Just another year?

As we bid farewell to 2013, I take a few minutes to reflect on what has been and what is to come. It seems as though the UK has emerged from recession for now. It was always going to be painful and for many, it continues to be. This or any other Government was faced with the unenviable task of executing decisions which would be unappealing to voters. And so it has proved to be. The decisions have been made. The arguments have lingered. The country is now financially better off and there have been losers on the way. That is always the way of these things.

The festive season was dominated by power cuts amid the storms while arguments raged against immigration. To the horror of many, the year kicked off with the discovery of horse meat in ready meals. Whatever the rights and wrongs of this, one fact remained beyond dispute. We weren't talking about starvation. We were talking about a meat to which we were hitherto less accustomed. That we ate it at all was almost entirely due to our growing dependence on the ready meals of the big supermarkets. You pay your money and you take your chance.

It was rightly newsworthy when two men murdered Lee Rigby in broad daylight in London. In Syria, this would have constituted normal behaviour. In Syria, horse or any other meat would have been welcomed. In Syria, their understanding of austerity remained rather different to our own.

While our NHS continued to dominate the headlines for many of the wrong reasons, it also continued to serve us well in so many ways. It remains free at the point of access for every man, woman and child. It continues to be operated by ordinary men and women who, being human, are fallible. It is not perfect but that is the stuff of Utopia. That is the aspiration. For certain, it can improve though.

A debate began questioning whether the UK is full. I've seldom heard such rubbish in my life. It is far from full yet does remarkably well to provide for the growing millions who live here. We now have an increasingly multi-cultural society and the country is all the stronger for it. The reaction to the news of Nelson Mandela's death should remind us all of the benefits of multi-cultural society. We have something approaching the sort of society which he spent his entire life fighting for. It's not perfect but it's heading in the right direction.

Arguments over our membership of the EU continued as strongly as ever and the cast iron intention of UKIP thrust Nigel Farage on to our political landscape. Until we have a referendum, he will remain there. Roll on the European elections and roll on the 2015 general election. The latter will be make or break for the UK. We can either take one step forward or two steps back.

Something happened this year which I never thought I'd see. A British man won the men's singles at Wimbledon. Andy Murray did not receive a knighthood in the New Year's Honours list and rightly so. His career is not yet over. When it is, it will be one of the more deserved Honours amid a sea a questionable favouritism. When asked whether he considered himself Scottish or British, he replied "It depends whether I'm winning or losing". After all the abuse in the years before his singles win at Wimbledon, he was more than entitled to that remark. But then, few countries can lay in to their top sportsmen and women like the UK can.

In 2014, the Scots will have the opportunity to undo over 300 years of history. Should they do so (and I for one would not bet against it), Murray will most definitely be Scottish. The Union will be in tatters and the Tories will be all but guaranteed victory in 2015 because Labour continues to rely heavily on it's share of the vote North of the border. As for the Welsh, they will either seek to do likewise or hang on to the English more tightly than they've ever done. Interesting times.

2013 in many ways became the year of the comeback. The Rolling Stones were surprisingly good in their 50th year. Fleetwood Mac reminded us of the tunes which came to dominate the sound of the mid 70s and even the Garbo-like Agnetha Faltskog returned to our radios. It's fair to say some of the comebacks were rather more worthwhile than others.

Margaret Thatcher left the scene as divided as when she was alive. She was the marmite of UK politics in life and continues to cause great division in death. Her legacy though is undeniable. We marked 50 years since the passing of JF Kennedy and were reminded of what might have been. In a country where the gun continues to hold sway, his assassination was in many ways the beginning of the gun culture which has now come to define them. The guns of course are seldom the problem. It always takes a person to pull the trigger.

The departure of Pope Benedict while still in office must rank as one of the biggest surprises of recent times. His successor has been a breath of fresh air. Unlike his predecessors, Pope Francis has been as notable for his deeds as for his words. Long may he reign. I hope he continues his crusade against materialism and consumerism. I suspect he enjoys the support of far more people than he may imagine.

The birth of Prince George provided a tonic to the Royal family and he has much to live up to. If he can go on to have a fraction of the wisdom of his Great Grandmother, the monarchy will be in good hands. His parents have been a credit to their positions and have restored credibility to our Royal family.

At some stage during 2014, I hope to graduate as a doctor and take up my first post in Ysbyty Glan Clwyd or the Wrexham Maelor hospital. It has been a long road. It was in the late summer of 2004 that my wife asked me what I wanted to do. My first answer was to be a lawyer. I thought about it for a few minutes and changed my mind. What I'd really like to do is to be a doctor. My first degree entailed going back to Liverpool Polytechnic (now assuming the rather more grandiose title of John Moores University). That was hard thing to do. I had turned my back on education in 1990 and had been out of the loop for 14 years. At 35 years of age, I questioned my own mental capacity. I stick to it like glue despite losing a year on dialysis and remain eternally grateful for the kidney transplant which I received in 2005. But for that, the journey would have ended before it had begun. I have enjoyed Medical School but can't wait to put my learning in to practice and start to give back to the NHS which has served me so well. I have enjoyed incredible support along the way and realise how lucky I've been.

I hope 2014 is the year when we all get a bit closer again and take a bit of time out of our busy lives for the really important things like family, friends and community. I hope the year is as kind as it possibly can be to anybody reading this and pray that the world can learn to embrace peace and understanding. Happy new year to you and yours. Love the one you're with.
    

Volgograd

The recent events in Volgograd have been heartbreaking for all concerned. For any man or woman to voluntarily take their own life in the name of a belief or cause is difficult for me to comprehend. The suicide bomber has now become the weapon of choice for many extremist organisations. As we prepare to remember the Great War in which human life was afforded little or no value, it looks as though that trend has survived.

When countries such as Russia and Qatar secure large International sporting competitions, it is a boon for their Governments but not always welcomed by their people. The fact is that most counties have sections of their populations who remain disenfranchised. The fall of communism in Russia was always going to result in a prolonged period of disintegration and the events in Volgograd appear to bear this out. Without knowing the full facts yet, the current thinking suggests the involvement of Islamic groups from the former Russian states who are fed up with being under the watchful eye of Moscow. President Putin seems intent on maintaining his vice like grip on the Russian states.

Volgograd was formerly known as Stalingrad. Stalin took power control to new levels and even now, his influence is still felt by many. Even dead dictators leave legacies. Putin appears to be seeking a similar grip on power but the people seem to have had enough. It was Voltaire who wrote that if you want to know who is in power, seek out the person or organisation who you are precluded from criticising. The group PUSSY Riot did so and paid the price. As did Mikhael Kordokovsky. Putin appears to have adopted the strategy of Don Corleone. He keeps his friends close but his enemies closer. Stalin was not dissimilar.

Winter sports of course are great fun and enormously popular so made a prime target for the extremists. I'm sure the Winter Olympics will proceed as planned but it is clear that they will not enjoy the blessing of all the Russian people. The same was probably true when the Summer Olympics recently came to London but opposition to them was rather less extreme. For a man or woman to take their own life is very hard to understand. For them to knowingly take the lives of innocent civilians in the process is despicable. It is both a reflection of the perpetrator and those who would sponsor and promote their actions. In truth, such actions are the continuation of the 9/11 atrocities and serve nobody.

Once more, faith appears to be grabbing the headlines for all the wrong reasons. Just as the UK witnessed the sad case of a Methodist Minister bringing his faith in to disrepute as the head of the Cooperative bank this year, the events in Volgograd provide yet more fuel for people like Richard Dawkins. That is a big regret because Dawkins and people like him are only interested in a Godless society governed by the avarice and greed of consumerism. Faith has enormous benefits and we must seek to co-exist more happily. I respect all faiths and those with no faith. Why do others find this so difficult? I pray for those affected in Volgograd and hope that tolerance and understanding can emerge through dialogue.

The Ghost of Christmas Future

2014 will understandably be the year which heralds a number of commemorations of the Great War. I don't presume to cast judgment on the rights and wrongs of whether the anniversary is a cause for commemoration or quiet reflection. Everyone will have their own way of approaching this time. It was a brutal conflict with millions of losers and no winners of whom I'm aware. Enough said.

In 1914, political ideology gave rise to the war to end all wars. So much for promises. 2014 looks likely to bring more of the same. On September 18th, the Scots will decide on their future within the Union. Since 1707, all has been well but all that could change with a neatly choreographed period of political persuasion (of which Alex Salmond is well capable).

In 2013, the Turks fought for greater European integration while their Government fought for traditional Eastern values. The Ukranians fought for greater European ties while their Government returned cap in hand to Moscow for political favour. All the while, UKIP gained impetus in the UK with their promise to gat us out of Europe. The grass is seldom greener..

In 2013, Syria just fought. Human life became a painfully cheap commodity and the world looked on wondering what to do. As the year draws to it's close, a story emerges to give hope for the year to come. Stranded Russian sailors are waiting to be rescued from the polar ice cap by Chinese and Australian sailors. In the end, we are all human beings who care for one another. It is that simple.

2014 will mark the bicentenial of the first cricket match to take place at Lord's. Sport is a great leveller and cricket has continued to forge friendships between men of different faith and culture. It would be good to imagine that an end could be sought to the conflict in Syria as millions contemplate the anniversary of an even more senseless war. There is always hope. The definition of insanity is to keep doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. Makes you think doesn't it?

Glossing over the cracks

As England maintain their relentless progress towards a 5-0 drubbing down under, many may wonder how they have fallen so quickly from grace. Those with a more pragmatic approach may not be quite so confused.

Earlier this year, the young Arsenal football player Jack Wilshere started a debate regarding the nationality of those representing their country. The England cricket team has recently featured more players born in South Africa than in England. This suggests a number of possibilities. It might be that the coaching structure in South Africa is better then in England. It might suggest that young South Africans have a greater hunger for success. It might also suggest that English players just aren't as good as we'd like to think they are.

In recent times, we have had Andrew Strauss (now retired to pursue a lucrative political career), Jonathon Trott (recently departed Test cricket due to long standing mental health problems), Kevin Pieterson (who invariably plays for himself rather than England) and Matt Prior (recently dropped following a poor run of form). The current English batting now just features Pieterson as it's sole South African. Based on his performances thus far, it is debatable whether his presence constitutes an advantage or not.

England are now laid bare with just English born players (Pieterson excepted). Putting aside the superiority of the coaching regimes of other countries, the real issue is one of passion and desire. The opposition was no less competitive when Ray Illingworth took an English side in 1970 or when Mike Gatting took a side in 1986.

England now find themselves in a crossroads situation. They have been forced in to picking young players of limited experience. They will clearly incur defeats along the way. To persist with Pieterson therefore makes little sense since England know they are now embarking on a period of significant transition.

For the people who continue to advocate the inclusion of Kevin Pieterson, I would like to point out a few facts. He is not a great batsman. His compatriot Jacques Kallis has just announced his retirement from Test cricket. Kallis has been a great batsman. Kallis averages over 55 runs per innings after 166 matches. He has also been one of the very finest catchers the game has ever seen and has also taken the small matter of 292 Test wickets for good measure. Pieterson by comparison has averaged a modest 47 runs per innings after 102 Test matches. The difference between 47 and 55 in Test cricket is the demarcation between good batsmen and great batsmen. Make no mistake, the big difference between Kallis and Pieterson is that Kallis knows the value of his wicket and never gives it away. After over a hundred Test matches. Pieterson has still to learn this basic rule of batting. Suggestions that Pieterson would have walked in to the South African batting line up are frankly fanciful. For one thing, they play for their team.

Putting Pieterson aside, the current England Test side looks wobbly to say the least. The Captain is short of confidence and looks incapable of a decent score, his opening partner is a stop gap solution and Ian Bell looks a shadow of the player who has batted like a super star leading up to this series. Stokes is very young and a great weight of expectation has been placed on his young shoulders.

Then there is the bowling. Broad is currently our best bowler and remains aggressive but does not look like he's going to bowl a side out. The departure of Swann was a hammer blow with Panesar offering a mere shadow of Swann's talents. Anderson is on the wain. Every bowler has his day and I fear Anderson's best days are behind him. In short, England are a work in progress to put it kindly. To be rather more blunt, they are in a mess and in desperate need of leadership. Being 3-0 down in Australia is not a good place to be if you want to feel good about yourself and get your confidence back. Roll on the summer and let the revolution begin. Better to have a Test side with eleven English born players and a true picture of our ability.

I like to inject balance in to pieces like this and do so now. The last English batsman to dominate our batting with a South African connection was Walter Reginald Hammond. Born in Dover, Hammond was the pre-eminent English batsman from the late 1920s until the visit of Bradman's Australians in 1948. Hammond averaged over 58 each innings for England and made runs against everyone on uncovered pitches. He also took 83 wickets and was arguably the finest of the inter-war fielders. He died in Natal at the age of 62. How I wish we had one player who was even a patch on Hammond now.

Au revoir KP!

The claim by Kevin Pieterson that he intends to carry on batting in the same manner which has cost England so dearly in this Ashes series is hardly the stuff of news. He has batted for his own ends throughout his career. If this latest outburst isn't enough to cost him his place in the Test side, I don't know what is. It is clear he considers himself to be more important than the team. That is all well and good but the statistics of his career don't bear this out.

He has made a handful of innings with his back to the wall and a great many when England were winning anyway. These are hardly the credentials of a team player and do not bode well for camaraderie. His solitary fifty in six attempts thus far down under do not speak of a world class player. A world class player gets his head down and grinds out the decent scores with self discipline. After over a hundred bites at the cherry, Pieterson does not yet seem to have grasped this.

Since England now find themselves three down with two to play, the case for change is now compelling. He has to go now since he is offering us nothing new. We know what we'll get with Pieterson and it will unforunately always be on his terms. There is no "I" in team and he has failed to take this on board. The fringe players with less talent must now be drafted in to show the advantage of good old fashioned application and self discipline.

To my mind, Pieterson has come to epitomise the worst excesses of the modern game in which the star player has superceded all else with his agent frequently calling the shots. If somebody like Brian Close were the captain, Pieterson's Test match career would have ended before it began. Great players average over 50 in Test matches. After over a hundred Tests, Pieterson falls well short of that mark. Adios!

The times they are a changing

On the 5th June 1963, the Minister for war admitted to Parliament that he had lied to the House. In many ways, the story of John Profumo heralded in our current age. He differed from the current crop in his willingness to just tell the truth. He knew he had transgressed and faced the music. He spent the rest of his life as a volunteer cleaning the toilets at Toynbee Hall, a charity based in the East End. He also reserved the right to keep his counsel. He never again referred to or discussed the events which led to his political demise. The Tory party would not achieve lasting power again until the ascent of Thatcher in 1979. The Profumo affair was the final nail in the coffin for the doomed Government of Lord Home.

Twenty years later, the Thatcher Government appointed a new Chancellor. Like the current leader of the Opposition, Nigel Lawson was of Eastern European Jewish ancestry. He had succeeded the man who would ultimately serve the coup de grace to remove Thatcher. Lawson resigned because of his opposition to Thatcher's refusal to join the Exchange Rate Mechanism. Lawson was duly replaced by the man who would go on to replace Thatcher as PM, John Major.

In recent days, Lawson has seen his daughter dominate the headlines for most of the wrong reasons. Irrespective of the truth of the allegations levelled at his daughter, the saga of Charles Saachi, Nigella Lawson and their erstwhile employees is a salutory lesson in what happens to people when money ceases to have value. As our current age continues to be dominated by the ever increasing divide between the haves and the have nots, the recent law suit has reflected badly on all concerned. It will be interesting to see if Nigella Lawson seeks to resume her career as a high profile TV cook. In the current age, I would expect her to front it out and carry on regardless.

A lot has changed since the time of Profumo. The former Government Minister Denis Macshane was today sent to prison for doctoring his Parliamentary expenses. He did so long after the expenses scandal first hit and has now paid the price. It was interesting if not entirely surprising to observe that Harriet Harman had stood as his character reference. This is not a Party Political point. I just want to illustrate the palpable lack of decency and honour in our public servants. They are either all dishonest or just become immersed in a culture of dishonesty. I hesitate to suggest that the latter remains the most likely explanation.

Our current political system is on the brink of major change. People will only tolerate such arrogance for so long. The times are indeed a-changing. That song was penned by the mouth piece of the counter culture, Bob Dylan. Written within weeks of the departure of Profumo, the song warned about the impending reversal of the existing political elite. The last lines have an undeniable biblical overtone,"The order is rapidly fadin'/ And the first one now/ Will later be last/ For the times they are a changin'". 

I wish I could write lines like that. Our current political regime lies on the brink of collapse. Morally bankrupt, it stands on the brink of revolution. Revolution occurs when people have reached the limit of their tolerance. Denis Macshane will be released in three months but the system will be as corrupt as ever. It really doesn't matter who is in charge now because public trust has been eroded irreparably. 2014 promises to be a very interesting year.

Farewell to the old fashioned spinner

The decision by Graeme Swann to retire from all forms of cricket is to be applauded. Few professional sportsmen have the nerve and the insight to recognise when it's time to go.

Swann has been a breath of fresh air to fans of my generation. The last old fashioned off spinner was undoubtedly John Emburey of Middlesex. Like Swann, he could also be an obdurate and effective tail end batsman. Both were great exponents of flight variation to deceive even the most astute players of spin. Emburey lost six years of Test Cricket due to his participation in the rebel tour to South Africa. He took 147 Test wickets in 64 Test matches. When compared with Swann's 255 Test wickets in 60 matches, Emburey appears decidedly inferior. Sadly, the figures don't tell the whole story though.

For much of his career, Emburey was forced to play the role of the stock bowler whose principal function was to keep the runs down. He played in the late 1970s and 1980s at a time when the West Indian fast bowling machine steam rollered over all comers. The West Indians seldom felt the need to play a spinner and on the rare occasions when they did, they would play the Roger Harper whose fielding prowess was second only to the legendary South African, Colin Bland. Batsmen would go after Harper because he was their only respite from the fast bowling assault of Holding, Garner, Marshall and company. Thus Harper acquired a decent haul of Test wickets.

Had Emburey been allowed to bowl like Swann in Test matches, we can rest assured that his haul would have been far greater. During his playing years with Middlesex, Emburey would usually be complemented by the guile and craft of the slow left arm bowler, Phil Edmonds. They took wickets for fun when bowling in tandem to prove that for the last two generations, few batsmen have been very good at playing the spinners. We are told that one of the reasons for Swann's demise on this tour is the decision by the Australian coaches to adopt a different tactic against him. They have reminded their batsmen that you can't be out caught in the car park. Ergo, try and hit the ball in to the car park. They have done so admirably and heralded a decision which can't have surprised too many. Swann has never been afraid to toss the ball up. Such bowlers either bowl sides out or get taken apart. After seven years at the top, Swann has been worked out. There is no shame in that. For years, top batsmen have plotted the downfall of many a spinner by comparing notes and devising strategies to counteract their effectiveness. If Swann had the benefit of a top class slow left arm bowler with whom to bowl in tandem, I believe he would not yet have retired. His decision has been made because he was carrying the slow bowling duties on his shoulders for too long. Even the great Jim Laker had to call it quits in the end and only a brave man would point to a greater England off spinner. Laker took 193 wickets in 46 Test matches and played his entire career on uncovered wickets. That gave rise to famous Old Trafford Test in 1956 when he secured all but one of the twenty wickets for just 90 runs.

I suspect it will be some time before we have the luxury of an old fashioned spinner like Swann again. He will be sorely missed by England and not least for his brilliant slip fielding skills. On the day our only old fashioned spin bowler departed the great game, one of the last great old fashioned sports commentators did likewise. For people of my generation, David Coleman will always be associated with his many years as compere of the BBC quiz show "A Question of Sport". His enthusiasm was natural and spontaneous. You can't teach that. David Coleman had it in spades and it was barn door obvious to anyone who watched or listened to him. He was a peer of people like Brian Johnston and Bill McLaren. These were people with a genuine passion for the sport they covered. They would doubtless have done so for free. Their motivation was not the money they earned but rather the pleasure they gave.

All great teams have to face the day when the party is over eventually and the current England cricket team is a case in point. I read a great article by Geoff Boycott yesterday echoing my own thoughts. Whomsoever is captain or coach for the next Tests needs to dispense with Pieterson. His presence is divisive and as Boycott pointed out, "You can't make runs when you're back in the pavilion". Pieterson's show boating has cost England too often and we now need to seek a grafter in his place. England fans from the early 1960s will recall the late Ken Barrington. Ken didn't have an ounce of Pieterson's talent but he adopted an "over my dead body" approach when it came to his wicket. In 82 Test matches, Barrington amassed 6,806 runs on uncovered wickets at an average of 58.67.  In 101 matches, Pieterson has scored 7,988 runs at an average of just 47.83 on covered pitches. Barrington might not have been the prettiest batsman to watch, but he didn't play to look pretty. They said you could all but see the Union Jack on his back when Ken when out to bat. That is precisely the type of player we so desperately need now. Unlike Pieterson, neither Barington nor Laker received the MBE. They didn't receive any recognition but then they didn't play for recognition. They played for England.