To assist our up and coming players we offer this illustrated masterclass in the art of batting.
The Cover Drive (first seen on the cover of the 2003 Kookaburra catalogue)
The classic stance: weight carried on the front foot and a good high backlift. Head held steady and eyes following the ball closely as it is tossed back from wicket keeper to bowler.
The Pull (not to be attempted with the WAGs)
Back foot across the stumps to create room for the shot, face of the bat opened after addressing the ball to display the maker’s name, eyes following the ball with head turned to face the photographer.
The Slog Sweep
Head facing the direction of the shot, body turned to display name on the shirt. Good balance at the conclusion of the follow through, bat held steady until ball is safely in the wicket keeper’s gloves.
Running between the wickets
An essential skill for a successful player. Good coordination is essential between the batsmen - note here their matching gloves and pad straps. Batsmen on left shows particular skill in keeping all equipment makers names lined up and bat held carefully to avoid obscuring logos.
Theatre review “Rent Boy at St Trinians” starring Richard Humpreys and Laura Stein at the Buriton Village Hall .
“Rent Boy at St Trinians” is an innovative and thought-provoking analogy of Hawkley Cricket Club presented in the guise of a girls boarding school.Through the dramatic device of presenting familiar issues in unexpected surroundings, Humpheys and Stein challenge our preconceived notions and test our responses to them.
Richard Humphreys in the role of Rent Boy keeps the audience in a state of deliberate ambiguity and suspense. The presence of a rent boy in a girls boarding school is not explained to us, nor is it clear why Humphreys dresses throughout in a white umpire’s coat. Does this symbolise a yearning for authority, or does the flapping white coat hint at madness and anarchy beneath the surface? In scenes all too familiar to Hawkley regulars last season Rent Boy has women swooning at his feet yet consistently fails to score.
Laura Stein too strikes a familiar note as she plays the part of Head WAG with a chilling blend of jollity and plotting. The scenes where the WAGs ensnare and ultimately corrupt four young boys and an OFSTED inspector are particularly poignant: is this a warning to lock up your sons (and possibly OFSTED inspectors) whenever the marauding WAGs are on the prowl, or a wake-up call to the club to review its youth protection policies? The young boys pose the conceptual problem of the outsider within a closeted environ: are they welcomed guests or spurned interlopers? Do they symbolise a welcome touring side or the reviled Liss Thirds?
Another theme woven within the densely crafted narrative is the interaction between audience and cast, forcing us to question whether we are each of us at heart players or spectators. The Stetson-clad “agent” who emerges from the audience to sign the players to a recording contract is clearly a scripted plant, but what are we to make of the Sherif and his frequent interjections regarding Rent Boy’s sexuality? Is this an act or real life? This blurring of boundaries between fact and fiction is a recurring theme.
The final musical scene compounds rather than explains the inherent ambiguities underlying the production. The characters dance to the music of Status Quo, but is this a deliberate pun or not? The white-coated Humphreys gyrates like an amphetamine-charged Larry Knowles simultaneously signalling four wides and a leg-bye, while the mini-skirted Stein reminds us that fine leg has meanings beyond the cricket field.
The interplay between the two principal characters is finely wrought throughout, particularly in the closing scenes where the phrase “big girls blouse” is cleverly implied by Laura’s shimmering top, ostensibly as part of a school prom but also clearly a coded reference to Rent Boy.
All in all this is a daring and sometimes unsettling production: the themes and the two principal actors are familiar enough to Hawkley regulars but the interpretation is fresh and challenging. Definitely a performance not to miss.
