England's Great Loss

This is a cricket blog, so this article is not going to be about England's perennial inability to take penalty kicks. It's about Fred Trueman, arguably "t'greatest fast bowler who ever drew breath" and undisputedly the first bowler to take 300 test wickets, who died today aged 75.

Fiery Fred was a rebel, who would have taken far more than his 307 test wickets had he been prepared to keep his nose clean with the authorities. He played in the days when the amateurs who ran the game referred to professional cricketers by their surnames and the next generation of cricketers were much beholden to Fred and others whose careers undoubtedly suffered because they refused to accept second class treatment. The great raconteur once said that he ignored those who called him Trueman because "my parents gave me a first name".

People my age remember Fred as an astute summariser for Test Match special, who would call a spade a bloody shovel with humour and fairness. I salute you Fred and I'll sithee!