It's Craig Serjeant Day

Cricket Et Al goes electric

Craig Serjeant today turns 73. According to Cricinfo anyway, and I’d choose that over Wikipedia any day.  Which means that from this Craig Serjeant Day forward, the entirety of Cricket Et Al will be available only to paid subscribers, of which, we’re pleased to say, there are now almost 1250, out of a total approaching 7500.  To the former, thanks very much for your faith; to the latter, we’re sorry to say, goodbye for the time being, but hope to see you later.  You’ll still see the occasional free piece, of course, and we’ll keep you advised what’s going with a taster of what we’re publishing. But this summer, Cricket Et Al is back on the road.  Pete and I will be following India’s tour for all five Tests, stacking subs and casting pods daily.  You won’t get more thorough coverage from any print media outlet, and that’s all you’ll be paying for; you won’t have to worry about your subscription money funding a Succession-style family drama or pay-out for a horny executive. Pete also needs his beer and records, and Samsa the cat her steady supply of Temptations.  They’re $15 a shot now, but she’s so happy when she hears the packet rustling…..

I hope you’d all join me in wishing Craig many happy returns.  No, he didn’t have the greatest Test career; no, he won’t make an all-time Aussie XI.  But it’s part of cricket’s appeal that there are certain players who, for whatever reason, capture our imaginations because of something they do, seem, appear to represent, become a part of.  Craig, some of you will remember, was elegant, handsome.  He never wore a cap, was recognisable by his curly black mop.  His nickname was ‘Bilko’, of course, which I was too young to understand, but went with. He was a little older than other tyros from the West, like Kim Hughes and Graeme Wood; in the divided summer of 1977-78, he was for four Tests the vice-captain of Australia.  I always hoped he’d get another chance post WSC, but he never did.  As it was, in the interregnum, he sat between Simmo and Thommo, and that’s not nothing.  

I reckon we’ve all got a Craig Serjeant - that player overlooked by others but special to us.  If you get that, Cricket Et Al is for you.  We like figures.  We like analysis.  But they don’t explain everything about cricketers, or about cricket.  So what are you waiting for?  Come join us on our journey.