Cricket and Archery have a connection going back hundreds of years to the height of the Reformation in 1536 when Henry VIII actually criminalised the game of cricket in order that the youth of the realm practice archery instead of “frivolous” activities “such as cricket-a-wicket”.
Even so, it seems likely that the start yesterday of Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif’s spot-fixing trial at Southwark Crown Court on exactly the same day that the world’s leading archers were firing their arrows at Lord’s in the London 2012 test event was entirely coincidental.
According to a wonderful piece by Michael Atherton in today’s Times, a handful of MCC members turned up to see what all the fuss was about and weren’t overly impressed with what they witnessed – “like watching paint dry” grumbled one without the merest hint of irony.
However, this did get The Reverse Sweep thinking (well it was an ungodly hour on the 06.00 train from Surrey), that having seen how to handle a bow, the MCC members that were present could be employed to hand out some Henry VIII style justice to Butt and Asif should the jury find them guilty.
Now that really would be shooting for gold and in turn would make the MCC members more popular than they have ever been with other cricket followers.
Where next?
Cricket Zeroes: Salman Butt
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