News

The Loop: The Basin, Phil Tufnell, The BYC and Gallipoli

4 January 2008

Greetings from Beige HQ. New Zealand's first Test match at home since December 2006 has just got underway at the steaming heap of sideways movement and uneven bounce that is the University Oval pitch.

The Basin: We'll shuffle along and have a look at the degradation of Bangladesh in the Test match at The Basin in Wellington starting on Saturday 12 January. It is a chance for us to don our newly acquired Southern Sting netball skirts, so beige they make your eyes water...if you need a skirt for the game get in touch with an email to beigehq@beigebrigade.co.nz. And if you need a ride up from the deep south for the game, we have a Beige Brigade stalwart (out of Winton) with seats available making a glorious road trip north at the end of the week.

The Blog on Stuff: Hairy Paul Holden* (*not his real name) is representing the Beige Brigade on the Stuff website. Have a look here for words of wisdom and weirdness on cricketing topics as diverse as cricket porn, Chris Cairns, Led Zeppelin, and The Basin Reserve.

The Podcast: Like Murali chasing Test wickets, The BYC Podcast rumbles on just outside the rules, extracting the mickey out of cricket from Cape Reinga to Stewart Island and most other points of the cricketing compass. It is free and it is bloody ridiculous at times so make sure you tune in: http://beigebrigade.co.nz/loop/byc/ and email us your feedback to BYC@beigebrigade.co.nz. A special thanks to our #1 American fan, Meghan, for couriering us over some Xmas cookies. It made us feel like we were a bit like Aggers and co on the BBC's Test Match Special.

The Domestic Legends: Here are a few worth watching in the domestic cricket comps over the summer. Auckland's Andre Adams - not rocket science given his sensational form, but make sure you see the man in action, and be dumbfounded as to why he is not in the current NZ set-up...ND's Kane Williamson, schoolboy, NZ U-19 captain and bearer of the nickname Bopper. That will do us... CD's Jamaican pace bowler Evon McInnis, a huge fan of the bouncer God bless him...Wellington's Charlie Shreck, a sort of shaggy-haired English Bruce Reid, and the world's skinniest ogre. He also bounced the promoter of a biodegradable cricket box who dared face him in the nets - more on that here...Canterbury's Brandon Hiini because he is from Invercargill and we like the sound of his name... Otago's Leighton Morgan because he did the same radio course as Beige Brigade co-founder Mike Lane. 

The Offspin Magazine: Ensure you pick up a copy of this magazine and read the Beige Pages in there. Put together by you know who.

The Poms: They are turning up here in February expecting to flog us, then assuming they will repeat the dose at Lord's, Old Trafford and Trent Bridge in May/June as well. We were dreadful in the Test matches against Sth Africa but we will degrade them in the one-dayers and we are down on our knees praying that we can give them a fright in the Test matches here and there as well. If you are heading along to the games in Enzed or in the UK, get in touch so we can hatch some plans. One quick question: is Monty Panesar the new Phil Tufnell in the field? Let's hope so, but no matter how shocking he is, he'll have his work cut out for him as this abominable effort from Tuffers demonstrates.

An Oldie But A Goodie: The second Test between the Windies and the South Africans is underway, with G Smith's side hanging in the series by a pubic hair after getting drilled in the first Test. Back in the NY Test match in 2004, there were certainly some great sights to be seen, and somewhat bizarrely the cameraman landed a totally magnificent pair - all revealed here...

The Murali Song: This tribute to Murali from an Australian-based Sri Lankan cabaret singer Alston Koch will bring tears to your eyes. Kamahl eat your heart out...and make sure you explore the website - among other gems, it claims that this is "the man that introduced disco music to Australia".

The Gallipoli Mission for ANZAC Day: If you are in or around London in April, make sure you make the trip of a lifetime with the Beige Brigade - we are off to pay tribute to the ANZACs with a cracking trip to Turkey.

Nathan Astle, Trivial Pursuit and The NZ Book of Lists: It is always outrageous seeing the Beige Brigade pop up in the most unlikely of places. But having the name make it into the Trivial Pursuit game is just about as mad as it can get surely? We are bloody stylish though - they're right. We also tip our hats to Nathan Astle and his kind words in his imaginatively titled autobiography, Nathan Astle. He was a great (and disappointingly sudden) loss to our national team. Also, it was a (back-handed) compliment to see the Beige Brigade acknowledged in The NZ Book of Lists - insanely popping up in the Kiwi Fashion Curiosities page, alongside another of our great loves, Stubbies!