With the boys on the boat to Cape Town, and no mail on boats, this week we take a break in our usual broadcast to discuss the Treaty of Versailles in the context of the AIF XI story. Tangents include: The punic peace. The end of empire. The Nazi origins of Cultural Marxism. Champagne and Cognac as reparations. Whenever there’s a straight line on a map, Europeans have been there. Ash Barty and Nick Kyrgios and appropriate behaviour in an assimilationist culture. The Waterford is the pen of the high diplomacy of Versailles, the sharpie is the pen of the high diplomacy of the Trump administration.

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Week 20: 28 September - The Treaty of Versailles

There's no cricket this week, just a send off dinner for the boys at a fancy restaurant with lots of fancy people. Anth is joined once again by Russ Degnan to talk about things like how once again, cricket is over, this time it’s because people are playing professionally rather than for the MCC (in the 1850s). Historical empathy and how hard it is – people seem to really love the monarchy. and the invisibility of the now 12 year old Third World War.Corrections: Lord Harris was the secretary of the MCC at this time, he was only president once in 1895. Lord Hawk was the president during the war, and was succeeded by Henry Foster in 1919. 

Week 19: 21 September - Farewell dinner at the Café Monico

Tangents this week include: The AIF team becoming the nucleus of the post-war Australian test team. The change in leadership from Kelleway to Collins. The pre-war battle between the Australian administrators and players. The perilous state of pre-war cricket finances. The Pro/Gent origins of the North/South divide in England. Why I want to see some twisters and shooters on a sticky dog.Corrections: Scarborough started in 1876, not the 1850s. It probably wasn’t Senator Pearce there, he’s G Pearce, not S Pearce. He was also defence minister, not foreign minister.

Week 18: 14 September - C.I. Thornton's XI and XVI of Mitcham

This week stays surprisingly on the topic of the two South of England games, but we still manage to talk about the obscurities of County scheduling in 1919, the impact on results of two-days vs three-days (hint: longer games = more results), the industrial roots of Northern pace, and fast bowler’s egos.

Week 17: 7 September - South of England

Tangents: We solve climate change through the discovery of a supernatural bureaucrat with strong public sector union tsupport. The Jazz Eleven. What the war taught us about the Empire, by the Bishop of Taunton. The tactical errors of Napoleon at Waterloo.Correction: Professor Alan Lester is the Historian working on Colonial Office correspondence.

Week 16: 31 August - Gloucester and Somerset

Tangents include: the development of the league system and the scheduling of late 19th century cricket, the creation of the county system and the ‘newspaper leagues’, how ‘traditional’ values are generally only the really weird morality of Victorian England necessary to run a colonial empire, some more detail on our favourite Johnny Won’t Hit Today, The Bulletin and it’s role in creating national identity, and giving English spectator behaviour a pass – they’ve just come out of a war after all. And a little bit more reflection on the importance of the AIF XI in reviving international cricket.Corrections: I correct it in the episode, but for some reason I have a blind spot on the 1920/21 English tour of Australia. Gurinder Sandhu is one of the modern bowlers bowling pace and spin, and Ashkay Karnewar playing for Board President’s XI against Australia A was the left and right handed bowler I saw recently.

Week 15: 24 August - Essex

Tangents: AIF Soldiers going AWOL to fight for Sinn Fein in the Irish War of Independence, and the government conspiracy to cover it up. T20’s vanguard role in spreading cricket to the world, as discussed by self-described test snobs. Cricket’s role in high level international politics.Corrections: I can’t confirm exactly how many balls per over would have been played in Greenock, but 6 was the common number at the time in Scotland.

Week 14: 17 August - Greenock and North of Scotland

Tangents: The value of a ham sandwich. Why cricketers of then would now be Instagram influencers. How much do female e-sports athletes earn anyway? T20 – the game for the beery gas worker.Corrections: The robots attacked! The last few weeks have been all over the shop like a coke promotion at a petrol station. Apologies for the out of order, and hopefully now we will return to our regular schedule. England tours as the Marylebone Cricket Club from 1903 – 1977. On these tours they play international matches as England and non-international matches as the M.C.C.

Week 12: 3 August - Surrey

Tangents this week: Great all-rounders. Just how shitty a WWI trench was, including a PTSD chat. Flappers, motor cars, and *shock* bare ankles. The plight of the poor Aussie potential bride to be. The Gregorys and the first women’s cricket match in Australia.Corrections: Bradman did NOT beat Syd Gregory's record. Bradman played in 52 tests, Syd Gregory played in 58 tests etween 1890 and 1912. It was not until Ray Lindwall's 59th test against Pakistan at Karachi in December 1959 that the record would be broken.

Week 13: 10 August - Sussex and Kent

Tangents this week include: Cricket in Macedonia: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/66505807/6487836 The invention of the dilscoop and leg glance. Proponents of the ‘dibbly dobbly’ school of bowling (AKA pie chuckers). RMIT Wuhan winning an international cricket tournament. Dirty Germans and John McClain/MacLean. Corrections: The leg glance is usually attributed to Ranjitsinhji, not WG as mentioned. The original ‘Hat Trick’ was H. H. Stephenson for the All England Eleven against the twenty-two of Hallam at Hyde Park Ground, Sheffield, in 1858. Two players have taken all 20 wickets on six occasions in Test matches. There’s over 60 players who have completed the 10 000 run 1000 wicket double, not a handful. It was Worcestershire who did not compete in 1919, not Gloucestershire in 1920.

Week 10: 20 July - Derbyshire, H.K. Foster's XI, and Worcestershire

Tangents include: The grievances of Monty Noble. The A.I.F. lifting the standard of fielding to a new level. Cricket meets baseball: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgx1QPaYpCI The biggest crowds at sporting matches. And because this is a White Line Wireless production, we spend a little bit of time fanboying over Glenn Maxwell (and Jonty Rhodes).Corrections: The ‘hot shit’ baseballer is Francisco Lindor. There are reports of George Bonnor hitting the clock at Lord’s: http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article213614058 but credit has to go to Albert Trott for being the famous Lord’s ‘clock smasher’ http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article128692122 The 286 runs off one ball is probably a myth, but given there are 1894 sources for it, I’m happy to allow it as part of cricketing history: http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article121617536 It was a São Paolo v Corinthians, but Corinthians is from São Paolo, not Rio.

Week 11: 27 July - Warwickshire and Nottingham.

Tangents this week include: Is Dame Nellie 1919’s Madonna or Taylor Swift? How WWI unified disparate cultures around Australia and why it holds such a central place in the development of Australian National Identity. Shakespearian dick jokes. Why Roller Derby is a better candidate sport for the Olympics than Cricket.Corrections this week include: The Australasian Championships become a major in 1924, the Australian Championships in 1927, and the Australian Open in 1969. Nurses serving with the Australian Army Nursing Service (AANS) were part of the Australian Army Medical Corps (AAMC), which was part of the Australian Military Force (AMF). Those who were deployed overseas during the war were part of the Australian Imperial Force (AIF). The originator of sports photography was Eadweard Muybridge. Green and Gold were formally recognised as the national colours in 1984.

Week 9: 13 July - Durham and Leicestershire

This week the AIF head north to Scotland to play against the West of Scotland, and twice against Scotland, all in six days. Tangents include players who could have played for multiple nations, the Scottish weather, and the difficulty of getting selected when you’re from the bush.

Week 8: 6 July - West of Scotland and Scotland (twice!)

This week the AIF XI take on the best amateurs in England and then head of to 'hants. Tangents include rank and pay in the military, Canada's performance in the 2003 World Cup, and more nuggets of Gregory trivia.

Week 7: 29 June - Gentlemen of England and Northamptonshire

This week the AIF XI take on The County and then get rained out at Hampshire. Tangents include English versus Australian barracking, a young Hampshire player by the name of Dallas Brooks, and the cost in cricketers of the first world war.

Week 6: 22 June - Yorkshire and Hampshire

From the White Line Wireless live cricket commentary team, the podcast ranges from cricket topics today to cricket history, and from informative to irreverent.

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