Nice obit for the King of Spain in the Guardian today by the prince of OBO, Rob Smyth.
On the final day at The Oval in 2005 the entire nation knew the cost of another tailend collapse: the little urn. But Giles’s 59, inevitably lost amid Kevin Pietersen’s fireworks, was a brilliant and probably Ashes-winning innings. (And but for his unbeaten 7 in the previous Test the series might have been over anyway.) Giles played that innings because, like so many of that generation, he was hard – properly hard, not a gobby gobshite obsessed with forced aggression like so many of the current side, just a tough Test cricketer who got on with his job.
He was never a great spinner and only occasionally a very good one. But he was an excellent fielder and a bloody good tailender; those, coupled with his bowling, made him a very good cricketer. And, for the time being, an irreplaceable one.
As…ahem, a mate of Gilo’s myself, I second that emotion, Rob!
Ashley Giles has long been one of my favourite cricketers, an affection cemented on the 17th June 2002 when he took 2 in 2 to set up a cracking run chase of 50 in 6 overs to win. England did, and it was the first time they won a series by 2 matches since 1985.
The match had been dribbling to a horrendous draw. I know because I, a mate, and about 198 other hardy souls made the trip to watch it. At one point we watched a bizarre hour of left handed batting to left handed bowling. None of us really noticed it much until a correct-handed person came on and everyone felt a bit dizzy and disorietated for a while.
But Rob Smyth makes the argument I have done repeatedly about Gilo – he can bat and field better than most number 8′s, and is no slouch with the ball either. For that reason he should not have been ruled out of the Test squad so early. Someone on Rob Smyth’s blog asks who would you rather have at gully, Giles or Cook. I would ask who would you rather have in any fielding position including wicketkeeper – Giles or Panesar? But then again, I’m still not convinced that Panesar has got the substance to back up the hype others have generated around him. He has some blistering matches, but on many other occasions he just gets tonked round the ground for fun.
I sometimes postulate that number 8′s should not be judged on the average number of runs they score, but on the average number of balls they face. After all, their job is either to support the senior batsman and prevent a collapse, or lead the junior batsman to prevent the tail being out before stumps.
Oh, and I’m fucking jealous seeing you share a pint with Giles in that photo.