Читать книгу Classic After-Dinner Sports Tales - Jonathan Rice - Страница 8

One of the all-time great South African cricketers, Eddie Barlow played 30 times for his country before South Africa’s exclusion in 1970. He scored 2,516 runs at an average of 45.74, and took 40 wickets. He subsequently played for Derbyshire with distinction.

When I began my cricketing career, it started, like most boys, in my parents’ back garden. My brother Norman and I were limited by space and had to share our ground with Dad’s vegetable garden. He was very proud of his achievements and had grown some wonderful cauliflowers. Unfortunately they were right in the firing line of Norman’s cover drives and sure enough one of these knocked a top completely off, quickly followed by another one. With great presence of mind we sat the tops back on their stalks and carried on playing. A few days later we spotted Dad inspecting his handiwork, seeing his face turn from pleasure to anger. Now we were going to catch it. As he came inside we heard him say to Mum, ‘Those wretched cutworms have ruined my caulies.’ Phew! Saved by the worms.

Whiling away the time in Australia we asked each other how we had got our names. Mine, Barlow, I said came about because a Mr Bar who owned a pub married a Miss Low who was not very tall. Peter Carlstein, we said, was related to the Swedish King Carl Gustav, hence the Carl, and his ancestor had married a princess of Stein. Johnny Waite and I decided to carry the game a little further and on the day of the first Test he received a telegram, common in those days, which said ‘Good luck Peter from Gus’.

‘Who the hell is Gus?’ asked Peter. ‘Well, obviously it is the King of Sweden,’ we said, and some good-natured ribbing ensued. The word must have got out for when he walked out to the crease and took guard, Wally Grout greeted him with the words. ‘Good morning Your Royal Highness,’ He was out first ball to Richie Benaud’s famous flipper.