Brothers In Cricket

Past Black Cap Peter Ingram's boys, Jamie and Tommy, pictured celebrating their old mans record breaking T20 opening stand with Jamie How. The boys also seem to be making a statement about Dad's current facial hair styling - Jamie thinks there should be more curls, Tommy would like to see it rubbed off.

Pingers Meets God

I am so excited. I know someone who knows the cricket deity that is Sehwag. Now I know it is a couple of degrees of separation but my fellow teacher Peter Ingram (Pingers) can be clearly seen communing with the great one. How many of you readers of  this sad blog can claim that degree of contact? Any one who might have doubted Sehwag's divine power need only have watched him destroy the NZ attack while all around him crumbled.

The image seems to suggest Pingers is giving Sehwag some pointers, but I am sure he is just trying to explain the unexplainable - why Watling and Guptil are preferred as openers!

Not Fade Away!

They have dropped "my boy" Pingers! The bastards!

Now I know it is not a surprise; he has yet to completely tear an attack apart, and we have lost a couple of games, and someone has to pay. What rips my lunch pass is who does/doesn't get the breaks. Guptil becomes the answer, even though he is struggling. OK, he has a future and I can wear that, but how in the name of all things cricket can anyone seriously suggest that James Franklin is the solution to any problem we might have.

Peter Ingram is a man of character, he will not just fade away. James Franklin wouldn't recognise a positive character trait if it bit him during one of his brief visits to the wicket.

India Here We Come!

Very little done to this image as it stands on it's own. The unvarnished truth is that Central Districts were too good for Auckland and they have a great shot at improving on Otago's very quiet performance last year at the Champion's Trophy.

Exciting for us local lads to see it happen in New Plymouth and to see local boy Peter Ingram to the fore. I just hope they sober up in time and do grasp that conditions might be just a little different on the subcontinent.

About Bloody Time

Just occasionally, when you least expect it, someone in NZ cricket does the right thing. Peter "Pingers" Ingram's selection for the squad to play Bangladesh is one of those times.

Not only is it a good choice - Pete's selection sends out the message to all those players in the first class scene, and below, saying, stick at it, do the business and good things can happen.

You can't develop the much vaunted "depth" if you don't create incentive for players to stick around and there have been a lot of guys say "stuff it I am off overseas" lately.

I hope like hell Pete does well at the next level but I already know he is the sort of player we need playing first class cricket in New Zealand.