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THE PROBLEM OF BEING A PARENT
The problem of being a parent is for ever with the game of cricket being played by youngsters. Often parents make the best selectors,managers, scorers, umpires and all borne out of the pride for their offspring. Mr Mrs Giles have travelled to Africa to see their son, Ashley , Warwickshire CCC and England, play in the one day series against South Africa and Zimbabwe. Alas before departure he strained his back and was almost declared unfit to play.
England are in a rebuilding mood, so without Phil Tufnell , Ashley stood a good chance of playing. The quandary for the selectors was that they could not pick a specialist spinner in the fear of giving too many runs away as the English batsmen were not in very good form. When the tour reached Zimbabwe Mr Mrs Giles were fully entitled to see their son on the field of play - other than for carrying the drinks tray. Alas, England won the first two matches without Ashley and he was not selected for the 3rd game. The policy of winning all 3 games to put a possible drawn series beyond reach was undoubtedly good for team morale but, I suspect, not good for Ashley's parents.
Even worse for Ashley , Graham Hick an occasional off spinner, who over the years has never managed to stay in the team, made 80 runs and took 5 wickets. Sort that one out Mr Miller - the 4th and newest Selector.
Mr Mrs Giles are seasoned parents in their observation of cricket team selection. I last met them in 1988 when I selected their son, Ashley, who was then a Surrey schoolboy aged 14, for the South of England team. We played three matches in the ESCA under 15 Festival at Bromley, Kent. We had a squad of 15 players which meant that several players could only play 2 out of the 3 matches. We played Ashley, who was a fast left arm bowler and a reasonably good bat, in the first 2 matches but left him out for the final game against the Midlands. It was a major setback for Ashley and his parents but the selection of two other opening bowlers was the decision.
On leaving school Ashley joined Surrey and converted to left arm spinning. Since then he has gone on to play for Warwickshire and England.
I like to think that I helped to convert Ashley by " dropping" him - his parents , Mr. Mrs. Giles, probably had a different opinion.
The line up in the photograph is heartening for most parents - if you are good enough you will normally get on.
BACK ROW
Alex Planck Kent; Toby Pierce Sussex C.C.C.; Ashley Giles Warwickshire and England; Matthew Luckhurst Kent; Richard Yeabsley, Hertfordshire; Darren Robinson Essex CCC; Matthew Miller Surrey; Matthew Walker Kent CCC; FRONT ROW
Richard Ayres Middlesex; Graham Pooley Middlesex; Mark Semmence Sussex; Keith Dutch Middlesex CCC; Ben Walters Surrey
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