Richard Clarke
AKA The Grumbler

Picture the scene. In 20 years’ time, the first Grumbler grandchild clambers upon my knee as I leaf misty-eyed through old county handbooks, peers quizzically at the strange pictures of players in whites, bowling a red ball in a four-day game, turns to me and asks ‘Grandad, what did you do in English cricket’s civil war?’
That clunky phrase evoking images of Oliver Cromwell, 17th-century combat in muddy fields and a philosophical debate about the divine right of kings, is being banded around more and more these days. Frankly, anyone drawing a parallel betwe...