Happy days
Wednesday, May 27, 2009 Writing in the June issue of The Oldie, veteran sports writer Frank Keating recalls going to his first Test match. It was 1949, the venue was Old Trafford, the opposition was New Zealand, and the home team featured an 18-year-old batsman (Brian Close) who went on to become a legend for England and Yorkshire and is still the youngest player ever to win an England Test cap.
Keating writes:
It was an entrancing day. Behind the pavilion at close of play I asked Close to sign my autograph book: before he did so, he told me to hold his ciggie's still-burning dog-end. It was a Wills Woodbine.
On the second morning, we were there when the players arrived. Talk about a quiet drag behind the pav! Was it a Smokers' Convention or a sporting Test match? Sixty years ago it was, of course, the way of the world. The New Zealanders arrived from their hotel in a coacj, disembarking in a fug, pipes and ciggies at full bellow almost to a man ...
Like their captain [Freddie Brown], Bill Edrich, Godfrey Evans, and Reg Simpson were pipemen, and each were billowing post-breakfast clouds; so was popular roly-poly Black Country leg-spinner Eric Hollies, his burning-bowl furnace, I remember still, letting loose particularly pungent and ripe emissions. Ah, was this my first ever Condor moment?
Gnarled ex-miner and opening bowler Les Jackson was at his Woodbines. In the public prints Len Hutton, we knew, advertised both downmarket Black Cat cork tipped and Phillips 'Special Sport' untipped; but here in real life the pale maestro was shamelessly smoking classy Player's Navy Cut untipped. So was Denis Compton. Ex-Navy amateur Trevor Bailey was chain-smoking, naturally, Senior Service.
In 1949, Britain and its sportsmen were snug in the calming embrace of m'Lady Nicotine. No health scares then. Why should there b? Of that historic all-dancing all-smoking first XI of mine, only one (Hollies, who died of a heart attack at 69) failed to make three-score-and-ten.
Edrich died (after a staircase fall) at 70, Hutton at 74, Compton and Evans at 78, Brown 80, Washbrook at 84, Jackson at 86. Happily still with us, full of the joys, and playing strokes all round the wicket are Close 78, Bailey 85, and Simpson 89. Happy days.
Happy days indeed.
Reader Comments (7)
Don't worry, Wisteria Dave is going to devolve power back to the people. No doubt we'll all be lighting up again once he hands back the power to allow smoking to Landlords.
I wrote to him suggesting he implement the idea immediately in areas governed by Tory Councils. It only involves non enforcement of the law in the same way that the hunting ban is not enforced. I haven't heard back from him yet. I also sent a copy of the letter to the Conservative leader of our Local Council. Haven't heard back from him either.
I've also written over his 'power to the people' agenda.
No doubt it will exempt all laws that they agree with and I will receive the usual 'blurp' that I usually get every time a write over the pathetic (and unnecessary) blanket smoking ban.
If a pub, a bingo hall. or a private member's club and its customers want to allow smoking indoors, then why on earth is there a law against it?
Oh, I forgot - we have the extremist, well-funded, anti-smokers who are hell-bent on ruining our country, our communities, our familes, our hospitality trade, our economy, our social lives and our political views.
Never mind - I'm not falling for their ridiculous lies and I certainly don't believe a word of the 'power to the people' agenda, unless I see it in action.
Too many lies have been uttered by all parties. I don't trust any of them. Only action will convinve me.
Too true Mary. No matter what, with regards to the 3 main parties in particular, they will carry on spinning us the lies they think we want to hear, in order to get our votes, then once in power will do exactly as they please, which is unlikely to bear any resemblance to what they promised us or were voted in for!
No offence, but what do any of these comments have to do with the actual post?!!
It always amazes me that there are still a few people who believe that Roy Castle's lung cancer was caused by passive smoking, when many,many other jazz musicians have spent most of their lives in smokey jazz clubs and are still performing today at the age of 80 plus.
Sorry Simon, I was just replying to the first comment!
I agree though - those were happy days that Frank Keating is describing
Simon, I think the "Happy Days" theme triggered nostalgic thoughts about a time when we could do the odd thing that we enjoyed without being villified and lectured at.