Abdul
ODI Debutant
- Joined
- Jul 1, 2015
- Runs
- 9,212
Many thanks to our resident Englishman Robert for his insightful views and opinions! Good read.
PakPassion.net : Tell us a little bit about yourself.
Robert : I was born in London in the ‘sixties to white working-class parents. Mother is English, from a big Catholic family; father Irish - an Ulster Protestant Loyalist. Dad’s family came to England in the 1930s. He served in WW2. His elder brother was an Officer, killed on active duty. Dad saw Hutton and Compton bat against Lindwall and Miller in the ‘fifties.
Cricket has been a gateway to my understanding of other cultures – talking with West Indians, Indians and Pakistanis about cricket brought about a sense of connection, and I learned about their different views of history. I became a more pluralist thinker.
I’m married to a British Guyanese with three grown-up stepchildren, two of whom have children of their own. One died as an infant – that was the worst day of my life. Her short span taught us to be kinder to each other. I read to the little ones and encourage them all I can so that they grow up feeling confidence, with an appreciation of education as a route to success.
I work as a health and safety manager, travelling all over the south of England and Wales. This is a common second career path for middle-aged blokes here. It took ten years to get professional qualification and membership. I also have a hypnotherapy practice – I help people to stop smoking, with their body image issues, with anxiety and phobias.
Imagine Walter White with a Home Counties accent and you’ll have a fairly close picture of me. My step-kids were roaring Walter on because he reminds them of me! Apart from the drug dealing, murdering, lying and manipulation, mind. Though I do have a black hat.
PakPassion.net : James Taylor's illness; Have England lost a potential great?
Robert : To me, the descriptor 'great' should be reserved for the absolute top-line players like Tendulkar. I was sorry that James had to retire so early. Unlike many England players coming up now, he had a good idea of how to play spin as well as pace. He could have been a solid number 3 for England for ten years.
PakPassion.net : Your top 5 cricketers of all time? and why?
Robert : Dr Grace, because he popularized cricket throughout the world. He was the first international sports star and the best player of the nineteenth century. More people had heard of WG than Queen-Empress Victoria.
Sir Donald Bradman because he was nearly twice as good as his top contemporaries. People who can remember Denis Compton say that modern cricket fans simply wouldn’t believe how good he was, particularly against spin – a whole skill-set has been lost as the game has evolved. But Sir Donald was twice as good as Compton even. His impact was similar to that of Babe Ruth in baseball – he changed the sport. To control him, Jardine invented fast leg-theory which effectively turned the batsman into a target – everything was at the ribs or the chin. They had to ban that tactic because it would have ended cricket.
Among spin bowlers I’d have to say Warne. His control was astonishing. Nasser explained that if he dropped short, it was on purpose – setting you up for the lbw. I’d have liked to have seen his great forebears Grimmett and O’Reilly to compare them all.
That leaves two spaces. I’ll go for two all-rounders: Sir Garfield Sobers and Imran Khan. But that means leaving out Kallis. Darn. Can I have six? Sir Garry did everything well and a couple of things superlatively well. He was the best batsman of his day. I’d like to see his bowling figures in each of his three styles but these are not available. I suspect he was a dangerous left-arm opening bowler, from what Woolmer wrote. I think he was a tight SLA but expensive when he bowled his wrist-spinners, perhaps buying wickets. With Imran you get a competent Test batsman, and the best ever fast bowler from Asia. There have been here very few better than him anywhere, ever. Perhaps only Marshall. As skipper he turned a shambles into a war machine.
I’m going to talk about Kallis too. Stastistically he is the best player ever, though stats are the beginning of wisdom, not the end. He may have been the best ever slip catcher. He was a competent fourth seamer and an anchor with the bat. Some say he bailed out when the pressure was on, but there were many other times when he stood up. In a team with a weaker bowling attack I think he could have been an opening bowler who took 400 Test wickets and batted at #6, scoring fewer aggregate runs but faster. He was the ultimate utility player and SA were lucky to have him for so long.
PakPassion.net : Is it about time that Asians living in the UK start to pass the Tebbit Test?
Robert : I quite liked the old Chingford Skinhead (Tebbit), but in my view his criterion for national identity is too simplistic. My Dad always shouted for Ireland when they played England at football and rugby. But he shouted for England when they played anyone else! I would like to see British Pakistanis getting behind England in matches not involving Pakistan.
Of course, to do that they have to feel part of this country. It’s the second- and third-generation syndrome. My wife tells me that her peer-group of British Caribbeans went through this phase. Their parents were more British than the white Britons in some ways, but the children did not feel that connection. There was mass violence in protest at their treatment by Police and Government, but they found self-expression in new types of music they developed. Most people love music and the new influences became woven into British culture. Some British Pakistanis seem disconnected and take refuge in political forms of Islam, to gain the narrative they need for their lives to make sense. I don’t know how that will shake out in the decades ahead, but I’m hopeful that we can all pull together. Love is the answer to fear.
PakPassion.net : If you had the choice, would you have kept Kevin Pietersen in the team?
Robert : This saddens me even now. I reckon England would have won in UAE if he’d been there. I think he’s a complex man who needs to feel a lot of love from those around him. England didn’t give him that love, at least not in a way he could understand. He managed to alienate a lot of people, including Cook who had pushed to get him back in the side. As [MENTION=132916]Junaids[/MENTION] says it might have worked out better for him with a direct sergeant-major type bloke like Alec Stewart as supremo, who would have given him a rollicking at times and a cuddle at others. There is a very close parallel with Gower – England lost the last quarters of the careers of the best batters of two generations.
PakPassion.net : Favorite Pakistani cricketer (current)?
Robert : Amir. He was very exciting to watch in 2010 – he was better than Wasim was at his age. The real deal - truly remarkable ability.
PakPassion.net : Can you share your memories of televised English domestic cricket in the 1980s when there were more stars than in the IPL?
Robert : There were plenty of stars around in the eighties – you could watch a match on BBC and see Botham facing Garner or Hadlee. I remember Somerset vs Middlesex where Botham was on 96*, scores level with six balls left. Somerset had lost one wicket less and would win if no more runs were scored. Gatting brought a spinner on to try to tempt him to hole out, thinking Botham would go for the hundred, but he patted six balls back and thereby won the match.
When I was at Bradford Uni I would walk to the Park Avenue ground near halls of residence and watched Kapil Dev bowling at Geoff Boycott one time.
PakPassion.net : Imran Khan v Mike Procter v Richard Hadlee v Clive Rice v Tony Greig v Ian Botham?
Robert : Botham was the best cricketer in the world from 1977-82. The best batter of the four Test all-rounders, and by far the best catcher – as good a slip-fielder as I’ve seen, he caught everything and would make incredible leaps in front of the other slips. Early on he was an excellent fast-medium swing bowler who moved it both ways and could bowl sharp surprise bouncers – he got a lot of guys out playing the hook. Unfortunately he picked up various niggling injuries which reduced his effectiveness. He should have really worked on his batting and become a Test number 4, but that declined too. In the end they were picking him more in hope than expectation. He played 20 tests too many and that messed up his figures. Also he tried to larrup the Windies pace quartet and that rarely worked – he should have occupied the crease and ground it out like Imran. He had some bad luck in that he was made skipper for ten Tests in a row against the Windies at their summit, and he had a rather poor bowling attack missing Willis and Lever. Though I remember his eight-fer at Lords in 1984 – he was running in so fast – followed up by a blazing 80, hitting Marshall and Garner to all parts. Basically he relied on huge natural ability and didn’t work hard enough to do his vast ability justice.
Hadlee and Imran were the best bowlers, as good as anyone who ever played, perhaps behind Marshall only. Hadlee modelled himself on Lillee and had the lot – movement both ways, pace changes, lifters, yorkers. He bowled four stock leg-cutters per over then mixed it up with the other two balls. Imran was more of a bulldozer with his sheer speed and enormous inswing, so good to watch with that huge leap in his delivery stride. Lillee taught him the leg-cutter when they played in World Series Cricket and he got even more formidable. Hadlee was a good late-order batter who could score fast fifties, but Imran was a proper Test batsman. He was usually quite slow but clutch, digging Pakistan out of holes while making sure that the tail didn’t get blown away. Only six Test hundreds probably didn’t do justice to his batting skill. He was the best Test skipper after Lloyd retired – no great tactician but he had a really good eye for players who had the mental aptitudes to succeed in Tests, and he kept his excitable young teams calm under pressure. He’d be in my all-time first eleven, batting at eight below Sobers and Gilchrist.
In some ways Kapil was the most exciting because he was so unpredictable and scored so fast, quite a lot faster even than Botham. His figures with the ball should have been better but he was usually the lone gun in a weak Indian attack, and again he carried on far too long because India wanted him to pass Hadlee’s wicket record, and kept picking him despite a decline in his bowling.
Rice might have been the best of the lot if not for his back problems – certainly the most capable batter, and properly fast before his injury. After that he bowled medium pace. I used to like watching him skipper Notts, he seemed to know just how to pace his innings, was crafty with his bowling changes and of course had Hadlee to get him five wickets on the Trent Bridge greentop. I remember the televised all-rounder competition in 1984 – Rice, Botham, Imran, Hadlee, Kapil and Marshall, which Rice won rather easily.
I never saw Proctor. I understand that he bowled off the wrong foot and was lethally fast and hostile. He certainly busted up the Aussies in one Test series. So sad that he lost most of his career to the South Africa ban.
PakPassion.net : Favorite commentator of all-time?
Robert : I never heard Arlott. I grew up listening to Johnners, CMJ, Trevor Bailey, Alan McGilvray, Tony Cozier, and the best of them all – Richie Benaud. All gone now. I like Agnew. I like the Sky boys – Bumble for his humour, Nasser for his steely incisiveness, Mikey for his calm consideration.
PakPassion.net : Do you think Pakistan will give competition to England this summer?
Robert : I think England will win because of their more stable batting and strong bowling but the Pakistan attack is good enough to win a Test, or maybe more than one if there are some dry wickets for Yasir. Some County groundsman might make a dustbowl – it has happened before, such as that Bunsen served up for Murali. He got 15 wickets in the match and Sri Lanka won by an innings.
PakPassion.net : Thoughts on Misbah-Ul-Haq?
Robert : He’s done a good job as skipper, calm on the field and getting clutch runs like Imran did. He’s done well to pull the side together after the 2010 fiasco. Staying Pakistan skipper seems a pretty tough task to me, so he must be a capable guy.
PakPassion.net : Who should succeed Alastair Cook as captain of England? Would giving Joe Root the responsibility over-burden him?
Robert : Some England batsmen have lost consistency when given the armband. Vaughan was the classic example, and to a lesser extent Strauss and Cook. Botham’s game went to pieces. Willis went into deep trance and forgot to set fields. But Gooch got better. I hope Root will go the Gooch way and start to convert more of those fifties into centuries. He seems a happy bloke and the current coaching structure seems to have taken the pressure off Cook.
PakPassion.net : Favorite posters on the forums?
Robert : Anyone who challenges my views in a polite way, while prepared to listen to, reason and modify his position. Among others: [MENTION=132916]Junaids[/MENTION], [MENTION=1842]James[/MENTION], [MENTION=137677]Thivagar[/MENTION], [MENTION=23130]nish_mate[/MENTION], [MENTION=4930]Yossarian[/MENTION], [MENTION=7898]Gabbar Singh[/MENTION], [MENTION=3393]godzilla[/MENTION], and [MENTION=53290]Markhor[/MENTION] who has perhaps the most clarity of thought of all.
[MENTION=30006]Jadz[/MENTION] for her anodyne wisdom.
PakPassion.net : Why have the English soccer team been underachievers?
Robert : Firstly because the World Cup usually happens right after the English season, so our top guys are fatigued and carrying niggling injuries. Secondly, because they do not seem to play with the passion that they do for their clubs for some reason. Thirdly, because our top guys are simply not that good, and often tactically inept at the highest level. The strength of the Premiership is the overseas players.
PakPassion.net : Some of your hobbies?
Robert : I ride my bicycle. It’s a road bike with drop handlebars, but with relaxed geometry and 30mm tyres to soak up the bumps. I did a thousand miles on it last year, including charity rides in support of disabled Armed Forces veterans and cancer research. A highlight was being clapped into a Regimental HQ by soldiers in battledress – I felt ten feet tall. It helps keep my weight down and protects my heart as I get older.
I play electric bass to a reasonable standard. I get up on the bandstand at open-mic jazz nights and play Miles Davis and Duke Ellington numbers. I play walking bass, giving room to the other players while creating a structure for them to extemporate on, and sometimes the band leader nods to me and I get a sixteen-bar solo! This is a great joy for me, exhilarating. An eminent pianist told me I play well – that was a nice moment. I try to improve through deepening knowledge of harmony, chord structures, scale theory. Music is a language – notes are the words, chords and scales the grammar.
PakPassion.net : Your opinions on Sadiq Khan? (Mayor of London)
Robert : I am very pleased by Sadiq’s success. He is the working class son of an immigrant who achieved so much - as solicitor, university lecturer, Cabinet Minister and now London Mayor. He’s the soft-left unity candidate Labour needs and would be a brilliant choice as Leader. I hope he can be a healing factor in our society – assuaging Islamophobia, while giving more young British Muslims an example of how to succeed within the system and maybe improve it, rather than drift into radicalism.
PakPassion.net : What has kept you on PakPassion for so long? (2007–present)
Robert : Somehow I have avoided being banned!
Seriously, it’s a good place to talk about cricket and I have learned a lot from Time Pass.
PakPassion.net : Tell us a little bit about yourself.
Robert : I was born in London in the ‘sixties to white working-class parents. Mother is English, from a big Catholic family; father Irish - an Ulster Protestant Loyalist. Dad’s family came to England in the 1930s. He served in WW2. His elder brother was an Officer, killed on active duty. Dad saw Hutton and Compton bat against Lindwall and Miller in the ‘fifties.
Cricket has been a gateway to my understanding of other cultures – talking with West Indians, Indians and Pakistanis about cricket brought about a sense of connection, and I learned about their different views of history. I became a more pluralist thinker.
I’m married to a British Guyanese with three grown-up stepchildren, two of whom have children of their own. One died as an infant – that was the worst day of my life. Her short span taught us to be kinder to each other. I read to the little ones and encourage them all I can so that they grow up feeling confidence, with an appreciation of education as a route to success.
I work as a health and safety manager, travelling all over the south of England and Wales. This is a common second career path for middle-aged blokes here. It took ten years to get professional qualification and membership. I also have a hypnotherapy practice – I help people to stop smoking, with their body image issues, with anxiety and phobias.
Imagine Walter White with a Home Counties accent and you’ll have a fairly close picture of me. My step-kids were roaring Walter on because he reminds them of me! Apart from the drug dealing, murdering, lying and manipulation, mind. Though I do have a black hat.
PakPassion.net : James Taylor's illness; Have England lost a potential great?
Robert : To me, the descriptor 'great' should be reserved for the absolute top-line players like Tendulkar. I was sorry that James had to retire so early. Unlike many England players coming up now, he had a good idea of how to play spin as well as pace. He could have been a solid number 3 for England for ten years.
PakPassion.net : Your top 5 cricketers of all time? and why?
Robert : Dr Grace, because he popularized cricket throughout the world. He was the first international sports star and the best player of the nineteenth century. More people had heard of WG than Queen-Empress Victoria.
Sir Donald Bradman because he was nearly twice as good as his top contemporaries. People who can remember Denis Compton say that modern cricket fans simply wouldn’t believe how good he was, particularly against spin – a whole skill-set has been lost as the game has evolved. But Sir Donald was twice as good as Compton even. His impact was similar to that of Babe Ruth in baseball – he changed the sport. To control him, Jardine invented fast leg-theory which effectively turned the batsman into a target – everything was at the ribs or the chin. They had to ban that tactic because it would have ended cricket.
Among spin bowlers I’d have to say Warne. His control was astonishing. Nasser explained that if he dropped short, it was on purpose – setting you up for the lbw. I’d have liked to have seen his great forebears Grimmett and O’Reilly to compare them all.
That leaves two spaces. I’ll go for two all-rounders: Sir Garfield Sobers and Imran Khan. But that means leaving out Kallis. Darn. Can I have six? Sir Garry did everything well and a couple of things superlatively well. He was the best batsman of his day. I’d like to see his bowling figures in each of his three styles but these are not available. I suspect he was a dangerous left-arm opening bowler, from what Woolmer wrote. I think he was a tight SLA but expensive when he bowled his wrist-spinners, perhaps buying wickets. With Imran you get a competent Test batsman, and the best ever fast bowler from Asia. There have been here very few better than him anywhere, ever. Perhaps only Marshall. As skipper he turned a shambles into a war machine.
I’m going to talk about Kallis too. Stastistically he is the best player ever, though stats are the beginning of wisdom, not the end. He may have been the best ever slip catcher. He was a competent fourth seamer and an anchor with the bat. Some say he bailed out when the pressure was on, but there were many other times when he stood up. In a team with a weaker bowling attack I think he could have been an opening bowler who took 400 Test wickets and batted at #6, scoring fewer aggregate runs but faster. He was the ultimate utility player and SA were lucky to have him for so long.
PakPassion.net : Is it about time that Asians living in the UK start to pass the Tebbit Test?
Robert : I quite liked the old Chingford Skinhead (Tebbit), but in my view his criterion for national identity is too simplistic. My Dad always shouted for Ireland when they played England at football and rugby. But he shouted for England when they played anyone else! I would like to see British Pakistanis getting behind England in matches not involving Pakistan.
Of course, to do that they have to feel part of this country. It’s the second- and third-generation syndrome. My wife tells me that her peer-group of British Caribbeans went through this phase. Their parents were more British than the white Britons in some ways, but the children did not feel that connection. There was mass violence in protest at their treatment by Police and Government, but they found self-expression in new types of music they developed. Most people love music and the new influences became woven into British culture. Some British Pakistanis seem disconnected and take refuge in political forms of Islam, to gain the narrative they need for their lives to make sense. I don’t know how that will shake out in the decades ahead, but I’m hopeful that we can all pull together. Love is the answer to fear.
PakPassion.net : If you had the choice, would you have kept Kevin Pietersen in the team?
Robert : This saddens me even now. I reckon England would have won in UAE if he’d been there. I think he’s a complex man who needs to feel a lot of love from those around him. England didn’t give him that love, at least not in a way he could understand. He managed to alienate a lot of people, including Cook who had pushed to get him back in the side. As [MENTION=132916]Junaids[/MENTION] says it might have worked out better for him with a direct sergeant-major type bloke like Alec Stewart as supremo, who would have given him a rollicking at times and a cuddle at others. There is a very close parallel with Gower – England lost the last quarters of the careers of the best batters of two generations.
PakPassion.net : Favorite Pakistani cricketer (current)?
Robert : Amir. He was very exciting to watch in 2010 – he was better than Wasim was at his age. The real deal - truly remarkable ability.
PakPassion.net : Can you share your memories of televised English domestic cricket in the 1980s when there were more stars than in the IPL?
Robert : There were plenty of stars around in the eighties – you could watch a match on BBC and see Botham facing Garner or Hadlee. I remember Somerset vs Middlesex where Botham was on 96*, scores level with six balls left. Somerset had lost one wicket less and would win if no more runs were scored. Gatting brought a spinner on to try to tempt him to hole out, thinking Botham would go for the hundred, but he patted six balls back and thereby won the match.
When I was at Bradford Uni I would walk to the Park Avenue ground near halls of residence and watched Kapil Dev bowling at Geoff Boycott one time.
PakPassion.net : Imran Khan v Mike Procter v Richard Hadlee v Clive Rice v Tony Greig v Ian Botham?
Robert : Botham was the best cricketer in the world from 1977-82. The best batter of the four Test all-rounders, and by far the best catcher – as good a slip-fielder as I’ve seen, he caught everything and would make incredible leaps in front of the other slips. Early on he was an excellent fast-medium swing bowler who moved it both ways and could bowl sharp surprise bouncers – he got a lot of guys out playing the hook. Unfortunately he picked up various niggling injuries which reduced his effectiveness. He should have really worked on his batting and become a Test number 4, but that declined too. In the end they were picking him more in hope than expectation. He played 20 tests too many and that messed up his figures. Also he tried to larrup the Windies pace quartet and that rarely worked – he should have occupied the crease and ground it out like Imran. He had some bad luck in that he was made skipper for ten Tests in a row against the Windies at their summit, and he had a rather poor bowling attack missing Willis and Lever. Though I remember his eight-fer at Lords in 1984 – he was running in so fast – followed up by a blazing 80, hitting Marshall and Garner to all parts. Basically he relied on huge natural ability and didn’t work hard enough to do his vast ability justice.
Hadlee and Imran were the best bowlers, as good as anyone who ever played, perhaps behind Marshall only. Hadlee modelled himself on Lillee and had the lot – movement both ways, pace changes, lifters, yorkers. He bowled four stock leg-cutters per over then mixed it up with the other two balls. Imran was more of a bulldozer with his sheer speed and enormous inswing, so good to watch with that huge leap in his delivery stride. Lillee taught him the leg-cutter when they played in World Series Cricket and he got even more formidable. Hadlee was a good late-order batter who could score fast fifties, but Imran was a proper Test batsman. He was usually quite slow but clutch, digging Pakistan out of holes while making sure that the tail didn’t get blown away. Only six Test hundreds probably didn’t do justice to his batting skill. He was the best Test skipper after Lloyd retired – no great tactician but he had a really good eye for players who had the mental aptitudes to succeed in Tests, and he kept his excitable young teams calm under pressure. He’d be in my all-time first eleven, batting at eight below Sobers and Gilchrist.
In some ways Kapil was the most exciting because he was so unpredictable and scored so fast, quite a lot faster even than Botham. His figures with the ball should have been better but he was usually the lone gun in a weak Indian attack, and again he carried on far too long because India wanted him to pass Hadlee’s wicket record, and kept picking him despite a decline in his bowling.
Rice might have been the best of the lot if not for his back problems – certainly the most capable batter, and properly fast before his injury. After that he bowled medium pace. I used to like watching him skipper Notts, he seemed to know just how to pace his innings, was crafty with his bowling changes and of course had Hadlee to get him five wickets on the Trent Bridge greentop. I remember the televised all-rounder competition in 1984 – Rice, Botham, Imran, Hadlee, Kapil and Marshall, which Rice won rather easily.
I never saw Proctor. I understand that he bowled off the wrong foot and was lethally fast and hostile. He certainly busted up the Aussies in one Test series. So sad that he lost most of his career to the South Africa ban.
PakPassion.net : Favorite commentator of all-time?
Robert : I never heard Arlott. I grew up listening to Johnners, CMJ, Trevor Bailey, Alan McGilvray, Tony Cozier, and the best of them all – Richie Benaud. All gone now. I like Agnew. I like the Sky boys – Bumble for his humour, Nasser for his steely incisiveness, Mikey for his calm consideration.
PakPassion.net : Do you think Pakistan will give competition to England this summer?
Robert : I think England will win because of their more stable batting and strong bowling but the Pakistan attack is good enough to win a Test, or maybe more than one if there are some dry wickets for Yasir. Some County groundsman might make a dustbowl – it has happened before, such as that Bunsen served up for Murali. He got 15 wickets in the match and Sri Lanka won by an innings.
PakPassion.net : Thoughts on Misbah-Ul-Haq?
Robert : He’s done a good job as skipper, calm on the field and getting clutch runs like Imran did. He’s done well to pull the side together after the 2010 fiasco. Staying Pakistan skipper seems a pretty tough task to me, so he must be a capable guy.
PakPassion.net : Who should succeed Alastair Cook as captain of England? Would giving Joe Root the responsibility over-burden him?
Robert : Some England batsmen have lost consistency when given the armband. Vaughan was the classic example, and to a lesser extent Strauss and Cook. Botham’s game went to pieces. Willis went into deep trance and forgot to set fields. But Gooch got better. I hope Root will go the Gooch way and start to convert more of those fifties into centuries. He seems a happy bloke and the current coaching structure seems to have taken the pressure off Cook.
PakPassion.net : Favorite posters on the forums?
Robert : Anyone who challenges my views in a polite way, while prepared to listen to, reason and modify his position. Among others: [MENTION=132916]Junaids[/MENTION], [MENTION=1842]James[/MENTION], [MENTION=137677]Thivagar[/MENTION], [MENTION=23130]nish_mate[/MENTION], [MENTION=4930]Yossarian[/MENTION], [MENTION=7898]Gabbar Singh[/MENTION], [MENTION=3393]godzilla[/MENTION], and [MENTION=53290]Markhor[/MENTION] who has perhaps the most clarity of thought of all.
[MENTION=30006]Jadz[/MENTION] for her anodyne wisdom.
PakPassion.net : Why have the English soccer team been underachievers?
Robert : Firstly because the World Cup usually happens right after the English season, so our top guys are fatigued and carrying niggling injuries. Secondly, because they do not seem to play with the passion that they do for their clubs for some reason. Thirdly, because our top guys are simply not that good, and often tactically inept at the highest level. The strength of the Premiership is the overseas players.
PakPassion.net : Some of your hobbies?
Robert : I ride my bicycle. It’s a road bike with drop handlebars, but with relaxed geometry and 30mm tyres to soak up the bumps. I did a thousand miles on it last year, including charity rides in support of disabled Armed Forces veterans and cancer research. A highlight was being clapped into a Regimental HQ by soldiers in battledress – I felt ten feet tall. It helps keep my weight down and protects my heart as I get older.
I play electric bass to a reasonable standard. I get up on the bandstand at open-mic jazz nights and play Miles Davis and Duke Ellington numbers. I play walking bass, giving room to the other players while creating a structure for them to extemporate on, and sometimes the band leader nods to me and I get a sixteen-bar solo! This is a great joy for me, exhilarating. An eminent pianist told me I play well – that was a nice moment. I try to improve through deepening knowledge of harmony, chord structures, scale theory. Music is a language – notes are the words, chords and scales the grammar.
PakPassion.net : Your opinions on Sadiq Khan? (Mayor of London)
Robert : I am very pleased by Sadiq’s success. He is the working class son of an immigrant who achieved so much - as solicitor, university lecturer, Cabinet Minister and now London Mayor. He’s the soft-left unity candidate Labour needs and would be a brilliant choice as Leader. I hope he can be a healing factor in our society – assuaging Islamophobia, while giving more young British Muslims an example of how to succeed within the system and maybe improve it, rather than drift into radicalism.
PakPassion.net : What has kept you on PakPassion for so long? (2007–present)
Robert : Somehow I have avoided being banned!
Seriously, it’s a good place to talk about cricket and I have learned a lot from Time Pass.
. So what is the next Kapil upto these days?
