On South Africa’s historic 1995 Rugby World Cup win, its aftermath, and the sad death of James Terence Small . On Sunday morning, the first big international rugby fixture – All Blacks vs the Wallabies – was played since Covid halted the Six Nations back in early March. This will be followed by the other […]
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Tagged Andre Joubert, Andrew Mehrtens, apartheid, Australia, Bledisloe Cup, Butch James, Chester Williams, Chris Hani, death, drugs, Ed Morrison, Eric Cantona, Francois Pienaar, James Small, Joel Stransky, Johannesburg, John Smit, Jonah Lomu, Jonny Wilkinson, Joost van der Westhuizen, Kent, Nelson Mandela, New Zealand, Os du Randt, parents, Paul Gascoigne, Robben Island, rugby, Rugby Championship, Rugby World Cup 1995, Sean Fitzpatrick, Six Nations, Siya Kolisi, South Africa, sport, Springboks, The Critic, Tom Hardy, TV
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On my attempt to run 26.2 miles, in Pheidippides’ footsteps. — For The Critic
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Tagged Afghanistan, army, artillery, Athens, Bosnia, Brett Raymond, champagne, Chariots of Fire, Charlton, Classics, Commonwealth War Graves Commission, death, gentlemen, Google, Greece, Haruki Murakami, health, hills, Homer, Honourable Artillery Company, Iraq, Joseph James Prosser, kilometers, London marathon, Lucian, Marathon, Merrell, miles, Olympics, Panathinaiko Stadium, Persians, Phaleron War Cemetery, Pheidippides, running, Silverstone, the Aegean, The Critic, war
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Notes on Colombo’s books and bookmen in the time of Covid-19. — For The Critic
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Tagged alcohol, Aleksandar Hemon, Amazon, Ashok Ferrey, B&Q, Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall, books, bookshops, Buddhism, Ceylon, Ceylon Bible Society, charity, China, Chuck Palahniuk, clothing, Colombo, Colombo Fashion Week, Colombo International Book Fair, construction, Covid-19, Dan Brown, David Duchovny, democracy, Denis Johnson, Donald Trump, Dr Sudath Samaraweera, Dutch Burgher Union, education, Emma Donoghue, Emmanuel Carrere, England, Eventbrite, Facebook, Galle Literary Festival, Harrods, health, hygiene, Iran, James Hadley Chase, Jilly Cooper, Kumar Sangakkara, letters, LIDL, Lt General Shavendra Silva, Malaysia, Michael Chabon, Milo, money, music, Nicholas Mosley, Nixon, Northern Ireland, novels, One Galle Face, Ottawan, Panos Karnezis, rain, religion, Robert Knox, satire, schools, Shangri-La, Shehan Karunatilaka, shopping, Sinhala, snacks, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Sri Lankan Exhibition & Conference Centre, Tamil, TASCHEN, taxes, TGI Fridays, The Big Bad Wolf, The Critic, the internet, the Sistine Chapel, Tisara Prakasakayo, TS Eliot, tsunami, VIPs, Waterstone's, weddings, Yudhanjaya Wijeratne
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My mate Howard has found a cricket ball in his aunt’s attic… — For The Critic
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Tagged beer, Bolton, British Army, courts martial, cricket, drink, Gibraltar, Gunner magazine, hats, history, James Costello, Lancashire, pubs, Royal Engineers, Royal Garrison Artillery, statistics, The Critic, Town Malling Cricket Club, Wisden, WWI
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A tribute to my somewhat improbable Quaker ancestors, murdered/martyred on this day, at Scullabogue, in 1798. — For The Critic
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Tagged Beauchamp Bagenal Harvey, crime, Daniel Gahan, death, Dr Thomas Hancock, family, George Cruickshank, Ireland, James Joyce, John Jones, Kilbraney, New Ross, Oliver Cromwell, Quakerism, religion, RF Foster, Samuel Jones, Scullabogue, The Critic, Thomas Cloney, Thomas Keightley, Tom Dunne, Ulster, United Irishmen, Wexford
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As Colombo emerges from the Covid lockdown, I go immediately to one of my favourite places. — For The Critic
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Tagged Alfred Douglas, Andre Gide, Arthur C Clarke, bibliomania, books, bookshops, Borges, Ceylon, coconuts, Colombo, colonialism, Covid-19, Craig Raine, Cyril Connolly, David Blacker, David Kugultinov, David Nichol Smith, Dee Brown, Dervla Murphy, Dickens, Edmund Waller, education, EM Forster, English, fauna, Georges Bataille, Gerald Manley Hopkins, Harold Nicolson, Henry Fielding, Jane Austen, Joan Collins, Joseph Conrad, Kalmykia, Lenin, libraries, Lionel Shriver, Louis Mountbatten, Madeleine Albright, Maradana, Michael Ondaatje, Nabokov, Peter Ackroyd, Richard Flanagan, Simon Sebag Montefiore, Sinhala, Sri Lanka, Tamil, Teilhard de Chardin, The Critic, the Duke of Pirajno, The New Yorker, Tom Wolfe
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A lockdown letter from Colombo. — For The Critic
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Tagged Amazon, Argentina, army, beer, children, China, Colombo, coronavirus, cricket, Dominic Hilton, drink, Facebook, food, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, health, letters, lockdown, May Day, Mel Gibson, money, Osama bin Laden, painting, peacocks, quizzes, Sanskrit, shopping, Singapore, Sinhala, socialism, Sri Lanka, swimming, the British, The Critic, UberEats, work
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An evening with Kumar Sangakkara. — For the Sri Lankan Sunday Times
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Tagged charity, cheese, Council for Business with Britain, County Championship, cricket, Cricket World Cup, drink, education, film, Foundation of Goodness, geography, Great Britain, Heraclitus, HSBC, Kumar Sangakkara, Kushil Gunasekera, Lord's, Mark Prothero, Marylebone Cricket Club, parents, records, Seenigama, Shangri-La, Sri Lanka, Sunday Times (SL), Surrey
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RAIN MEN vs WHITE HUNTERS Sunday August 11th 2019 . ‘Remarkably few ‘keepers have become captains; and many of those who have have quickly given up the job.’ — Mike Brearley, The Art of Captaincy . On strict assurance that he was about to leave the country, the Chairman, Selectors, and Life Members/Platinum Donors Circle of […]
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Tagged Bertrand Russell, Bumble, captaincy, cars, conkers, cricket, dogs, Dulwich College, East Hampshire, Formula 1, Guy Burgess, Marcus Berkmann, Mike Brearley, Poetry, Rain Men, religion, rules, Skittles, taxidermy, Thomas Lord, trees, West Meon, White Hunters, X-Men
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Saturday, December 1, 2018
A list of all the living presidents, as at 5:57pm, December 1st, 2018 – for reasons that, I think, should be self-evident. — For Queen Mob’s Tea House