IT hasn't been a good year for Gareth Batty. First he falls off his moped when three times over the drink-drive limit; his England ODI career has petered out after five wickets in 10 matches; and then his Worcestershire club are dumped out of the Friends Provident by an amazing Ireland performance in bowling the county out for just 58.
The spinner set it up nicely in his Worcester News column last week, where he wrote of Ireland: 'Without speaking out of place, the difference between them and us is obscene – we are far superior.' Doh!
The Duckworth Lewis Method isn't just an impenetrable system for deciding run-rates in rain-affected cricket matches. It is also the name chosen by two leading members of the Irish music scene for a side project which allows them to indulge their passion for cricket. Neil Hannon of the Divine Comedy, who has had several hits over the last 15 years such as ‘National Express' and ‘Something for the Weekend', has teamed up with Thomas Walsh of Pugwash to record The Age of Revolution.
Both have been spectators at Ireland games and joined a pre-World Cup practice session in 2007.
'In my wilderness years, between 18 and 23, I got into test cricket,' says Hannon. 'It saved my life really.'
The man who wrote the greatest Eurovision non-entry of all, ‘My Lovely Horse' for Father Ted, has turned his hand to the great game alongside Walsh, who confesses to being a big fan of Bob Willis.
What has emerged is an old-fashioned concept album, with 12 songs on a cricket theme. 'It's about time the sport of the gods had a whole album dedicated to it,' says Hannon. It starts with ‘The Coin Toss' and ends with ‘The End of the Over' while along the way we meet characters such as Mike Gatting, Shane Warne and Javed Miandad.
You can listen to three songs on their MySpace page – top marks to the Noel Cowardesque ‘Jiggery Pokery' – until the rest go on sale on 3 July.
There was much shock in sporting circles at the news of the tragically early death of Charlie Beverland. The former Ulster Town opener had a long interpro career without ever catching the eye of the Irish selectors. 'I remember him as a very, very good batsman', said Alan Lewis, 'and never without a happy smile on his face.'
Far worse players than Beverland have won caps, and he must have been close after a typically gritty century against a strong South Leinster attack at Woodvale in 1983. 'He was a nudger, a deflector', recalled Lewis. With NICC, later CSN, he scored more fifties than any other player in NCU history. He was still good enough to score a ton for a CSN junior side last summer.
An accomplished AIL rugby referee, he was also a popular host of the Irish squad who made their base at his La Mon House Hotel when playing in the North.
There are three sets of sisters in the Ireland squad for the RSA series of games which starts at 4.30pm tomorrow with a Twenty20 against Pakistan at Milverton. Ireland get a boost with the return of captain Heather Whelan who gave birth to a bouncing baby girl, Aliyah, in November.
The squad, drawn from just three clubs, is H Whelan, I Joyce, C Joyce, E Beamish, and J Whelan (all Merrion), V Gee, A Kenealy, S Kenealy, E Richardson and M Scott-Hayward (all Leinster), and C Shillington, J Carroll and M Herbert (Malahide). There will be regular reports on Near FM 90.3FM on Tuesday and Friday.