Briggs’ performances for Lancashire were many and legendary.
His beat season with the ball was 1888, when he took 160 at 10.49 each. His
spin, loop, and guile on uncovered pitches made him a deadly proposition. He
was also not the only professional to cross swords with Yorkshire’s mighty
leader, Lord Hawke. It happened in this manner. Benefit games were vital for
the post-cricket security of professional players, and in 1894 Johnny Briggs,
very understandably, nominated the Roses clash with Yorkshire as his benefit
match. To guard against bad weather, not unknown at Old Trafford, Lancashire had
prepared two wickets for the game, one of which had been covered. Following
rain, Lord Hawke refused to play on the covered wicket, and as a result the
game ended early on the second day. Briggs, well out of pocket, was distraught.
Many thought the aristocrat’s behaviour was extremely shabby.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In one of those inexplicable reversals that seem to overtake
cricketers, extreme misfortune overtook Johnny Briggs mercilessly and suddenly
in 1899. First, he was hit in the ribs while fielding in a county match and collapsed.
This blow seems to have had continuing health consequences; it was not realised
until later that a rib had punctured his heart. Then, late in the same season
during the Leeds test match against Australia, he had an epileptic seizure so
severe that his season was ended. He was soon taken to the mental asylum at
Cheadle, where, after a good season in 1900, he was readmitted in 1901 and died
in 1902. It is said that he would surprise inmates and visitors in the corridor
with sudden cries of ‘Owzat!’, as though reliving his life in cricket. It seems
likely that Johnny had suffered from epilepsy earlier. The condition is not of
course inconsistent with a full life of action, as Tony Grieg was to prove later,
and Julius Caesar had done long before.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">One thing about Johnny Briggs’ colourful life is unclear. His
gift of quoting lengthy extracts from Shakespeare suggests he was among the
most erudite of cricketers, which is odd for a man of little formal education. Taken
on by Lancashire at 13 and spending his life as a professional cricketer, where
did Briggs learn all those quotes from Shakespeare, which would no doubt have
amused the non-striker, the umpire and the mid-off fieldsman as he ran in to
bowl? It is not recorded whether any batsman was upended by some Shakespearean
curse or denunciation. Perhaps he learned Shakespeare in school in his early
years, or by self-study during the winter months. At any rate a grateful
Lancashire crowd mourned his early passing with genuine sadness, and he was
indeed one of the game’s much-loved characters.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">© Andrew Harding<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>Andrew Hardinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15954270826267048283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8804284970071192091.post-14876318037644181432021-11-04T00:34:00.000+08:002021-11-04T00:34:00.465+08:00The Extraordinary Career of Wilfred Rhodes<p>A bit over 100 years ago it was said in Yorkshire that we
don’t know who the world’s best all-rounder is, but it is certain that he bowls
left-handed, bats right-handed, and comes from Kirkheaton. The joke was that
this description, astonishingly, applied to two players – Wilfrid Rhodes and
George Hirst. Rhodes, famously, batted at every position for England, from 11
to 1 (more or less in that order); and nobody would dispute that he was the
best slow left arm bowler in the world between about 1899 and 1907. Hirst also
had excellent claims, although he was more famous in Yorkshire than wider
afield.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In all other ways Hirst and Rhodes were dissimilar. Hirst
was a kind of erstwhile Wasim Akram, a master of left-arm-over swing bowling (in
fact he invented it), and an aggressive late middle order batsman. Rhodes was a
canny left-arm spinner and an obdurate middle order or opening batsman. There is no
modern equivalent to Rhodes, for reasons which will become apparent, but in
effect he was something like a combination of Ragana Herath and BJ Watling – pretty
formidable in fact.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In 1899, when Rhodes made his debut for England, their
premier spinner was Lancashire’s Johnny Briggs, who was one of the pioneers of
the art of left-arm spin. Rhodes, then 21, was one of those cricketers who,
like Athena, sprang fully-formed from the head of Zeus. He had made his
championship debut for Yorkshire in May 1898, taking 13 for 45 against
Somerset. He went on that season to take 154 wickets at less than 15 each
(statistics pretty much typical of his whole career at county level), being
named as one of Wisden’s cricketers of the year. Briggs had on the other hand
had displayed disappointing form on tour to Australia in 1897/8. In 1899 he
played in the 3<sup>rd</sup> test against Australia at Leeds, but collapsed
during the game, one of the first X-rays revealing that a rib, cracked in an
earlier game when batting, had penetrated his heart. Briggs never played again.
Sadly, an ebullient and popular character, where Rhodes was famously laconic, he
suffered mental health problems, dying of epilepsy in 1902 at the age of 39.
Fortunately for England, Rhodes was well on the way to replacing Briggs. In
that 1898 series he took 13 wickets at 26, including the wickets of Trumper,
Darling (twice), and Monty noble (three times). Symbolically enough, Rhodes’
first test, at Nottingham in the first test, where he took seven wickets, was
WG Grace’s last. A team photo shows Rhodes sitting at the feet of the great (in
all senses) WG, who seems about twice as large compared to the slim, youthful
Rhodes. Test cricket was just starting to resemble its modern form. For the
first time an England selection committee was established, and 1899 was also
the first year in which there were five test matches.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">With the sad sudden fading of Briggs, Rhodes became a regular
selection as main spinner for England from 1902, and he rapidly became the best
spin bowler in the world, a status achieved virtually in a single match, the
first test against Australia at Birmingham in 1902, where he took 7 for 17 as
Australia crumbled to 36 all out. The series gave him 22 wickets at 15, and in
the following series in Australia in 1903/4 he took 31 wickets at less than 16.
The performance that cemented Rhodes place as a great bowler was his 15 wickets
for 124 in the 2<sup>nd</sup> test at Melbourne in 1903, which England won by
185 runs. His victims were notably Australia’s best batsmen – Darling, Trumper,
Gregory, and most often Noble, whose wicket he seemed to claim every time they
met -Noble must have been fed up of facing Rhodes. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Rhodes also began to display his ability as a batsman with a
record last wicket stand of 130 with Tip Foster in the 1<sup>st</sup> test, an
England record until Root and Anderson’s 198 against India in 2014. In that
series he also, rather bizarrely, batted at 2, 6, 8 and 10. Nowadays such
enormous changes in batting order would provoke cries of human rights’ abuse.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">What then was the secret of Rhodes’ success? He came from a
demanding cricket school and tradition in Yorkshire, which even then was the
leading county in England. In his twenties he was known for his sharp spin as
well as flight and drift. Later on he relied more on the Ray Illingworth notion
that a spinner only has to turn the ball half a bat’s width. A short run and
easily repeated, smooth action enabled Rhodes to bowl for hours and work the
batsman over. Some hints of his method come from famous quotes from Rhodes
himself. “I were nivver cut and I were nivver pulled”, he said. Not likely to
be literally true, of course, but consider also this response to the question
whether, if the ball was turning, he would bowl a fuller length – “Nay, Ah
wouldn’t bowl a fuller length, Ah’d bowl half-volleys”. And most famously of
all, of course, this rather metaphysical statement: “If t’ batsman thinks it’s
turning, it’s turning.” <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">My favourite story, though, about Rhodes is this one. A
newly-at-crease Australian batsman was struggling mightily against Rhodes,
befuddled by his spin, flight, drift, dip, and variations of length. Over five
balls of an over he could not get bat on ball. Off the fifth he was drawn
forward, the ball spinning past the outside edge and the bails whipped off with
the batsman half an inch out of his ground. “I say, Wilfred”, said a young
player as the batsman trudged back, “that was a beautifully flighted ball!”
Rhodes looked him over. “Nay, lad, it were a beautifully flighted <i>over</i>.”<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">What I would make of all this, consistently with assessments
by his contemporaries, is that Rhodes was a master of length bowling. He could
be driven and perhaps pushed into gaps, but you could not go back in your
crease to attack him off the back foot – that would be suicidal. His length was
indeed generally full, and on helpful pitches the half-volley prevented the
batsman from playing him ‘off the pitch’, as we say. His economy rate was
extremely high and he created what we now call scoreboard-pressure, occasioning
rash strokes and attempts to hit him straight or over cover, or – heaven forbid
– against the spin – all somewhat suicidal too. And he would not try to turn
the ball all the time, mixing spun with straight balls. Anticipation of spin
would give him many bowleds and LBWs, the presence of close fielders adding to
the web of deceit.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">However, in spite of all this talent, Rhodes was not
necessarily quite secure in his place, as another talented left-armer, Colin
Blythe of Kent, had had some success in Australia in 1900/1 (Rhodes being
unavailable), and had almost as impressive a county record as Rhodes, taking
more than 100 wickets a season every year from 1902 to 1914, as Rhodes also did.
Unfortunately, Blythe was one of many outstanding cricketers who perished in
World War I. Despite Rhodes pre-eminence, Blyth played in 19 test matches,
taking 100 wickets. Whenever Rhodes turned in a modest performance he was
replaced with Blythe, and then later with Woolley or Blythe, Woolley, another
great allrounder, taking Rhodes’ place gradually after the end of the war. Both
Blythe and Woolley had some success, and from 1905 through 1914 Rhodes’ importance
as a bowler gradually declined just as his batting improved. As a result he
never lost his place for long, but the reasons for retaining him shifted
dramatically as he moved up the batting order and bowled fewer overs. So, although
he was regularly selected, it was only in the middle of that period that he was
selected strictly as an allrounder in the modern sense.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">From 1909 until the end of pre-war test matches in 1914 Rhodes
played almost entirely as a batsman, eventually establishing himself as Jack
Hobbs’ regular opening partner, a role in which he was highly successful, with
several century opening partnerships. Most notable was the 323 he added with
Hobbs for the first wicket at Melbourne in 1912, when Rhodes scored 179, taking
the total to 425 before he was fourth out. During that highly successful tour
of Australia Rhodes bowled only 18 overs in the test matches, and reached his
nadir as a bowler in South Africa in 1913, being the eighth of England’s
bowlers tried in the second innings of the 5<sup>th</sup> test. However, he
scored 152 in the 2<sup>nd</sup> test and participated in four stands of 100 or
more. There is not much information about Rhodes as a batsman, other than his
statistics. He was often criticised for obduracy, a quality that would make the
Hobbs-Rhodes combination a pretty frustrating experience for bowlers, cover
driven at one end and blocked at the other.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">With Rhodes 37 at the outbreak of war, his career appeared
to be over. But there were to be several more twists. After the war Yorkshire
found themselves several bowlers short, so many talents having died in the war,
and so Rhodes was called on again for service mainly this time as a bowler. In
truth Rhodes’ skills as a bowler had never deserted him at county level, and
from 1919, now in his 40s, he just got better and better: 164 wickets at 14 in
1919, 161 at 13 in 1920. And he piled on the runs too. Although he immediately
reestablished himself as Hobbs’ opening partner, he did not perform strikingly
in six tests in 1920-1 and was dropped. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">This was not, however, the end by any means. In 1926 Rhodes,
even more than before a bowler to be reckoned with, although the sharp spin of
his youth was no longer there, was recalled by England at the age of 48, and
enjoyed one of his finest hours in the 5<sup>th</sup> test at the Oval. The
first four tests had been either washed out or were high-scoring draws. England
soon found themselves 22 behind on first innings. Rhodes contributed 2 for 33,
dismissing Woodfull and Richardson. In their second innings England piled on
436, thanks to a big opening stand between Hobbs and his latest opening
partner, the great Herbert Sutcliffe. Confronted with Rhodes (4 for 44) and
Larwood (3 for 34) on a crumbling pitch Australia collapsed to 125 all out,
Rhodes claiming the all-important wickets of Ponsford, Bardsley, Collins and
Richardson, in an effort that won back the Ashes for England.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">This was still not the end. Rhodes was selected as a bowler
to tour the West Indies in 1929-30, by which time he was 52 years old – until
now the oldest player ever selected in test matches. In a gruelling,
high-scoring, four-match series he was England’s main spinner and stock bowler,
toiling in temperatures of up to 35 degrees, delivering more overs than anyone
on either side. Altogether his figures for the series were 256 overs, 92
maidens, 453 runs, 10 wickets. His economy rate was 1.77 per over. In the 4<sup>th</sup>
test, Rhodes’ last, 1815 runs were scored over nine days before a draw was
agreed, and Rhodes’ figures for the match were an astonishing 45 overs, 25
maidens, 39 runs and 2 wickets. Not a bad effort for a 52-year-old. His wickets
included that of the young George Headley. He played against Bradman only once
– for Yorkshire v The Australians at Sheffield in 1930; Grimmett destroyed
Yorkshire with 10-37 in a drawn match. Rhodes, who took 3 for 93, must have
bowled at Bradman, who scored 78, but did not dismiss him. How interesting it
would be to know what Rhodes thought of the 22-year-old Bradman.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Rhodes retired from cricket the following year with a record
that is without parallel in the history of the game and will never be surpassed.
He played in 1110 first class games (a record that still stands), scored nearly
40,000 runs, with 68 centuries and 197 half centuries, averaging 30. He took 4204
wickets at 16.7 apiece. And remember that four of Rhodes’ best years were taken
away by the war. He was the first man to score the test double of 1000 runs and
100 wickets, taking 127 wickets altogether at 26 while averaging 30 with the
bat, with two centuries. His 323 stand with Hobbs in 1912 is still, 108 years
later, the highest opening partnership for England against Australia.
Statistics do not lie, but they do not convey the truth of an almost
unbelievable career of mastery of the game.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Rhodes lived until the age of 95, having gone blind some
years earlier. In old age he sat at Lord’s with his beloved England team-mate
Syd Barnes, who narrated the events on field to him. By then the laconic youth
had become a highly garrulous and outspoken ancient. He could tell the quality
of the batsman by the sound of ball hitting bat.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>Andrew Hardinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15954270826267048283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8804284970071192091.post-24941811037692258872021-11-04T00:31:00.007+08:002021-11-04T00:31:54.972+08:00The 'Phillies' in England in 1908<p><span style="background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: "Segoe UI", sans-serif;">The Gentlemen of Philadelphia cricketers
(the </span><span class="markkm42lgr6j" style="color: #201f1e; font-family: "Segoe UI", sans-serif;"><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm;">Phillies</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: "Segoe UI", sans-serif;">) toured
England in July and August 1908. It was the first and last tour to England by
an American team. But we live in hope there will be another. After all, if Afghanistan
can make test status, why not the USA?</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk58197877;"><span style="color: #201f1e; font-family: "Segoe UI",sans-serif;">
<br />
<span style="background: white;">The tour was patchy but had some high points and
revealed that the USA had one of the world's most exciting cricketers - their
captain Bart King.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="background: white;">Tourists to England customarily start with a
gentle match against Worcestershire under the tall spire of Worcester
cathedral, one of the most beautiful cricket grounds in the world.
Worcestershire were a decent side that included Simpson-Hayward the famous
underarm bowler. Behind on first innings, the <span class="markkm42lgr6j"><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm;">Phillies</span></span> stormed to victory by 95 runs,
dismissing Worcestershire for 129 in their second innings, Bart King the author
of their demise with 8-88 in the match.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="background: white;">The <span class="markkm42lgr6j"><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm;">Phillies</span></span> lost their second match badly by an
innings against a Hampshire team including Phil Mead. King, opening the batting
as well as the bowling, scored 52 and 25 and took 5-110 in Hampshire's 463.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="background: white;">Next was Middlesex at Lord's, where the <span class="markkm42lgr6j"><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm;">Phillies</span></span> lost by 7 wickets.
Middlesex had Patsy Hendren and Albert Trott, two of the greatest English
players of the day. Hendren was dismissed for a pair by King. King failed with
the bat twice but took 6-30 in the match. Trott took 9 wickets and the <span class="markkm42lgr6j"><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm;">Phillies</span></span> obviously suffered
in a low-scoring game in which they were bowled out for 55 and 58.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="background: white;">The <span class="markkm42lgr6j"><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm;">Phillies</span></span> lost to Northants by 5 wickets. King
took 6-102 in a match that saw the <span class="markkm42lgr6j"><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm;">Phillies</span></span> take a narrow first innings lead.
Against Surrey at The Oval the <span class="markkm42lgr6j"><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm;">Phillies</span></span> again got a narrow first innings lead
only to lose by 122 runs despite King taking 6-47 and 3-63.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="background: white;">Ireland's batsmen had no answer to King's
devastating swing bowling in the next game at Dublin. King was unplayable,
taking 7-40 and 7-23 on a pitch on which the <span class="markkm42lgr6j"><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm;">Phillies</span></span>, winning by an innings and 7 runs, managed
a respectable 171.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="background: white;">While Ireland may not have been a strong team,
the same cannot have been true of the MCC in the next game at Lord's, given
that MCC were captained by JWHT ('Johnny Won't Hit Today') Douglas. King's
contribution was critical. A useful 31 batting in first innings, 3-43 including
Douglas' wicket in first innings, followed by a match-winning 4-91, including
the MCC's three highest scorers as the <span class="markkm42lgr6j"><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm;">Phillies</span></span> held off their run chase by 25 runs.
It must have been a really exciting match. Douglas had little chance to hit
even if he were inclined to - he was dismissed for 4 and 0! Almost
unbelievably, the <span class="markkm42lgr6j"><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm;">Phillies</span></span> had
beaten the MCC at the game HQ! How they must have celebrated.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="background: white;">In the next game at Derby the <span class="markkm42lgr6j"><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm;">Phillies</span></span> mauled Derbyshire
by 9 wickets, dismissing them for 78 in the first innings (King 7-28) and 185
in the second (King 5-88). The <span class="markkm42lgr6j"><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm;">Phillies</span></span> required just 17 to win the match.
Nottinghamshire, though, were a different proposition, playing George Gunn, J
Hardstaff snr, and Iremonger. Still Notts, suffered a first innings deficit of
1 having been dismissed for 139, King taking his 4th 7-wicket haul, bowling
right through for 7-78 in 19.5 overs. Despite a 5th 7-wicket haul by King
in the second innings (7-58) the <span class="markkm42lgr6j"><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm;">Phillies</span></span> collapsed to 74 all out in their
second knock, and a 125-run defeat.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="background: white;">Against Kent, including Frank Woolley, in the
final game, things went well for the <span class="markkm42lgr6j"><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm;">Phillies</span></span> at first as they scored 188 (Woolley
7-78) then dismissed Kent for just 102, King taking 5-34. The <span class="markkm42lgr6j"><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm;">Phillies</span></span> collapsed for 37
all out onwhat was presumably a very sticky wicket in their second knock,
Fairservice, whom they had encountered in the MCC game, taking 6-12. Even King
with his tour-worst return of 1-40 was unable to stop Kent winning by 4
wickets. Woolley, mainly known as an attractive batsman, had scored 5 and 12.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="background: white;">Overall in terms of first class recognized
games, the <span class="markkm42lgr6j"><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm;">Phillies</span></span> won
4 and lost 6. They won most of their games overall. They performed as a lower
than average but still respectable county side. Unfortunately most countries
fielded inferior teams against them, probably underestimating their strength.
Remember they were representing Philadelphia not the USA. Great players such as
Hendren (who had good cause to acknowledge King's quality as a fat bowler) paid
tribute to King as one of the very best quick bowlers ever seen in England,
including Barnes, Lohmann, Hirst and Spofforth. As the democratic balance
shifted to baseball, the chances of the US becoming a good test team slipped
away, but imagine what might have been. They were, to hazard a guess, probably
almost, if a national team could have been produced, at the level of South
Africa or India or New Zealand at that time. In other words not great but
having potential to challenge England and Australia. With King as a potential
match-winner, they might have been very dangerous in low-scoring games.
The <span class="markkm42lgr6j"><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm;">Phillies</span></span> clearly
had not enough batting strength, but perhaps other US teams had what was
needed, I don't know.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="background: white;">Still the US did play the first ever
international match v Canada in 1844, long before England and Australia began
their epochal Ashes series. The future is something else, but this side of the
pond we are still hoping - see 'Nederland' by Joseph O'Neill.</span></span></span><o:p></o:p></p>Andrew Hardinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15954270826267048283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8804284970071192091.post-3945565146294929362021-11-04T00:31:00.001+08:002021-11-04T00:31:06.168+08:00Hat-trick!<p>There is something magnificent, isn’t there, about a
hat-trick? It seems to be (although in truth, on reflection, it isn’t) the
ultimate bowling feat to dismiss three batsmen in three balls. If you were
lucky enough to see one – perhaps Peter Siddle at Brisbane in 2010 or Moeen Ali
at The Oval in 2017, or Keshav Maharaj at Gros Islet the other day, you won’t
forget it. You may well be able to recount to your grandchildren how each
wicket was taken. Unless it was in a T20, or the last rites of an ODI, where it
seems quite common for three batsmen in successive balls to get caught on the
boundary attempting one more six – that seems pretty trivial.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In red ball cricket hat-tricks have been rare, but
sufficiently possible to get the blood pumping whenever a bowler takes two in
two. ‘Hat-trick ball!’ comes the cry and everybody gathers round, usually to
watch as batsmen number three lets it go harmlessly outside off stump, or tap
it easily to mid-wicket. An anti-climax. But sometimes, just once in blue moon,
the hat-trick happens and you will be guaranteed that however hapless is the
tailender unlucky enough to be the third man out, there will be a huge roar, as
though a series was just won.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Yes, I can see it all now. A dramatic end to England v South
Africa at the Oval in 2017, as first, Elgar, who had scored a magnificent 137,
was caught at slip by Stokes of Moeen Ali. The exact same fate met Rabada to
his first ball, another left-hander. And then, with fielders crowding him, the
arm ball collides with Morkel’s pad (another left-hander), given not out but on
review clearly hitting leg stump. Moeen had taken a hat-trick to win the game
for England, and The Oval erupted with joy and amazement.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Maharaj’s hat-trick for South Africa v West Indies in the
second test at Gros Islet was exciting although a bit strange for a left-arm
spinner, as all three batsmen were caught on the leg side, granted that the
first was a left-hander. The other two fell to close catches, the second being
excellent and the third, at leg slip, magnificent, providing a delicious sense
of acceleration.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Spurred by Maharaj’s effort I went looking for some records.
There have been only 46 hat-tricks in the entire history of test cricket, that
is in 2426 test matches to date; that is one in about every 53 tests, on
average. The first was taken by the demon bowler Fred Spofforth at Melbourne in
1879. Oddly enough, four of the first seven test hat-tricks were taken at
Melbourne. There seems to be no special reason for this. It is not as though
Melbourne produced atrocious pitches in the late 19th century – at least not
more atrocious than those anywhere else. In case you are wondering, there also
seems to be no propensity to concede a hat-trick against any particular type of
bowler. 29 have been taken by fast/ seam bowlers and 17 by spinners. In first
class games, the feat of a hat-trick twice in one match has been achieved by six
bowlers, all spinners: Albert Trott, Arthur Shaw, Jimmy Matthews, Charlie
Parker, Roly Jenkins, and Joginder Rao. Gloucestershire spinner Charlie Parker
once hit the stumps with five successive balls, but the middle ball was, alas
and unforgivably for a spinner, a no-ball. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Over the course of test history, nobody has ever expanded
the hat-trick by taking four wickets in four balls, although Lasith Malinga
famously did so in the World Cup in 2007, repeating the feat in a later T20I. Four-in-four
has been achieved 42 times in first class cricket, and the total number of
hat-tricks is 1127. England leg-spinner Doug Wright achieved a hat-trick on no
less than seven occasions. Perhaps the most remarkable four-in-four was the one
by Hampshire’s Kevan James, who achieved the feat against the Indians in 1996 –
wickets that included Tendulkar and Dravid - and he proceeded to score a
century in the same match. The feat was surpassed statistically by Kelly Smuts
in 2015 when he took a four-in-four, 13 wickets altogether for 71, and a
century, for Eastern Province v Boland.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Only four bowlers have achieved a test hat-trick on two
occasions. They are Jimmy Matthews and Harry Trumble of Australia, Wasim Akram,
and Stuart Broad. Leg-spinner Matthews achieved a remarkable record in 1912 in
a test against South Africa in a triangular series in England. He is not only
one of just two bowlers to achieve this twice in a series (Wasim Akram being
the other – two hat-tricks in eight days against Sri Lanka in 1999); Matthews
achieved his two hat-tricks in the same match, and on the same day! Oddly
enough, they were the only wickets he took in that match, and even odder, the
third batsman out was Tommy Ward in both innings. One wonders if Matthews
bought Ward a pint afterwards. Or should Ward have bought Matthews a pint for
preserving his name in history? This record of two hat-tricks in one day is not
likely to be broken. Although two players at first class level (Albert Trott
and Joginder Rao) have taken two hat-tricks in the same innings, so you never
know. In Trott’s case the first hat-trick became a four-in-four.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It then occurred to me that we might be able to decide which
was the best test hat-trick of the 46. This is not easy to determine. Does one
look at the impact of the hat-trick on the game – did it turn the game round?
Or do you look at the identity of the batsmen dismissed? After all, you might dismiss
de Freitas, Gough and Malcolm, as Shane Warne did at Melbourne against England
in 1994, or you might dismiss Buddhika, Zoysa and Muralitharan as Mohammad Sami
did for Pakistan against Sri Lanka at Lahore in 2002. Laudable enough, but
hat-tricks involving more dangerous batsmen must be ranked higher. If you
dismiss Hill, Gregory and Noble, three of Australia’s finest, as Jack Hearne
did for England at Leeds in 1899, or you dismiss Campbell, Lara and Adams, as
Glenn McGrath did for Australia against the West Indies at Perth in 2000, then
you are almost deserving of a knighthood, and your efforts are likely to swing
the game – although as we shall see, not always. It is actually striking how
many hat-tricks were taken in games lost by the side that inflicted them. Such
are the changing fortunes of the game that Siddle’s effort at Brisbane to
dismiss Cook, Prior and Broad in 2010, enabling a first innings lead of 220,
were followed by England establishing the highest ever score for one down in
their second innings of a drawn match, from which Australia’s spirits did not
soon recover. The admirable Siddle took 6 for 54 in the first innings but 0 for
90 in the second as England piled up 517 for 1 declared. Stuart Broad remains
the only test cricketer to have been involved in three hat-tricks – two as
bowler and one as batsman.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Personally, I think I would go for the quality of the
batsmen dismissed, as the impact may not be decisive – although it might well
be if three good batsmen are dismissed. High on the list other than the two
already mentioned would be Damien Fleming dismissing Aamer Malik, Inzamam
ul-Haq, and Salim Malik for Australia against Pakistan at Rawalpindi, in his
first test, in 1994. But I think I will plump for Irfan Pathan’s dismissal of
Salman Butt, Younis Khan and Mohamed Yousuf for India against Pakistan at
Karachi in 2006, especially as it was achieved in the first over of the match. It
did not, however, prevent India getting hammered by 341 runs. Harbajan Singh’s
dismissal of Ponting, Gilchrist and Warne at Calcutta in the first innings in 2001
also ranks highly; but it was his bowling in the second innings of that great
match that sealed Australia’s fate after they had posted a first innings lead
of 274. To go beyond the test arena, Jordan Clark of Lancashire might lay claim
to the most up-market hat-trick ever when, against Yorkshire in the Manchester
Roses match in 2018 he dismissed Joe Root, Kane Williamson and Jonny Bairstow
in three balls. Not many bowlers have claimed in three balls the wickets of
batsmen totalling between them at the time more than 14,000 test runs, and
including two test captains.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Some hat-tricks are remarkable for other reasons. England
wicket-keeper Alan Smith’s hat-trick for Warwickshire against Essex in 1965
came in a match for which he had been selected as wicket-keeper. Odd names to
see included in the list of hat-trick takers include two big men who opened the
batting for England but were strictly part-time as bowlers: John Jamieson and
Marcus Trescothick. Turning to test matches, Naseem Shah’s for Pakistan against
Bangladesh at Rawalpindi in 2020 was achieved while he was till just 17 years
old. Sohag Gazi of Bangladesh remains the only player to achieve a hat-trick
and score a century in the same test match, achieved against New Zealand in
2013. England’s Maurice Allom is the only bowler to have taken four wickets in
five balls including a hat-trick in a test match (against New Zealand in 1930),
although Chris Old and Wasim Akram both took four in five with the third ball
in the sequence failing to take a wicket. Four wickets in an over has been
achieved on only six occasions in test matches.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Five-in-five has never been achieved at first-class level,
although Gary Sobers took five in five for EW Swanton’s XI against Malaysia at
Kuala Lumpur in 1964. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">As Geoff Boycott famously put it, ‘if you want to know where
you are, add two to the wickets column’, on the basis that one often brings
two. But sometimes two brings three, and much faster than you might have
anticipated. Yes, magnificent, I can see it all now … even though it was only
Morne Morkel failing to spot an arm ball.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>Andrew Hardinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15954270826267048283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8804284970071192091.post-44701635550765104752021-11-03T21:59:00.001+08:002021-11-03T23:43:12.375+08:00The Knowledge: Dames' Delight<p> [This is story 11 from my second book of Jimmy Emmett stories, called The Knowledge. It is not yet published, but here is a foretaste of the continuing fun and charm to be had with the Jimmy Emmett stories]</p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">DAMES’ DELIGHT</span></b><span style="font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 1cm;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I
did of course realise that Rebecca missed her family. Three months, she had
once said, was a long time without seeing one’s nearest and dearest. This was
true. But then the old Ford motor car was not very reliable for long distance
trips, and fuel cost quite lot. There was also much to do, she said, before her
exams. She had been on a dig in Italy, and then gone straight, and early, to
Oxford.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">When I say she missed her family, that means she
missed her parents. As for me, she could manage quite well without me. I had
this way of interfering and causing problems for her, which made her see me as
a little brat, even though of course deep down I knew by now that she actually did
love me. Item: every postcard I sent her with cheeky drawings and silly remarks
was routinely and patiently replied to. She knew that, as Lucy so acutely put
it, I didn’t intend to be a brat, I just couldn’t help it. I think she missed
Tim, too, although he had visited for a weekend around half-term.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Returning to St Theresa’s after her lecture one
day in June, she was looking forward to a quiet evening. She was intending to
invite her Malaysian friend, Bamini, for tea in her rooms, which would be
followed by reading The Aeneid, Book IV, for an hour or so, and then dinner in
hall, followed by work on her essay, a mug of cocoa and a quick phone call to
Tim before turning in. Rebecca’s days were busy yet quite uneventful. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">She stopped by at the bakery to buy cupcakes for
tea. She then turned into the quad, making her way past the library to her
staircase, at the top of which was her room, with an ivy-framed gable window
and a rather lumpy settee.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">It was when she was on the point of ascending the
staircase that I jumped out from behind it and shouted, “Boo!”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I was the last person she expected to see, but as
she quickly knew, it was undoubtedly her little brother leaping from under the
staircase to frighten her to death.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Hello, sis! Did I scare you?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Not at all, James,” said Rebecca, juggling with
her bags of books and purchases, “it is quite normal around here to be parted
from one’s skin by loud and unexpected noises. But what are you doing here, you
little monster?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Mum and Dad are just parking the car. It’s a
surprise visit. I thought you’d be pleased. I just came ahead to warn you.” As
usual, this escapade had been my idea.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Some warning, you little brat! Anyway, come here
for a hug. I was just thinking how much I missed everybody. Everybody except
you, that is.” (See what I mean?)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Releasing me from her grip, Rebecca searched in
her bag for some coins. “Now, you can do something useful for a change,” she
said, handing me the coins, “and go round to the bakery, out of the porter’s
lodge, turn left, and get three more cupcakes for tea.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“And before you go, tell me how you got past the
porter.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Easy as cupcakes, sis. I just pretended to be
with a batch of American tourists who were being shown round.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I pocketed the change and ran off towards the
lodge, as Rebecca mounted the stairs to her room to get tea ready for Mum and
Dad’s arrival.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center; text-indent: 1.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">****<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">It
was clear that Bamini was much taken with me, as I sat next to her on the lumpy
settee.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Your brother’s so cute, Rebecca, I want to spoil
him”, she gushed. She was a comfortably plump and pretty young woman with large
dark eyes framed by large dark spectacles, and wearing a colourful blouse and
slacks. She held my face, cupped between her plump fingers. It was quite nice,
I thought, to be spoiled by an attentive and pretty young woman.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Well don’t, he’s too much spoiled as it is,” said
Rebecca.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Too right, he is”, chimed in Mum. “Doesn’t know
he’s born, our Jimmy”.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“I suggest”, ruled Dad, firmly interrupting the
proceedings of the Jimmy Emmett Demolition Society, “that we all go for a nice
walk along the river, followed by dinner on me at the Taj Mahal. Bamini, please
join us. It would be such a pleasure.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“That will be just lovely, Mr Emmett. Thanks.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The family was soon, with Bamini, walking along
the edge of the River Cherwell, enjoying a warm mid-September late afternoon.
Rebecca was updating her parents on her life in Oxford, while Bamini was
explaining her work to me.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“You mean you work with worms? Ugh, that sounds
nasty. Why do you do that?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Well, Jimmy, we need to know all about the
digestive system of worms, because it makes a big difference to the soil, and
that in turn makes a big difference to agriculture, which in turn makes a big
difference to the quality and quantity of the food we eat.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“But does it make a big difference to being able
to eat your dinner afterwards? It would if it were me”, I said.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“No, I eat pretty well.” Bamini’s laugh tinkled.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I told Bamini about Lucy, and she was astonished
to learn that I had a girlfriend. That would be impossible, she said, in her
country, at our age at least.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I ran on ahead, exploring the reeds at the river’s
edge. After a few minutes I came running back, full of excitement. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Hey, come and see! I found a huge shoal of little
fishes! You have got to see this!”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">They made their way towards the area where I was
now pointing into the water. Rebecca trod carefully across a few small hillocks
of grass amid the marshy river’s edge to where I was crouched intently over a
patch of water.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">As she reached within a few feet of where I was,
she raised her head towards the river. A look for horror and dismay spread over
her face. In a split second she took in the extraordinary scene laid out at a
distance of twenty yards or so from where we stood, and her gasp of dismay
caused me too to look up and witness the same scene.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">About a dozen elderly ladies were cavorting in the
water as stark naked as the day they were born. Wading, splashing, swimming.
Large folds of ancient, wrinkled flesh hung from ancient frames. Breasts sagged
downward. Thighs drooped inward. Wet grey hair was plastered on wrinkled necks
and shoulders. They were enjoying themselves in the water on this warm
afternoon. But it was not a sight for sore eyes, and I think it was not indeed
- rather obviously, given its location - intended to be any kind of a sight for
any eyes.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">At the brief sight of the girl and the young boy
several of the old ladies screamed and all made various rather futile attempts
to cover themselves, by crossing their arms over various parts of them, diving
into the water, or grabbing a towel. It was pandemonium. One lady of especially
ample proportions, with large pearly breasts, simply lowered her sun hat over
her face.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Rebecca grabbed me by the hand. “Scram! … Now!”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">She dragged me back towards the path through the
thick reeds. Reaching the path and now out of breath, Rebecca’s face had become
pink with embarrassment and annoyance. She turned angrily on me.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“It’s all your fault, you little bugger! You
probably don’t realise it, but those old ladies are the very people who can
make or break the rest of my life! They are the dons of St Theresa’s College!”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I covered my mouth with the embarrassment and the
disgrace of it.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Dad”, she continued, “you know what just
happened? We have stumbled on Dames’ Delight. It’s a place where everybody
understands that the female dons can bathe naked in the river without
consequences. And that is exactly where we’ve finished up. It’s a disaster. Do
you know who is the main one we saw in the nude? It was Lady Stephanie Ledbury.
She’s the Principal of my college, for heaven’s sake!”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">It was unusual to see Rebecca in what Mum called a
bit of a tizz, but she appeared to really think she had blundered into a
disaster in the making. I was just dumbfounded.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">We made our way slowly back to St Theresa’s.
Bamini walked with me as I tried to make sense of what had happened.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“But it isn’t our fault, is it, Bamini, that we
just found that place by accident? I mean, it must have happened before,
surely?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Well, actually I had no idea about this custom,
and I have no idea whether the old ladies will be upset. I imagine they might
well not be pleased, though, especially as a young male person was involved. I
think it will probably have been deeply shameful and embarrassing for them to
be seen naked like that.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Oh dear, I was just thrilled to see the shoal of
little fishes. But, Bamini, do you know anything about Lady Stephanie? Is she a
nice, forgiving person or not?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Well, she has a pretty fearsome reputation, and
she is our Principal, so she cracks the whip sometimes. As far as I know she is
quite nice when you get to know her, and she does have a sense of humour, to
judge by what I have seen of her.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“OK, then let’s hope she sees the funny side of
what just happened, eh?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“We can only hope, Jimmy.” Bamini smiled and told
me not to worry about it.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center; text-indent: 1.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">****<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">After
a splendid dinner at the Taj Mahal, a dinner splendid enough, Dad had thought,
to placate Rebecca, we all returned to her room. It was still only 9pm, but Dad
indicated we would need to get on the road soon, as we had quite a long way to
go to get back to Warburton.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I had now gone missing, and Rebecca said I had
just gone to the toilet, which was located in the next quad. That was what I
had told her, anyway.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">In fact, I had headed in the opposite direction,
and was soon mounting the steps to the Principal’s Residence, a sign for which
I had spotted earlier on.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Reaching the Residence, which I found open, I went
cautiously inside. On my left I saw a study, and a portly, elderly lady reading
by the light of a bridge-lamp. I knocked softly at the partially open door and
Lady Stephanie looked up.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Yes?” she said, “what do you want?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“I’m sorry to disturb you, Y’ladyship.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“You don’t look like a student. Are you lost?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“No, Y’ladyship. My name is Jimmy Emmett and my
sister is one of your students.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Oh … yes … Rebecca, isn’t it? So you are her
brother? And … what is it I can do for you, young Jimmy?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Well, it’s about what happened this afternoon.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Oh that! Don’t tell me you are the boy who was
with Rebecca when … ah, well you must have been. I suppose it was a shock to
see a gaggle of old ladies in the altogether.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“The altogether?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Yes, in the nude, dear boy”.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Well, it was rather. But I came to apologise to
you and the other ladies. You see I was just watching the fish. I had no idea,
until Rebecca …”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“I quite understand. Indeed I think it is I who
should apologise to you, Jimmy. It is not for boys of your age to have to look
upon the wrinkled bodies of old ladies. You have probably never even seen a
woman naked before, I imagine.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Well, only in the magazines at Mr Jopley’s
newspaper stall … I mean, when he is not looking.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Ah, I see. Well, I hope you understand that
ladies of a certain age, so to speak, are not exactly as good as magazine
models to look at, and I hope you will not be unduly put off for the remainder
of your life. That would be awful.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Oh, no, I wouldn’t say that, Y’ladyship. I am
sure you are all very er …”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Very what?”, pressed Lady Stephanie, smiling
sweetly and clearly sensing an embarrassing joke in the making.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Realising this was no less than a terrible faux
pas that I was about to make, and that I might be easily misunderstood, I
decided to continue on a different tack.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“What I mean is, well, I didn’t actually see
anything. But it must have been embarrassing to you and the other ladies. And I
am very sorry, and I hope you will not punish Rebecca, because it isn’t her
fault, really, it’s mine.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Well, alright, Jimmy”, Lady Stephanie was
starting to laugh, and had to put her glass of port down on a side table. “I
suppose it is all part of life’s … hahaha” - by now she was almost consumed
with mirth.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Recovering somewhat, as I shifted awkwardly from
one foot to the other, she continued. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Well, I must say, this event has been quite the
funniest thing that has happened this year. Now, Jimmy, please tell Rebecca not
to worry, I am not at all offended, and indeed if anyone has the right to be
offended it is probably her.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Well, thank you very much, Y’ladyship, she will
be highly relieved, I am sure. She was pretty upset earlier on. But I was
wondering if I could just ask you two more things?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Well, I suppose you can, yes.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Could I request you please not to mention that I
spoke to you? I mean, to Rebecca. She will be really mad at me – I mean even
madder than she already is - if she gets to know.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Lady Stephanie had by now recovered her composure.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Yes, of course Jimmy, I will maintain complete
‘radio silence’ on that score, be assured. And what was the other thing you
wanted to ask?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Well, I wanted to ask you why you pulled your hat
over your face.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Blushing from head to toe at what, I realised, I
had just said, I put my hand to my mouth in embarrassment.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Ah, so you did see more than you are letting on,
didn’t you?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Lady Stephanie raised an eyebrow and examined my
very red face closely.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Well, the answer is obvious, Jimmy, if you think
about it. I can’t speak for anybody else, I suppose, but as far as I am aware,
people normally recognise me by my face, not by any, er, other parts of my
anatomy. Unfortunately, in the circumstances, I was obviously a second too
slow.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">With that Lady Stephanie dissolved into
uncontrollable laughter, and was able only to wave at me to leave, presumably
due to an acute danger of her suffering apoplexy, all attempts at speech
proving quite impossible.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I backed out of the doorway, and, as Lady
Stephanie’s guffaws continued unabated, exited the building at speed.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center; text-indent: 1.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">****<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Well,
I don’t know where our Jimmy has got to”, said Mum, “but I do hope he is
alright”.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Don’t worry, Mrs Emmett”, said Bamini, “I will go
and find him. He probably got lost. The college can be quite a labyrinth if you
don’t know it well.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Thank you, dear Bamini. I hope you find him,
because we really need to leave now.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">As Bamini reached the bottom of the staircase and
was about to leave the building, I ran smack into her at full tilt. Winded by
the collision, Bamini gasped, “Oh there you are, Jimmy! You better get
upstairs. They are waiting for you.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Sorry, Bamini.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Where have you been? Did you get lost?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Yes, I got terribly lost and finished up in the
rose garden.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Really? I wasn’t aware there was a rose garden
here”.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Oh, well, perhaps they weren’t roses, I didn’t
really notice.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I ran up the stairs two at a time, meeting Mum and
Dad as they left Rebecca’s room.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“So glad you could make it, old son,” said Dad,
“we were about to send the yaks out to find you. Now let’s hop in the motor and
get on our way, shall we? It’s getting late.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Bamini was said goodbye to, and Rebecca was hugged
by all of us, although I had my ear twisted in the process. Bamini kissed me
wetly on the cheek, and we waved at the two girls as we turned into the
porter’s lodge.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center; text-indent: 1.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">****<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Four
days later, Bamini was talking to Lady Stephanie at a sherry party in the
college’s senior common room. The incident at Dames’ Delight had somehow become
common knowledge. In fact it can confidently asserted that there was virtually
nobody in Oxford who had not heard about it.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Lady Stephanie had asked Bamini how she was
settling in, and the subject turned to her friends. Rebecca came into the
conversation, and Lady Stephanie said what a nice girl she was, if a little
reserved for somebody of her age.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Her little brother, on the hand, is quite
something … very uninhibited and outgoing. In fact, quite a riot.” The sherry
might have assisted, but she began to giggle at the thought of her conversation
with me.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Oh, yes, I have met Jimmy too, but I wasn’t aware
you had also met him, Principal?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Yes, we had a most amusing conversation. In fact,
I haven’t stopped laughing about it even til now.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Really?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Now let me get a refill”, said Lady Stephanie,
suspending the conversation as she summoned a waitress with a tray of drinks.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Bamini thought for a moment, said “Hah!”, to
herself, and never afterwards mentioned to anyone that Lady Stephanie and I had
met.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">When Rebecca spoke with Lady Stephanie a few
moments later, the Principal was wreathed in smiles and said not a word about
Dames’ Delight. Rebecca was instantly relieved. And so, thankfully, matters
rested.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center; text-indent: 1.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">****<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Back
in Warburton, I told Lucy what had happened.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Jimmy, you just attract trouble, don’t you? I
wonder when you will get me into trouble.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Just as soon as you agree for us to sort of try
things out, Luce.” I winked at her.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Not that kind of trouble, idiot.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Lucy aimed a slap at my arm but I was too quick
for her.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Anyway, what did you see? Just a lot of old
ladies in the flesh, I suppose.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Yes, pretty disappointing, really, considering
how much trouble was caused. It would have been nice to see something a bit
more kind of … luscious and girly.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">This time the slap fully met its target, and after
a few seconds a right red mark appeared on my face.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Fair enough, Luce. I deserved that.” I smiled
sweetly and held her by the hand.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Jimmy, I really hate you”.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 1.0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“No, you don’t”.<o:p></o:p></span></p><br /><p></p>Andrew Hardinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15954270826267048283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8804284970071192091.post-89132059005871402672021-11-03T21:31:00.003+08:002021-11-03T21:31:53.038+08:00The Agnes: Prologue and King Themba<p> </p><div class="WordSection1">
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; mso-pagination: widow-orphan; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;"><b>The whole book, The Agnes, by Andrew Harding, is published on Kindle at </b></span></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;"><b>https://www.amazon.com/AGNES-ANDREW-HARDING-ebook/dp/B09CMW1DBQ/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=the%20agnes%20andrew%20harding&qid=1629268599&sr=8-1&fbclid=IwAR10v14XVdgMLZBdTmveCIqeYbieuaLHrtv2xDPrVEWdnGgLRVaGwAb6a3U</b></span></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 107%; margin-bottom: 8.0pt; mso-pagination: widow-orphan; text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; text-transform: uppercase;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="CSP-ChapterTitle"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Garamond",serif;"><br /></span></p><p class="CSP-ChapterTitle"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Garamond",serif;"><br /></span></p><p class="CSP-ChapterTitle"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Garamond",serif;">PROLOGUE<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 6.0pt; text-align: center;"><a name="_Hlk80183968"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">[A Visitor’s Guide to Warburton, Warburton
City Council, 1958 Edition, page 15]<o:p></o:p></span></a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 6.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk80183968;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 6.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk80183968;"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Departing the city’s
civic centre and moving West of Church Street, the visitor is advised to
proceed along Curtin Way two blocks to Webster Street, turning left past The
Warfleda, a public house named after Warburton’s most prominent resident in
Saxon times, Queen Warfleda. She is mainly known for allegedly riding her white
horse naked through the city in some form of vivid protest.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Webster Street dates from the mid-to-late
19th century, and its most notable building, worthy of a brief stop, if only
for its famous café, is the Agnes Ward Centre (known colloquially as “The
Agnes”). This traditional Warburton-style redbrick building was once “The Arts
and Crafts Society of Warburton”, which words are quaintly etched in stone
between the ground and first floor. Across the typical Norman-style arch over
the front door will be seen a sign in grey lettering, “AGNES WARD CENTRE”.
Enter this door for the café/ lounge on the left. The building is more
extensive than its street-front suggests, and includes a large lounge, a youth
club, a library, classrooms, a gymnasium, a snooker room (facilities which are
occasionally available for public use), and upstairs accommodation for thirty
men, while its Annexe houses thirty women. This hostel is run by the Agnes Ward
Trust, which the visitor will recall also endowed the city clock in Church
Street, while a statue of Agnes Ward herself may be seen in the botanic
gardens. Agnes Ward was the most eminent person in Warburton in the second half
of the nineteenth century. She was the widow of one Jacob Ward, who expired in
1865 at the age of 47, a victim of consumption, but by that time an
industrialist of considerable renown who had made a fortune from
industrialising England’s insatiable desire for heavy machinery. The visitor will
no doubt be aware that Warburton in its heyday was an engine of what may
without undue exaggeration be called Mercia’s enormous contribution to the
industrial revolution. Agnes Ward devoted herself and her husband’s fortune,
which she curated with what Eric Macaulay has referred to in his History of
Warburton as “remarkable intelligence and foresight”, to good works, including
the Arts and Crafts Society. Agnes Ward died in 1899, but the Trust she
established was able in 1923 to open the Agnes Ward Centre as a place for what
was called in the trust document “the betterment of the working classes, both
male and female”. By 1937 The Agnes Ward Centre had come to take its present
form of two hostels, one male, one female, and a youth and community centre with
sports and what were referred to as “improving activities” such as night
classes. The Warburton Tenants’ Advice Bureau also occupies part of the ground
floor. The building is thus not simply part of Warburton’s architectural
heritage, but an important social resource and a pleasing example of 19th
century philanthropy and its contemporary legacy.<o:p></o:p></span></i></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 6.0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk80183968;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">****<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><br clear="all" style="mso-special-character: line-break; page-break-before: always;" />
</span>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 6.0pt;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk80183968;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 6.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk80183968;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">What the Guide does not
tell you is that The Agnes was, during my early growing years, the most
important building in my life. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 6.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk80183968;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The building was in fact better
described as run down rather than old. The windows were surrounded with flaking
white paint and on the exterior there seemed to be dark corners everywhere,
hardly illuminated by the sunlight coming at an oblique angle, or by desultory
street lighting at night. Railings accompanied the worn steps down to a
basement, and up to the main door, which was painted dark green. There always
seemed to be a faint smell of carbolic soap in that area, which I supposed was
because of incessant cleaning of the steps and the reception area by old Jake,
the caretaker. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 6.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk80183968;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I came to know a great
deal about The Agnes and its inhabitants, and The Agnes came to know a great
deal about me. My parents both worked there. Dad managed the male hostel and
was responsible for the Tenants’ Advice Bureau, which was separate – a kind of
social enterprise, I think you would call it, but also supported by the Trust.
Mum managed the female hostel in the Annexe as well as the accounts for the
whole Centre. I spent a lot of my time there with my friends, whom I will
shortly introduce. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 6.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk80183968;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">For those who don’t know
it, I should first tell you a little about my city. Warburton, where The Agnes
is located, is a medium-sized city, part of the conurbation that these days is
called Mercia Metropolitan County, in the English Midlands. It is an important
railway junction with connections in all directions, about three hours from
London. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 6.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk80183968;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I can’t actually say I am
that proud of my city. It is very old, dingy and generally wet. Its buildings
are a bit nondescript and blackened by, I suppose, years of pollution. The
newer ones are rather unimpressive. But after all, it is where I have always
lived and gone to school. It is in my opinion full of argumentative,
materialistic people of no vision, and sometimes limited goodwill, about whom
you might also say there are a few good points. They can be very loyal in
friendship, for example, and they have a long tradition of emphasis on
education. My friend Eddy (his name is actually Edison Ward and he is the
great-great grandson of Agnes, blessed in memory) says they are called Mercians
because they are all mercenary. This seems to be true, although I can think of
many exceptions. But they are after all my people, the people I have grown up
amongst, and who have loved, protected, educated, fed and entertained me, as
well as repelled me and annoyed me to the point of frustration. I have
certainly learned a lot from them, anyway. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 6.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk80183968;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">One thing about Warburton
that’s well known is that it has a mixed bag of people of all races, religions
and colours, and the joke is, ‘you can always tell a Warbie by the shamrock in
his turban’. So Warburton has also accommodated (I don’t say exactly welcomed)
over the years many different types of people. Originally Saxon, it took in
Danes and Jutes, then Welsh and Irish. More recently West Indians, Sikhs,
Indians, and Pakistanis for example, have made Warburton their home. Warbies
have always been a bit weird in my opinion, even though I count myself as a
Warbie. Which other city, after all, has a stark-naked queen on a white horse
as its iconic founder? Apart from all this, I suppose our excellent football
team (also called ‘The Warbies’) and our grammar school, The Bishop Herbert
School, which is my school, and Warburton University, are our main claim to
fame. Oh, yes, I nearly forgot, but a ‘Warbie Cheese’ is a kind of pasty, which
by the grace of heaven is apparently only found in this city. Frankly, it’s
awful, but visitors feel obliged to eat one for lunch at The Warfleda, with a
pint of Piper’s Ale. The naked queen on her white horse is shown on its sign,
which creaks scarily at night. For some reason our school song says we boys all
owe allegiance to our Queen Warfleda, and we are all her sons. But, really,
that is a bit silly, as she died in 872, according to the Saxon Chronicles. You
will gather my school is a boys’ school, more’s the pity. Eddy says that’s
because otherwise the girls would probably all get pregnant. Girls, like Lucy,
go to Warburton Girls’ High. I’ll tell you more about her later. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 6.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk80183968;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Apart from The Agnes and
my school, the other most important building in my life is naturally my home
with Mum and Dad, and Rebecca, my sister, which is only about two hundred yards
from The Agnes, facing the end of Webster Street. I have lived in that house
all my life. Because of this location near to The Agnes, I am able to hang
around there as long as I like, and sometimes I even go back there after dinner
and finish my homework in the library or chat with the hostellites. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 6.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk80183968;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Mum and Dad are loving
and, I would say, at least as far as they are able, attentive parents to
Rebecca and me. Rebecca is about seven years older than me and at university.
She is a brilliant scholar and we are all very proud of her. Unfortunately, I
don’t think I will be following in her footsteps, as I am much keener on sports
than learning stuff like Ancient Greek. Both Mum and Dad have rather demanding
jobs that seem to take up many more than what I imagine are their contracted
hours, with numerous crises and emergencies interrupting a normal family life.
There is often a fight, or a hospitalisation, or a flooded bathroom, or a
police visit, or something of the kind. For this reason, I am in the unusual
position, actually the envy of my school friends, who mainly live in
Warburton’s leafy suburbs with rather over-controlling parents, of both being
well looked after and at the same time having relatively light supervision of
what I am doing, or when or where or with whom I am doing it. Pretty cool,
isn’t it? <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 6.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk80183968;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">School keeps me very busy
with classes, homework and sports, which I like (the sports, that is, mainly,
but definitely not the homework). However, as I reached eleven years old, I
came to spend more and more time at The Agnes, and since then I have done more
of my (admittedly rather perfunctory) homework there, in the lounge or the
library, than at home. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 6.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk80183968;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I think, by the way, I
forgot to tell you that my name is James Emmett, but everybody calls me Jimmy.
Except some of my teachers and Rebecca, who calls me James, and doesn’t like to
be called Becky. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 6.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk80183968;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I suppose at first it was
the attractions of a comfortable sofa in the lounge, and the tea and evil
cupcakes with which Mrs Hammond, the cook, plied me. Mrs Hammond is a round and
motherly woman with an incomprehensible Glaswegian accent, a bit inclined to
hysteria perhaps, but the thing is she is quite fond of me, and I am fond of
her cupcakes. She cooks breakfast and dinner for the hostellites and anybody
else who stops by. Her fish and chips are more highly to be recommended than a
Warbie cheese any day. The café is separated from the lounge by a partition
wall with a swing door, so you can take your tea and one of Mrs Hammond’s
cupcakes, or whatever, into the lounge without putting it down. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 6.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk80183968;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The Agnes attracts hostel
residents internationally, as well as from other parts of the British Isles.
There friendships are made, projects are planned, and what Dad calls “life’s
critical pathways” are determined. Most people only stay for a year or two, but
some are what Rosie calls “part of the furniture” – I suppose she herself is an
example, because Rosie is one of The Agnes’s long-termers. Or at least she was
until she moved to a nearby apartment. And so was Ravi, until he left. He was
what they called a perpetual student, but now he is an engineer. Rosie is my
special friend and she’s a social worker. I love her, but I am not in love with
her, if you get my meaning. To me Rosie is a special girl – or actually a woman
who is nearly twice my age. She’s a blousy, plump, funny Australian with long
yellow hair, who is always especially attentive to me, and this is very
pleasing, given my sister’s increasingly long absences at university. (Anyway,
Rebecca is not exactly what you would call fun, clever as she is, unless you
find Aristotle fun.) Rosie was a trainee social worker with the city council,
and is now a fully trained one. She is what you’d call the beating heart of The
Agnes, without whom I reckon nothing would be quite the same. Even though she
moved out she is very sociable and still prefers to spend time at The Agnes.
Actually, to be honest she fills it with cigarette smoke. She is also a big
help to Mum in solving problems. In fact, I’d describe Rosie as an amazing
problem-solver, except that she’s no good at chess. That kind of problem she
leaves to me. So, I suppose Rosie has mothered and sistered me a lot. People
might find that a bit strange. But I don’t care. I think of Rosie as like my
second Mum. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 6.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk80183968;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Apart from the comforts
of the lounge, I found I could read books from the library, play games
requiring at least one partner, such as snooker, table tennis, or chess, and
even watch TV, when Ravi or Kwokkie was able to get it working, that is.
Kwokkie was another long-termer. He is a Chinese guy from Hong Kong, and was
qualifying as a lawyer, so he advised people in the Tenants’ Advice Centre.
Sometimes there is five-a-side football or basketball or badminton in the gym.
More than that there is to me just a sense of things happening, and interesting
people coming and going, which makes it more attractive than my own quiet room
at home, where I would normally otherwise be waiting for my parents to return.
The Agnes is after all my parents’ workplace, so it feels as though one of them
at least would normally be near at hand if need be. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 6.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk80183968;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I found that as I sat
there in the lounge people would pass through, talking about lots of things
which I didn’t really understand but felt I should. Politics, international
affairs, and such like, about which I have learned a lot. As it turned out, The
Agnes has given me more education than I could possibly have bargained for. Not
all of it, to be honest, would actually survive Mum and Dad’s closest scrutiny,
but what I mean is education in life, what I came to call The Knowledge, with a
capital T and a capital K. I have made some great friends, like Rosie, Kwokkie,
and Ravi, and there always seems to be something exciting or interesting going
on, and somebody good to talk to. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 6.0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk80183968;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The hostellites mainly
consist of students at the local Mercia Police Academy, or the Warburton
Teacher Training College, or Warburton University. Some will be doing
apprenticeships or holding junior positions with local companies. As a result
of my regular visits in the afternoons or evenings, I became some kind of a
mascot, or at least I was until I got a bit older. I suppose I was, to them, at
the beginning at least, a smart kid, cheeky in a cute way, and for those from
non-English-speaking places, a good source of inconsequential English conversation.
I think I must speak very clearly, because Kem, who is a scientist from Ghana,
drew Ravi’s attention to my speech - “This boy, Ravi, his English is so
p-p-p-p-p!”, he said. Ravi is from India, and speaks excellent English but with
a funny accent. He taught me to form complete paragraphs, and avoid what he
calls “that poisonous local Mercian slang - how I do hate it”. I know what he
means. For example, when Mercians say “anything” it comes out as “anythingg”,
or “anythink” if it is before a vowel, which is quite funny. He regaled me with
astonishing stories about India – its transport systems, its rivers, its
religious rituals, its variety and ungovernability. Kwokkie is very studious,
and likes to explain the mysteries of Chinese history and civilisation, such as
about Confucius and the Chinese emperors. So I know a lot about the world. At
the same time perhaps in a way I know nothing. At least I did know nothing
until I myself became part of the furniture at The Agnes. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 10.75pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk80183968;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">You see, The Agnes is far
more than a place of interest. It has been my family, school, social and sports
club, café haunt, and many other things all rolled into one. Rosie calls it
“The University of Life. I have already graduated from it, darlin’. I am a true
alumna, and I am now one of the faculty”, she announced one day from behind a
cloud of smoke. At The Agnes I was very soon by the age of eleven growing apace
in knowledge and sophistication just by associating with these inhabitants and
imbibing the atmosphere. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk80183968;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Yet
with all these friends and others to entertain, instruct, and amuse me, nothing
was so remarkable to me as the arrival of the amazing King Themba.</span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><br clear="all" style="mso-break-type: section-break; page-break-before: always;" />
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<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 22.0pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 22.0pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 22.0pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 22.0pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 22.0pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="CSP-ChapterTitle"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Garamond",serif;">1
KING THEMBA<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 20.15pt; text-align: justify;"><a name="_Hlk80188604"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">One chilly evening in late 1961, when I
was eleven and a half years old, Themba appeared, looking lost, at the
reception desk. He had two leather suitcases and wore a huge raincoat. I ran
over as there was nobody else around. Which was typical at The Agnes. <o:p></o:p></span></a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 20.15pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk80188604;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Hello, sir, I will just
find somebody to help you, if you don’t mind waiting”. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 20.15pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk80188604;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“OK, that’s fine, kid,
thanks. I got time.” <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 20.15pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk80188604;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">He sank down into the
chair as though he was exhausted by a long journey. He had, I discovered later,
just arrived from Johannesburg. He was very large and very wet. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 20.15pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk80188604;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Themba was duly checked
in and emerged an hour or two later. He made a very impressive figure, I must
say. Themba was a huge man. He seemed to me about seven feet tall, but I
suppose he would have been maybe about six foot four or five. He was very
powerfully built, with enormous shoulders and biceps that seemed about to burst
his shirt sleeves. His skin was shiny and very black, and his head completely
shaved, with sticky-out ears. A small fuzzy beard adorned his chin. His face
was, I would say, more noble than handsome, and gave the impression of somebody
of considerable intelligence and experience. There was something really quite
sad in his eyes, but they would light up at the slightest provocation or any
suggestion of humour or some interesting controversy. His conversation, begun
on that wet wintry night, was always lively and playful. I was quite intrigued,
bewitched in fact by Themba, and wanted to ensure he was my friend before
anybody else could claim the title. So I made bold to show him round The Agnes
myself. He was tired, but his eyes opened wide at every new discovery. “Oooh,
that ees nice!”, he responded to the coffee machine, the gym, the library, the
snooker room. “I think I am goin’ to be very 'appy 'eah”, he concluded, as I
fixed him a cup of cocoa and we sat down in the lounge, waiting for Dad, who
was seeing to some crisis or other, to come and greet him. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 20.15pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk80188604;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“And so”, he asked
mock-sternly in his broad, throaty South African accent, his eyebrows raised
impossibly high, “who exactly ah you, precocious yong man?” <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 20.15pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk80188604;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Oh, sorry, sir, I am
Jimmy Emmett”, I replied. “I’m the boss’s son. I’m happy to meet you Mr Themba,
but I’m really not whatever you said I was, when you get to know me that is.” <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 20.15pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk80188604;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">His mighty laugh filled
the corridors. Heads turned. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 20.15pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk80188604;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Themba was, I gathered
later, from a well-known family in South Africa, and was in Warburton to learn
about journalism with the Warburton Tribune. I was not properly aware until
later, when Themba informed me, about South Africa’s terrible apartheid regime,
but it seems Themba had managed to come to England only because his family was
able to afford it, and, as I also later learned, his intention was to learn
skills that he could use to oppose the regime in South Africa as strongly and
effectively as he could. But at the time, although he seemed a lot older than
myself, he was I think about twenty-six years old. He seemed rather older than
that because he had a kind of regal bearing, suggesting somebody proud and confident,
strong and very masculine. For this reason, I came to refer to him as “The
King”. All of these things he in fact was, and, as I discovered, a lot more
besides. He was a complex character, by my reckoning, but definitely a large
one in all senses. To me he was King Themba. And that became a joke. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 20.15pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk80188604;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Themba was naturally very
outgoing and friendly, and settled in quickly. I began to spend a lot of time
with him, and sensed his fondness for me. Despite the large difference in years
between us, as with Rosie, he was really my friend, and had a way of treating
me as though I deserved the respect accorded to an equal, even though I was far
from that. Themba, I learned, was a man of scrupulous attention to what he
called “moral principles”, and to the English language. He also took everyone
seriously, even, it seemed, a cheeky eleven-year-old boy. Like Rosie, he
appeared to think I needed some special attention, and he would question me for
hours about all kinds of things – my family, school, life in England, the Agnes
Ward Trust, sports, and so on. While showing much respect to me as though I was
a highly educated person with well-formed opinions, which I clearly wasn’t, he
assumed an avuncular role in relation to my homework and my use of language.
Admittedly these were not exactly excellent in the first place. Condescension
this was not. He was unremitting in his critique of my homework, as though I
ought to be doing better than I was. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 20.15pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk80188604;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“What on airth is this
non-sense?”, he would laugh, clutching me by the back of the neck, reading my
English precis. “Do it … ay-gain. And this time get it complett-ly right!” He
would then check the result, and if it was still not perfect, he would ask me
to do it a third time, before letting me go. He was similarly unremitting in
his critique of his own journalism, and would ask my opinion on it as if I were
his editor or his colleague. I think his pieces had already in fact been filed
with the Tribune office against punishing deadlines, and this show of
meticulousness was really for my benefit, rather than his. Occasionally I would
find fault with his use of a word or his punctuation, and he would nod gravely,
making his correction with a flourish and beaming, if unwarranted, gratitude. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 20.15pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk80188604;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">As became quickly
apparent, Themba was also a remarkable sportsman. He was a superb heavyweight
boxer who joined the boxing gym in Curtin Way, where I occasionally accompanied
him, just to watch. He sparred with the best in town, flooring all the
opponents that I saw, that is the ones bold enough to challenge him. He would
tie a red cloth around his head, which was odd, I reckoned, for a man with a
shaved head, and he looked terrifying in action. Any blows he received never
seemed to wind or hurt him, but blows delivered were drastic and often, if they
didn’t just knock his opponent flat, drew blood around the eyes or nose. He
played rugby as a forward, and quickly made a local league team. He could throw
the javelin or discus or hammer immense distances, and he could hit sixes and
bowl fast when playing cricket in summer. A cricket ball looked like a
ball-bearing in his huge hand, and a discus like a small plate. Boxing, though,
was by far his favourite. He also spent much time lifting weights in the gym at
the back of The Agnes, inside in winter, outside in summer. I talked to him as
he panted and heaved, lifting weights under the elm tree, the sweat descending
his enormous muscular frame in rivulets. He would often laugh heartily at my
questions and observations. “Oh, Jimmy, my boy, you have eh great deal to
lairn, yong man”, he intoned on many occasions, with great amusement at my
rather childish remarks. And it seemed he had assumed the job of teaching me
that great deal. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 20.15pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk80188604;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">There was apparently
nothing Themba could not do, and this induced in me a sense that moved from
admiration to near hopelessness. I could never, I reflected, be as strong, as
wise, as knowledgeable, or simply as effective in the way Themba always was,
however hard I tried. He was my standard in all things. It seemed that, whenever
there was anything difficult to do, Themba was first in line to sort it out. If
it was the awkward task of taking down an old chandelier in the lounge, he had
it figured out and done without any damage in a few minutes. If it was a
suspicion of rats in the attic, he had that sorted within a day, almost scaring
poor Mrs Hammond to death by presenting her with two dead rats, as if for
cooking - he enjoyed a practical joke. He easily sorted out awkward kids in the
youth club, of which he sometimes took charge. They were all terrified of him.
And if it was a nuisance drunk at reception, the fellow was sent packing before
anyone in authority even noticed. One miscreant, a grown man, was delivered to
the police like a noxious wet rag, held off the ground by his collar. “This,
officah, I believe, is fah you”. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 20.15pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk80188604;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Trying to find a chink in
his armour, I started to wonder eventually if Themba had any weaknesses. In
fact, I calculated, I could identify two. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 20.15pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk80188604;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The first was that he had
what you could call a long-burning fuse, but one whose detonation would be
deafening. He was, I have to concede, basically a patient and tolerant person
in the face of many of life’s difficulties. Of this there can be no doubt. He
experienced racism routinely, and rebuffs more than deserved, and assumptions
that he was far less than he was, on a daily basis, yet never showed any real
sign of distress. But when pushed too far he would explode with a rage that was
truly frightening. Faced with persistent or obnoxious racism, or especially dense
bureaucratic obstinacy, or obvious moral failure, he would swell with anger,
the veins standing out on his enormous forehead, deploy a stentorian voice, and
if need be would come with fists flying. I saw this happen notably on a couple
occasions, and shrank into a corner to avoid being inadvertently crushed by the
fallout from his anger. But whenever this occurred, I noticed, Themba was
always in the right, as far as I could see, and he never apologised for these
admittedly rare outbursts of rage. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 20.15pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk80188604;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The other weakness was
women. Being an impressively masculine figure, he enjoyed no shortage of female
interest. But his girlfriends came and went, and he never stayed with one for
more than a couple of months. I could hear him cooing gently to one of them for
ages on the phone. “Ooooh, how are yoooou, Gisele? I didn’t see you since at
least three days ay-go”. Or I saw him charming a Melissa or a Trina or a Betty
over coffee in the cafe. But the relationship would never last, and Themba
didn’t ever appear to be upset when the inevitable break came. I assume he was
always the one who lost interest. When he saw ‘The King and I’ on TV, he
laughed with uproarious approval when Yul Brynner as the King said that
“blossom must not ever fly from bee to bee to bee”. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 20.15pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk80188604;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Kwokkie and Ravi were
especially scurrilous in relating Themba’s “conquests”. I have to admit that I
often actively assisted Themba by assuming my role of mascot, amusing his new
girlfriend while praising Themba to the skies in an ironic way as the greatest
man I knew, and did you know he is actually King of the Zulu? In fact, if I had
considered it, he was exactly the greatest man I knew, but I pretended
exaggeration. I would however sometimes challenge him. “Themba, that girl
Melissa was so nice, the one with the earrings, why did you let her go?” This
was greeted with a shrug of the huge shoulders, and a clear desire to change
the topic of conversation. I would point out, however, in Themba’s defence,
that these two weaknesses of his never came into collision with each other. His
rages were over principles, never over his own fortune or relationships as
such. But in defending a principle he was a warrior. Enduring many personal
racist slights with ease, he was always incensed by racism itself. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 20.15pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk80188604;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">As Themba became
entrenched in his work at the Tribune and as a notable resident at The Agnes,
our friendship was unwavering, and in fact deepened. I became friends with Eddy
at that point, and introduced him to Themba. Eddy was our class leader, always
top of the class. He seemed more like thirteen than eleven, and was well
developed physically and socially, happy to display the vein standing out on
his forearm, and mention his girlfriend, Fiona. Eddy was also the grandson of
the Chairman of the Agnes Ward Trustees, and actually as I said a descendant of
the blessed Agnes herself. Themba and Eddy liked each other too, and he would
take us both for bus rides at the weekend to outlying places of historical or
natural interest, thus educating himself as well as us. We were frowned on by
middle-aged ladies, clutching their handbags tightly on buses. They clearly
thought this group of two white boys and one extremely large back man was not
in the right course of things in a respectable place like Mercia. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 20.15pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk80188604;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">After a few months Themba
had acquired a certain reputation around The Agnes and in the city, due mainly
to his journalism, which was regarded as cutting edge in some quarters and
outrageously impudent in others. In one instance he attacked my own school as
"a bastion of racism", complaining that the Bishop Herbert School had
499 white boys and only one non-white boy (my friend Gurdip, in fact), which
did not at all reflect the population of Warburton. This was without doubt
true, but it did not go down well with the school governors or the city
fathers. In fact, they were incensed and complaints were made against him. I am
glad to say that the Tribune ignored demands that Themba be sacked, and Themba
used the occasion to make another sally against "Warburton’s endemic racism".
On another occasion he lambasted the city council for its cuts to services he
argued were essential for ethnic minorities. Even when he was clearly right, it
was said it was not for him to say such things. It was as if, being Themba, you
couldn’t be allowed to win under any circumstances. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 20.15pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk80188604;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Themba also reported to
us all at The Agnes one day the developments in his beloved native South
Africa, on which he gave a disturbing address. Themba had been deeply
distraught when the Sharpeville incident occurred in 1960, and left South
Africa as soon as he could after that. A man I regarded as made of flint had
tears rolling down his face as he explained what had happened at Sharpeville
and what it meant to him. By this time he had graduated to being a fulltime journalist
on The Tribune, and in left-wing circles, whose epicentre, you might say, was
often The Agnes itself, Themba was regarded as a fearless warrior of heroic
stature. King Themba. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 20.15pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk80188604;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Dad joked about him. “One
day, Themba, you will either be President or go to jail for a long time.” <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 20.15pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk80188604;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Or mebbe both”, added
Themba, laughing with his whole frame shaking in amusement. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 20.15pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk80188604;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">This puzzled me, because
I did not then understand why anybody would put Themba in jail. To me Themba
was perfectly admirable, an ideal I could not even aspire to, and certainly
could not criticise. More than that, I trusted Themba implicitly, because he
always protected my back. If I defaulted on homework, Mum was treated to an
excuse on my behalf, as if Themba himself was responsible. If I was late back,
Themba would call and apologise – “It is my fault Jimmy was late back, Mrs
Emmett, we missed the bus. I am so sorry. It won’t happen ay-gain”. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 20.15pt; text-align: center;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk80188604;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">****<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 20.15pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk80188604;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">A few months after
Themba’s arrival, as a result of some planning, over Mrs Hammond’s tea and cupcakes,
by Rosie, Themba, Kem, and Dad, The Agnes started evening classes in English
for non-English-speaking migrants. Themba was tireless in organising this and
sought my help (I was very much flattered) in conversing in English with
Pakistani, Indian and African kids, many of whom were the same age as me, or
younger. We would talk to the kids until quite late at night and their grateful
families would come to collect them. These evenings were enormous fun and I
found I was able to amuse the kids as well as learn something about their
various cultural backgrounds. Themba was delighted with our progress, and
became the main organiser of these evenings. We laughed, we talked, we drank
Vimto, and ate Mrs Hammond’s calorie-swamped cupcakes as an occasional treat.
Kem, a tall, slim and very expressive young man, was like a stand-up comedian,
always hilariously funny, taking off well-known figures, including Dad, Rosie,
and Themba himself, whom he portrayed as Themba, King of the Zulu. We were
often in stitches at his impressions. Rosie would hug me in sheer glee as Kem
imitated her Aussie accent, her intense chain-smoking, and her loose language. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 20.15pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk80188604;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">At the same time, we
lived in a part of the city that was, as I explained, well-known for its ethnic
mixedness, and at around that time ugly racial tensions began to emerge.
Instances of police action involving attacks on migrant communities were on the
rise. One of Mum’s girls from the Annexe, who was Pakistani, was accosted by
thugs and raped in a back alley in a very distressing and much discussed
incident. Nothing like that had ever occurred in the area before. Themba and my
father addressed the city council on this trend of events. The Chairman of
Trustees, Eddy’s grandfather, Sir Reg Ward, was deeply concerned and was
interviewed on the BBC concerning “racial tensions in Warburton”. Dad said we
should all beware, although I didn’t really know at the time exactly how to
beware, or of what. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 20.15pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk80188604;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">One chilly, wet night we
finished the classes late and I left The Agnes to walk home, a distance of only
about two hundred yards. Turning right out of The Agnes I saw part of the road
was bathed in a jaundiced light revealing a heavy drizzle. I pulled my coat
collar up and my school cap down and continued on my way home. On the other
side of the road in semi-darkness I noticed a huddled group of older boys. One
of them looked round at me as I passed. I recognised him as Decker, a boy who
had been in The Agnes before, and was quite well known. After a few seconds he
called out to me. I didn’t quite hear what he said, but I didn’t like the look
of these boys, who seemed too much like the skinheads I had seen hanging around
the city centre, apparently looking for some sort of trouble. I ignored them.
Then I heard them crossing the road. They were after me. I quickened my step
but they soon caught up with me. My collar was jerked round to face the group.
They looked in an ugly mood. They were skinheads with chains, dirty jeans, and
leather jackets. They were around sixteen years old. I was frightened to see
Decker was sporting a flick-knife. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 20.15pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk80188604;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“’Ey, where yow off ter,
rabbit?”. A strong Mercian accent. It was Decker. “This kid ‘ere, he’s a
black-lover, he is. Let’s teach ‘im a lesson, lads.” <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 20.15pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk80188604;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Look, I am just minding
my own business, Deck. What do you want?” I tried to appear unruffled, using
Decker’s nickname to make it as if some kind of social norms were operating. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 20.15pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk80188604;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Oh, nah then, young
Jimmy’s minding ‘is own business, lads”, he jeered. “Well, it ay the kind of
business yow can ger away with, sonny Jim. We don’t approve of you, sonny Jim.
Yow’m a black-lover ain’t’cha, sonny Jim?”. He joshed me, and I fell back
against the wall, almost losing my footing.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 20.15pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk80188604;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The abuse continued as
the boys kept pushing me around and jeering at me. I just recall, “Black ‘is
balls fer ‘im, tharr’ll learn him”, from another skin behind Decker. A third
and a fourth boy laughed. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 20.15pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk80188604;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">And with that landed the
first blow - to my ribs on the right side of my diaphragm, taking my breath
away completely and doubling me up, just as a second blow hit me in the left
eye, my head knocked back and my cap sent flying. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 20.15pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk80188604;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The third blow from
Decker advanced towards my chin, but never landed. What followed all seemed to
happen in slow motion. All I was aware of was a large black fist appearing from
the right of my vision. It hit Decker square in the mouth and I saw a couple of
teeth spinning and a spurt of blood, as he staggered backwards into the gutter.
In a second Decker’s arm was pinned behind his back, his hand twisted and relieved
of the flick-knife, which fell in the gutter. “Fokk me! Fokkin’ black bastard!”
“Shut your disgostin’ mouth, kid, or you will get more of the same!”, said
Themba calmly, menacingly. “Next time, man, you can just pick on someone yah
own size.” The other boys gathered round Decker as if protecting him. Decker
held his mouth while blood seeped between his fingers. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 20.15pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk80188604;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Fokk me, yer bastard!”,
he repeated. Decker didn’t have much vocabulary, and most of what he had was
foul, even in normal times. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 20.15pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk80188604;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Now off with you boys,
back 'oom, and don’t you come near here ay-gain, hear, or you will have me to
ansah to.” <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 20.15pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk80188604;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“And who the fokk are
you, yer black bugger?’” <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 20.15pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk80188604;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“My name is Themba.
Remember that name. I’ll be waitin’ fah you.” The boys were clearly considering
whether five of them could take on Themba. Such was Themba’s size and authority
that they wisely decided against, and slunk off down the street. I retrieved my
cap from the pavement, a clutch of pain as I bent down. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 20.15pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk80188604;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Themba, watching the
skins retreat, picked up the knife, examined it carefully, and turned slowly to
address me. “Are you OK, Jimmy?” <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 20.15pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk80188604;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Yes, Themba, I am OK.
It’s just my ribs hurt. Thanks for dealing with them. I was really scared. That
Decker had a knife. I don’t know why they wanted to pick on me.” <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 20.15pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk80188604;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“That is somethin’ we’ll
look into later, Jimmy. Let me take a look what’s gone on 'eah.” He held my
head up under the street lamp, clucking his disapproval. “We’ll get that fixed
first. Then your ribs. Don’t worry. It was a good job I followed you. They are
not exactly nice, ah they? But I thought somethin’ like this was goin’ to
‘appen. Now we get you 'oom straight ay-way.” <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 20.15pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk80188604;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Themba picked me up and
carried me, as if I was a small pile of laundry, a hundred yards to my home. My
parents were horrified and Mum was, by the standards of her normally
crisis-immune demeanour, beside herself. She washed my face carefully, and my
ribs were felt gingerly and then bandaged. I saw that Themba’s fist was quite
badly bruised but he said nothing. He looked quiet and sad, rather than angry
or worried. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 20.15pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk80188604;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“This is very serious,
Themba”, said Dad, “I am going to report it to the police. We know who did
this. We have to stop these damn thugs. I can see this just going from bad to
worse.” <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 20.15pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk80188604;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“It is already worse, Mr
Emmett. It is already like my 'oom town in Soweto.” Themba carried me upstairs
and placed me carefully on my bed. “Don’t worry none, Jimmy, I won’t let
anybody 'airt you.” <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 20.15pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk80188604;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“I know that, Themba.
Thanks, friend. You saved me.” <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 20.15pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk80188604;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Themba and Dad could be
heard talking downstairs. I slept, but my sleep was a very troubled one. I was
very much shaken, but I thanked heaven for Themba, and wondered what would have
happened to me if he had not been there to protect me.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 12.15pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk80188604;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></p>
<span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk80188604;"></span>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>Andrew Hardinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15954270826267048283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8804284970071192091.post-72188982435975735212021-11-03T21:15:00.004+08:002021-11-03T21:21:55.600+08:00Flat Jack Simmons<p><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; text-align: justify;">Cricket has
produced many great characters over the years, larger-than-life personalities
who made their indelible mark on the cricket field. Cricket these days is a
game for genuine athletes. Even 76-inch 200-pound fast bowlers are expected to
hurl themselves around at the risk of season-threatening injury, in the vain
hope sometimes of converting a four into a three. However, even the modern
‘percentage coaches’ admit that they like to see cricketers with character, and
the game is in truth a test of just that. Some cricketers are able to achieve
much by sheer force of personality, by grit, determination, genius, arrogance,
or just sheer persistence.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Northern
English counties especially have produced many great characters who rose from
working class origins to become popular, sought-after players and even
world-beaters. Ones that spring to mind are Fred Trueman, Geoff Boycott and
Brian Close of Yorkshire. There have also been lesser players like Emmott
Robinson and forbidding ones like Arthur Mitchell. Lancashire too has produced
many great characters. ‘Bumble’ Lloyd, Brian Statham in his quiet way, Ken
Higgs, Johnny Briggs, Cyril Washbrook. Amongst these characters there stands
out Jack Simmons, who became one of the leading allrounders in Lancashire’s
history, one of its most colourful and popular characters, and a cricketer who
brought great skill and much fun to any game of cricket.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">He was also
living evidence that you don’t have to be a muscle-Mary or a Gucci model to be
an outstanding cricketer. Jack was well known for a protruding paunch eclipsed in
girth amongst the counties only by Gloucestershire’s powerful batsman and
future beloved umpire, David Shepherd. Jack liked a pint and large plate of
fish and chips.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Jack, like
many before and after him, was brought up in the Lancashire leagues. Of
working-class origins like many in those parts – a very different species from
the ‘gifted amateurs’ of counties like Kent and Sussex - Jack attended
technical school, where his cricketing ability was first noticed. He became a
draftsman and then a league professional, honing his skills more and more until
he was finally noticed by his county. He took a pay cut for the pleasure and
privilege of playing at county level. He was then 27 years old.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Jack was a
pugnacious lower order batsman, capable of both aggression and obduracy
according to the match situation and the bowling. But his main skill was that
of the right-arm off-spinner. On usually damp northern pitches (at least during
April to June – they tended to ‘flatten out’ during July-September, offering
some dusty cracks as the pitch wore) the off-spinner could grip the surface and
cause problems. Otherwise his job was to close up an end and prevent rapid
scoring until the seamers were refreshed and came back to finish things off. Lancashire
had good ones too, like Peter Lee, Peter Lever, and Ken Shuttleworth. Jack
became a master of such skills. He did not flight the ball in a tempting loop,
or at least only as rare variation. Rather he pushed it through quickly, with
sharp spin nonetheless, tucking the batsman up and bowling to a tight and
well-placed field. He came to be known as ‘flat Jack’ in recognition of the
trajectory of his deliveries, but also in ironic reference to his stomach,
which was the exact opposite of flat. But don’t be deceived. Those who played
with Jack knew that he was strong and fit and a brilliant close catcher. He
remained such until his late forties, and would have been happy to carry on as
he was still playing well. He still goes strong at eighty.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Like a lot
of spin-bowlers, Jack did not reach the height of his skill until his late
twenties, when fast bowlers tend to start losing their edge of speed. Moreover,
he floated into Lancashire’s view at a time when one-day cricket was advancing.
The economy that Jack offered, as well as his canny (or was it uncanny?)
understanding of batsmen’s minds, together with his ability to score quickly
with the bat, made him a great candidate for one-day as well as three-day
matches. Partnering with a similar cricketer, David Hughes, an economical
left-arm spinner who could also bat, he formed the famous pair, ‘Simmo and
Hughesy’, who became indispensable and highly successful as their county romped
to three successive Gillette cups wins in 1970-2, and another in 1975, under
their captain Jack Bond’s inspirational leadership. In fact we can attribute
the survival and recognition of spin bowling in limited overs cricket to the
advent of Simmo and Hughesy. Before them in one-day games spinners hunted in
ones if at all, and counties packed their teams with seamers of rather moderate
ability.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Around that
time, Lancashire also had an excellent and fearless opening batsman in Barry
Wood, also a man for all seasons, or not quite all seasons as we shall see.
Wood scored a magnificent 90 against Lillee and Thomson in his first test, and made
the England tour of India and Pakistan in 1972-3, opening in four tests. Now at
that time Faroukh Engineer was Lancashire’s as well as India’s wicket-keeper,
and was also Wood’s opening partner at Lancashire. Engineer knew Simmo and
Hughesy’s bowling inside out like nobody else. He also kept well to India’s
formidable trio of Bedi, Venkat and Chandrasekhar.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Wood had a
tortured tour in which he was hard put to make double figures. Known as the
best player of fast bowlers in England, Wood was all at sea against spinners,
usually dismissed early by Bedi. He had no respite, as India generally opened
with spin, or after a couple of overs, the spin trio would begin weaving their
webs of deceit. The story goes that after one over from Bedi in which Wood was
unable to lay bat on ball, playing and missing and with three shouts for leg
before, Wood turned to Engineer and said, “’ey-oop, Faroukh, it’s not much like
Simmo and Hughesy, is it?”. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">True
enough, it was a different world from spin-bowling at Manchester. Engineer
would have been most amused. Wood, returning to Manchester with a tour test
average of 13, was dubbed ‘The Star of India’. One can be reasonably certain
that Jack had a hand in that joke.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Although
Jack started late in county cricket, he played for 20 years aged 28-48,
amassing more than 9000 runs and taking more than 1000 first class wickets and
nearly 500 limited-overs wickets. He never played for England (they preferred
John Emburey), but had six seasons with Tasmania, which at that time was not a
first-class team. Jack, as Tasmania’s captain, was proud to lead them to first-class
status, competing in Australia’s Sheffield Shield competition – and they have
never looked back – from 1978.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Averaging
more than 50 wickets a year in English first-class games, and more than 500
runs, Jack’s last full season at 47 years old was one of his most successful - he
took 63 wickets that summer.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The most
amazing match Jack played in, and to which he made a critical contribution, was
probably the most famous Gillette Cup match ever played, the semi-final between
Lancashire and Gloucestershire in 1971. Gloucestershire, who had a good team,
including one of the greatest allrounders, the South African Mike Procter,
ground it out to 229-6, Procter making 65. Jack was easily Lancashire’s best
bowler, taking two of the most valuable wickets, including the fat man
opposite, the afore-mentioned David Shepherd, for only 25 runs in 12 overs
(innings were 60 overs, not 50, in those days, and games took a long time to
complete).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">When
Lancashire batted, they were in a parlous situation when Jack came to the
wicket at 163-6. They still needed 67, and the light was already extremely
poor. Procter, one of the world’s fastest and most difficult bowlers, was
lurking ready to pounce.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Jack scored
a crucial 25 out of 40 with his captain Bond, before getting out.
Gloucestershire used their slow off-spinner, John Mortimore, in view of the declining
light. Mortimore was the exact opposite of Jack; he bowled in a tempting loop
and was a clever bowler, full of subtle variations.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Hughes came
in, and by now the light was simply impossible by any standard. Another beloved
umpire, Dicky Bird, was chirping away about going off. The other umpire Arthur
Jepson, sorted him out by asking him what was up in the sky. “The moon,
Arthur”, came the reply. “Now, if tha can see t’ moon, two hundred thousand
miles away, we can play cricket. So shut thi’ mouth and let’s get on.” There
were 25,000 people on the ground and the match had reached an unbearably exciting
concluding passage.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Hughes
proceed to clout Mortimore for 24 runs in an over, winning the match with a
huge six that went out of the ground in full moonlight. It was 8.55pm and a
miracle that anybody could see anything, let alone a cricket match. As it
turned out, the fielders were the ones really in danger, and as for Procter, he
took 0-38. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The final
that year, against Kent, was also a thriller, Bond taking one of cricket’s most
astonishing catches off Jack’s bowling when Asif Iqbal was winning the match
for Kent single-handedly. Jack took a match-winning 3-48.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Stories of
Jack’s eating exploits are legion, and, as David ‘Bumble’ Lloyd says, they are
also true.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="background: white; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #313132; font-size: 11.0pt;">Great Harwood in Lancashire has a fish-and-chip shop that boasts
a signature dish consisting of a fish perched happily on top of steak pudding,
chips, peas, and gravy. It came about like this, as Jack himself said: “it
started one night when I just couldn’t decide between meat pudding and fish, so
I had both — with chips and mushy peas, of course.” The dish is called a ‘Simmo
Special’.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">On another
occasion Lloyd was bemused when, after taking Jack to a chippy, the latter was
seen outside sitting on a wall, finishing off his fish and chips. “Hey, Jack,
why don’t you finish that at home?” “If I take it home,” he replied, “Jackie
[his wife] won’t cook me any supper.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Jack’s
priorities in life are also illustrated by an occasion at the </span><span style="color: #313132; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Southport ground,
where lunch featured a famous gooseberry-and-cherry pie. Jack had just started
eating one of these when the bell rang. Most would have abandoned the pie and
hurried out onto the field to stand at second slip, but not Jack. He made sure
he finished his pie in leisurely fashion. For an over after lunch, Lancashire
fielded with ten men.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Twenty years
and innumerable plates of fish and chips and cherry pies after his debut season
in 1968, when he had delightedly clean bowled Colin Cowdrey, Jack called it a
day. Jack’s benefit is good evidence of the high regard in which he was held by
the public. It yielded 128,000 pounds in 1988, a record. Jack, always a team
man, served as Chairman of Lancashire CCC from 1998 to 2008, when he was
elected Chair of Cricket for the ECB. He was named one of Wisden’s five
Cricketers of the Year in 1985. His contribution to the game and to the
wellbeing of fish-and-chip vendors all over England will not be forgotten.<o:p></o:p></span></p>Andrew Hardinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15954270826267048283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8804284970071192091.post-39039860535223731492020-06-23T18:44:00.003+08:002021-11-03T21:21:24.830+08:00Sonny Ramadhin: The Calypso Cricket Enigma<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
One beautiful summer’s day in 1964 I had the pleasure of
being taken to Headingley to watch the Roses match, a highlight of cricket’s
summer in England. It was a memorable day in which Yorkshire scored 352, belying
the old adages of ‘no fours before lunch’, and ‘no cutting before July’ (well,
it was august in fact), applicable specifically to Roses matches. Several of
Yorkshire’s batsman scored runs, in a team of which only one, Tony Nicholson,
never played for England (mind you, he was elected to tour south Africa but
pulled out due to injury). There was one large reason why the batsman all got
in and then got out, and that reason was Sonny Ramadhin, with Lancashire as an
overseas player. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Ramadhin was a small man, bowling off a short run, and had a
nondescript, apparently unthreatening action. It was noticeable that he always
bowled in a cap and with his sleeves rolled down. He bowled 50 overs in that
innings, mainly on that day, and nobody was able to collar him or figure out
which way the ball was spinning. He finished with 8 for 121. The little West
Indian master of spin bowling benefitted from pressure at the other end, where
Statham and Higgs toiled away without taking a single wicket. Statham in
particular, to the great appreciation of the Leeds crowd, bowled magnificently
– 35 overs in that innings, taking none for 81, but I swear he beat the outside
or inside edge at least twice in every one of those overs, delivered on a flat
pitch, and deserved at least 5 or 6 wickets. At the other end the Yorkshiremen,
with, between them, a monumental amount of experience (Boycott, Hampshire,
Close, Illingworth, Trueman), but not a strong reputation for coping with
leg-spin, struggled against Ramadhin. He tied them in knots. They failed to
pick the spin, and eventually one by one eight of them fell to his wiles.<o:p></o:p></div>
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There was of course a history to this. Ramadhin sprang to
fame in 1950, when he and Alf Valentine put England to the sword as the West
Indies’ ‘spin twins’ in the ‘calypso’ season. The tin drums never stopped being
beaten as hard as were England that year. The spin twins took 59 wickets in
that series of four tests, the first series won by the West indies against
England. England toured the Caribbean in 1953-4, where the series was drawn
2-2, but England again struggled against Ramadhin.<o:p></o:p></div>
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In England in 1957, it was clear that the English batsmen
had to find a way of countering Ramadhin if they were to win the series. The
problem was that Ramadhin was hard to read, as he bowled leg breaks and off
breaks without apparently any change of action. If the ball pitched outside the
off stump you were often unsure if it would spin away or spin back to hit the
off stump. The way they found was unedifying but ultimately effective. In the
first test at Edgbaston England were bowled out for 186. Ramadhin took 7 for 49
and the writing was very much on the wall. The West Indies, assisted by a great
161 from OG Smith, made 474. In the second innings England were sliding to a
big defeat at 113 for 3 when Cowdrey joined May. What followed on day 4 and
part of day 5 was at the time an England record stand of 411 by these two, who
famously used their pads to counter Ramadhin’s mystifying spin. Nowadays this
response would result in an LBW decision, because playing no shot to a ball
striking the pad outside the line of off stump but playing no shot is given out;
not so in 1957 until a change in the LBW law brought about by May and Cowdrey’s
tactic. I have no doubt this was almost as frustrating for the paying public as
it was for the West Indies team, as ball after ball was just padded away.
England did not score quickly. Cowdrey’s 154 took 500 minutes while May’s 285
not out took 600 minutes, although bear in mind that teams would get through
about 120 overs a day, or 20 overs an hour, in contrast to today’s lethargic
rate of 12 or 13.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The tactic worked very well for England, who were able to
declare their second innings closed after a further stand between May and
Evans, at 583 for 6. What followed was very nearly one of the all-time
extraordinary fightbacks in test history as England reduced West Indies,
chasing nearly 300, to 72 for 7 in their second innings, off a gruelling 60
overs, to achieve a draw. Ramadhin ceased to be a threat to England, who took
the series comfortably by 3-0. In fact at this level Ramadhin was never again
the force he had been, except against less adept opposition such as Yorkshire
on that day in 1964. However, Yorkshire did go on to win comfortably,
Lancashire being very short of good batters with Statham, normally a rabbit, in
at number 7.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Ramadhin’s response to Edgbaston was interesting. He said
that Peter May played beautifully but as for Cowdrey, he got him LBW 87 times. It
is interesting to speculate what exactly Ramadhin meant. Did he mean that May
did not use the padding-away tactic, or that he used it but nonetheless played
well enough that he would likely not have been dismissed anyway? His remark
about Cowdrey probably means, not that the umpire was mistaken 87 times, but
that the LBW law was against him. In fact, in my judgment, before DRS came in
the LBW law was inherently inimical to spinners. A long stride down the pitch,
kicking the ball away from outside leg, or even too much spin on very full
deliveries, was enough to avoid being given out. It sometimes seemed that a
spinner had to get a batsman out four or five times before he was given.
Spinners will feel Ramadhin’s Edgbaston anguish very personally.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Ramadhin was not the first or the last in the line of
mystery spinners. Earlier there was Jack Iverson of Australia. Later there was
Johnny Gleeson, also of Australia. More recently the doosra, the slider, the
topsinner, and so on, have made a mystery out of both leg spin and off spin.
Kumble, Warne, Saqlain, Muralitharan, Narine, Mendis, all in their turn have
made fools of good batsman. Interestingly enough England never produced such a
mystery spinner. Confronted with a young man attempting such antics I feel sure
a county coach would have hauled him up and told him not to do that prissy
stuff again. At Cardiff in 2009, orthodox left-arm spinner Monty Panesar,
saving the game with Anderson for England versus Australia, cried out ‘googly’
as Warne bowled to him. ‘Warney’, joked Ponting from short leg, ‘your career’s
over, mate. Monty’s sussed you out.’<o:p></o:p></div>
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Such remark was in fact the legacy of the mystery spinners,
whose career did indeed depend on not being ‘sussed out’. Ramadhin was never
fully fathomed, but was never again, after May and Cowdrey’s marathon at
Edgbaston, the force he had been earlier. He was, however, still fascinating to
watch. He retired in 1965 with 158 test wickets at 29 each. Valentine, his
calypso twin, took 139 at 30, and after a striking career start was also not
much of a force in tests after 1954. Ramadhin is now 91 years old, while
Valentine passed away in 2004. It is amazing to think that when they destroyed
England in that landmark series of 1950 both of them only 20 years old.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br />Andrew Hardinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15954270826267048283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8804284970071192091.post-67862805830202180362020-06-23T17:08:00.002+08:002020-06-23T17:08:36.921+08:00Bob Appleyard: One of Cricket's Almost Greats <br />
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As a former spin bowler myself the art of spin bowling has
always fascinated me. Jim Laker to Yasir Shah via Sonny Ramadhin, Derek
Underwood, Shane Warne, Anil Kumble, Muttiah Muralitharan, Graeme Swann, and
many, many others have enthralled my cricket over several decades.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I have seen many of these great spinners operate, but I
never saw Bob Appleyard, whose career was brief, ending when I was 8 years old.
Reading an interview by Chris Waters with two Yorkshire players of the 1950s on
the subject of Fred Trueman I was surprised by their answer when asked, ‘So was
Fred the greatest bowler you played with or against?’. ‘Oh no’, they replied,
‘that would be Bob Appleyard’. I was not just surprised but intrigued. Most
people who followed cricket in England in that era would have admired Jim
Laker, Tony Lock, Ray Illingworth, Johnny Wardle … but only those in the know
would mention Appleyard, who played for England only nine times. What was it
about Appleyard that commanded such deep respect?<o:p></o:p></div>
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We now of course enter that controversial area of judging by
statistics. But they are remarkable. Appleyard took 700 wickets at 15 apiece
(an average beaten in England only by Hedley Verity in the post-World War One
period – before that wickets were usually awful and bowlers made hay). In tests
he took 31 wickets at 17 apiece. His main series was in Australia in 1954-5, so
his efforts were not by any means all on damp turners or ‘sticky dogs’ caused
by the uncovered English pitches of the 1950s. Laker had a much longer career
and took nearly 2000 wickets but at a higher average than Appleyard both in
first class (18) and in test (21) matches. But for Laker, there is no doubt
Appleyard would have played far more times for England than he did. <o:p></o:p></div>
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In style, however, Appleyard was very different from his fellow
off-spinner. Laker was genuinely slow, with a short run and a looping, drifting
flight. Appleyard’s style was closer to Tony Lock’s, who fired in his left arm
spin at medium pace. Appleyard ran in off 15 yards and was closer to medium
pace. Both Laker and Appleyard had a high action, and both were able to make
the ball dip in its flight. Appleyard with his extra height and greater pace made
it rear off a good length. <o:p></o:p></div>
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In an interview with Christopher Martin-Jenkins, Appleyard
in his declining years revealed not just a charm and modesty uncharacteristic
of his fellow Yorkshiremen, but technical detail of great interest. Unlike
Underwood, he explained, he spun the ball off the middle finger, with the index
finger supporting the ball, and with the wrist over, not under, the ball. I am
reminded here of Kumble, whose grip and action were described as those of an
off-spinner bowling leg breaks, with his wrist also over the ball, and who
bowled off a longish run at slow-medium pace. Footage of Appleyard bowling
shows a similar high, bouncy action. Appleyard insisted that to make the ball
dip in flight it must be delivered from behind, not in front of, the head,
letting ball go early in its flight. In addition to off-breaks and leg-cutters
he also bowled seam, mainly in-swing, and so could adapt his technique to any
situation or set of conditions. He even regularly opened the bowling with Fred
Trueman. His Yorkshire spin rival Johnny Wardle likened him to a combination of
Alec Bedser and Jim Laker. Another great Yorkshire bowler, Bill Bowes,
considered Appleyard in the same bracket as Syd Barnes and Bill O’Reilly, both
of whom were noted, not just for being deadly, but for using the totality of
the bowler’s technique (although Barnes insisted that unlike O’Reilly he had no
need of a googly!). This adaptability proved especially important in Australia,
where Appleyard recognised that conditions would be different from what he was used
to, and adjusted his technique successfully. <o:p></o:p></div>
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On the tour of 1954-5 he played in four test matches, taking
only 11 wickets, but at an average (20) better even than Tyson, Statham, Wardle
and Bailey (who destroyed Australia several times over), often bowling in
extreme heat as in the Adelaide test. For this tour he had been preferred to
Laker, with Wardle the other main spinner.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Appleyard missed the first test – fortunately for him as
Australia, inserted, scored 600 against an all-seam attack, and won by an
innings. In the second test, a thriller won by England by 38 runs, Australia
were demolished by Tyson, Statham, and Bailey. Appleyard took the crucial
wicket of Benaud in the second innings, but his 19 not out in a last wicket
stand of 46 with Statham in the second innings gave England an unexpected edge with
a stand just 8 runs more than the margin of victory. <o:p></o:p></div>
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In the fourth test Appleyard’s contribution was major as he
took 6 wickets for 71 in the match – 3 top order batsmen in each innings,
ripping out first the top order then the middle order, including the priceless
wicket of Neil Harvey, as England won with ease. His role was a supporting one
to Wardle in the remainder of the series, but he went on to New Zealand, taking
4 for 7 in New Zealand’s humiliation being bowled out for the lowest ever test
score of 26 at Christchurch.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Appleyard’s major test match feat statistically, however,
was to take 5 for 51 at Nottingham in his first test, the second against
Pakistan in 1954, where they were rolled over for 157 in the first innings.
Appleyard’s victims included the great Hanif Mohamed. Oddly, he did not play
again in that series, in which Wardle, Laker, Tattersall and McConnon also
competed for spinners’ places. When you think that Illingworth and Lock
remained in the wings throughout, it is clear the quality of the field was
extremely high!<o:p></o:p></div>
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Appleyard came late to the game, following a spell in the
leagues, but took 200 wickets in his first full season, 1951, the only bowler
ever to achieve that feat. The following year he was laid low for a whole year
in hospital with TB, having half of one lung removed. It was thought he would
never play again. Indeed he had to learn to walk again as part of a two-year
recovery process. Physical decline during 1956-8 meant that he barely played
six full seasons of cricket at first class level, and his career finished
rather earlier than it might have done but for his physical challenges.<o:p></o:p></div>
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More than this, Appleyard’s whole life was filled with
tragedy. At 15 he discovered his father, step-mother and two younger sisters
gassed in the bathroom. Later he lost both his son and his grandson to
leukaemia. Nonetheless, he appears to have coped well enough to reach 90 before
passing away in 2015, with a cheerful demeanour, an instinct for
institution-building (Yorkshire owes its cricket academy to him), and few
regrets over lack of selection, untimely illness, and both a late start and an
early end to his career. He was unfortunate to have to compete with an England
bowling squad ranked as its best in the entire 20<sup>th</sup> century.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The 1950s were, it is true, a good time for English spinners
to take wickets and bowl a lot of maiden overs. It is difficult to classify as
really great a bowler who played only nine tests, despite the high opinions
expressed by his peers and the great qualities feared by batsmen in all
conditions. Appleyard’s career is a reminder of the vicissitudes of life and
how a sportsman can come so near to, yet so far from, greatness. It is also a
reminder that adversity is a natural condition and that, like Appleyard, we
should face it with appreciation of the good times and without blame or
resentment. In the context of his life and times, Bob Appleyard enhanced the
game he loved, was fortunate to enjoy a career that might never have happened,
and to have at least touched, if not quite achieving, greatness.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br />Andrew Hardinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15954270826267048283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8804284970071192091.post-35979762191693199762018-04-15T21:43:00.001+08:002018-06-07T00:12:39.234+08:00Enoch Powell and the River of Blood: A Memoir of 1968<br />
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In February 1968 the MP for Wolverhampton South West, and shadow defence secretary Enoch Powell gave a speech in Birmingham that has become notorious in British political history. So notorious that the proposed broadcasting of this speech by the BBC 50 years later has caused considerable controversy – not controversy as great perhaps as the original speech, as I will explain, but nonetheless a political storm.</div>
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At that time I was living in Wolverhampton, and attending Wolverhampton Grammar School. My father was General Secretary of the local YMCA, and a well-known figure in youth and community work and community relations. He was once offered the position of first Community Relations Officer in the UK. He turned it down as he thought the first CRO should not be a white British man. The position was I think given to Harvey de Pass, a West Indian who became something of a legendary figure in this field. We lived in a flat on the upper floor of the YMCA building in the city centre. It was not a salubrious area. It was seamy, down at heel, crime-ridden, and fraught with social problems and racial strife. It was a very mixed community of working class white British, Italians, Irish, Poles, West Indians, Pakistanis, Indians, Chinese and others. If the UK had problems with multi-culturalism, as it was just then beginning to be called, they were probably more in evidence in the centre of Wolverhampton than almost anywhere else in the UK. As a result of Windrush migration and other migration from Commonwealth countries, the UK had seen a large growth in such arrivals during the 1950s and 1960s.</div>
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The mixed nature of this community was augmented by the many students and others that put up in the YMCA hostel. They came from a very large number of countries. I was as a young teenager often spellbound by their stories of their own countries – Indian railways, Iraqi food, West Indian cricket, the Turkish air force, and so on. My father, like many others working in this community, tried his best to create good community relations. The Sikhs lacked a place to worship, so he allowed them to use the YMCA sports hall on Sunday mornings. They looked up to him and asked him to arbitrate when they had internal strife. On the same premises several of us participated in an evening programme teaching English to young migrants mainly from India and Pakistan. When they left we had to watch out for gangs of skinheads who might taunt them or even provoke violence. One evening, a young female Labour political aspirant visited the lessons. This young woman behaved in a rather queenly fashion, and later became a well-known Labour minister and member of the House of Lords. She adverted on television to ‘what we in Wolverhampton are doing’ for migrants, giving our teaching programme as an example. She had spent all of half an hour in the building. The ‘we’ did not include her. The programme was started by my father and others, not the Labour Party. This was a lesson for me in realising that in politics the moral high ground can be shifting territory!</div>
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Powell’s speech was like a lighted squib thrown into a pile of dry wood. It threatened to reduce Wolverhampton to something like the social landscape of an American inner city area. The speech, opposing the Race Relations Bill then before Parliament, raised the spectre of the country being taken over by Commonwealth immigrants as numbers increased beyond 10% of the population. The speech argued that it was the white British who were being discriminated against and that the rule of law meant that social relations between citizens could not be regulated. Powell believed the UK faced a social crisis which nobody was addressing. He finished his speech with a famous passage where, using the words of the Roman poet Virgil, he seemed “to see the River Tiber foaming with blood”. Hence the title the speech has been given. Powell had been a classics professor previously, and was undoubtedly a highly intelligent man, if, in my view, somewhat psychotic and malignantly driven. In view of the BBC’s decision, I revisited the speech the other day for the first time in 50 years. It is easily available on YouTube.</div>
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For many people this speech had undone the good work they had been doing for some years. There is evidence that the majority of people in the UK thought that Powell spoke for them. He was very widely respected. Powell was immediately sacked from the shadow cabinet by the Tory Party leader Edward Heath. However, he was not, as some people think, expelled from the party, and remained a Tory MP until 1974. Nonetheless, political analysts attribute both the Tory election win of 1970 and the Labour election win of 1974 to Powell. In the first instance voters regarded him as protecting their rights against migrants. The Tories benefitted from his standing. In the second case, however, Powell turned on his party for surrendering the sovereignty of Parliament to the European Community, asking voters to vote Labour as they were more anti-European than the Tories at that time. His career took a strange turn when he left his Wolverhampton seat to become the unionist MP for Antrim in Northern Ireland.</div>
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For very many of my generation Powell embodied everything that we disliked about British society. He represented narrow racism and right-wing views we abhorred, on almost everything. He was known as an exceptionally hard-nosed minister for health in the early 1960s, who had had no sympathy for nurses’ pay claims. At university as students we demonstrated against Powell specifically as a symbol of the Britain that we rejected.</div>
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In the aftermath of the speech my father went to see Powell in his constituency office. He explained to him that racial tensions in the city were high and violence could explode at any time. He pleaded with Powell to issue a statement to the effect that his speech was intended to imply hatred towards migrants, but was directed to a policy issue. I will not forget what my father said on his return from that meeting. “He looked at me with those steely blue eyes, and just said, ‘Mr Harding, I am a politician. Good day.’” Some years later a Sunday newspaper tracked my father down shopping with my mother in Glasgow to interview him for an article on the subject of the speech and its context.</div>
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I have often puzzled over this extraordinary statement by Powell. To understand it, we need to recognise that with Powell there was none of the politician’s usual eyewash: he could have been accommodating in some manner, for example, explaining that he did not intend to inflame violence, only to warn against its possible causes. He was, in a strange sense, a man of principle. His principles were terrible, but his career shows that he stuck rigidly to them irrespective of their political fallout or even his own career. I only met him once, when he visited the school to give a talk. He was an erudite, forbidding figure, like a particularly intelligent but unpleasantly disciplinarian military officer, with a superior attitude towards lesser mortals. He began by saying that people were always convinced they knew what he was going to say, and, afterwards, that he had said it. This was true. He was fawned over by middle-class ladies in hats with flowers on them, but he was not in a sense mainstream Tory. He was, for example, opposed to nuclear weapons. He treated us to a complex economic discourse designed to show that socialism was uneconomic and taxes could easily be reduced. We listened sullenly, hardly following the speech, except for a few well-dressed boys from rich families who seemed rather delighted. Incidentally, we were also treated later to a talk by the chair of the local communist party, whom I found equally unconvincing.</div>
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I do not read Powell’s reply to my father as saying that he would exploit political opportunity if he wanted to. That does not ring true. I think he meant that he genuinely disliked immigrants (in his speech he excepted from his opprobrium only NHS doctors and students of the kind I encountered in the hostel). He poured scorn on communities who would not accept the same standards in employment as native British workers (he meant the Sikhs asking to be able to keep their turbans), and no doubt considered that he represented those who agreed with his racist views rather than lefties or social workers like my father. Powell’s views on social provision were such that he would have willingly cut all their jobs in public services. But I think Powell was not dishonest. I believe he genuinely held his views to be correct, and indeed prophetic, callous and wrong as they were. He believed he was responding to a real crisis.</div>
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The school itself was the focus of attention when the local evening paper editorialised that the school was racist, having only white boys in a very mixed population. The headmaster, ER Taylor, was enraged by this the next morning in assembly. He asked ‘Cocoa’ Wilson, our cricket first XI’s fast bowler and a West Indian lad, to stand up. “There”, he said triumphantly, “is the living proof that we are not a racist school”. Wilson was one black boy out of 600. I recall thinking, “Headmaster, you have no idea what racism is. I felt he was living in a different world altogether. Later on there was also a Sikh boy. Ratio 1:300.</div>
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There was much experience in the city to lead me to believe that racism was prevalent everywhere and was actually acceptable in most quarters, even if not at official levels. Powell had tapped into the prejudice that characterised British society at that time. He undoubtedly thought he should be Prime Minister, but fortunately he was pushed further and further away from that possibility following the speech. Edward Heath did at least have courage to sack Powell immediately, and distance his party from Powell’s views.</div>
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Listening again to that speech which caused me revulsion in 1968 I have two reactions. One is that its argument seems in retrospect laughable. In terms of rhetoric it was strong on terrifying images, but, for a logician like Powell, very weak on facts. The picture he painted of white urban residents in social retreat, faeces being pushed through their letter boxes, bore little proportion to the reality of immigrant experiences. My other reaction was that in 50 years we have actually come a long way. There was fierce discussion at that time about solutions: should immigrants be encouraged to ‘integrate’ or retain their own cultures? Nowadays for the most part we see that there is no necessary distinction here. You can be British and retain to a large extent a West Indian or Pakistani culture. This is not to say we have no problems. We have large problems of alienated people, but not I think, generally, whole alienated communities as such. And despite acts of terrorism inspired from outside the UK, we are nowhere near direct confrontation between communities as Powell tried to make us fear would happen.</div>
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In my opinion the BBC should rebroadcast the speech and there should be debate about it. This would be healthy. Yes, in the world of Brexit, we have people who probably share Powell’s attitudes towards foreigners. But let us not push everything under the carpet as though we are not mature citizens who can discuss these issues in the light of facts and changes in society. I think the youngest generation especially will benefit from listening to the programme. The broadcast would not constitute illegal hate speech, as some maintain. This is a misconception. The programme will not celebrate the speech but use its 50<sup>th</sup> anniversary to highlight the issues surrounding it. The same applies in my view to the proposal to place a plaque of the wall of the house where Powell lived. This does not mean we approve of Powell. It means rather that he is part of the history of both our country and the city of Wolverhampton. Marking the past is controversial worldwide. The past is of course another country. It is never a past we are completely proud of, but we should not for that reason forget it.</div>
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Andrew Hardinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15954270826267048283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8804284970071192091.post-83224728674027689142018-02-27T15:03:00.001+08:002021-11-03T21:23:35.138+08:00Five-foot Ways as Public and Private Domain in Singapore and Beyond (from Journal of Property, Planning and Environmental Law]<div class="WordSection1">
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Abstract:<o:p></o:p></div>
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<i>This article explores the concept and spread
of the five-foot way (5FW) as an aspect of urban design peculiar to Southeast
Asia. It locates the 5FW as an aspect of planning law and property law that has
been adapted culturally to provide a unique space for public-private
interaction. The article also explores, in a related context, conflicts over
the appropriate use of 5FWs and the issue of regulating such use.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<i>The approach adopted is to look at the
development of the 5FW over the entire colonial period of Singapore, starting
in 1819, up to the present day. Comparisons are drawn from other urban
settlements over a similar period.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The
article finds that the 5FW, with its related device of the shophouse, provided
a uniquely efficacious space for protection of the public from the elements and
for public-private interaction. It finds that regulation of 5FWs should be
undertaken with due regard both to public right of way and to the cultural
element of making private use of the space.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The
originality of the article lies in the fact that the 5FW has not been
considered as an artefact of legal culture in addition to being an artefact of
urban design.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><i>Introduction<o:p></o:p></i></b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Insufficient
attention has been paid to the law in the context of the organisation of urban
spaces in Asia.<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/Documents/5FW%20Article%20280118.docx#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>
This is especially true in Southeast Asia, which has historic urban spaces as
well as sprawling modern cities such as Jakarta (population now exceeding that
of the entire continent of Australia), Bangkok, Manila, and so on. Many of
these, such as the three former Straits Settlements of Singapore, Malacca and
Penang, as well as cities laid out at a similar period under British rule, such
as Kuching, Ipoh, Johor Bahru and Kuala Lumpur, have been deeply affected by
colonial urban planning laws, which have also not been extensively examined.<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/Documents/5FW%20Article%20280118.docx#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">[2]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a><o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Both
historically and in the contemporary Southeast Asian city law plays a crucial
role in organising urban space and in preserving historical spaces as social,
cultural, or aesthetic artefacts. Some indeed, like Penang and Malacca, are
designated as UNESCO World Heritage sites.<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/Documents/5FW%20Article%20280118.docx#_ftn3" name="_ftnref3" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">[3]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> Scholarship
in social sciences emphasises the fact of and the need for survival of the
‘vernacular’ and of communities in spite of the contemporary urban sprawl.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The
design of these historic elements of built environment, including spaces, owes
much to colonial urban planning under British rule, influenced as it was by
British or other colonial urban design cultures as well as social, economic and
political factors.<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/Documents/5FW%20Article%20280118.docx#_ftn4" name="_ftnref4" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">[4]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>
That the models adopted in these cities have survived the test of time (at
least two hundred years in some cases such as Singapore<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/Documents/5FW%20Article%20280118.docx#_ftn5" name="_ftnref5" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">[5]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>) shows
that they remain not just an aspect of heritage but have been functionally
relevant as well as socially and culturally adapted to Southeast Asia’s
post-colonial world. They have also been sites for contestation between subject
peoples and colonial governments, as Brenda Yeoh’s work has shown.<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/Documents/5FW%20Article%20280118.docx#_ftn6" name="_ftnref6" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">[6]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> They
are in short living built heritage. And there is no better example of this than
the five-foot way that is the modest subject of this article.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The ‘<i>kaki lima</i>’ or five-foot way (5FW) is a
unique concept in Southeast Asian urban design, which has spread to several
places across Asia, not just those that were British colonies (e.g., Xiamen in
Fujian province, China, and Manila). The 5FW, introduced by Stamford Raffles
under the Jackson Plan in Singapore in 1822 or 1823,<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/Documents/5FW%20Article%20280118.docx#_ftn7" name="_ftnref7" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">[7]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> is a
very simple but effective concept. It is a pedestrian walkway which runs along
the frontage of adjoining buildings in a street, overhung by the second floors
of those buildings, which are supported by columns along the highway side of the
5FW, each placed at the limit of the individual tenement and fronting the
street, creating a colonnade, or, in 19<sup>th</sup> century usage, a
‘verandah’.<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/Documents/5FW%20Article%20280118.docx#_ftn8" name="_ftnref8" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">[8]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a><o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Shophouses are carefully described by Singapore’s
Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) as follows:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-align: justify;">
narrow, small-scale terraced
houses that are used for both work and dwelling and offer heat and rain
protection for the passing public … [they are] typically two to three storeys
high, are built in contiguous blocks bounded by a grid pattern network of roads
and backlanes … and share party walls. [The shophouse] provides facilities for
business premises on the ground floor and residential accommodation on the
upper storeys – an ideal unit for small-scale, family-based commercial
operations … the upper floors of the shophouse are accessed through the open
door-front on the ground floor or from side stairs leading from the five-foot
way.<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/Documents/5FW%20Article%20280118.docx#_ftn9" name="_ftnref9" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">[9]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a><o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The
benefits of the 5FW are as many as they are obvious. The pedestrian is sheltered
from the sun and rain – factor of great importance in Southeast Asia with its
hot sun and torrential rainstorms. She may view shops and restaurants under
cover while proceeding along the street. Crucial living space in crowded areas is
saved due to the projection of the buildings’ upper floors. The 5FW is both a highway
for the pedestrian public to ‘pass and repass’ (to use traditional common law
terminology<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/Documents/5FW%20Article%20280118.docx#_ftn10" name="_ftnref10" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">[10]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>),
and social space for interaction between shopkeepers, restaurateurs and the
public, or for the benefit of local residents. Moreover 5FWs can be easily lit
at night without resort to lampstands. Some, in the author’s own observation,
are even endowed with ceiling fans provided by the adjoining owner. In practice,
as anyone who has been to Southeast Asia will know, the 5FW is also used for
maximising private space, usually for profit. It is usual, although not always wholly
acceptable, for the 5FW to be used for almost any activity - repairing
motorcycles, display of merchandise, stacking garbage, providing extra
restaurant tables, selling motor insurance or lottery tickets, frying noodles,
or executing one’s homework – to name but a few examples observed by the author
in recent years. In 19<sup>th</sup> century Georgetown and even up to 2000 they
were used for <i>jagas</i> (guards,
invariably Sikhs) to sleep on their <i>charpoys</i>
(string beds). In the Hokkien (Fujian) Chinese dialect, trades known as <i>gho kha ki</i><a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/Documents/5FW%20Article%20280118.docx#_ftn11" name="_ftnref11" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">[11]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>
trades are those carried on in 5FWs. As Limin Hee and Giok Ling Ooi have
explored, the 5FW has often been a contested space due to overcrowding and a
general lack of city planning, historically speaking at least, in Singapore:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-align: justify;">
most of the time, these
walkways did not actually serve pedestrians because they were privatized and
often used as additional storage or retail display space. More often than not
pedestrians had to spill over to the already crowded streets and their traffic.
The verandah thus became a strongly contested terrain, its municipal definition
as planned circulation space constantly frustrated by business, communal and
social activities. While events such as the ‘verandah riots’ of 1887
represented dramatic conflicts over the use of these spaces, the daily
contestations tempered the colonial municipal vision of an orderly city.<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/Documents/5FW%20Article%20280118.docx#_ftn12" name="_ftnref12" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">[12]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a><o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Despite
the policy of locating traders, especially food-hawkers, to custom-built food
courts and similar relocation policies, habitual usages even now often impede
the 5FW’s use as a public passageway. On the other hand, such spillage of
private into public space also makes for a characterful and colourful
spectacle. Many 5FWs have charm (see the photographs at the end of this article),
and where they are not present, as in the very oldest parts of Malacca, their
absence is sorely felt by modern residents and visitors, dodging traffic in the
street and avoiding sun and rain to circumvent closed off ‘verandahs’, there
being no other means of passage.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
As such
the 5FW is uniquely deserving of both study and preservation as an aspect of
living the Southeast Asian culture. It is, for example, carefully buttressed by
steel scaffolds during Singapore’s Mass Rapid Transit expansion around Jalan
Besar, in case of damage to shophouses and injury to the public from vibration
and piling. Documentation issued by Singapore’s URA explains much to owners of
old shophouses about the importance of 5FWs.<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/Documents/5FW%20Article%20280118.docx#_ftn13" name="_ftnref13" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">[13]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> 200
years of development have in no sense reduced the utility of the 5FW. It has
been adapted and increased in size for modern streets of office blocks, and can
be found even at the upper floors of markets and shopping precincts. Suburban
Johor Bahru in Malaysia displays numerous examples of shophouse precincts with
5FWs constructed within the last two or three years.<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/Documents/5FW%20Article%20280118.docx#_ftn14" name="_ftnref14" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">[14]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> These
are essentially no different from those built in early 19<sup>th</sup> century
Singapore. ‘Five-foot’ is of course an approximation based on Raffles’ original
instruction; in practice the five feet may be larger or smaller depending on
local needs. Indeed by a regulation of 1908 the Municipal Commissioners in
Singapore already expanded the 5FW to a seven-foot way, and, such was their
belief in this design that they even imposed the creation of such ‘7FWs’ as a
condition for submission of any new building plan.<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/Documents/5FW%20Article%20280118.docx#_ftn15" name="_ftnref15" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">[15]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> By-Law
121, made under the Municipal Ordinance,<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/Documents/5FW%20Article%20280118.docx#_ftn16" name="_ftnref16" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">[16]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>
stipulated that any person ‘who shall erect a building which abuts on a street
or road shall provide a verandah-way or an uncovered foot-way of the width of
at least seven feet’.<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/Documents/5FW%20Article%20280118.docx#_ftn17" name="_ftnref17" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">[17]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a><span style="font-family: "verdana" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Of course
the preservation of this special space depends on the preservation of the
buildings that define it, as the URA has constantly stressed.<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/Documents/5FW%20Article%20280118.docx#_ftn18" name="_ftnref18" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">[18]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> Nowadays,
URA policy in Singapore provides for preservation of 5FWs just as it provides
for the preservation of old shophouses.<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/Documents/5FW%20Article%20280118.docx#_ftn19" name="_ftnref19" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">[19]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> The
two are inextricably intertwined and in many ways mutually dependant as we will
see.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><i>Origins<o:p></o:p></i></b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The origins of the 5FW are probably less
important than its claim to longevity. Still, if we claim that it is uniquely
Southeast Asian, that claim needs to be explained and substantiated.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Raffles may well have introduced the 5FW in
Singapore having seen it in Dutch Batavia (modern Jakarta) when he was Governor
of Java (1814-18: he arrived in Singapore in 1819). It is also possible that it
has origins in Southern Europe (Spain, Italy), which have a similarly hot
climate to Southeast Asia. Indeed in the Spanish empire, attempts were made to
predetermine aspects of city planning by legislation; the Spanish <i>Law of the Indies</i> of 1542 provides at
Ordinance 115:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-align: justify;">
Around the plaza as well as
along the four principal streets which begin there, there shall be arcades, for
these are of considerable convenience to the merchants who generally gather
there; the eight streets running from the plaza at the four corners shall open on
the plaza without encountering these arcades, which shall be kept back in order
that there may be sidewalks even with the streets and plaza.<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/Documents/5FW%20Article%20280118.docx#_ftn20" name="_ftnref20" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">[20]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
There is an interesting difference with the 5FW.
The ordinance indicates that the ‘arcades’ are for the convenience of the
merchants, and not necessarily for passage, since there would be a separate
sidewalk for pedestrians. It may be that this early Spanish concept in urban
design avoided the constant conflicts over use of 5FWs in areas coming under its
British equivalent. At the same time, the utility of the Spanish design to the
public would have been reduced compared to the 5FW.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
However, the 5FW could have its origins in
Southern China, which also shares a tropical climate with SE Asia. Plausibly
(and this is the view the author prefers, although we will probably never know
for certain) it could have been brought to Batavia by Southern Chinese migrants
from Fujian or Guangzhou and been adopted (or perhaps merely allowed?) by city
authorities there. Raffles may well have seen it as the simple but effective
design it is and adopted or encouraged its use in Singapore as Chinese migrants
arrived in the early 1820s and beyond. As with most things associated with
Southeast Asia, its origins probably lie outside the region, but its uniquely
Southeast Asian nature is attributable to the way in which it has been
culturally adapted to Southeast Asia and has persisted to this day. The concept
spread rapidly from Singapore through British colonies, especially Georgetown, Penang,
and later other urban centres in Malaya such as Ipoh, Johor Bahru, Kuala
Terengganu, and further afield in Sarawak’s capital city, Kuching, Jesselton the
capital city of North Borneo (modern Kota Kinabalu/ Sabah), and Brunei, all on
the island of Borneo.<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/Documents/5FW%20Article%20280118.docx#_ftn21" name="_ftnref21" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">[21]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>
It is found even in quite small settlements in Peninsular Malaya such as Kuala
Pilah in Negri Sembilan and tiny Yong Peng, a one-street Foo-chow (Fuzhou) Chinese
town in Johor. Wherever the Chinese settled under British rule, invariably in
urban or semi-urban settlements, the shophouse and the 5FW inevitably followed.
Malacca on the other hand has few 5FWs due to it having been largely laid out
in earlier colonial times before the 5FW became fashionable; nonetheless, as
elsewhere, 5FWs may be found in its newer (i.e. early 20<sup>th</sup> century)
Chinatown streets.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
On his return to Singapore in 1822, Raffles was
disturbed by the laissez-faire manner in which the new colony had grown up, and
instituted concerted town planning in the form of the <i>Jackson Plan</i>, which defined ethnic areas and laid out the city on a
grid basis.<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/Documents/5FW%20Article%20280118.docx#_ftn22" name="_ftnref22" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">[22]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> This
‘Plan for the Town of Singapore’ was made by a committee and named after its
chair, Lieutenant Philip Jackson, land surveyor and engineer of the colony.<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/Documents/5FW%20Article%20280118.docx#_ftn23" name="_ftnref23" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">[23]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>
This grid plan had a number of useful functions. It made efficient use of
space, which was important in a busy, commercial port city. It allowed for more
light, for more air to circulate, and improved public health in areas that
would be densely inhabited. 5FWs can be effectively air tunnels creating a
welcome breeze. The main advantages of the 5FW system, according to Raffles,
were ventilation and scavenging (refuse collection).<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/Documents/5FW%20Article%20280118.docx#_ftn24" name="_ftnref24" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">[24]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>
Reserving wide streets between the 5FWs for vehicular traffic was a safe and
efficient means of providing for trade and communications. In a sense the 5FW
provided a useful trade-off, because these wide streets were unprotected from the
elements; the public could escape the traffic and enjoy the advantages of the
mixed-use 5FW. The danger of accidents involving pedestrians, as motor vehicles
became more common, was slight: kerbs and pillars would normally prevent a
vehicle from entering the 5FW at all. Nowadays, in modern Singapore, road
verges are often full of trees that overhang the road, providing protection for
the road and its traffic, as well as growing tall enough to avoid the tops of
the largest vehicles.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Of course one might also see, in this clinically
clean-lined form of planning, evidence of a colonial,
enlightenment-thinking-driven obsession with mathematical precision as good for
both body and soul. If one does, the attitude in question has also a strong fit
with the clinical tidiness of modern Singapore’s highly regulated
thoroughfares. It made a strong statement about the superiority of orderly British
government over chaotically inductive Asian urban pluralism, emphasising not
just economic efficiency but social improvement too. In this way, Asian urban
design traditions were, according to Robert Home, deliberately ignored;<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/Documents/5FW%20Article%20280118.docx#_ftn25" name="_ftnref25" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">[25]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>
yet the vernacular certainly fought back, resisting the attempts at
rationalising its behaviour.<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/Documents/5FW%20Article%20280118.docx#_ftn26" name="_ftnref26" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">[26]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>
Still, one wonders if Raffles and Jackson considered the 5FW to be culturally
relevant to the Chinese population at least. It may even be, as is argued
above, that they culled the 5FW itself from observation of spontaneous Chinese
migrant housing. In one respect at least this British town planning did ignore
a culturally relevant factor, namely the traditional air well of Chinese
houses, which one can see often in (pre-Raffles) Malacca, but not in the Singapore
of Raffles’ time and immediately following, although it appears in some later versions
of the Singapore shophouse. Given the consideration given to public health,
this is odd: the air well provided light and air in what would otherwise be the
dark and dank rear and middle areas of the shophouse, where members of the
shopkeeper’s family would be housed.<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/Documents/5FW%20Article%20280118.docx#_ftn27" name="_ftnref27" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">[27]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a><o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The British Empire was not exactly acquired in
what Churchill famously alleged as a ‘fit of absent-mindedness’. Nonetheless it
was extremely messy in terms of what we might call constitutional and legal status,
depending largely on the modes of imperialism preferred by local officials on
the basis of creating some kind of contextually salient legitimacy. Accordingly,
even the status of the Crown varied greatly across the empire’s numerous
categories of imperial presence. When it came to urban planning, however, and
the regulatory laws that were introduced, standard positions did ultimately emerge,
even if they were often ignored or departed from radically, as one might
expect, in the actual implementation locally. Robert Home shows how, across the
world from the American colonies to Australia, Asia and Africa, a ‘Grand Modell’
was developed by Lord Shaftesbury and others from the Restoration (1660s) period
(the same period as Wren’s rebuilding of the City of London and St Paul’s
Cathedral) and then changed over time up to the 20<sup>th</sup> century to deal
with new circumstances. This model was sufficiently dirigiste in some areas
that the grid pattern was modified by introducing diagonal streets to make the
town plan look exactly like a Union Jack: that is quite an imperial statement.
It tended to transcend the constitutional and even geographical particularities
of the city or town in question, even if it failed to replicate the highly
centralised, regularised, bureaucratic approach of the Spanish empire in South
America. In Singapore,the grid plan of Lieutenant Jackson was modified somewhat
by the irregularity of the island it sought to control. Even the Spanish laws
recognised that locality might demand some modification. Asia differed from
South America in that, in general urban centres, they were populous and highly
developed before the arrival of European powers. Singapore is an exception in
this regard, and Raffles had a much freer hand than many other colony-planters.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
In Asia one function of this type of urban
planning was to divide the various ethnic groups from each other.<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/Documents/5FW%20Article%20280118.docx#_ftn28" name="_ftnref28" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">[28]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>
This can still be easily seen in the street names of downtown Singapore<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/Documents/5FW%20Article%20280118.docx#_ftn29" name="_ftnref29" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">[29]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>
such as Bencoolen Street, Hong Kong Street, Arab Street, Armenian Street, Bugis
Street, and so on. Bencoolen Street, for example, was inhabited by Bengkulu
people who followed Raffles to Singapore after he was Governor of Bencoolen in
Sumatra.<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/Documents/5FW%20Article%20280118.docx#_ftn30" name="_ftnref30" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">[30]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>
The 5FW may be seen not just in Chinese areas; it is prevalent in Little India
around Serangoon Road, and in parts of Kampong Glam, which is a traditionally
Malay area. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The <i>Jackson
Plan</i> divided Singapore into ethnic subdivisions<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/Documents/5FW%20Article%20280118.docx#_ftn31" name="_ftnref31" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">[31]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>
and laid out the new colony in the familiar grid pattern, at least as far as
the contours of the island permitted. Four areas were delineated: a European
town for Europeans, Eurasians, Jews, Armenians, and wealthy Asians (i.e., those
referred to by Raffles as ‘respectable’) - this area corresponding to modern
downtown Singapore’s civic and heritage district; a Chinese kampong (modern
Chinatown); Kampong Chulia (modern Little India) for ‘Indians’ or South Asians;
Kampong Glam for Muslims, primarily Malays and various Arab or other Muslim
groups.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The shophouse itself was well adapted to the
economy and culture of the 19<sup>th</sup> and early 20<sup>th</sup> century
Straits Settlements. The influx of females mitigated an overwhelmingly male
demography, introducing eventually family life and children.<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/Documents/5FW%20Article%20280118.docx#_ftn32" name="_ftnref32" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">[32]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>
The shophouse and its 5FW offered an opportunity to combine the public presence
of the family business with the need for the privacy of growing families. This
made a useful contribution to the survival and adaptation of the 5FW to more
modern conditions. It was good for business but did not expose the privacy of
the family to unwelcome invasion by the public.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
During the 19<sup>th</sup> century planning laws
and policies were developed further, making as we have seen copious use of the
power of the Municipal Commissioners and, later, the Singapore Improvement
Trust, to make by-laws. This process was carried to a logical conclusion under
Singapore’s post-independence government, which, via the URA, stressed even more
the benefits of good planning and strict laws enforcing planning policy. By the
1980s the issue had become one of preservation rather than use of 5FWs.<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/Documents/5FW%20Article%20280118.docx#_ftn33" name="_ftnref33" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">[33]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>
The policy of segregation was reversed. In modern Singapore the ethnic groups
would be homogenised in HDB estates and kampongs (villages of Malay <i>attap</i> houses) would be done away with.<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/Documents/5FW%20Article%20280118.docx#_ftn34" name="_ftnref34" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">[34]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a><o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><i>Regulation<o:p></o:p></i></b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
This leads us inevitably to the issue of regulation.
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Strictly speaking, in law the 5FW is normally
within the freehold of the tenement adjoining the highway, and the public has merely
a right of way over it (that is to say, as we have seen above, merely the right
at common law to pass and repass). The 5FW offers a legally suitable means of
providing for public access. It offers a useful compromise between public and
private uses. It facilitates support for the upper levels of the shophouse,
providing extra living space that would not otherwise be available, and safety
for the public passing below. As a matter of observation, however, in actual
social usage the 5FW is treated as a shared rather than public space (see photographs).
Even in modern, highly regulated Singapore it is common to see restaurant
tables in the 5FW as well as many other private uses. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
This in turn raises the issue of what constitutes
the pubic right and when it is contravened by an obstruction. The right the public
enjoys in practice at common law is for its ‘passing and repassing’ not to be
completely obstructed, as indicated by the House of Lords in <i>DPP v Jones and Another</i>.<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/Documents/5FW%20Article%20280118.docx#_ftn35" name="_ftnref35" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">[35]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>
In leading tort text Clerk and Lindsell the
current state of the common law as to the question of use of a public right of
way is summarised in these terms:<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/Documents/5FW%20Article%20280118.docx#_ftn36" name="_ftnref36" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">[36]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-align: justify;">
The right of the public in
respect of a highway is limited to the use of it for the purpose of passing and
repassing and for such other reasonable purposes as it is usual to use the
highway; if a member of the public uses it for any other purpose than that of
passing and repassing he will be a trespasser. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
This passage was cited with approval by Lord
Irvine in <i>DPP v Jones</i>. His Lordship
set out the limits of this right in the following terms: <o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="background: white;">The
question … is whether the law today should recognise that the public highway is
a public place, on which all manner of reasonable activities may go on. For the
reasons I set out below in my judgment it should. Provided these activities are
reasonable, do not involve the commission of a public or private nuisance, and
do not amount to an obstruction of the highway unreasonably impeding the
primary right of the general public to pass and repass, they should not
constitute a trespass. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="background: white;">On
this basis it is not at all certain whether appropriation of a 5FW for use by
the landowner or his tenant that would <i>not
actually obstruct</i> the public in the exercise of its right of passage would
be unlawful. The matter remains to be tested in the courts in Singapore.<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/Documents/5FW%20Article%20280118.docx#_ftn37" name="_ftnref37" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">[37]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> </span>In other words (for
example in the local context of Singapore and other 5FW settlements) the
pedestrian may have to thread her way around tables, step over parts of
motorcycles, avoid stacks of cartons, fridges, and so on, but <i>complete</i> obstruction is rare these days,
and would not normally be tolerated officially or unofficially. The result,
even in Singapore, is a sense of chaos that might be seen as either charming or
inconvenient, depending on one’s point of view. An exception that becomes
increasingly common is the renovation of shophouses,<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/Documents/5FW%20Article%20280118.docx#_ftn38" name="_ftnref38" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">[38]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>
where it may be necessary on a temporary basis to block off access to the 5FW
while renovation is being carried out, as a matter of both convenience for the
contractors and safety for the public. In this usage the 5FW pillar,
historically often used for Chinese-character advertising or hanging menus or
calendars, is used to hang a curtain of tarpaulin or the like, preventing dust
and signalling the pedestrian to walk around the cordoned-off area.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
From this it is clear that social usage in Southeast
Asia does not exactly conform to the binary notion of public and private rights
(i.e., public rights over private property) that the common law espouses and
has found convenient in the observance over many centuries in England. Rather,
in Southeast Asia, the line between the two is fuzzy and shifts according to
circumstances, or according to how far the private owner feels able with
impunity to make use of or impinge on the public right of way. From time to
time, attempts are made to ‘clear’ 5FWs. ‘Local authorities must ensure’,
pontificated one urban guru in a Malaysian newspaper in January 2016, ‘that
their building inspectors clear the five-foot ways of obstacles. Those not
familiar with five-foot ways and how these are misused, are encouraged to take
a walk along Campbell Street in Georgetown, Penang’.<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/Documents/5FW%20Article%20280118.docx#_ftn39" name="_ftnref39" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">[39]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>
Given the funding pressures on Malaysian local authorities, this is highly
unlikely to occur on any consistent or ongoing basis, or perhaps even at all.
Much the same could be said about Singapore’s Little India, where the
authorities have succeeded in controlling alcohol sales and consumption
following a riot of migrant workers in 2013.<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/Documents/5FW%20Article%20280118.docx#_ftn40" name="_ftnref40" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">[40]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>
They could similarly regulate the use of 5FWs but presumably choose not to do
so. The issue of regulating 5FWs is certainly one known to the URA.<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/Documents/5FW%20Article%20280118.docx#_ftn41" name="_ftnref41" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">[41]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a><o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Officially, public authorities tend, not
surprisingly, to take a rather more clear-cut position than they do in their actual
practice. Attempts have sometimes been made to force shopkeepers to clear the
5FW completely. Such attempts were made in Singapore in 1888, prohibiting food
hawkers from using 5FWs, leading to the so-called ‘Verandah Riots’.<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/Documents/5FW%20Article%20280118.docx#_ftn42" name="_ftnref42" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">[42]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>
Regulation has not been very much in evidence since then. The author also witnessed
an ugly incident in Shanghai in 2005 in which truckloads of police forced
shopkeepers in the old part of the city to remove their goods from the street.
The shopkeepers clearly thought they had a right to use the sidewalk in this
way and some, violently resisting the police, were arrested. Later visits
indicated that the behaviour of shopkeepers had not been in the least affected in
the longer term by this police action. This is similar to the outcome in
Singapore in the 1880s.<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/Documents/5FW%20Article%20280118.docx#_ftn43" name="_ftnref43" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">[43]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>
More recently in an incident over Chinese New Year in February 2016 in Hong
Kong, known as the ‘Fish-ball Riot’, the authorities broke up a customary
practice of selling fish-balls on the street at Chinese New Year.<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/Documents/5FW%20Article%20280118.docx#_ftn44" name="_ftnref44" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">[44]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>
This did not relate specifically to 5FWs, but it is an illustration of how
customary usage can contradict or modify the effect of statute law, creating
tension between police and local communities. A study of Singapore’s Little
India indicates similar conflicts (between arcade managers and shopkeepers) at
a more modest level of outrage. An Indian retailer complained to researcher TC
Chang: ‘[the owner] won’t allow me to have my wares spilling out on to the
pavements. This is the typical Indian way of selling things but what do they
know about Indian customs?’ Not everyone complies: ‘As a means of unleashing
their Indian way of life, these merchants deliberately spill their wares beyond
prescribed boundaries …’; the management is described as ‘all professional
“doctors or lawyers” … completely out of touch with the Indian common folk’.<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/Documents/5FW%20Article%20280118.docx#_ftn45" name="_ftnref45" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">[45]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>
One might add that the tendency for wares to spill out into 5FWs is not
confined to the Indian community, much as the latter views this as an Indian
custom.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
When we decide on preservation of the built
environment, we might well then ask, are we preserving bricks and mortar, or
are we preserving an existing way of life, an aspect of ‘the vernacular’? Clearly
there needs to be some regulation, but this should not mean securing the
removal of everything that is private from the public right of way. Rather it
should merely ensure that passage is not seriously impeded. Such accommodation
tends to preserve the vernacular and the charm of these areas, while
maintaining the purpose of the right of way.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><i>Heritage Preservation and Planning Law<o:p></o:p></i></b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The other relevant aspect for 5FWs from a heritage
point of view is planning law.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Modern planning laws on the British pattern date
from the early 20<sup>th</sup> century.<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/Documents/5FW%20Article%20280118.docx#_ftn46" name="_ftnref46" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">[46]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>
In a real sense the <i>Jackson Plan</i> is a
precursor of these laws, with its insistence on the primacy of state
regulation, and attention to use-zoning, economic viability, and public health.
British officials such as CC Reade, who worked in Malaya 1921-9, were able to
experiment with these laws, and planners in England itself were interested in what
could be learned from Malayan/ Straits Settlements experience as the
planning-law bandwagon moved uncertainly forward in the first half of the 20<sup>th</sup>
century.<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/Documents/5FW%20Article%20280118.docx#_ftn47" name="_ftnref47" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">[47]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a><o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The objectives of these laws were primarily
social and economic, and they were not specifically aimed towards heritage
preservation except where religious buildings were involved. The Bombay Town
Planning Act 1925, for example, used this formula when laying out<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br clear="all" style="mso-break-type: section-break; page-break-before: auto;" />
</span>
<br />
<div class="WordSection2">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
planning powers: ‘the preservation of objects of
historical interest or natural beauty and of buildings actually used for
religious purposes or regarded by the public with special religious
veneration’. Given that shophouses and 5FWs enjoyed their heyday probably as
late as the 1930s-50s and at that stage were awarded neither religious nor
historic significance, they would not have been be protected by such provisions.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Currently planning is dealt with under the
Planning Act,<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/Documents/5FW%20Article%20280118.docx#_ftn48" name="_ftnref48" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">[48]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>
which enables Master Plans to be formulated under section 6. Under these plans,
from around 1980, the URA increasingly embraced urban heritage preservation,
and the traditional shophouse is now seen as a specific target for preservation
as part of Singapore’s cultural heritage as well as for safety reasons, having
regard to their age and possible fragility.<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/Documents/5FW%20Article%20280118.docx#_ftn49" name="_ftnref49" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">[49]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>
In URA documentation ‘colonnaded five-foot ways’ are labelled as integral to
the shophouse design, as we have seen above. It is worth noting here that this
extends not just to the social and economic function of the 5FW but also to its
aesthetic value:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-align: justify;">
The five-foot way paving ...
is commonly finished with traditional finishes such as plain cement screed,
terracotta tiles, clay tiles, cement terrazzo, mosaic, marble-chip terrazzo or
granite slab. Tile patterns used on the five-foot way are sometimes repeated on
the front wall of the shophouse either ending as a skirting or under the window
to form a decorative wall.<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/Documents/5FW%20Article%20280118.docx#_ftn50" name="_ftnref50" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">[50]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a><o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Thus in the Singapore planning regime the shophouse
and the 5FW in all old areas of Singapore are strictly preserved even in
aesthetic details, both externally and internally. This regulation is
accompanied by extensive advice to owners on structural and heritage aspects.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><i>Conclusion<o:p></o:p></i></b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The 5FW, like most things characteristic of
Southeast Asian culture, may not be uniquely Southeast Asian in origin (of this
we remain unsure), but is an interesting example of the way in which in the local
culture of the region, social usage, and understanding may wrap around an
artefact, including a legal artefact, to produce something that is,
nonetheless, characteristic of the region and unique in some ways. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
In this paper I have used the 5FW as an example
having salience both in law and in social usage. More generally we need to know
much more about the effectiveness of laws on urban planning and conservation.
Many relevant laws in Southeast Asia are survivals from Dutch or English legal
precedent circulating across the world. They have been constantly reformed and
retooled in Europe to provide sophisticated instruments for avoiding conflict
and encouraging good decision-making. Asia’s cities are expanding at a
phenomenal rate. It seems inherently unlikely that current laws are adequate (Singapore
may well be an exception) to cater for the conflicting demands of development, transport
infrastructure, and preservation of the precious social and built heritage of
this region. Legal scholarship needs to embrace this field in an
interdisciplinary manner and encourage integrated and effective solutions to
these problems. In this we can learn much from the history and survival of the
5FW as an example of the preservation of social value. The regulation of 5FWs
remains an issue as it has been ever since they began to be constructed. It is
suggested that the best approach to this issue is to regulate in a sensitive
fashion that allows reasonable private use conditional on maintenance of the
public’s right of way. This admittedly is a fine line to draw, but the charm of
the old areas of cities with 5FWs would likely not survive a rigid approach to
regulation that prohibited any private uses.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br clear="all" style="mso-break-type: section-break; page-break-before: auto;" />
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<br />
<div class="WordSection3">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">APPENDIX<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br clear="all" style="mso-break-type: section-break; page-break-before: auto;" />
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<br />
<div class="WordSection4">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div align="center" class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: center; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">1.<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Singapore 5FW with
clutter<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><v:shape id="Picture_x0020_2" o:spid="_x0000_i1033" style="height: 241pt; mso-wrap-style: square; visibility: visible; width: 132.5pt;" type="#_x0000_t75">
<v:imagedata o:title="" src="file:///C:\Users\User\AppData\Local\Temp\msohtmlclip1\01\clip_image002.jpg">
</v:imagedata></v:shape></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">2. Illegally blocked 5FW
in Little India, Singapore<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><v:shape id="Picture_x0020_3" o:spid="_x0000_i1032" style="height: 241pt; mso-wrap-style: square; visibility: visible; width: 132.5pt;" type="#_x0000_t75">
<v:imagedata o:title="" src="file:///C:\Users\User\AppData\Local\Temp\msohtmlclip1\01\clip_image003.jpg">
</v:imagedata></v:shape></span></b><b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: center; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">2.<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Formal historic 5FW,
Jinriksha Station, Singapore<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><v:shape id="Picture_x0020_4" o:spid="_x0000_i1031" style="height: 241pt; mso-wrap-style: square; visibility: visible; width: 132.5pt;" type="#_x0000_t75">
<v:imagedata o:title="" src="file:///C:\Users\User\AppData\Local\Temp\msohtmlclip1\01\clip_image004.jpg">
</v:imagedata></v:shape></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">4. Decorated 5FW as
hotel entrance, Tanjong Pagar, Singapore<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><v:shape id="Picture_x0020_5" o:spid="_x0000_i1030" style="height: 135.5pt; mso-wrap-style: square; visibility: visible; width: 241pt;" type="#_x0000_t75">
<v:imagedata o:title="" src="file:///C:\Users\User\AppData\Local\Temp\msohtmlclip1\01\clip_image005.jpg">
</v:imagedata></v:shape></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">5. Historic shop houses
near Chinatown, Singapore<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><v:shape id="Picture_x0020_6" o:spid="_x0000_i1029" style="height: 241pt; mso-wrap-style: square; visibility: visible; width: 132.5pt;" type="#_x0000_t75">
<v:imagedata o:title="" src="file:///C:\Users\User\AppData\Local\Temp\msohtmlclip1\01\clip_image006.jpg">
</v:imagedata></v:shape></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">6. 5FW with fans and
lights, Singapore<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><v:shape id="Picture_x0020_7" o:spid="_x0000_i1028" style="height: 241pt; mso-wrap-style: square; visibility: visible; width: 132.5pt;" type="#_x0000_t75">
<v:imagedata o:title="" src="file:///C:\Users\User\AppData\Local\Temp\msohtmlclip1\01\clip_image007.jpg">
</v:imagedata></v:shape></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">7. Modern wide 5FW,
Singapore<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><v:shape id="Picture_x0020_8" o:spid="_x0000_i1027" style="height: 241pt; mso-wrap-style: square; visibility: visible; width: 132.5pt;" type="#_x0000_t75">
<v:imagedata o:title="" src="file:///C:\Users\User\AppData\Local\Temp\msohtmlclip1\01\clip_image008.jpg">
</v:imagedata></v:shape></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">8. Very cluttered 5FW,
Xiamen, PRC<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><v:shape id="Picture_x0020_9" o:spid="_x0000_i1026" style="height: 241pt; mso-wrap-style: square; visibility: visible; width: 132.5pt;" type="#_x0000_t75">
<v:imagedata o:title="" src="file:///C:\Users\User\AppData\Local\Temp\msohtmlclip1\01\clip_image009.jpg">
</v:imagedata></v:shape></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">9. Colourful 5FW, Kuala
Pilah, Malaysia<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><v:shape id="Picture_x0020_10" o:spid="_x0000_i1025" style="height: 241pt; mso-wrap-style: square; visibility: visible; width: 132.5pt;" type="#_x0000_t75">
<v:imagedata o:title="" src="file:///C:\Users\User\AppData\Local\Temp\msohtmlclip1\01\clip_image010.jpg">
</v:imagedata></v:shape></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">10. 5FW with Chinese
characters, Johor Bahru, Malaysia<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br clear="all" style="mso-break-type: section-break; page-break-before: auto;" />
</span>
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<br /></div>
</div>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br clear="all" style="mso-break-type: section-break; page-break-before: auto;" />
</span>
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</div>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br clear="all" style="mso-break-type: section-break; page-break-before: auto;" />
</span>
<br />
<div align="center" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div>
<!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><br clear="all" />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<!--[endif]-->
<br />
<div id="ftn1">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/Documents/5FW%20Article%20280118.docx#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"> Jack Tsen-Ta Lee (2015), “We
built this city: Public participation in land-use decisions in Singapore” 10:2 <i>Asian Journal of Comparative Law</i> 213.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn2">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/Documents/5FW%20Article%20280118.docx#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">[2]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"> For notable exceptions, see Robert
Home (2008), <i>Of Planting and Planning:
The Making of British Colonial Cities</i>, Chapman Hill, London; (chapter 8
looks at the evolution of planning law in the colonies); Brenda Yeoh (2003), <i>Contesting Space in Colonial Singapore:
Power Relations and the Built Environment</i>, NUS Press, Singapore. The latter
looks (ch.7) at inter alia disputes over the use and definition of ‘verandahs’,
i.e., 5FWs.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn3">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/Documents/5FW%20Article%20280118.docx#_ftnref3" name="_ftn3" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">[3]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"> See </span><a href="http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1223"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";">http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1223</span></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"> (accessed 12 October 2017).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn4">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/Documents/5FW%20Article%20280118.docx#_ftnref4" name="_ftn4" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">[4]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"> Home, above n.2, chapter 3.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn5">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/Documents/5FW%20Article%20280118.docx#_ftnref5" name="_ftn5" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">[5]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"> Construction of new shophouses
with 5FWs stopped in Singapore in the 1960s, so that the 5FW coincides almost
precisely with its colonial history, but it continues unabated elsewhere, e.g. in
nearby Johor Bahru. See also below, n.14.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn6">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/Documents/5FW%20Article%20280118.docx#_ftnref6" name="_ftn6" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">[6]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"> Above, n.2.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn7">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/Documents/5FW%20Article%20280118.docx#_ftnref7" name="_ftn7" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">[7]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"> “Plan of the Town of Singapore
by Lieut. Jackson” (1822 or 1823), reproduced in 42:1 <i>Journal of the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society</i> (1969),
at 200; see also HF Pearson (1969), “Lt. Jackson’s Plan of Singapore” in the
same issue at 161, and in Mubin Sheppard (ed) (1984), <i>Singapore: 150 Years</i>, Times Books, Singapore, 153, at 150.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn8">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/Documents/5FW%20Article%20280118.docx#_ftnref8" name="_ftn8" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">[8]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"> The word veranda (or verandah)
contains an important ambiguity that may even have led to confusion about the
purposes of 5FWs. Derived from a Hindi word meaning balustrade, it can,
according to the OED, mean ‘a <span style="background: white;">roofed platform
along the outside of a house, level with the ground floor’; or ‘a roof over the
pavement in front of a shop’</span>. The later usage describes the 5FW, and is
regular in Australia and New Zealand. ‘Covered footway’ and ‘colonnade’ were
sometimes used as alternatives.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn9">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/Documents/5FW%20Article%20280118.docx#_ftnref9" name="_ftn9" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">[9]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"> URA, ‘Understanding the
shophouse: More than an arcade’, Conservation Technical Leaflet (undated
Singapore).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn10">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/Documents/5FW%20Article%20280118.docx#_ftnref10" name="_ftn10" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">[10]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"> This is discussed further below in connection
with regulation of 5FWs. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn11">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/Documents/5FW%20Article%20280118.docx#_ftnref11" name="_ftn11" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">[11]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"> Singapore Archives and Oral
History Department (1985), <i>Five-foot-Way
Traders, </i>Singapore. ‘Kha ki’ is derived from the Malay ‘<i>kaki</i>’ (foot).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn12">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/Documents/5FW%20Article%20280118.docx#_ftnref12" name="_ftn12" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">[12]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"> Limin Hee and Giok Ling Ooi
(2003), “The politics of public space planning in Singapore”, 18:1 <i>Planning Perspectives</i> 79, at 85-6. See
also Yeoh, above n.1; Singapore Archives and Oral History Department, above
n.11.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn13">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/Documents/5FW%20Article%20280118.docx#_ftnref13" name="_ftn13" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">[13]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"> See </span><a href="https://www.ura.gov.sg/uol/about-us/our-work/protecting-identity.aspx"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";">https://www.ura.gov.sg/uol/about-us/our-work/protecting-identity.aspx</span></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"> (accessed 12 October 2017).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn14">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/Documents/5FW%20Article%20280118.docx#_ftnref14" name="_ftn14" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">[14]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"> For the origins and spread of
the shophouse, see Jon S. Lim (1993), “The ‘shophouse Rafflesia’: An outline of
its Malayan pedigree and its subsequent diffusion in Asia”, 66:1 Journal of the
Malaysian Brnach of the Royal Asiatic Society 47.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn15">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/Documents/5FW%20Article%20280118.docx#_ftnref15" name="_ftn15" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">[15]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"> This regulation, or its
successor, was clearly controversial, and was the subject of a successful
mandamus application, cutting down in effect the scope of the regulation, in
1937 in <i>Municipal Commissioners v Syed
Abdulrahman bin Shaikh Alkaff & Ors</i> [1937] MLJ 183, attracting also in
the process the clear disapproval of a majority of the appeal court judges.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn16">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/Documents/5FW%20Article%20280118.docx#_ftnref16" name="_ftn16" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">[16]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"> Cap.135.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn17">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/Documents/5FW%20Article%20280118.docx#_ftnref17" name="_ftn17" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">[17]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"> For the legislative history, see
the judgment of Terrell CJ in <i>Syed
Abdulrahman,</i> above n.15. In a new
development in Tanjong Pagar, one of Singapore’s most historic districts, the
ways are, as observed by the author, as much as 10 feet wide.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div id="ftn18">
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<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/Documents/5FW%20Article%20280118.docx#_ftnref18" name="_ftn18" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">[18]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"> Above n.13.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn19">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/Documents/5FW%20Article%20280118.docx#_ftnref19" name="_ftn19" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">[19]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"> For URA conservation guidelines,
see </span><a href="https://www.ura.gov.sg/uol/guidelines/conservation/Conservation-Guidelines.aspx"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";">https://www.ura.gov.sg/uol/guidelines/conservation/Conservation-Guidelines.aspx</span></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"> (accessed 12 October 2017).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn20">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/Documents/5FW%20Article%20280118.docx#_ftnref20" name="_ftn20" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">[20]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"> See, further, AI Mundigo and DP
Crouch (1977), “The City Planning Ordinances of Law of the Indies Revisited.
Part One: Their Philosophy and Implications”, 48:3 <i>Town Planning Review</i> 247.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn21">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/Documents/5FW%20Article%20280118.docx#_ftnref21" name="_ftn21" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">[21]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"> See Lim, above, n.14,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn22">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/Documents/5FW%20Article%20280118.docx#_ftnref22" name="_ftn22" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">[22]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> <span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";">CM Turnbull (2009), <i><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm;">A History of Modern Singapore, 1819–2005</span></i><span class="apple-converted-space">, </span>NUS Press, Singapore, at 39.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Cities were ‘laid out’ but not
‘planned’. The difference in usage is significant: see Home, above n.1, at 2.
However, town planning ‘missionary’ CC Reade, who pioneered modern town
planning in the British colonies, derived inspiration, he claimed, from, inter
alios, Raffles: ibid., at 154.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn23">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/Documents/5FW%20Article%20280118.docx#_ftnref23" name="_ftn23" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">[23]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"> Above, n.7.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn24">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/Documents/5FW%20Article%20280118.docx#_ftnref24" name="_ftn24" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">[24]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"> Home, above n.1, ch.7.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn25">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/Documents/5FW%20Article%20280118.docx#_ftnref25" name="_ftn25" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">[25]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"> Ibid.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn26">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/Documents/5FW%20Article%20280118.docx#_ftnref26" name="_ftn26" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">[26]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"> Yeoh, above n.1.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn27">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/Documents/5FW%20Article%20280118.docx#_ftnref27" name="_ftn27" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">[27]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"> Home, above n.1, ch.7.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn28">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/Documents/5FW%20Article%20280118.docx#_ftnref28" name="_ftn28" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">[28]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"> Home, above n.1, ch.7.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn29">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 10.5pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/Documents/5FW%20Article%20280118.docx#_ftnref29" name="_ftn29" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">[29]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"> HT Haughton
(1984), “Native names of streets in Singapore”, in M Sheppard (ed), <i>Singapore: 150 Years</i> Times Books, Singapore,
at 208; VR </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Savage
and B Yeoh (2013), <i>Singapore Street Names: A Study of Toponymics,</i> Marshall
Cavendish Editions, Singapore.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn30">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/Documents/5FW%20Article%20280118.docx#_ftnref30" name="_ftn30" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">[30]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"> See </span><a href="http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/infopedia/articles/SIP_174_2005-01-25.html"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";">http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/infopedia/articles/SIP_174_2005-01-25.html</span></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"> (accessed 12 October 2017).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn31">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/Documents/5FW%20Article%20280118.docx#_ftnref31" name="_ftn31" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">[31]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"> Although the ethnicity of these
areas may be observed even today, it seems clear that Raffles’ delineating
factor was essentially more economic than ethnic: Home, above n.1, at 119-121.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn32">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/Documents/5FW%20Article%20280118.docx#_ftnref32" name="_ftn32" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">[32]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"> Turnbull, above n.22, at 87.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn33">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/Documents/5FW%20Article%20280118.docx#_ftnref33" name="_ftn33" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">[33]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"> See </span><a href="https://www.ura.gov.sg/uol/conservation/vision-and-principles/brief-history"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";">https://www.ura.gov.sg/uol/conservation/vision-and-principles/brief-history</span></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"> (accessed 12 October 2017).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn34">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/Documents/5FW%20Article%20280118.docx#_ftnref34" name="_ftn34" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">[34]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"> Turnbull, above n.22, at 301-2.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn35">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/Documents/5FW%20Article%20280118.docx#_ftnref35" name="_ftn35" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">[35]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"> [1999] 2 AC 240<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn36">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/Documents/5FW%20Article%20280118.docx#_ftnref36" name="_ftn36" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">[36]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"> M Brazier (ed) (1995), Clerk and
Lindsell, The Law of Torts, 17<sup>th</sup> ed., Sweet and Maxwell, London,
para17-41.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn37">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/Documents/5FW%20Article%20280118.docx#_ftnref37" name="_ftn37" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">[37]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"> For a Malaysian example of the
adaptation of the law of highways to social facts, see <i>Au Kean Hoe v Persatuan Penduduk D’villa Equestrian</i> [2015] 4 MLJ 204, Federal Court. In this case
a boom gate and security apparatus protecting a gated estate was held not to
constitute an obstruction of a public highway.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn38">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/Documents/5FW%20Article%20280118.docx#_ftnref38" name="_ftn38" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">[38]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"> See URA site, above n.13.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn39">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/Documents/5FW%20Article%20280118.docx#_ftnref39" name="_ftn39" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">[39]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"> “PJ puts pedestrians first”, <i>The Sun Daily</i>, 16 January 2016: </span><a href="http://www.thesundaily.my/node/344799"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";">http://www.thesundaily.my/node/344799</span></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"> (accessed 12 October 2017).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn40">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/Documents/5FW%20Article%20280118.docx#_ftnref40" name="_ftn40" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">[40]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"> “Little India riot: One year
later – the night that changed Singapore”, <i>Straits
Times</i>, 6 December 2014: </span><a href="http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/little-india-riot-one-year-later-the-night-that-changed-singapore"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";">http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/little-india-riot-one-year-later-the-night-that-changed-singapore</span></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"> (accessed 12 October 2017); Daniel
Goh (2014), “The Little India riot and the spatiality of migrant labour in
Singapore”, <i>Indo-Pacific Review</i>, 8 September
2014; G Radics and S Dorairajoo (2017), “Post-Colonial legacies, global
economy, and local fissures: Singapore’s Little India riot and the Public Order
(Additional Temporary Measures) Act” (unpublished article on file with the
author).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn41">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/Documents/5FW%20Article%20280118.docx#_ftnref41" name="_ftn41" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">[41]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"> Personal communication with URA
official, June 2016.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn42">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/Documents/5FW%20Article%20280118.docx#_ftnref42" name="_ftn42" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">[42]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"> B Yeoh, above n.1, at 254. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn43">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/Documents/5FW%20Article%20280118.docx#_ftnref43" name="_ftn43" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">[43]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"> Ibid.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn44">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/Documents/5FW%20Article%20280118.docx#_ftnref44" name="_ftn44" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">[44]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"> ‘Hong Kong police fire warning
shots during Mong Kok fish ball “riot”’, CNN 8 February 2016: </span><a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2016/02/08/asia/hong-kong-riots-shots-fired/"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";">http://edition.cnn.com/2016/02/08/asia/hong-kong-riots-shots-fired/</span></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"> (accessed 12 October 2017).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn45">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/Documents/5FW%20Article%20280118.docx#_ftnref45" name="_ftn45" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">[45]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"> TC Chang (2000), “Theming
cities, taming places: Insights from Singapore”, 82: 1 <i>Human Geography</i>, 35, at 49.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn46">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/Documents/5FW%20Article%20280118.docx#_ftnref46" name="_ftn46" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">[46]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"> Andrew Harding (2003), “Planning,
environment and development: A comparison of planning law in Malaysia and
England” 5:4 <i>Environmental Law Review</i>
231.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn47">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/Documents/5FW%20Article%20280118.docx#_ftnref47" name="_ftn47" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">[47]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"> Home, above n.2, at 161.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn48">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/Documents/5FW%20Article%20280118.docx#_ftnref48" name="_ftn48" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">[48]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"> Revised Edition of the Laws,
Cap. 232.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn49">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/Documents/5FW%20Article%20280118.docx#_ftnref49" name="_ftn49" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">[49]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"> Above n.33.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn50">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="file:///C:/Users/User/Desktop/Documents/5FW%20Article%20280118.docx#_ftnref50" name="_ftn50" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">[50]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"> Above n.13.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
</div>
Andrew Hardinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15954270826267048283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8804284970071192091.post-64355446081782154212018-02-08T23:36:00.001+08:002018-06-07T00:07:44.059+08:00A Nail-Biting Finish: Lord’s 1963<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "segoe ui" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">If you think draws are a bore then you
obviously never saw England v West Indies at Lord's in 1963. Unless you are a
pensioner you could be forgiven; but it is odd that everybody knows about the
tied test at Brisbane in 1961, but comparatively few refer to an equally
enthralling match with a nail-biting finish that also, incidentally, at the
start of the era of access to television, created a huge buzz around test
cricket. It was not only an incredibly tight finish but was fought nip and tuck
all the way through from the first to the last ball and contained several amazing
individual performances and constant swings of fortune. My main memory of this
test is the pulsating last day on which every ball marked out a path eventually
leading to a last over where all four results were still possible.<span class="apple-converted-space"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "segoe ui" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">But let's go back to the beginning.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "segoe ui" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">The West Indies had won the first test
comfortably by 10 wickets after Conrad Hunte scored 182, enabling his team to
reach 501-6 declared. England had no answer to the subtleties of Gibbs's off
spin as England were two runs short of an innings defeat; Gibbs took 11 wickets
and England also had their first taste of the terrifying pace of Wes Hall and Charlie
Griffith bowling together.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "segoe ui" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">The Lord’s test opened under cloudy, cool
and damp conditions, but was immediately sensational as Hunte took three fours
off Trueman’s first three balls, all edged through gully, and then poked one
back over his head for a single. After that dramatic start things settled into
attrition, with only a further 34 scored in 90 minutes before lunch.
Shackleton, now aged 38, inexplicably replacing Statham after a 12-year gap
since his last test, and bowling at slow-medium pace, was played with care as
he moved the ball around in helpful conditions. Things progressed rapidly after
lunch, wickets falling and Sobers and Kanhai in a thrilling stand, and then
Kanhai and Solomon, taking the score to 245-6 at the close. This decent total under
the circumstances was extended to 301 the following morning, Shackleton taking
three in four balls to polish things off. Kanhai top-scored with 74 and Trueman
finished with 6-100.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "segoe ui" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">England started badly as Griffith ripped
out both of the Surrey openers, Edrich and Stewart. But Dexter took the attack
to the Windies’ quicks as he plundered 70 out of 100 in a memorable and thrilling
knock of 75 balls in which fire was met with greater fire. Dexter was third out
at 102 but Barrington, as ever, held firm as England slowly closed on the West
Indian total. Barrington was dismissed for a priceless 80 by Worrell at 203-6.
England were 244-7 at the close of day two, but a plucky 52 not out by Titmus,
assisted by Parks, helped England to 297 the next morning, a deficit of just 4.
Griffith had taken 5-91.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "segoe ui" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">In the afternoon the West Indies were soon
15-2 in their second innings, and at 104-5 with Solomon winkled out by Allen,
they were on the ropes. Butcher, however, was still in and playing extremely well,
and, in yet another shift of fortune in this see-saw game, Worrell and Butcher
put on a century stand, so that by the close the score was 214-5. Butcher on
129 had played one of the greatest test innings in a tight situation seen at
Lord’s, wresting the advantage so that now it was England under the cosh and contemplating
over the rest day the likelihood of facing a large total to get in the 4<sup>th</sup>
innings.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "segoe ui" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">When play resumed on Monday 24 June,
fortunes were immediately reversed as Trueman blasted out Worrell, Murray and
Hall in succession, and Shackleton finally had Butcher leg before for 133. It
had been a dazzling display of stroke play, especially on the leg side, with 17
fours and two sixes. But the last 5 wickets had gone down for only 15 and
England now faced a tantalising target of 234 with most of two days to go.
Trueman had taken 11 wickets in the match.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "segoe ui" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Once again England made a terrible start
against the fast bowlers in poor light, losing 3 for 31, including both openers
and first-innings hero Dexter, bowled by Gibbs for 2. To make matters worse,
Cowdrey was struck on the wrist by a nasty lifter from Hall and had to retire
hurt at 72 – as it turned out with a broken bone in the wrist. Effectively that
was 72-4. But Close entrenched himself in gritty defence in as Barrington
proceeded as in the first innings, breaking out of his monkish cell in that
characteristically mischievous way of his to slog-sweep Gibbs massively over
midwicket for six twice in one over. When bad light curtailed the day’s play,
England were left on 116-3, Barrington again the rock of England’s innings with
55 not out. But at this point the money was on the West Indies.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "segoe ui" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">The final day dawned very gloomy and wet,
but eventually play got under way at 2.20, with 140 minutes available for
England to score another 118 runs. The gates had been locked 10 minutes before
play, and the thousands of excited spectators, filling a packed house, huddled with
expectation in their overcoats and scarves.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "segoe ui" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Barrington was soon caught behind off
Griffith for 60, but Close’s chin had never jutted so defiantly as he
alternated dour defence with aggression, assisted first by Parks and then by
Titmus, as the score crept forward steadily. Five down at tea time, England
seemed to be acquiring a grip on the game. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "segoe ui" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Astonishingly, Hall and Griffith continued
bowling right after tea at high pace, with many short balls, a number of which
Close took on the body. Newspapers the next day showed his torso looking like a
world war one battlefield. Geoff Boycott claims that Close was ever keen to
display his purple sacrifices for the team; yet taking these blows was safer
than trying to fend the ball down with two short legs, three slips, and gully
waiting a few yards away. Tension was so high it was off the charts. Nails and
scarves were being chewed to bits at a considerably rate. Across England people
were glued to their TV sets. At one point Close advanced down the pitch to
Hall, who pulled up without bowling, and appeared to threaten to throw down the
wicket until he realised the ball was dead; he seemed to have ricked his back
in the process, but nonetheless proceeded to bowl very fast for the remainder
of the innings. Was this, I wonder, a rare example of a fast bowler physically intimidated
by a batsman? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "segoe ui" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Worrell maintained attacking fields
throughout the day, two short legs in attendance, one square and one forward,
thirsting for every chance of a wicket even at the expense of runs into the many
gaps in the field. Close now managed a few boundaries, mainly behind the wicket
on the off and leg sides. But with only 31 to get, Titmus was brilliantly caught
by McMorris at short leg off Hall, who then had Trueman caught behind first
ball. It was 203 -7 and all to play for, for both sides, as Allen walked in to
bat. Soon afterwards England suffered a huge blow when Close’s magnificent,
courageous innings was ended, caught behind off Griffith for 70. It was 219 –
15 runs to get and the last man, Shackleton, in. Allen and Shackleton then inched
the score forward with a series of heart-clutching leg byes, byes, quick
singles, and balls fended close to the fielders.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "segoe ui" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">And now came the the last over, delivered
by Hall, beginning at 5.56pm with all four results still possible. 6 to get,
one wicket left. Off the fourth ball, Shackleton played into the slips, Allen
charged up to his end, but Shack was ball-watching and set off late for the
run. The ball was tossed to Worrell at short leg, who coolly raced Shack to the
bowler’s end and whipped off the bails. Shack was well short and on his way
back, a 38-year-old beaten by a 40-year-old in a 22-yard dash! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "segoe ui" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">But it was not over. Who should emerge
from the pavilion shadows (and yes it was pretty dark by now) but Colin Cowdrey
with his arm in plaster, returning to the crease to save his side a day after
having his wrist broken? It was now 6pm and the BBC turned to the Six O’Clock
News, but the almost audible “NO!” from millions across the country resulted in
immediate reversal as the announcer said the BBC would be returning to Lord’s
for the conclusion of this exciting match. Fortunately, the batsmen having
crossed, Cowdrey would be the non-striker. Allen failed to score off the 5<sup>th</sup>
ball, and, no doubt instructed by Dexter not to try hitting a 6 off the last
ball, fended down Hall’s final missile in front of him. The match was a drawn.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The crowd went wild with enthusiasm and the general view was
that a draw was a good result as both sides had played so well. It was a match
with much to remember, and great performances from Butcher, Kanhai, Dexter,
Barrington, Trueman, Griffith, and others. But I wonder if the sheer athleticism
and stamina of both Hall and Griffith has been sufficiently recognised. I swear
that Wes Hall’s last ball was as fast as his first. There were no laser guns in
those days, but I am sure his average speed was over 90mph. He bowled 40 out of
91 overs (Griffith bowled 30) in the second innings, a crippling workload for a
very fast bowler, and it would be hard to forget the tall, muscled West
Indian’s long straight run of 15 paces, gathering speed and length of stride as
he approached the wicket, arms flailing, crucifix swinging from his neck, to
hurl the ball towards the batsman. His second innings analysis was 40-9-93-4. But
the equal and opposite image would be Brian Close’s impassive and defiant left-handed
stance, jaw jutting towards cover, waiting at the other end, body bruised but
undefeated, to block yet another lifting delivery.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
It was without doubt one of the greatest ever test matches.
It simply had everything. A game where you play 5 days in high tension with no
result defies common sense to most of the world. Thank goodness common sense does
not apply to such matters!<o:p></o:p></div>
Andrew Hardinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15954270826267048283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8804284970071192091.post-37710145694768006112018-02-08T23:34:00.001+08:002018-06-07T00:13:45.903+08:00Verity: In Truth a Great Left-Arm Spinner<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Hedley Verity was killed in Italy in 1943 during the fierce
struggle between the Allies and the Nazis for control of Italy. He was an army
captain in the Green Howards and just 38 years old. Before leaving for the war
he told his father that it was the end of his cricket career. Not many players
were fortunate to enough, like Bradman, Hutton, and Hammond, to play after the
war as well as before it. Some, like Verity and Farnes, were killed during it.
Now that the pub bearing his name, The Hedley Verity in Leeds, is owned by the
EU-despising Wetherspoon, I wonder what Hedley would have thought about it,
having given his life as a British soldier for the freedom of Europe from
tyranny.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
His career with Yorkshire and England was quite short. He
played his first game for Yorkshire in 1930 and his last in 1939, when he took
7 for 9 against Sussex. His last test was the famous Oval test in 1938 when
Hutton scored 364 and Australia were humiliated, facing one of the biggest
defeats ever after England scored 903-6 declared. Verity had a quiet match,
left 8 not out in the tsunami of runs, and taking 2-15 in Australia’s second
inning as they were blown away by England’s Farnes and Bowes. Bowes was
especially devastated to learn of Verity’s death; how many teams in the 1930s
had been troubled by these two Yorkshire bowlers as the county proceeded to
seven championship victories in the 1930s?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Verity had taken over from Wilfred Rhodes as Yorkshire’s
main spinner and was already 25 when he played his first game. Rhodes had
laconically anointed his successor with a grudging “he’ll do”, which was about
as close to praise as anybody got in that hard school. In 1931 he took all 10
for 32 at Leeds against Warwickshire , a team including Wyatt and Kilner. But
his most astonishing feat was taking 10 for 10 (yes, that was not a misprint!)
against Nottinghamshire in 1932. Notts, apart from Larwood and Voce, had George
Gunn and EW Carr; in their second innings Yorkshire knocked off 139 for no
wicket, so the pitch cannot have been a real sticky-dog. Verity was simply unplayable, even though he
half way through his 19-over spell (16 maidens) before he took a wicket. The
others followed in an avalanche with a hat trick and then four in one over. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I am sure that Verity would have named Lord’s 1934 as his
greatest match – indeed it is called Verity’s match. He took 15 wickets,
including 14 on one day, as England exploited a rain-affected pitch to
advantage. The teams had ground each other to parity after three days, England
scoring 440 thanks to hundreds by Leyland and Ames, and Australia having scored
203 for 2 by early on the fourth morning, the weather having turned wet
overnight. Verity then ploughed through their talented batting line-up, accounting
first for Bradman and McCabe, then five of the remaining six, finishing with 7
for 61 in 36 overs as Australia were bowled out for 284. In the follow-on
Australia fared much worse, out for 108 to lose by an innings, Verity taking
8-43, including Bradman and McCabe for the second time in the match. Overall
indeed Verity dismissed Bradman 7 times in tests, more than any other bowler.
The ultimate accolade from Bradman, who admired Verity as much as a man as a
bowler, was that Verity was the only bowler he never felt comfortable against
(even, I think, when he was 200 not out!)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As a former left-arm spinner when asked whom I would have
liked to see bowl, the answer is always Verity, with Rhodes a close second.
What was it like to face him?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Imagine a tall elegant figure, loping easily in around the
wicket, a double whirl of the left arm, and the ball spinning towards you,
almost always landing exactly where Verity wanted it, as he put it, “as short
as I can with the batsman still playing forward”, which is the very definition
of a good length for a spin bowler. Although having large hands and long
fingers, he was in truth not a huge spinner of the ball, which is probably due
to his Yorkshire schooling in the art of no-frills spin bowling to line and
length at all times. Spinners were to keep the runs down and take wickets when
the pitch was damp. His record shows that Verity did not take wickets only when
conditions favoured him. He was effective under all conditions but lethal on
those 1930s unprotected pitches. My Dad used to praise Verity’s bowling as
perfection itself. He described how Verity would bowl with three or four men
close in on the off side, in front as well as behind square, with Arthur Mitchell
at gully virtually snatching the ball off the face of the bat as the batsman
pushed forward or tried to fend off a ball stopping in the pitch. You can see
examples of this type of bowling still on YouTube video of the 1934 test.
Verity spun the ball as much as he needed to. Accuracy and subtle variation were
his main assets. He achieved a lot of caught and bowled and lbw decisions (for
a spinner under the lbw laws of the time) – an indication that he was deceptive
rather than bowling a lot of rippers and snorters.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Verity’s record overall is another marvel. 1956 first class
wickets at an incredible 14.90 each. In 40 tests he took 144 wickets at 24
each. He was not a bad batter too, with one first class century, nine 50s, and
an average of 18.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Verity displayed all the human virtues. His courage in
battle was truly outstanding. He was never heard to utter a word of complaint
or criticism even under the most trying conditions. Humility, patience and
application were his virtues. Douglas Jardine (an unlikely close friend for a
Yorkshireman, you might think, who gave his name to Verity’s son) as well as
Bradman himself, had the highest praise for Verity as man. There is a story
that when Jardine was rescued from a tight spot in France during the war, he
was told that all would be well because he would be saved by a ship named after
his friend and favourite bowler: HMS Verity! <o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
In an age of 10 or 15 tests a year, and given a longer
career without war intervening, one wonders what Verity might have achieved
even beyond this already remarkable career. It is impossible to say whether he
was the greatest, but he must be surely one of the very best spinners of any
kind who ever graced a cricket ground. His grave is at Caserta, North of
Naples. One day I will go and lay a wreath there and salute the Yorkshireman
whose name, by the way, means “truth”.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Andrew Hardinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15954270826267048283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8804284970071192091.post-62166260398197746512017-11-20T17:18:00.000+08:002018-06-07T00:15:10.446+08:00Fazal Mahmood - One of Pakistan's Greats<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
The first non-English bowler to excite my attention (it was after
all the era of Trueman and Statham) watching test cricket on TV as boy was
Fazal Mahmood.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This canny medium-pacer had been lithe and quick in his early
days. By the time I saw him operating against England in 1962 he was stocky and
short on pace, and in truth this series, his last, was not a great one for him,
and he was called up only as last resort. Yet on occasion he mesmerised the
English batsmen with off and leg cut, and quite extraordinary late swing, and
was very hard to score off. His last two test wickets were those of Dexter and
Cowdrey.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Finding himself narrowly on the Pakistan side of partition
in 1947 (he was actually selected for India originally), he rapidly became a
mainstay of Pakistan’s early efforts in test cricket. Despite many consistent
performances spanning about 14 years, his greatest hour was without doubt at
The Oval in the final test of Pakistan’s first tour of England in 1954. It was a
low-scoring but nerve-racking game, the outcome of which had in no way been
predictable given Pakistan’s somewhat lame performances on tour to that point
(mercurial has always been the adjective of choice when it comes to Pakistan
cricket). The test series was much affected by rain and an England win and two
draws left Pakistan one down going into this final test. Denis Compton had
walloped Pakistan’s bowlers for 278 in the third test. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Conditions were damp at The Oval as England’s Tyson and Loader,
both on debut, blew away Pakistan for 133 in the first innings. Yet some great
bowling by Fazal reduced England to a first innings deficit of 3 as they were
dismissed for 130, Fazal taking 6 for 53 in 30 overs. Only Compton with 53 was
able to cope with Fazal’s swing and persistent line and length. (Compton once
described Fazal as ‘unplayable in the right conditions’ – this from a man who
had scored 278 against an attack including Fazal). In their second knock
Pakistan fared only slightly better, grinding to 163 all out. This time it was
spin that caused them problems, Wardle taking 7-56 in 35 overs. Watching must
have been for devotees only given the very slow accretion of runs, but they
must have had their nerves shredded (between showers) even before the game
moved into its final phase.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This left England with a target of 168, but good batting by
Peter May carried them much of the way to victory at 109 for 2, less than 60 to
get with 8 wickets in hand, and Compton and May seemingly in control. Fazal made
a crucial breakthrough dismissing May at 109, then Evans. He had according to
some accounts simply grabbed the ball from his captain and started bowling
without permission. Graveney was out to Shujauddin for 0, and Fazal then took
the all-important wicket of Compton, caught behind by Imtiaz for 29. At 121 for
6 England’s middle order had been dismantled with 4 for 12 in a few overs and
they still needed 47. Wardle and Tyson put up stern resistance for 90 balls
between them but were unable to move the score much forward. Fazal eventually removed both of them, Loader
was soon out and the last man McConnon was run out going for a quick single to
give Pakistan an extraordinary victory by 20 runs. Thus their first series in
England was creditably drawn, but they owed it all to Fazal whose match figures
were 12 for 99. He bowled 60 overs with an incredible 27 maidens.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
One might think that Fazal was an English-style swing bowler
who flourished under leaden skies, but he did not often have that privilege, at
least in test cricket - he was truly devastating in the Lancashire league for
three seasons in 1957-9. In fact he was equally successful in the arid
conditions of the subcontinent, where 10 of his 13 test 5-fers were taken. For
example at Lucknow in 1952 Fazal destroyed India with 12-94 in 51 overs to give
Pakistan victory by an innings. It was their first ever test victory. It is
said he was roused by taunts from the crowd that Kashmir would be taken back
the same way as India had defeated Pakistan in the last match at Delhi. Even
now it is said that in the snowy heights between India and Pakistan in Kashmir
a shell is sometimes lobbed over when a wicket falls in an India v Pakistan
match. These were emotional days and the Indian team’s poor performance resulted
in them narrowly escaping the crowd’s outraged, frenzied attack on their
dressing room., which was burned to the ground.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It was typical of Fazal that he was determined to teach the Indian
team a lesson after the taunts, and that despite initial failure to break
through on the jute-matting pitch (he had only experienced coir matting before,
which was very different), he adjusted to a seam-up approach with devastating
consequences. On slow feather-bed wickets he employed cut rather than seam or
swing, again to very good effect. He was the ultimate resourceful bowler and a
captain’s dream – shock bowler and stock bowler all in one, like Glenn McGrath.
He was indeed Pakistan’s answer not just to Glenn McGrath but to Sydney Barnes.
Still to my mind one of the greatest bowlers, although unfamiliar to those
whose recollection starts with the terrible twins Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis,
and Imran Khan. These great bowlers built on a tradition of skilful Pakistani
fast bowling started by Fazal. All in all he played 34 tests, taking 139
wickets at 24.70; he took 4 wickets 6 times, 5 wickets an incredible 13 times,
and 10 in the match 4 times. He was the first Pakistani to take 100 test
wickets – in only 22 matches. His figures against Australia were 24 wickets at
13 apiece. His economy rate was less than 2.10 an over, an indication that when
all else failed at least he was able to apply the noose on the scoring rate
even on good pitches against world-class batsmen. I recall vividly his nagging
line and length and the frustration he induced even in those slow-scoring days
when three an over was considered racing along. He was also no mug with the
bat, going in at number 8 and with a test half-century to his name.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Off the field Fazal was the Imran Khan of his day – tall, handsome
and debonair, sporting a cravat and a cigarette-holder, his wavy hair neatly
held down by Brylcreem. If he had been English he would have rivalled Denis
Compton for that famous place on the Brylcreem hoarding. He negotiated the
politics of Pakistan cricket – as always it was stepping through egg-shells –
with aplomb (he made a good start by marrying the daughter of Pakistan’s first
captain, Mohamed Saeed). Fazal remained influential in Pakistan cricket for a
long time, and passed away in 2005. Hanif Mohamed described him as not just the
‘doyen of Pakistan bowlers’ but a ‘great human being’.<o:p></o:p></div>
Andrew Hardinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15954270826267048283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8804284970071192091.post-65408159627525750432017-08-18T13:19:00.000+08:002018-06-07T00:20:31.609+08:005 Questions for Andrew Harding<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "cambria" , "serif"; font-weight: normal;">Periodically, I-Conn publishes answers by famous scholars to the
following questions. Not being a famous scholar, I will not be asked to do
this, but since I found the answers given intriguing, I thought I would have a
go at my own answers just for fun and some self-awareness.</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "cambria" , "serif"; font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><b><span style="color: black; font-family: "cambria" , "serif"; font-weight: normal;">1. Tell us about something you are working on right now.</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "cambria" , "serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Too many things but here are the really interesting
ones. I am completing editing a book on constitutional courts in Asia for CUP
with Albert Chen, and have written a chapter on Myanmar’s Constitutional
Tribunal for that book. I am also writing a chapter for the OUP Handbook on
Asian constitutionalism (edited by David Law and Chang Wen-chen) on subnational
constitutionalism in Asia. This latter is very challenging in terms of what
should be covered and what approach should be taken. My starting point is that
as with other regions Asia has gone in for decentralisation in quite a big way.
The intriguing part to figure out is how this sits with the continued validity
of the Asian developmental state with its contrary, centralising influence.
Longer term I will be working with Bui Ngoc Son on a fascinating project on village
contracts in Vietnam (also an aspect of sub-national constitutionalism), and
with Nyi Nyi Kyaw on the law and politics of transition in Myanmar; and even
longer-term I am thinking about how I could write a book on law and development
in South East Asia, which is a little-investigated subject.</span></div>
<div style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "cambria" , "serif"; font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><b><span style="color: black; font-family: "cambria" , "serif"; font-weight: normal;">How and when do you write? Do you
have a routine or do you write whenever and wherever you find the time?</span></b></div>
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "cambria" , "serif"; font-weight: normal;">I tend to function best later in the day, and
usually reserve the earlier part for more routine tasks. It seems to work best
when you have a good chunk of time to get really into it without distraction,
but not so long that you become unfocused. Progress usually depends on a
combination of enthusiasm and deadline-enforcement. The other thing I do find
is that I need a ‘hook’ to get me motivated. That means either inspiration from
reading or discussion, irritation with something I disagree with, or an
intriguing question or image that tugs at me.</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "cambria" , "serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"></span><br />
<div style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "cambria" , "serif"; font-weight: normal;">3. Whose scholarship jumps to the
top of your reading list when she or he publishes something new? </span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "cambria" , "serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"></span></div>
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "cambria" , "serif"; font-weight: normal;">I try to read a new article every day. I read widely
but not in a very focused way. I always look for new work on Asian constitutionalism,
and will certainly watch for work by the likes of Tom Ginsburg, Albert Chen,
and many younger scholars in Asia who come with new ideas and interests. I am
very eclectic in the disciplinary sense. Like Kim Lane Scheppelle, I like to
keep up with news about constitutional debates, crises and so on. Sometimes I
will read an important case instead of an article.</span></b><br />
<div style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "cambria" , "serif"; font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">4.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><b><span style="color: black; font-family: "cambria" , "serif"; font-weight: normal;">Is there an article or book that
influenced you as a student and that continues today to be an important
reference point for you?</span></b></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: "cambria" , "serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">When I was a student I was
studying classics, and oddly law did not feature in that (it should have
involved Roman law at least, which was studied by law students but not
classicists). So I take your question as relating to my formative stages as a
scholar. I would single out Dan Lev, whose work on Indonesia is rich, powerful,
mind-changing, and by no means of interest only to those studying Indonesia. I
have never been one for the ‘greats’ of jurisprudence, but amongst legal theorists
I found William Twining the most thoughtful and meaningful. Clifford Geert’s
work was also inspiring.</span><br />
<div style="text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "cambria" , "serif"; font-weight: normal;">5. What are some of the big
questions ripe for inquiry in your area of research interest?</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "cambria" , "serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "cambria" , "serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Here I am totally with Kim
Scheppelle in her recent I-Conn interview. We need to bring legal and other
kinds of scholarship together in a synthesis to understand in what ways
constitutions in terms of political process, institutions, and rights-protection
have or can have traction in society – but I would add to this that looking at
these issues across Asia is essential for any kind of viable conceptual
analysis. I am suspicious of the viability of big answers to big questions
(they are usually wrong or only partially and unhelpfully right). Where we will
find some answers to Kim’s questions is at the interface between what I have
called ‘global doctrine’ and ‘local knowledge’.</span></div>
Andrew Hardinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15954270826267048283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8804284970071192091.post-12380399838035169522017-06-21T23:03:00.003+08:002018-06-07T00:22:12.739+08:00English Language and English Law<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
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I doubt whether anybody penning
his or her ‘last will and testament’ ever considered why he or she was not
simply making a will. It is probably attributed to long-standing usage, and
therefore any innovation such as (horror!) omitting the ‘and testament’ might
create some ambiguity, or, even worse, an incorrigible legal defect resulting
in a family feud lasting generations. Lawyers probably encouraged this kind of
thinking so that ordinary people (that is, their paying clients) understood
that the lawyer was a real professional and his ways might be questioned only
at considerable personal risk.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
In fact the explanation is quite
mundane and relatively sensible. ‘Will’ is Anglo-Saxon or Old English for the
same thing as the Norman-French-derived ‘testament’. In both cases the word
simply means a legal document disposing of one’s property on death. Legal
drafters were sensitive to possibly different nuances of these two words. After
all I ‘will’ this article into existence (an intention), but it is also a
‘testament’ to (evidence of) my literary skill, hopefully. The person executing
the Will is called a Testator, not a Willer. Given that English people might
say ‘it is my will’, while the law would have recognised this ‘will’ as a
‘testament’, the safest and indeed most comprehensible course would be to use
both words. By 1837 Parliament in Westminster was able to pass the ‘Wills Act’
(not the Wills and Testaments Act). Nonetheless (I checked my own) wills are
still one’s last will and testament, notwithstanding the move towards the use
of plain legal English. After all, the document thereby acquires gravity, not
just legal consequences. It is my Will that my ‘estate’, my ‘chattels’ and my ‘effects’
(why not just ‘property’? OK I think I’ve answered that) should be ‘bequeathed’
(rather than being mundanely ‘passed on’) to my ‘Beneficiaries’ (rather than my
family or friends). In law I still cannot actually see any difference between a
Will and a Testament. But be aware that if you change it, you will likely need
a Codicil (no, please don’t ask).<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Herein lies a problem. Legal
usage is not the same as common usage. Are you aware that if you assault
someone during a pub brawl you are not hitting him (that’s a battery in law)
but merely threatening to hit him? For this reason generations of brawlers have
been surprised to be charged with both assault and battery (they thought they
had done one thing wrong, not two), unless of course the brawler hit his victim
from behind when he was not looking, in which case there was a battery but no
assault. Similarly, most people consider that a contract is a written document
creating an agreement, for example, for the sale and purchase of some item. In
fact, as any first year law student will tell you, a contract does not have to
be in writing, except that in some systems it has to be in writing if it
relates to a disposition (there I go – I mean a sale or lease or gift or
bequest) of land, or real property. People assume that when you buy a bottle of
milk from the local general store you have not entered into a contract. In fact
you have entered into one by your and the shop assistant’s behaviour even if
not a word was said (which sadly these days is often the case); indeed the
contract has been both formed and duly executed. Originally no doubt contracts
even as commonly understood could be unwritten, but over time we have become somehow
psychologically legalised even though writing is not strictly a requirement.
Writing signed by both parties is of course clear proof of the existence and
terms of the contract, which is why we tend to express them in writing if
anything important is at stake.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
So legal language overlaps with,
but is not the same as, ordinary language. This is why we need a legal
dictionary for most legal terms. An ordinary dictionary might be fine if the
word (say a term in a statute, such as ‘park’, or ‘residence’) is not
peculiarly legal; but if it is ‘appurtenances’, ‘demurrer’, or ‘estoppel’, you
had better use a law dictionary or an edition of the OED that caters for legal
meaning.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Yes, you guessed it. The law
mainly uses Norman-French words, because the Normans developed the English
common law system out of the prominent features of Old English customary law,
which differed as between Yorkshire, Suffolk, and Cornwall, for example. Customs
provided content, but Norman-French provided the words to describe it
abstractly. Nonetheless, as I have said, Old English words are used to avoid
what one might call cultural doubt. For this reason we have ‘residue and
remainder’, ‘null and void’ (but let’s not get into the meaning of void and
voidable), ‘matter or cause’, and ‘breaking and entering’. In each case one
word is Old English and the other Norman-French. Looking at this positively,
one might say the law was being culturally inclusive and speaking, albeit at too
great length and no doubt also at too high an expense, to all those subjected
to it.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
The Norman-French ‘termes de la
ley’ as the Normans called them (legal words to us) were nonetheless
superimposed over an underlay of Old English. Gradually this underlay itself
became somewhat antiquated, and for this reason survived as legal jargon.
Consider these words which sound as if they were taken from a speech by 1990s
British Prime Minister John Major: heretofore, wheresoever, aforesaid,
hereinafter, thenceforth, forthwith, wherewithal. Although Major appeared sane
enough (he was indeed accused of being too sane and in fact rather grey), I
suggest that nobody in their right minds would use those words today, but they
appear in legal documents all the time. Does anybody now know what a ‘glebe’ is
(it’s land attached to a church)? Even ordinary Old English words took on
subtle meanings. A document ‘under my hand’ is not actually concealed by my
fingers, like a surprise candy, but has my signature on it.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Naturally many people, including
lawyers, would like more ‘plain English’, whatever that might be, in the law
and in administration. In 1979 British government forms were ritually burned in
Parliament Square in London. Prime Minister Thatcher went on to reduce their
number considerably – by 15,700 to be exact. President Jimmy Carter made an
Executive Order (yes, these do predate Trump) in 1978 requiring regulations to
be written in plain English; however, defining what constituted plain English
created even more legal complications. Ironically, the EO itself was revoked by
President Reagan in 1981. Presumably his lawyers used some very plain English
to do so. Subjecting language to this kind of attempted-accurate legal regulation
seems a peculiarly self-contradictory objective.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Nonetheless, as a practicable
scheme it is not without merit or practicality. Consider these two contractual
provisions.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->1.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;"> </span><!--[endif]-->The
contractor shall have a general lien upon all goods in his possession for all
monies due to him from the customer or for liabilities incurred by him … etc<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->2.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;"> </span><!--[endif]-->We
have a right to hold some or all of the goods until you have paid all our
charges and other payments due under this contract.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
There is no doubt that 2 is
preferable. Does anything turn on using ‘right to hold goods’ rather than
‘general lien’? I doubt that a court would decide so. If they did, then you should
definitely appeal! Customers, you can now breathe freely, you really don’t need
a lawyer for this kind of thing.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Another issue is punctuation. I
recall my English teacher in school pointing out that legal documents have no
punctuation because otherwise legal doubt would occur as to their meaning. I
found this puzzling and I was right to find it so. When I came to practise law,
it seemed to me this is simply not the case. In fact (some will disagree) lack
of punctuation is to my mind much more likely to create ambiguity; subordinate
clauses qualify and explain main clauses (as he also taught us). As an editor I
am forever inserting punctuation for the sake of clarity, but hardly ever
removing it. Rather, the lack of punctuation is simply a cultural matter
amongst lawyers. (OK, Steve, how many lines of an intelligible conveyance can
you write without using any punctuation? Bet you a pint you can’t reach 14
without getting garbled).<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Of course this trend often goes
too far. As an articled pupil I wondered why every conveyance had a plan
attached which was referred to somewhat as follows: ‘ … known as 53 Acacia
Avenue which property is for the purpose of identification only more
particularly delineated on Plan A attached hereto’. I pointed out with some
temerity that ‘for the purpose of identification only’ was actually at odds
with ‘more particularly delineated’. Which prevailed, the detailed description
in the body of the document, or the attached plan? In practice the plan
prevailed where there was doubt, but that was not what the conveyance actually
appeared to say. I was told not to worry, as it was quite the normal expression!
I hope somebody litigated this point and proved me technically right. But my
real point is that culture trumps law even in the law itself. I was not of
course thanked for raising a perfectly good, practical, point. It disturbed the
furniture.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Interestingly enough in a recent
case in India an appeal succeeded in the Supreme Court against a High Court
order on the grounds that the language of the judgment was incomprehensible.
You can judge this for yourself: <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
‘<span style="color: #3e3e3e; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">(The) … tenant in the demised premises stands aggrieved by
the pronouncement made by the learned Executing Court upon his objections
constituted therebefore … wherewithin the apposite unfoldments qua his
resistance to the execution of the decree stood discountenanced by the learned
Executing Court.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #3e3e3e; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Personally I have never seen so many Majorisms in one
sentence. I heartily agree with their Lordships’ decision overturning the
judgment, whatever that was.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
So – let culture and let ordinary
language prevail! You may see something
like the following, even in the new full-punctuation age:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
‘.. which against him I have had,
now have, or which my heirs, executors, or administrators, hereafter can,
shall, or may have, for or by reason of any matter, cause, or thing whatsoever,
from the beginning of the world to the day of the date of these presents ..’<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
If so, don’t be intimidated; my
advice is to protest, and, above all, not to pay a cent for this kind of garbage!
You first heard it here.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
Andrew Hardinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15954270826267048283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8804284970071192091.post-60667613980714108742017-05-29T15:10:00.003+08:002018-06-07T00:26:05.950+08:00A Breach of Promise and a Matter of Sovereign Immunity: Mighell v The Sultan of Johor<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
[This unpublished jeu d'esprit concerns the famous case of <i>Mighell v Sultan of Johore</i>, <i style="text-align: justify;">Law Reports</i><span style="text-align: justify;"> [1894] 1 Q B 149]</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="text-align: justify;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-CA">In the 1880s </span><span lang="EN"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Sultan</span> <span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Sir</span> Abu Bakar <span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">ibni</span> Daing Ibrahim</span><span lang="EN-CA">, the Ruler of Johor, a State on the <st1:place w:st="on">Malay
Peninsula</st1:place> (he reigned from 1862 to 1895), was the very model of a
modern Asiatic prince. Not only was he tall, distinguished and handsome, but he
was the progressive Ruler of a prosperous State that had good relations with
the <st1:place w:st="on">British Empire</st1:place> and enjoyed its protection.
He was known as a good Muslim (he had recently had himself re-styled ‘Sultan’
of Johor instead of ‘Maharaja’), well educated with fluent English, a
moderniser, and a man of cosmopolitan tastes. He was well travelled, as much at
home chatting with Chinese contractors as he was accompanying the future King
George V by car to the Singapore races. Queen Victoria herself became his life-long
friend. He was destined to make many improvements to the law and administration
of his state, bequeathing to Johor its first written constitution in 1895. He
was also, as we would say these days, a bit of a lad.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-CA">Travelling
incognito in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">England</st1:place></st1:country-region>
in the 1880s, Abu Bakar had adopted the name of ‘Albert Baker’. In this guise
as an ordinary, if somewhat wealthy and foreign-looking, subject of Her
Majesty, with a house in Goring, <st1:place w:st="on">Surrey</st1:place>, he
had struck up a relationship with a Miss Jenny Mighell, who had become his
mistress. The relationship had developed the point where ‘Albert’ had promised
to marry her. It was then that she found out, by accident, that he was not
Albert Baker but a Malay Sultan. He entreated her to keep his identity secret.
Whether because of this discovery or for other reasons, Abu Bakar decided not
to marry Jenny Mighell, and made plans to return home.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-CA">In the 19<sup>th</sup>
century a promise to marry was actionable as a tort under the common law, and in
1893 Miss Mighell sued His Royal Highness (as we should now call him) for damages.
(You might, if you are old enough, recall a wonderful 1975 movie on the theme of
breach of promise of marriage called ‘Love Among the Ruins’, with Laurence Olivier
and Katharine Hepburn. It had a great court scene). There was an obvious
problem, however, in that as a foreign ruler HRH might - and indeed he did -
claim immunity from suit. It was after all well established in international
law and recognised in the English courts that a foreign head of state could not
be sued. HRH argued that the court had no jurisdiction over him and applied to
have the action struck out.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-CA">The judge in the
High Court, Wright J, resolved the issue by asking the Colonial Office whether
the Sultan of Johor was to be regarded as a foreign ruler. Yes, came the official
reply, the Sultan had all the characteristics of a foreign ruler. The Colonial
Office was particularly impressed with the facts that Johor had its own navy,
courts, and, crucially it seems, postal service. It was therefore in
international law much like Britain, but a bit smaller, lacking only tea with
milk at four o’clock with scones and strawberry jam (they did have cricket,
though). A Treaty with the Crown dated 1885 supporting this claim was attached.
Wright J referred the motion striking out the claim to the <st1:street w:st="on"><st1:address w:st="on">Divisional Court</st1:address></st1:street> which found that the
letter concluded the matter. But Miss Mighell appealed to the Court of Appeal.
The point was, she argued, that HRH had acted as a private individual, not as a
head of state; and in any case surely the court should make up its own mind as
to his status, which could arguably be seen as inferior to that which the Government
had indicated?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-CA">The Court of
Appeal was unanimous, however, in finding against her. The only limits to
sovereign immunity, held the judges, were cases where the defendant expressly
submitted to the court’s jurisdiction after a writ had been filed, or where he
himself sued and there was a counter-claim by the defendant. The court would
not look behind the Government’s certification.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-CA">The satirical London
magazine <i>Modern Society</i> was far less
impressed with the decision, demanding that Queen Victoria herself, who ‘should
not have such disreputable friends’, even be they independent sovereigns and
allies of the Queen, should compensate the victim of the ‘Goring of Johor’. Sovereign
immunity, it argued, should join velvet waistcoats, the dodo, and belief in the
exclusiveness of White’s Club, as a thing of the past.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-CA">Sultan Abu Bakar
died 1895. Bukit Senyum in Johor Bahru, the capital of the State of Johor,
translates as ‘Smile Hill’; it is reckoned to be so called, not because of its
commanding view of the Straits of Johor, but because of the smile with which Sultan
Abu Bakar’s aide received all inquiries as to his sovereign’s doings in Europe.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-CA">Johor was the
last of the Malay States to become a British protectorate - in 1914. The Malay
Rulers became constitutional Heads of their States within the Federation of
Malaya in 1948, their powers reduced, having almost been abolished by an
aborted plan of unification in 1946. The action for breach of promise of
marriage was abolished in <st1:country-region w:st="on">England</st1:country-region>
in 1971, and has also been abolished in most common law jurisdictions, although
it is still extant in some <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">US</st1:place></st1:country-region>
states. The Colonial Office was abolished in 1966. In 1993 the immunity of the
Malay Rulers was removed by an amendment to the Malaysian Constitution. The
proximate cause of this was a series of violent incidents involving members of the
Johor royal family, which were, as in 1895, the subject of battles between the
London press and the Johor monarchy. The Malay sovereigns are now liable to be
hauled - and they have been - before a <st1:street w:st="on"><st1:address w:st="on">Special Court</st1:address></st1:street> which has power to deal
with both civil and criminal cases in which they are involved. In 1998 the
House of Lords, in Pinochet’s case, denied sovereign immunity in cases of human
rights abuses. <i>Modern Society</i> too no
longer exists. However the English Court of Appeal does, as also do White’s Gentlemen’s
Club (established 1683) and the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Singapore</st1:place></st1:country-region>
races. Velvet waistcoats are also still in use - by top snooker players.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-CA">A wag at <st1:city w:st="on">Lincoln</st1:city>’s <st1:place w:st="on">Inn</st1:place> penned the
following witty memorial of the case.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-CA">Jenny Mighell
brought an action ‘gainst the Sultan of Johore, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-CA">And demanded
satisfaction for the maiden name she bore. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-CA">She declared, as
Albert Baker, he had wooed her for his bride, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-CA">But he now
declined to take her to be consort at his side. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-CA">Quoth the
Sultan, “Such divinity doth hedge about a King, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-CA">That (although
there's nothing in it) I need not deny the thing. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-CA">Be it fact or be
it fiction that I scrupled not to fool her, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-CA">This Court hath
not jurisdiction o'er an independent ruler.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-CA">Said the Judge,
“Your plea has met the plaintiff’s case, I don't deny <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-CA">But your royal
status let the Foreign Office certify.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-CA">From a Foreign
Office clerk a note was sent to say what store <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-CA">There is set by
Abubakar, Maharajah of Johore. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-CA">“He's a bona fide
sovereign, our gracious Queen’s ally, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-CA">Reigning
independent of her and of any feudal tie. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-CA">He has land and
naval forces, postal system, and a Court, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-CA">Where his
delegate discourses law of contract, crime, and tort. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-CA">He has founded
orders knightly; titles, honours, he bestows. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-CA">So remaining
yours politely, this epistle here I close.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-CA">Then the Judges,
after reading the above precise report, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-CA">Held that
Abubakar's pleading put the plaintiff out of Court. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-CA">“Say, that like
Haroun Al Rasched, he preferred to walk unknown; <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-CA">Say, the hapless
maid was mash’ed by his princely form and tone. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-CA">Say, he offered
lawful wedlock: still he never made submission <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-CA">To be sued (and
that’s the deadlock) for his promise’s rescission. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-CA">By the comity of
nations, legal process won’t intrude <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-CA">On men holding
kingly stations; they’re exempt from being sued. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-CA">As to this, law,
reason’s flower, does not differentiate <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-CA">A great European
power from a petty potentate.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-CA">Now a bard of
light and leading has bewailed the lost delight <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-CA">Of the ancient
subtle pleading gone into die Ewigkeit.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-CA">And the Ewigkeit
is where the words and feelings between these two people will remain. Was Sultan
Abu Bakar a heartless cad? Or was Jenny Mighell an opportunist gold-digger? We
shall never know.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-CA">[<i>Mighell v Sultan of Johore</i>, 10 <i>Times Law Reports</i> 37, 115; <i>Law Reports</i> [1894] 1 Q B 149]<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Andrew Hardinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15954270826267048283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8804284970071192091.post-75983082332430752142017-05-27T14:46:00.000+08:002018-06-07T00:31:37.851+08:00How to write an abstract[This short piece has been hit or shared hundreds of times on facebook, on the ASLI website, and on the Onati Community blog. I am gratified that it seems to have filled a seriously large hole in the academic-how-to literature!]<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Every year I read hundreds of abstracts for conference
slots, fellowship or scholarship applications, journal submissions, to
introduce published articles, and for many other purposes. I notice that the
concept and preparation of an abstract seems to be a very culturally-specific
exercise, probably determined by expectations within a particular scholarly
community – but they may not serve the purpose well when applied
internationally. Accordingly, here is some guidance as to how to do a good
abstract that will inform the reader and attract the attention of
decision-makers.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Q: What is an abstract for?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
An abstract is a way of indicating what your paper is about
and should be written in a way that enables the reader almost instantaneously
to judge whether what you have written is interesting or useful, or into what
category of literature or inquiry it falls. Typically an abstract is used to
submit for a conference slot, or as a heading for a published piece, or for a
research funding application.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Q: What do you mean by ‘about’?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Yes, ‘about’ can have several meanings. Knowing that a paper
is ‘about’ intellectual property law is only marginally useful. What you need
to convey is what your argument is and why that might be interesting to the
reader. You need to sell your work and persuade the reader to read on.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Q: How long should it be?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It should be extremely concise. Length depends partly on
what is demanded (e.g. ‘maximum 300 words’) and what your point is. Err on the
side of being too short rather than too long. The longer an abstract is the
less it tends to function as an abstract, and the more it performs the task you
have set rather than enticing us into your work.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Q: My paper is complex. How can I comply with your
requirements?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
First, do not fill your abstract with facts. Facts
(including legal facts) should be no more than a third of your abstract, and
just sufficient to indicate what the paper is about. Second, your abstract is
not your paper. Do not use a paragraph of your paper as your abstract:
‘abstract’ means a dragging out, not a repetition. Pose your question or your
thesis at the very beginning, e.g. ‘My argument in this paper is that …’, or
‘The case study I present here is a story of how …’; do not wait to the end to
do this. A paper is not a detective novel where you only find out on the last
page ‘who done it’!<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Q: But how will a reader/ reviewer/ editor know that I know
what I am talking about?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
You will be assumed to know what you are talking about
unless you show otherwise by being unclear, confusing, long-winded, repetitive,
or obvious. Be punchy, positive, and persuasive. Do not be overly modest. Do
not make any language/ presentational mistakes as the reader will assume the
paper will be even worse than the abstract.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Q: Do I need to refer to literature?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
No, not in the abstract. But you need to show that you are
aware of your place on the intellectual map, e.g., ‘whereas most of the
literature assumes that … I seek to show that, on the contrary, …’<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Q: Do I need to indicate my methodology?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Not necessarily, unless the methodology itself is key to
your thesis, e.g., ‘A survey of case law shows that …’, or ‘interviews with
hedge fund managers indicate that …’<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Q: How do the decision-makers decide?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
They will be looking originality in the choice of topic, in
the argument presented, or the contribution the paper makes to the sum of human
knowledge and ideas, however small that might be. They will also look for a
good fit with the purpose of submitting the abstract, e.g. for a journal
special issue or a conference on a particular topic. They may also be looking
for a representational range of topics, countries, scholars or points of view.
You may not fit what they are looking for, but at least be a good example of
what they might be looking for.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Q: Can you give me an example?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Sure. Here is one of my own I prepared earlier. It is not
perfect but it does the job in just 140 words.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm -27pt 0.0001pt 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<b><i><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The study of monarchy might seem an unpromising way of understanding
modern society. While this is true in Europe with its functional ‘cycling’
monarchs, it is not true in Asia where in Thailand and Cambodia for example the
King still plays a very large role in public affairs both symbolically and
politically. This paper looks at Malaysia which has no less than nine
functioning monarchies (or 10 if one includes its unique, rotating, federal
monarch), and argues that since the millennium there has been an ambitious
attempt to recreate the image of monarchy tarnished in the 1980s and 1990s. As
against a monarchy under threat during those times, the new ‘Nazrinian’
monarchy (named so after the Sultan of Perak, a prime mover in this project)
seeks to establish a new and expanded, albeit controversial role, for this ancient
institution.<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
</div>
Andrew Hardinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15954270826267048283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8804284970071192091.post-39931715044701483002017-05-25T02:01:00.002+08:002017-05-25T13:04:45.564+08:00The Limits of Law in Colonial Settings: A Tsinoy Lesson from 17th Century Manila<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="text-align: center;">In </span><span style="text-align: center;">September 1686 Charles II, King of Spain, made
a Royal Decree providing that all Chinese should be expelled from Manila. The
Chinese had been causing grief to the colonial government there, and it had
been said by the government that there was a danger of a Chinese attack on
Manila itself. The Chinese in Manila were a potential danger and had to be
shipped back immediately whence they came. There were no ifs and no buts, for the
King had spoken. Except one. Given that the stated mission of the Spanish
Empire was to convert its subjects to the Catholic religion, those Chinese who
had converted would of course be allowed to stay.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA">It was perhaps predictable that such a
drastic decree would encounter difficulty, but colonial powers were wont to
leave the problems of implementation to its far-flung representatives who were
paid well for solving such difficulties.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA">The first of these was that communications
being very uncertain in those days it took the decree no less than two years to
reach Gabriel de Curuzealegui y Arriola, the
Governor-General in Manila, having travelled across the Atlantic to Veracruz on
the Gulf of Mexico, up the mountains to Mexico City, and then down again to
Acapulco on the Pacific coast and across the ocean to the capital of that
archipelago named for the King’s illustrious predecessor, Philip II. It arrived
in Manila in late 1688.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA">It is in the nature of these things that a
law deals with the situation at the time it was made rather than the time it
falls to be implemented, and even in the relatively slow-moving world of the
late 17th century, two years was a long time. The situation outlined in the
communications from Manila sent by Don Gabriel himself in 1684 had changed
somewhat. Manila was no longer threatened, and indeed it was the Chinese
themselves who were now threatened by the local population. Given that the
shadows of no less than five other Governors-General had darkened the graceful
porticos of the palace in the Intramuros in the previous twenty years, and Don
Gabriel himself was to leave office in April 1689, colonial governors clearly
had little time to achieve anything, but plenty of opportunity to make catastrophic
mistakes. Manila was in essence hardly more than a place where Mexican silver
was exchanged for Chinese silk, and that only once a year. It was lightly
defended. Moreover, the religious orders had great power and the government
could not afford to offend them in matters affecting religion. Worse, Don
Gabriel was subject to the vice-royalty of Mexico in addition to the court in Madrid.
He had few forces and little revenue to make his government effective. Declining
trade and customs evasion were just two of his fiscal problems.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA">Don Gabriel must indeed have felt that Madrid
had precious little understanding of his predicament, and he had precious
little in the way of power to satisfy its injunctions. True it was that the
Chinese with their piracy and gang fights had caused him grief, and had
assassinated the collector of the Chinese head tax in 1686. He had been hard
put to restore order. More particularly, however, right now, as had happened
from time to time during the 17<sup>th</sup> century (which had seen several
massacres of Chinese), it was hostility to the Chinese that caused him grief. Only
recently they had been accused of adulterating their bread with ground glass.
Rumours of this had circulated for some months, and indeed a Crown judge had
found them to be true before fleeing in terror to the arms of the Jesuits. But
Don Gabriel had his doubts about the evidence: adulteration, probably yes. Frankly,
he would not put it past their deviousness to put melamine in milk or
something. But ground glass in bread? … Come
to think of it, how come the rice-growing Chinese had cornered the baking
business as well as several other trades? Ah, of course, the answer was that
they had been granted such monopolies by the government itself in order to
boost its flaky finances.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA">On the other hand the Chinese were not
without their real uses. They brought skills such as baking and
leather-working, they were crucial to the economy in facilitating the important
trade between Mexico and the Qing Empire. Moreover, funding from Madrid was
tight and Don Gabriel, like his predecessors, and quite apart from the
monopolies, had to borrow money from rich men, of whom many were those very
Chinese residents in Manila.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA">The receipt of the Decree must have
occasioned Don Gabriel several sleepless nights. He could not ignore the King’s
Decree; but he could not expel the Chinese without drastic consequences, which
might include bankruptcy and also the extreme violence of which he knew the
Chinese were quite capable. The Chinese, moreover, were not easy to deal with. Eventually
he announced the Decree and held his breath.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA">The first response was unexpected. But Don
Gabriel could have reflected that the Chinese were as capable of legalism as
the Spanish. It was not for nothing that Legalism was as important a strand of
Chinese philosophy as Confucianism. The Chinese leaders came to him for some
legal clarification. Since the Decree recognised that Catholic converts were
allowed to stay, that certainly moderated its effect. But what of those Chinese
who were willing to convert and requested instruction prior to baptism? Surely
the King could not have intended that they, too, should be expelled? Certainly
not, said Don Gabriel, those intending to convert would be allowed time to
convert and then they could stay in Manila.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA">The Chinese left apparently satisfied but
came back for further clarification about the implementation of the Decree. Given
that many of them had lent money to the Government, which it could not repay
until the galleons arrived from Acapulco a few months later, it surely could
not be King’s intention that they should be sent back to China still being owed
this money? Such a scenario might indeed have seemed rather attractive to the
penny-pinching Governor-General. But not only was Don Gabriel a fair man. He also
knew that if he did send them back without payment, the credit of the
Government would be destroyed for all future time, and he would leave the
Philippine finances in disarray. So he agreed. Of course those who were owed
money would be allowed to stay until the galleon arrived and they could be paid
off. But would the Chinese leaders be so good as to provide him with a schedule
of such creditors and the amounts they considered were owed to them, so that
this could be officially checked and their rights preserved? Certainly, came
the reply.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA">The Chinese leaders returned in due course with
the schedule. It seemed unreasonably long. On the other hand the government had
been pretty ruthless in compelling the Chinese to lend it money. Checking the details
in their usual cautiously legalistic way, the Spanish officials found that the
list of those apparently owed money corresponded with perfect exactitude to the
list of those Chinese who had not either converted or promised to convert. Thus
Don Gabriel’s own pronouncements had in effect promised to expel nobody from
Manila. And he had another problem. Due to the vagaries of trade and weather
there were no ships in which to expel anybody whatever the rights and wrongs of
their expulsion.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA">Faced with this seemingly impossible
situation Don Gabriel opted for a fig-leaf solution. He selected 1000 Chinese
whom he reckoned were not owed anything and had not or would not convert,
waited for shipping to become available, and sent them away to China, reporting
back to Madrid that the decree had been implemented. His choice of number was
astute, being neither large enough to make an intolerable dent in the Chinese
population and cause raised eyebrows in Peking, nor small enough to cause
eyebrows to be raised in Manila, Mexico City or Madrid. No doubt, by the time
his report reached Madrid he would have been on his way back there himself, and
thus able to clarify any concerns that might have been raised. In any case, by
then, he no doubt reasoned, the court would be much more concerned with other
decrees and the Chinese of Manila would, quite rightly, have faded from their
consciousness.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA">In 2010 the numbers of Chinese nationals in
the Philippines was 61,000, many more than those of any other country. The
numbers of Chinese Filipinos is unknown due to their extensive mixing with the
Filipino community, but is estimated at 22% of the population, including the
mixed Chinese-Filipinos who are called ‘Mestizos’. The word for Chinese
Filipino is ‘Tsinoy’ which is made up of ‘Tsino’ (Chinese) and ‘Pinoy’
(Filipino). Chinese trade and business, internal and external, have been a
crucial aspect of economic development in the Philippines ever since the 17<sup>th</sup>
century. The Chinese have contributed unique elements to the syncretic culture
of the archipelago.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA">In February 2011 at the Manila World Trade
Centre the Manila Bakery Fair will be held. There will be 400 booths. It is
organised by the Filipino-Chinese Bakery Association Inc.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA">Don Gabriel was a wise man who understood government,
economics, and international relations. He probably had an acute sense of the
forces of history. He also knew the limits of law as well as the advisable limits
on meddling with the Chinese.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA">(with acknowledgment to John E Wills Jr’s <i>1688: A Global History</i> (2001) and the
website of the FCBAI)<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-CA"><br /></span>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA">[This article appeared in the <i>Philippine Law Journal Online</i> vol 85, no
2 (January 2011) and that version can can be downloaded at <a href="http://plj.upd.edu.ph/the-limits-of-law-in-colonial-settings-a-tsinoy-lesson-from-17th-century-manila/">http://plj.upd.edu.ph/the-limits-of-law-in-colonial-settings-a-tsinoy-lesson-from-17th-century-manila/</a>.
It also appeared<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span lang="EN-CA">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-CA; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">two instalments the <i>Philippine Daily Inquirer</i> in January 2011, see <a href="http://opinion.inquirer.net/inquireropinion/columns/view/20110119-315279/A-Tsinoy-lesson-from-17th-C-Manila">http://opinion.inquirer.net/inquireropinion/columns/view/20110119-315279/A-Tsinoy-lesson-from-17th-C-Manila</a>
and <a href="http://opinion.inquirer.net/inquireropinion/columns/view/20110120-315506/A-Tsinoy-lesson-from-17th-C-Manila-2">http://opinion.inquirer.net/inquireropinion/columns/view/20110120-315506/A-Tsinoy-lesson-from-17th-C-Manila-2</a>]</span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-CA"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-CA; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><br /></span></span></div>
Andrew Hardinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15954270826267048283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8804284970071192091.post-28683648069276913132017-05-25T01:57:00.001+08:002017-05-25T13:41:33.405+08:00"Anna and the King" and Law in Asia<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Anna and the King (20th Century Fox, 1999) portrays the well-known story of how King Mongkut of Siam (Rama IV) engaged a feisty English governess for his children and the inter-cultural problems between them that her employment lead to. The movie contains a
story-within-a-story concerning Tuptim, a young woman belonging to the King's harem, who elopes with her young lover Balat, a priest. She is discovered disguised as a
male novice in Balat's monastery and is brought before the court in chains to
be tried and punished. Anna Leonowens looks on as Tuptim and Balat, who have
clearly been tortured, are accused of treason, a crime carrying the penalty of
death. Anna tries to intervene as Tuptim's pleas for individual freedom in the
matter of love fall on deaf ears and lead only to a brutal caning. Anna then
goes directly to the King to plead for mercy in Tuptim's case. The King argues
angrily that it is none of her concern; that Anna has now made it impossible
for him to intervene ('What, after they have been tortured?"
"Yes!", replies the King); that he would be seen to have given in to
the entreaties of a foreign woman; to show weakness when strength was needed to
keep the country together; that now was not the time to change things (Anna:
"If not now, then when?"). Anna storms out. Tuptim and Balat are
executed to great public applause. Anna is traumatised and chastened by this
turn of events. King Mongkut is also traumatised and the episode ends with him
prostrated before the Buddha in sheer moral agony. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The story sets up a clear dichotomy between Anna, standing
for love, individual autonomy, progress, justice and from-heaven-dropping
mercy; and the King, standing for stability, traditional values, strong
government, collective interest and the necessity sometimes, yes, of cruelty.
Yet at another level it achieves more than that. The King's patrimonial anger
is not what it seems. It also conceals a desire for something better but
frustration that his plan to intervene has been prevented by Anna's own
interference. Anna's anger on the other hand, borne of a libertarian's courage
and humanity, also conceals the shallowness of ambitious idealism. What emerges
is a double tragedy: the cruel deaths of two young innocents; and the
frustration of good moral intentions through cultural misunderstanding. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I have no idea if the story itself is true. It probably
doesn't matter. Whether it correctly or fairly portrays Siam's legal system
circa 1860 is however open to doubt. From the perspective of European observers
such as Anna Leonowens it certainly seemed feudal, cruel and corrupt. Yet those
are descriptions which could, uncomfortably recently, have been equally
reasonably leveled at European legal systems. The fact is that both European
and Siamese law were going through a period of profound change. Anna was a
great admirer of Abraham Lincoln and the abolition of slavery; the abolition of
slavery in Siam in fact began very shortly after its abolition in the United
States and Russia. King Mongkut himself was no stranger to European rationality
or a sense of individual rights and justice. He established the principle of
free individual choice in marriage; and at Waco in Southern Thailand in 1868 he
correctly predicted an eclipse of the sun using European science and
mathematics. In these things he regarded himself as a good Buddhist, a
scientist, and a progressive, if absolute, monarch (he had been a monk for 20
years before becoming King and had reformed the Buddhist Sangha). Unfortunately
at Waco, Mongkut caught malaria and, returning to Bangkok, died a few days
later. He was succeeded by his son who became Chulalongkorn the Great (Rama V),
an innovator who built a modern state on the foundations laid by his father.
The ultimate irony of all of this is that Chulalongkorn's teacher was none
other than Anna Leonowens. It is surely significant that on his accession he
began the process of freeing the slaves and changing his subjects into
citizens. He remained grateful to Anna throughout his life but in later times
he met her and chastised her because in her account of her time in Siam she had
defamed his father as a bad-tempered tyrant. For that he could not forgive her.
"Anna and the King" was filmed in Malaysia with Chinese actors and
was banned in Thailand, not because it portrayed Siam as cruel and backward,
but because it portrayed King Mongkut, a saint in Thai understanding, as a man
who flirted with a foreign woman and as less than a perfect human being. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Thai
law still inflicts heavy punishments on both Thais and foreigners for lese
majeste. 'Anna and the King' grossed nearly US$40 million.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Andrew Hardinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15954270826267048283noreply@blogger.com0