Cricket-Match-Special ... A forum for discussion

I haven't listened to Bat Out of Hell for 40 years (I think I will change that today), and it is a long way short of being my favourite albums, but I still think that it is one of the great rock albums ever made.

Yes, it's cliched and corny, but it worked so well. We played the absolute bejeezus out of it after school, day and day after day.

GarlicJam wrote:I haven't listened to Bat Out of Hell for 40 years (I think I will change that today), and it is a long way short of being my favourite albums, but I still think that it is one of the great rock albums ever made.

Yes, it's cliched and corny, but it worked so well. We played the absolute bejeezus out of it after school, day and day after day.

Bat out of hell was top of the charts the year I joined the Navy. I went from being a big fan prior to joining up to not listening to it again for years. No matter where I went on the camp someone, somewhere was playing the album. I would hear bits of it pretty much every hour of every day.

Not, of course, when I was being ordered to shin up and down a rope twenty times in the gym, or being made to do bunny hops up and down a rugby pitch in new boots at 5 o'clock in the morning, or being made to hold a rifle at full arm stretch and getting hit with a big stick whenever it dropped below the horizontal, or being thrown in one of the scum covered outside fire fighting water tanks that were positioned all around the camp for not having a shiny enough peak on my cap, or being made to slide along a rope 'single leopard' fashion over and over again until I'd ripped off the skin on that side of my gentles for having the temerity to cough while someone was talking........ but every other waking minute of the day

I did learn to love it again many years later, though. A behemoth of an album

You remember your navy days fondly then, Durham?

One of my friends had a brother who bought Bat out of He'll and played it quite a lot. I was about 13/14 at the time and was struck by how different it was to everything else at the time. Then he appeared on Old Grey Whistle Test and rather than just stand on stage and sing he was almost performing a mini soap opera.

A larger than life character. I recently viewed again his performance on The Tube which now seems to have virtually every episode on You Tube. The show's producer that day kept calling him Mr Loaf which he found hilarious. Another bizarre story about him is that he was a Hartlepool United "fan".

Sadly it seems his reluctance to get vaccinated may have been a cause of his demise.

Isn't one of iron maiden a pools fan too?

That's Jan Gers. He was born in the town and often comes back to visit family and go to the games.

Sonny Ramadhin, last of the 1950 WI touring team aged 92. RIP

John Landy , great Australian athlete - second man ever to go under four minutes for the mile. A real hero of Australian athletics ; from his exploits at Olympic Games in 1952 and 1956 to his legendary "stopping to help fallen rival Ron Clarke " in the Australian Championships mile in that year.

In later years Governor of Victoria , and honoured for contributions to conservation in this state. Passed away peacefully at 91 . RIP to a true gentleman.

A great Australian even, Alfie. He happened to be a great athlete as well.

Funny, after all the years of people striving to break the four minute mile, Bannister does it with Landy at his heels - then shortly afterwards, Landy smashed Bannister's record by over 2 seconds.

Ramadhin and Landy really legendary names in their sports (and more with Landy). A bit surprised to hear they died this week as they now feel like from so long ago.

GarlicJam wrote:A great Australian even, Alfie. He happened to be a great athlete as well.

Funny, after all the years of people striving to break the four minute mile, Bannister does it with Landy at his heels - then shortly afterwards, Landy smashed Bannister's record by over 2 seconds.

Suppose not that surprising really as the two of them - and the American Wes Santee - had all been trying for some time to break the magic mark. Landy's record , of course , went on to stand for several years.

They both broke 4 minutes in the Commonwealth Games a couple of months later when Bannister pipped Landy to the title. That was a wonderful race ! I re-watched the video , sort of in remembrance. Worth a look and a listen to the interviews...

alfie wrote:

GarlicJam wrote:A great Australian even, Alfie. He happened to be a great athlete as well.

Funny, after all the years of people striving to break the four minute mile, Bannister does it with Landy at his heels - then shortly afterwards, Landy smashed Bannister's record by over 2 seconds.

Suppose not that surprising really as the two of them - and the American Wes Santee - had all been trying for some time to break the magic mark. Landy's record , of course , went on to stand for several years.

They both broke 4 minutes in the Commonwealth Games a couple of months later when Bannister pipped Landy to the title. That was a wonderful race ! I re-watched the video , sort of in remembrance. Worth a look and a listen to the interviews...

As a novice on the subject, why are these athletes so historically revered? The factored up 1500m WR of the time would have broken the barrier of 4 minutes (even if you factor up the last 109 meters at a slower pace of the next highest mark of the time, the average speed of a 5,000 m runner) .... and in the following Olympics Landy and Bannister finished 3/4th in the same year they broke records.

Is this a case of countries that use the mile caring, while 1500m runners elsewhere were already setting these paces? Thee records look very academic to me.

Or is the opposite true? Were Olympic 1500m after thoughts for chasing the historical barrier?

I reckon it is that it was a convenient measurement that had been spoken about for decades (if not longer) as the impossible task. Running 1500 at similar speeds doesn't have the same ring to it.

I can tell you who first climbed Everest, but without looking, I wouldn't know who was the first to climb K2. Not much shorter and a much more difficult climb (so I hear).

The romance and glory is with THE tallest.

sussexpob wrote:

alfie wrote:

GarlicJam wrote:A great Australian even, Alfie. He happened to be a great athlete as well.

Funny, after all the years of people striving to break the four minute mile, Bannister does it with Landy at his heels - then shortly afterwards, Landy smashed Bannister's record by over 2 seconds.

Suppose not that surprising really as the two of them - and the American Wes Santee - had all been trying for some time to break the magic mark. Landy's record , of course , went on to stand for several years.

They both broke 4 minutes in the Commonwealth Games a couple of months later when Bannister pipped Landy to the title. That was a wonderful race ! I re-watched the video , sort of in remembrance. Worth a look and a listen to the interviews...

As a novice on the subject, why are these athletes so historically revered? The factored up 1500m WR of the time would have broken the barrier of 4 minutes (even if you factor up the last 109 meters at a slower pace of the next highest mark of the time, the average speed of a 5,000 m runner) .... and in the following Olympics Landy and Bannister finished 3/4th in the same year they broke records.

Is this a case of countries that use the mile caring, while 1500m runners elsewhere were already setting these paces? Thee records look very academic to me.

Or is the opposite true? Were Olympic 1500m after thoughts for chasing the historical barrier?

Couple of things not quite right there . Landy actually took the 1500 World Record en route to his Mile record in 1954. And while Landy did indeed finish third in the 1956 Olympics , Bannister (who was 4th in the 1952 Olympics ) had retired from athletics by then - after first winning the 1954 European Championships 1500 in meeting record time ...so there is no doubt both men were right at the top of their field. Certainly not a case of other runners not being interested in the mile.

Runners aren't robots. And as we see even today , the man with the best time doesn't necessarily win in a major championship.

But this is all academic. As GJ points out , the confluence of a traditional distance of 1 Mile and a clear and distinct time of exactly four minutes was a natural target for many at the time. Aiming for 3.40.7 , say , for 1500 just didn't have the same ring to it

Bit like 10 seconds to the 100m. Always more important than the 100 yards , which had been run well under 10 since the 19th century.

RIP Rod Marsh. A very fine player and great contributor to the game.