QTWTAINope

Nope.

This is a fine and important point, but it’s worth pointing out that Season 2 also came out in 2009.

Parks and Recreation didn’t really get going until after the first series/season, it was actually not very good in 2009

In sadder news, the Yorkshire racism story gets worse, and also messier, with Michael Vaughan coming to the party. The main points are still,1: that cricket had, and probably still has, a problem with allowing ‘banter’ to cover all manner of sins including racism. And 2: Yorkshire has responded to this awfully. And I suppose 3: that Vaughan may or may not be racist.

But there are parts of this that really don’t seem to add up. The telegraph article quotes Rafiq saying:

When Michael Vaughan retired, he took up the position as advisor and would often come to YCCC giving his opinion and captain- coach options which particularly were aimed at moving me out of the team.
One such recommendation was for Kane Williamson to be signed and he categorically said he bowls “off-spin” really well too.
This is ridiculous as Kane Williamson is a batsman only.
This comment about him bowling “off-spin” was simply made in my presence to make me feel inferior.

This just seems wrong. At that point, wasn’t Williamson still bowling quite handy offspin, before he got banned for bending his arm too much? And even if it was correct, it seems like an enormous stretch to read that as Vaughan attacking him personally. I hope we get a chance to read the full report at this point. Rafiq has clearly had to face racism throughout his career and is right to be upset at how his complaints have been handled by Yorkshire. I fear that he is now in a very bad place and is lashing out at everything within reach.

Apologies for diving into a depressing topic. Hopefully something good comes from all of this and standards continue to change.

I’d forgotten that Dan van Bunge was still in the team at that time. Several years earlier, when he was an MCC Young Cricketer, he coached me and Charley The Gent for our very first net at the Lord’s Academy. If I remember correctly, he introduced us that day to his mate, Darren Sammy, saying words to the effect of, “this friend of mine is going to be a great international cricketer…I’m not.” Super-friendly lads, both of them.

I went to four days of that 2009 tournament, but not the day of that England v Netherlands match. Daisy and I watched in horror as that final over unfolded, from the discomfort of our own living room.

We were there on finals day, though:

https://ianlouisharris.com/2009/06/21/england-women-v-new-zealand-women-and-pakistan-v-sri-lanka-icc-world-twenty20-finals-day-lords-21-june-2009/

Great memories – thanks again.