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Windrush and the rise of wandering Caribbean cricket clubs that fuelled talent in English game

Windrush and the rise of wandering Caribbean cricket clubs that fuelled talent in English game

Their history was in danger of being lost but a new book and project has put together an archive documenting such vibrant contributions to the game In the early 1980s there were scores of “Caribbean” cricket clubs playing across England, many of them bearing evocative names such as New Calypsonians, Island Taverners, Paragon, Starlight and Carib United. Mostly these clubs operated under the radar – as wandering sides renting pitches on municipal grounds that were outside the traditional league structures. With few physical records of their existence, their history has been in danger of being lost as numbers have plummeted since the late 1990s. Continue reading...

I'm taking eight months' paternity leave – and it's changing my relationship with my children | Ilyas Nagdee

I'm taking eight months' paternity leave – and it's changing my relationship with my children | Ilyas Nagdee

I’ll never tire of witnessing many ‘firsts’ for my second-born, but this is a luxury that should be afforded to everyone, not just those who can pay for it When I told people I was taking more than eight months of parental leave, the main reactions I got were: “What are you going to do with all that time?” and “won’t you get bored?” These questions came from every direction – including health professionals involved in my wife’s pregnancy and the arrival of our second child. More than halfway through my leave, I’ve been reflecting on what good parental leave looks like: leave that allows families to take the time to adjust to the new rhythms of family life. Thanks to a new policy at my work that gives parents six months of paid parental leave, in addition to annual leave, I will be returning to work not when our newborn is still tiny, our toddler is adjusting to a sibling and their mum is recovering from birth, but when our son is eight months old. This is markedly different to when our first baby was born two years ago, after which I was able to take only three weeks of paternity leave – while my partner chose to take the full period of maternity leave and not to return to work. Ilyas Nagdee is an author and researcher working in the areas of racial justice and human rights Continue reading...

Pole to Pole With Will Smith review – every single moment is gorgeous or thrilling

Pole to Pole With Will Smith review – every single moment is gorgeous or thrilling

It may feel like a redemption tour, but the star’s epic jolly across seven continents is consistently funny, moving and quite frankly breathtaking Hollywood stars – they’re just like us! Except that when we want to go on a massive jolly/rehabilitative journey for ourselves and/or our careers, we have to pay for it. And we generally cannot go on a 100-day adventure across seven continents, with experts on hand to introduce us to their indigenous inhabitants, talk us through world-changing research being done in the most isolated regions on Earth, show us new and fascinating species that can be found there that may hold the cure to all known diseases, and guide us through the breathtaking landscapes that make you want to throw yourself to the ground and weep at the beauty laid out before humanity’s largely uncaring eyes. Not so for Willard Carroll Smith II, the Academy award, Bafta and Grammy-winning actor and rapper who enjoyed an uninterruptedly stellar career from the late 80s until 2022, when he put a crimp in things by lamping the Oscars’ host Chris Rock for insulting Smith’s wife. This was followed by a tour violinist suing him for alleged predatory behaviour, unlawful termination and retaliation, which is working its way through the California legal system now. Smith has categorically denied all allegations. He is getting away from it all in the meantime by doing all the adventuring noted above – a septet of episodes of Pole to Pole With Will Smith (the name by which of course he is known to us) in honour of his late mentor Dr Allen Counter. Counter was a professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School, the inaugural director of the university’s Foundation for Intercultural and Race Relations and – in his spare time, I guess? – a noted explorer. I cannot help but feel a biopic must be in the works, and I hope it comes soon. Continue reading...

The Knowledge | Which football teams have scored after being reduced to eight players?

The Knowledge | Which football teams have scored after being reduced to eight players?

Plus: high-ranking nations where Ballon d’Or winners have never played and an own-goal scoring hat-trick hero Mail us with your questions and answers “Last month, Lazio scored a late winner (in the 82nd minute) against Parma despite having two players sent off earlier in the game,” writes Bogdan Kotarlic. “I wonder if any team has scored a goal (or maybe more) with eight players and with three players receiving red cards before that?” There’s only one place to start: Boghead Park, Dumbarton. “In August 1991, Premier Division Airdrieonians played Dumbarton in the Scottish League Cup,” writes Bill Hall. “What looked like an innocuous tie was anything but - especially for Dumbarton’s Colin McNair, Stephen Gow and Jimmy Gilmour, who were shown red cards in what must have been a bad-tempered affair (I was there but it was 34 years ago, and I was in the pub beforehand, so memories are a bit vague). Continue reading...