An Evening with Aggers and Tuffers

Source: http://www.simonfielder.com/aggers-tuffers

 

For anyone who is obsessed with cricket like myself, or even just an interest in the sport, an evening with two sporting greats is not something that should be missed. If unaware, both Jonathan ‘Aggers’ Agnew and Phil ‘Tuffers’ Tufnell were well-known cricketers and retired decades ago. They are key figureheads of the game in terms of cricket commentating and personality.

Upon arriving at the theatre it felt rather strange. This was the first time I have been to the theatre and not seen a musical. Not only that, the audience was mostly men, a surprise – I think not! I do want to acknowledge there were women there! This completely changed the atmosphere, especially as it just felt so middle-class. I still, to this day, do not understand why. Many turned up in their suits and cricket ties! I was the youngest person there I could see by at least 10 years, but then does this matter?

I sat in stalls, right in the middle, which was by far the best seats I have ever had! Strange when only paying a little more than £20. Furthermore, any profits were going to the Professional Cricket Association (PCA) Benevolent Fund. This in short helps current and past players with support when misfortunes happen (if interested in finding out more see the video here). It is a very worthwhile charity. The staging was very simple, a table with two chairs and a projector screen behind them, but then what else would you expect.

The first half was simply about their anecdotes from not only in their playing career, but some very recent. It seemed like they had a tale for just about anything! Ranging from Aggers selection as a commentator of horse riding at the Rio Olympics to how Tuffers on an Ashes Tour ended up in a psychiatric ward. I cannot remember the last time I had laughed so much! Best of all, it was cricket humour!

Although you knew there were several of these performances over the country, they still personalised it, for example Hampshire is the local county team and referred to rising stars such as James Vince and it never felt scripted. It was simply fantastic! Some of the parts I remember most was how Tuffers had a hand gesture for just about everything, even dance moves for some, which I still do not understand till this day how he made them so funny. But then he is a born entertainer as was shown in his TV appearances in Strictly Come Dancing, I’m a Celeb etc., which, to note, stories were mentioned about!

On a few occasions, they used the projector to show various clips, mostly showing both their ‘moments to shine’ shall we say! I can remember listening to a commentary recording where Aggers had made some reference without realising and continued to go on digging a deeper hole, which was just hilarious! Being younger than the average audience member, some of the stories were before my time with players mentioned that I had heard of, but knew little about. I still enjoyed it!

As the second half approached, people had submitted topics/questions they wanted answered. Being as keen as ever, I had submitted on Twitter earlier! This went on for the entire second half and made you feel involved. The topics/questions were varied ranging from who should bat at number 3 for England to whether they agreed with Charlotte Edwards being forced to retire from the England Women’s team. It was so nice to hear the views and opinions from the professionals.

All in all, I had an amazing time! It was something different that I couldn’t recommend highly enough to anyone with an interest in cricket. It was a relaxing environment with such a nice bunch of people who share the same interests as you. You can only feel at home! Both Aggers and Tuffers have a way with the audience that simply does not for a moment leave you uninterested. Furthermore, it was cheap ticket and the proceeds go to a worthwhile cause! A win win in my books!

Review: Mary Poppins (UK Tour) – Mayflower Theatre, Southampton (14/06/2016)

Source: http://www.marypoppins.co.uk

Mary Poppins was a favourite of mine as a child, hence I was looking forward to see the musical on tour! After their recent award (Best Regional Production – What’s on Stage Award), my expectations had risen, but strangely they were not high. Mary Poppins is about the Banks family and a nanny they hire called, funnily enough, ‘Mary Poppins’. The family unit has become dysfunctional and it is up to Mary Poppins to show them what they are missing out on – not forgetting the many adventures she, Bert (her friend) and the children have throughout.

Mary Poppins (Zizi Strallen) was portrayed perfectly! Her sense of love and seriousness was clearly apparent and even when she was talking and singing, it just sounded right – even her walk seemed elegant as it should. The vocals were powerful! Bert (Matt Lee) was strange for me. Being a big fan of the film, I was comparing him to Dick Van Dyke. With the huge age difference, I found it odd, but he still put across a very warm and humorous character although at times it did feel as though he was trying too hard to be funny. Being a big name though, he certainly delivered! I must note his tap dance routine was amazing!

The children, Michael (Harvey Shoesmith-Dean) and Jane (Lucy Simmonds) Banks were phenomenal; I could not fault them! Their vocals and speech in general were very clear, whilst hitting all the notes. The dancing was great too! Mrs Banks (Rebecca Lock) and Mr Banks (Milo Twomey) had a slow first half (the script did not give them enough time to expand), but they both came to life in the second half! Mr Banks, though, was unable to convey the anger he shared at times. Mrs Banks personally was the back bone to the musical. Upon finding out she had played Mary Poppins in the past, it was evident her experience brought so much more to the show than just her role!

The evil Miss Andrew (Penelope Woodman) was spectacular! She was the first person ever to intimidate me at a theatre, by which other musical ‘bad guys’ had failed to do. Mary Poppins is of course well known for its songs. This is probably the only musical where I knew all the songs prior. Every single musical number lived up to its name. Perfectly executed! The pit band were exceptional. Sitting in balcony, for the first time I could them throughout the show! Seeing how hard they work, somehow managed to give me more respect for them than I already had!

The choreography was straight forward but affective (not implying it was easy or that I could do it!) in comparison to some of the other musicals I have seen. But then it was what the show needed! With some very clever prop designs (Bank’s house), it was a great visual aid and added a lot of life to the show. It was very impressive seeing Bert walk up to the stage ceiling and bought a surprise factor to the show! One of the biggest surprises for me was the differences in story line between the film and musical such that adventures were cut short etc. This was not in any way a deal breaker, just unexpected. The show came to an end after Mary Poppins flew through the audience all the way up to the balcony. It was stunning and left me in shock!

The best way of describe Mary Poppins is the Taylor Swift of musicals (anyone that has seen her live knows she puts on more than just vocals, but a real show). In other words, Mary Poppins was more than just a show! It manages to take everything that step further. It is the only musical to make me feel like a child as well as an adult. The cast were fantastic and brought back many childhood memories. It offered something for the adults and children without any compromise. I just cannot believe how low my expectations had been. It certainly blew those out of the water! A masterpiece with nothing else like it!

 

 

 

Review: Guys and Dolls (UK Tour) – Mayflower Theatre, Southampton (21/05/16)

Photo Credit: Paul Coltas

Upon finding out this well-known musical was touring near me, I knew it was something I wanted to see. Before attending, I had no knowledge prior! Guys and Dolls is a musical romantic comedy, where the unlikeliest of people fall in love. The story itself is about Nathan Detroit, who needs a venue for his illegal floating crap game. In order to find somewhere, he needs money. He bets with Sky Masterson that he cannot take Sarah Brown (missionary), to Cuba for dinner, since it is seen as impossible. During the bet, they both start to fall for each other despite the problems they have on the way.

At the start, I felt lost and confused by the storyline. Although this was due to my lack of prior knowledge, I felt that it could have been more informative. The pace though was very good. Nathan Detroit (Maxwell Caulfield) was a sneaky, deceiving yet likeable character, offering a lot of depth to the story. Although he was played very well, I found myself thinking about the other characters far more in the end.

Miss Adelaide (Lucy Jane Adcock) was different. Being engaged to Nathan for 14 years probably said enough, but was, at times, both annoying and comical, with moments of what can be considered as a female stereotype (quick changes between anger and forgiveness etc), not that I am saying these are true! But then this was Adelaide! Seeing her role increase in depth was great and with time, you respected her more.

Sarah Brown (Anna O’Byrne) was the star of the show! Her vocals, although not what I was expecting, were flawless! Being a missionary, she had very strict morals for herself. When her mission was not going to plan, she let her hair and went to Havana with Sky, where you saw a completely new side of her. This was great for the audience as you saw her come of her shell. It was portrayed perfectly! Sky Masterson (Richard Fleeshman) was a wealthy gambler who, with time, you find out is more of a romantic than expected when he fell for Sarah, which was evident when revealing his real name to her!

Nicely-Nicely Johnson (Jack Edwards) and Lieutenant Brannigan (Anthony McGill) both brought a lot of heart and soul to the show, which made a huge impact! The ensemble were fantastic! The shear amount of energy required was staggering especially with acrobatic-like routines. I am not normally someone to notice choreography, but throughout I was left in disarray! It was exquisite!

When Sky and Sarah jet off to Havana, it brought a nice change of scenery and even dance routines! It was here the romance began! The love story was my favourite part of the show! They were unlikely lovers, but it proved that love happens in mysterious ways! When she found out this was all about a bet, she was convinced it was wrong and backed off. When Sky proved his love, you felt such warmth and, of course, a cheeky smile! Their passion was exhilarating!

The pit band were absolutely phenomenal and at the end, the musical director (Andy Massey) was presented to the audience. It was nice to see the pit band given their rightful recognition. With the songs in general, I left the theatre with nothing playing in my head, which was strange. They were certainly good, but not as appealing to me as other musicals. The show ended on two marriages: one being Sarah and Sky and the other Nathan and Adelaide. It was the perfect ending, which meant I was smiling for what seemed to be a disturbing amount of time!

Guys and Dolls is a fantastic musical that offers a huge amount of romance and humour, which is very appealing. The cast were terrific and there was never a point where I could not feel the emotions! Although the songs may not have quite been for me, they were still very enjoyable! It finished in the way you wanted, with happiness! There was never a boring moment!

Review: Breakfast at Tiffany’s (UK Tour) – Mayflower Theatre, Southampton (26/04/16)

Source: http://www.thelowry.com/event/breakfast-at-tiffanys

Breakfast at Tiffany’s is a play with the addition of songs. It’s most known for the 1961 film starring Audrey Hepburn. I admit a play was not something that I would normally consider, but I fancied a change partly because I have not been to the theatre since February! Breakfast at Tiffany’s is about a young writer ‘Fred’ and a girl ‘Holly Golightly’ who lives on the floor below. Holly is an enigmatic, glamorous and charming girl who has no job, but spends time with wealthy individuals. She is the kind of girl that every guy falls for, including Fred. She wants to marry someone with money, but over time she starts to fall in love with Fred. Unfortunately, some of her past catches up with her before she properly falls for him.

Breakfast at Tiffany’s has a good following, particularly from the older generation – I was the only person I could see under the age of 40 (of course this is not a problem!). Holly Golightly (what a name!) was played by the award winning Pixie Lott. Whenever I see a big name, I am never sure if they were casted due to talent or by, as my friend calls it, the ‘bums on seats’ approach. The role of Holly is a demanding one, requiring huge amounts of energy and maintaining a high pitch American accent. Amazingly, she prevailed and did an excellent job. Although her voice was required to be high, I found it to get slightly annoying at times, but this is not her fault.

‘Fred’, despite the audience never being told his real name, was played by Matt Barber. His stage presence brought huge amounts of life to the show. With very quick and clever changes from character to narrator, he was perfect in conveying basically the whole storyline. As the show went on you could only like him more. He had very lovable qualities, including loyalty, as seen at the end of the show when kept his promise to Holly about finding her cat and looking after him. It was a shame the character was not opened up more in the script.

There were various plot twists throughout, involving pregnancy, miscarriage and the downfall of Holly. These kept my concentration and focus going! There were three songs: ‘Moon River’, ‘People Will Say We’re in Love’ and ‘Hold Up My Dying Day’. Pixie Lott performed all these songs to the highest calibre! These said a lot about the character that the play could not convey, whilst also slowing the pace. The end of the first act ended with the huge news that Holly is married. This left me in slight shock and an immediate sense of confusion, needing to see how this would progress. The props and backdrops were visually stunning, in particular how they reinforced the idea that Holly lived below Fred by the fact any scene in her apartment, had his apartment above. ‘Doc’ (Robert Calvert) was Holly’s husband. After Fred was told, they went to a bar and talked. This scene was extremely informative about Holly’s past and helped answered a few of the many questions I had. Doc was portrayed brilliantly and the scene itself was full of emotion, which at this point was very needed, also slowing down the pace and allowing me to take a breather!

The cat (Bob the Cat), who’s technically Holly’s, was very well trained, especially in one of the scenes when he was placed (on purpose) onto the stage and ran off to the side, rather than anywhere! Even whilst on stage, he remained still in both Holly and Fred’s arms. The bartender, Joe (Victor McGuire), was easy going and brought new energy to the mix. The show ended on somewhat of a dilemma. Holly has taken off to Brazil and Fred had not had any real contact with her. In the back of his and the audience’s minds, you know she is okay, but of course you could see his difficulties letting go.

All in all, Breakfast at Tiffany’s is a fast-paced play with lots thrown at you, but with enough slowing songs and scenes to keep you going. The storyline had me hooked and, with the addition of big plot twists, often led me to the edge of my seat. It may not have been everyone’s cup of tea, but it certainly was mine, despite having never seen anything like this before. I now have to go the rest of my life without knowing what happened to Holly Golightly!

My ICC T20 Cricket World Cup 2016 Team of the Tournament

 

Source: http://twenty20wiki.com/

After the T20 Cricket World Cup 2016, the ICC released their team of the tournament which, I have to admit, I did not agree with and so wanted to make and write about my own. So here it is:

 

Tamim Iqbal (Bangladesh)

Quinton De Kock (wk) (South Africa)

Virat Kohli (India)

Joe Root (England)

Jos Butler (England)

Shane Watson (c) (Australia)

Andre Russell (West Indies)

Mitchell Santner (New Zealand)

Mohammad Nabi (Afghanistan)

David Willey (England)

Samuel Badree (West Indies)

12^th Man: Ish Sodhi (New Zealand)

 

1. Tamim Iqbal – He was the leading run scorer of the tournament with 295 runs and one of two players to make a century (103*). He was highly consistent with an average of 73.75. With such consistency, he was one of the best batsmen in the tournament. He even had the most sixes, with 14.
2. Quinton De Kock (wk) – He is the first choice keeper and opening batsman of South Africa, so I picked him for mine. He was consistent with the bat, with 153 runs in 4 matches and a good strike rate of 142.99. He scored in every game and was able to score off the opening bowlers.
3. Virat Kohli – He was named player of the tournament and it was clear why. He had more fifty’s than any other player with 3 and an amazing average of 136.50. Not only that, he scored 273 runs (highest runs in Stage 2/Super 10). India’s top order was not in particularly good form and it was frequently left to Kohli to see India through, which he did.
4. Joe Root – He was the back bone of England’s batting with an average of 49.80 and 249 runs in 6 matches. He showed tremendous consistency and that he is a top player in the world in all 3 formats. He did not only star with the bat, but in the final picked up 2 wickets in his over.
5. Jos Buttler – He scored 191 runs in 6 matches with an average of 47.75. He had one of the highest strike rates with 159.2, meaning he was someone who really took it to the bowlers. He was extremely useful at picking up the run rate and I cannot recall a score of less than 20 from him, again showing consistency.
6. Shane Watson (c) – He is the one of the best and most experienced all rounder’s in all formats. He averaged 48 with the bat and took 5 wickets at 20.60 with an economy rate of 7.35. He actually retired from International Cricket after the tournament, which saddens me considering I was a big fan of his, and he has been the heart of the Australia team for quite some time! He will captain my team with all his experience.
7. Andre Russell – He is another all rounder. He averaged 30.33 with the bat and has a strike of 142.18. In terms of bowling, he took 9 wickets and had an economy rate of 7.87. He was the West Indies death bowler who handled those handled high pressure moments, like bowling the final overs.
8. Mitchell Santner – He is a left arm orthodox bowler who was extremely affective with getting wickets and slowing down the run rates. He took 10 wickets in 5 matches with a economy rate of only 6.27. Not only that, he is an all rounder who may not have scored many runs, but with how New Zealand were playing and his bowling, he was not required!
9. Mohammad Nabi – He bowls right arm off breaks and took a staggering 12 wickets (highest of any player) with an impressive economy rate of 6.07. Furthermore, he was handy with the bat, scoring 52 against Zimbabwe.
10. David Willey – He was the pick of the English bowling attack attack by not only opening the bowling, but he seemed to always pick up early wickets, taking an impressive 10. Being a left arm swing bowler, he had a lot of success swinging it into the right handers and with his swing being late, he was a handful!
11. Samuel Badree – You could argue he was the best bowler of the tournament and a big part of the West Indian success. For a right arm leg spinner to open the bowling is strange. Despite this he took 9 wickets with an outstanding economy rate of 5.39.
12. Ish Sodhi – He is right arm leg break bowler who took 10 wickets with an economy rate of only 6.1. He showed real consistency and success for New Zealand. As much as I would like to put him in my starting 11, I would have too many spinners.

 

I wanted to end with honourable mentions: Jason Roy was great throughout, and in particular his 78 for England to advance them to the finals. The only reason he did not make the first 11 was that he was out for a duck in the final. Another mention goes to Chris Gayle, who made a century against England for West Indies, which was incredible and undoubtedly the best innings of the tournament. Unfortunately, this was his only good score. Finally, Mohammad Shahzad for Afghanistan in Stage 1 was easily a top two batsman with Tamim Iqbal and showed Afghanistan to be a force not to be reckoned with. Unfortunately, when he came into Super 10/Stage 2, he was unable to replicate to the same extent.

My ICC T20 Cricket World Cup 2016 Overview

West Indies Winning Celebrations (Source: http://www.icc-cricket.com/world-t20/news/2016/news/94586/west-indies-v-england-icc-world-t20-2016-press-conference)

Since the ICC T20 Cricket World Cup 2016 finished not long ago (as a write this) and the fact that I wrote a blog earlier with predictions (see here), I thought it would be a good idea to give an overview of what happened, how close my predictions were, who performed and underperformed and so on. The outcome of the tournament, as I am sure most of you are aware, was West Indies beat England in the final. The full results were as follows:

1^st West Indies

2^nd England

3^rd – 4^th New Zealand and India

5^th – 6^th South Africa and Australia

7^th – 8^th Sri Lanka and Pakistan

9^th – 10^th Afghanistan and Bangladesh

11^th – 12^th Netherlands and Zimbabwe

13^th – 14^th Oman and Scotland

15^th – 16^th Ireland and Hong Kong

To find out the format of the tournament see here. In my predictions, I was correct in picking Bangladesh and Afghanistan to make it into Stage 2. Then I had England, South Africa, India and New Zealand making the Semi-Finals, where the only difference was I picked South Africa instead of West Indies. Finally, I had India winning the Final against South Africa, which I got completely wrong. All in all, I was happy with how close I was and clearly my logic for the most part paid off!

The final was very close, which required the West Indies to get 19 runs off the final over, which for any team is no easy task, besides Carlos Brathwaite who decided to hit the first 4 balls for 6 to win! Both teams prior to the tournament were probably not expected to reach the final and it was nice to see something different! Both teams played extremely well throughout the tournament, beating very strong teams on the way, so it was well deserved and it gives both the teams some credibility that, England in particular, they were starting to lose.

The biggest let-down for me was South Africa. They have been a top T20 team for quite some time and I was shocked when they did not advance through to the Semi-Finals. In terms of the players, some performed very well like Quinton De Kock and Imran Tahir, but more than half did not perform as well as they should have such as AB De Villiers and Francois Du Plessis. I am sure they are highly disappointed, but then I guess what is in their favour was the two best teams in the world were in their group. I still expected more and believed they could have gone further.

New Zealand in the group stage were amazing! To win all their games was impressive especially in what I considered to be the toughest group. I was very surprised when Tim Southee and Trent Boult (two well known and brilliant seamers) were not picked for any of the games, which at the start I did not agree with. They went with a spin heavy approach which clearly worked out in their favour. Some very clever captaining. Their bowling attack in the group stage was unmatched. It was a surprise to me when they lost to England in the Semi-Finals. I thought they were unstoppable. It seemed their batting may have let them down. I always feel for New Zealand, as they have a habit of coming out strong and falling in the final moments like they did before in the ODI World Cup 2015 final.

Bangladesh and Afghanistan came into the World Cup with little to no expectation on their shoulders. They were the underdogs. Although they both did not go far, they proved to the world that they are both very good teams and can put on a show even against the best. If you look at Afghanistan, they are the only team to have beaten the champions, West Indies. A great achievement for any team! A lot of their games I saw were close. A few players had breakout tournaments as well and are starting to become more well known and considered some of the best players in the World like Mohammad Shahzad, Mohammad Nabi and Tamim Iqbal.

It was Oman’s first World Cup. Although they did not make it through, they put on a fight and did very well for themselves. I fully expect in the future to see them go further in the future as they have a lot of talent. The West Indies are the first team to win the World Cup twice. It was made even more special when the West Indies’ Women won their World Cup as well! Congratulations to them both!

The tournament itself met all my expectations and more. I was glued to my twitter feed keeping up with the scores and there was so many memorable moments that I personally will not forget for a while. I can only imagine the emotions all the players will be going through and how privileged they must be to have been a part of it!

Joining a Choir and My First Concert

For as long as I can remember, I have enjoyed singing (which I am sure those I live with know only too well!). Looking back now, I cannot believe I never considered joining a choir or even something singing-related. Maybe at the time it was ‘not cool’ to join to a choir and you were given a label if you did. This of course, could not be further from the truth and now that I am older, I can see this. I joined a choir at my university called “Jazzmanix”, which you may be surprised to hear is pop and gospel, despite what the name suggests! I actually had no idea this society ever existed until I attended their Winter Concert with a friend.

After watching the show, I was blown away! Everyone in the choir had a smile on their face and it was evident how much enjoyment they received from this. Furthermore, I liked the type of songs chosen. That night I sent an email to the society asking about getting involved. They replied with dates of rehearsals which I later attended. Since I had never done anything like this before, I had little to no idea if I was a tenor or bass. Luckily one of my friends knew all about this and gave me a vocal range test for which I passed as a tenor!

From the first rehearsal I attended, I knew that this was for me. Everyone I spoke to was super-friendly and almost straight away, friendships were made! Rehearsals were once a week for two hours. In this time, we learnt ten songs, which for someone without any prior singing experience was difficult to grasp the correct singing keys, but over time, this became easier (hugely thanks to the musical directors). Less than two weeks ago we had our Spring Concert at Beaulieu Motor Museum (Hampshire). This was probably the best day I have had at university and one of the best experiences of my life!

Jazzmanix Performing at Beaulieu (Photo Credit: Becky Griffin)

We had two concerts (matinee and evening). The evening show, in particular, was absolutely amazing and I could feel that not only myself, but everyone was giving it their all. The environment was full of energy. We delivered and the audience seemed very happy with it as well! I felt very happy and fortunate enough that some of my family and friends came along to support me! It was nice to share this experience with them and it will always be a topic of conversation in the future.

This was not in actual fact my first show with Jazzmanix, as the society had celebrated its 20^th anniversary this year, in which a reunion concert was held to a very small audience for which past and present members came together to perform. I do not count this as a proper concert, so the Spring Concert was really my first! The day itself was not only amazing due to the performance, but throughout the day I got to speak to several other members that I had not spoken to previously, which was great and once again new friendships were starting to form!

The day after the concert, I found myself feeling the ‘Blues’. What I wanted to do more than anything was to go back and do it all again! Even now I find myself still listening to the ten songs on shuffle, whilst singing the harmonies etc. I am sure my housemates are sick of these songs!

All in all, joining Jazzmanix has been one of the best decisions I have made and my only regret is that I did not join earlier! I know that I have made some really good friends and that the great memories will keep on coming. There is something really empowering about singing; it allows you to express yourself in a way that nothing else can. For me, it has the potential to brighten up my day and when singing in a group, my happiness doubles! I know that the concert will forever be a memory, and I am really looking forward to the Summer Concert!

 

 

ICC T20 Cricket World Cup 2016 Predictions

Source: http://www.t20worldcup2016schedule.org/

Anyone who is a fan of cricket will know that the T20 Cricket World Cup started a couple of days ago (8^th March). For me this is an exciting time of the year when all the top teams battle it out to see who is the best in T20 format. I find my twitter feed full to the brink with all the latest news and scores, which I have to admit makes me very happy. Around this time, I find myself addicted to twitter, having to know every drop of detail on the subject and score updates. I thought it would be a good idea to write about my predictions and players to watch out for etc.

The tournament is set out in a few stages. Stage 1 has 2 groups of 4 who all play everyone in their group and the winner of each progress to the stage 2. These are the teams that are not ranked in the top 8 and had to qualify. The groups are as follows:

Group 1                                              Group 2

Bangladesh                                       Zimbabwe

Netherlands                                      Scotland

Ireland                                               Hong Kong

Oman                                                  Afghanistan

For Group 1, I find this to be a very easy decision on who will take the group. Without a doubt in my mind, Bangladesh should cruise through the group without too much trouble, especially if players such as Tamim Iqbal and Shakib Al Hasan maintain their current form.

For Group 2, I am sure most would choose Zimbabwe with such great players as Vusi Sibanda and Hamilton Masakadza, but I believe the rapidly improving side of Afghanistan will cause an upset. They have been playing very well recently and with the amazing form of Mohammad Shahzad, I believe they can do it.

With this being said, I am now onto Stage 2, which involves another 2 groups with 5 teams and the top 2 teams from each will proceed to the semi-finals, where Group 1 Winner plays Group 2 Runner Up and Group 1 Runner Up plays the Group 2 Winner. The groups are as follows:

Group 1                                               Group 2

Sri Lanka                                               India

South Africa                                         Pakistan

West Indies                                         Australia

England                                                 New Zealand

Afghanistan                                         Bangladesh

 

I want to start by saying, at this stage in the tournament, I do not think Afghanistan and Bangladesh will stand a chance. What I will say is that I do not believe Bangladesh will come bottom of their group, as they always seem to cause an upset. Excluding these two teams, I will go through each team starting Group 1:

Sri Lanka – This for me is very hard to say if they will proceed or not. They have really talented players such as Angelo Matthews and Tillakaratne Dilshan, but as team they have not been playing well in T20 format. My gut says they will not.

South Africa – I believe they will top the group, especially when you have such talented players as the one and only AB de Villiers, the new young sensational bowler in Kagiso Rabada and the ever so consistent Hasim Amla.

West Indies – Originally, they would have been my second pick, but unfortunately due to the several injuries and pull outs recently in Lendl Simmons, Kieron Pollard and Sunil Narine etc, I do not think their squad is strong enough to pull through this tough group. What I would say is, watch out for Chris Gayle as I expect him to have a great tournament!

England – Being an England supporter myself I know of the squad very well and I believe the squad has potential to go far in the tournament. If Alex Hales can keep up his amazing form alongside the ‘Mr Consistent’ Joe Root, the batting should be fine. In terms of bowling, it may be a surprise to some of you, but to me the key bowler is Reece Topley. It is a toss up here for me between Sri Lanka and England taking the second spot, but I think England have shown some great form as of recently that I hope will follow through.

Group 2 in my opinion, is extremely hard for prediction. There is so much talent:

India – Being the host nation, they do have the home advantage and with so many talented players such as Virat Kohli and Ravichandran Ashwin, I believe they will power through in first place! They are currently the number one ranked team in T20 and I believe they will show exactly why.

Pakistan – This is hard as Pakistan have some great players, in particular Mohammad Amir and Shahid Afridi who I expect to do very well, but overall, I do not feel as though when the moment comes, they will do enough.

Australia – I never like not putting Australia through, when they have the number 1 T20 batsman in the world in Aaron Finch and so many other talented players, but I feel for some reason they just cannot figure T20 out and get up to the level required to get onto the next stage. They are known to pull it out of the bag when needed most, but I think with such a stacked group, they will struggle.

New Zealand –The New Zealand squad I believe is really underrated with the likes of Trent Boult, Martin Guptill and Kane Williamson who are just amazing players. I believe that New Zealand will pull through this group onto the semi-finals in second. I just find them to very consistent and to work really well as a team.

Semi-finals:

South Africa Vs New Zealand and India Vs England

The first match I believe will be very close, but the South African’s will just take it, maybe if Imran Tahir can get some turn on the pitch. The second match I think will be somewhat close, with India winning.

This sets up an India Vs South Africa final!

My gut says India will win the tournament. I believe they are unstoppable in T20 and feel they have what it takes to go all the way.

Please let me know what your predictions are and if you agree with mine!

 

A Possible Solution to Global Warming: Geoengineering

Source: Kiel Earth Institute / Geomar. Wikimedia Commons.

In a world that is being severely affected by climate change, caused by global warming, large-scale solutions have been proposed. One of these solutions is called geoengineering. Geoengineering (also known as climate engineering) is about manipulating the Earth’s processes to counter global warming. These are also very expensive. You can almost consider these to be last resort. There are many techniques that have been put forward, which lie in two categories of geoengineering: solar radiation management and carbon dioxide removal.

Solar radiation management involves reflection of solar radiation (Sun’s energy) away from the Earth and back into space. Of course, this would only reflect a small proportion of the solar radiation as reflecting all would first of all be virtually impossible and we would not be able to survive! The main reason for doing this would be to help try and stabilise temperatures on Earth. This would mean greenhouse gases in the atmosphere would absorb less and hence this would reduce the rate at which global warming takes place. It is important to note that this method would not reduce the amount of greenhouse gases found in the atmosphere.

There are only a few techniques proposed. The first one involves increasing the albedo (percentage of the Sun’s energy reflected at the surface of the Earth). This is done by increasing the reflectiveness of clouds, or even the land, so that more of the solar radiation is reflected away from the earth. The second technique involves the actual blocking of the sunlight from reaching the earth using specially constructed mirrors. The third method involves putting special reflective particles into the atmosphere to reflect the solar radiation from reaching the earth.

Carbon dioxide removal is somewhat self explanatory, but is about removing the carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere. This would mean that it would counter any increases of the green house effect and ocean acidification. For this to make any kind of significant difference, it would have to be implemented on a global scale. There are many methods to do this with some being rather straightforward and others far more complex.

A very simple technique is afforestation. By planting more trees, they will take in more carbon dioxide, meaning less will reach the atmosphere. A complex technique is ocean fertilisation. This involves adding nutrients to the oceans to encourage greater marine life and production. A good example is depositing iron, where the ocean is iron deficient, which in theory should boost production. It should be noted that there is legislation to stop anyone from just putting nutrients in the ocean. Another method involves exposing very large amounts of minerals that are known to chemically react with the carbon dioxide found in the atmosphere and this will result in a compound forming. This will be stored in soils or the ocean, etc.

It is possible to actually capture the carbon dioxide in the air through large machines, which can then be stored in the ground, for industry use etc. The use of carbon capture and storage is another technique in particular when creating bio-energy. This means that when you burn biomass (organic matter), you simply capture the carbon dioxide released and store it in the ground normally. It can also be done so that the carbon mixes with the soil and this would ‘lock’ it up. The final method involves putting normally calcium-silicate rocks into the ocean, which will over time increase the amount of carbon that can be stored in the ocean and try to decrease ocean acidification.

Geoengineering could potentially play a part in our future. But getting a significant number of nations involved in such large scale projects would be no easy task especially when it requires large investments and when these methods have issues. Some of the main issues are that some are still in the research stage and even when some of these methods have been tested (ocean fertilisation of iron), they did not provide the results hoped for. In theory, we should not have to go to such drastic lengths to combat global warming. My opinion on the matter is that we live in a world where we are very reluctant to change our ways for the sake of global warming, so such extreme techniques could very well be used in the future. Then again, some already argue that we are too late to stop this.

 

 

Review: Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (UK Tour) – Mayflower Theatre, Southampton 11/02/16

As a child, I absolutely adored Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, so logically I wanted to see it on its tour. If any of you have read my previous blogs, you would have seen it was in my ‘Top 5 Musicals to See’. In addition, the production had a few celebrities starring, so I was interested to see how they would perform.

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is about a car that has the ability to go on water, land and can also fly. It was built from an old winning grand prix car by Caractacus Potts, who, with son (Jeremy), daughter (Jemima), Grandpa and a new friend (Truly Scrumptious), go on thrilling adventures. One such example is when the Baron and Baroness Bomburst of ‘Vulguria’, who want the car, take Grandpa and they must go and rescue him.

The comedian, Jason Manford, played Caractacus Potts, the lead role. I was very sceptical of him, especially as he replaced Jon Robyns, whom I enjoyed very much when I saw him in Memphis last year. I have to admit; I am a fan of his. He was extremely likable and had that real father figure needed for the role. His vocals were far better than expected. Overall I thought he was superb! My only criticism was that, having seen him on the television, I was expecting him to portray a far more comical role than he actually did. But then that was down to the role not being able to accommodate this, which was a shame.

Caractacus’s children, Jeremy (Henry Kent) and Jemima (Lucy Sherman) were beyond amazing, with their vocals, acting and dancing all on point, despite their age! Truly Scrumptious (Amy Griffiths) who I have to say played the role very well. My only criticism was that she did not leave her mark on the role. This meant, when I came out of the theatre, I was not really thinking about her role. Grandpa Potts was played by Andy Hockley. Prior to the start, my friend made me aware that Andy had been in Phantom of the Opera, so this increased my expectations. He certainly did not disappoint. His vocals were on point and if I am honest, he was perfect for the role through his entertaining and comical ways.

The Baron Bomburst (Phill Jupitus) was fair. I found his accent to be inconsistent and in general unconvincing, but he did have some golden moments. The Baroness (Michelle Collins) was good, but I really struggle to say much more. The Child Catcher (Martin Kemp) was not at all intimidating especially when comparing him to the film. In the film, he bought genuine fear to my eyes. I am unsure as to whether this is due to me no longer being a child, that he did not have enough stage presence, or maybe he was just not right for the role. The two Vulgarian spies, Boris (Sam Harrison) and Goran (Scott Paige) were enjoyable for the most part. Their jokes I found only half the time to be funny, but even so it was enough for me to enjoy them!

One of the main attractions of the show is seeing the car ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’ on stage. It looked incredible and the mechanics used to manoeuvre were clearly well done. It was agile and looked quite elegant. When the car was being driven, there were projections onto the set to show the surroundings. It looked really good and was highly affective. There was enough detail and clarity to feel like they were actually driving along a coastal road etc.

The pit band, I could not fault as their timing was on point and the music always sounded as it should. The ensemble performed some very clever choreography with the most memorable being ‘Me Ol’ Bamboo’ which by the end gave a slight shiver down my spine. I could remember this well from the film and it made me feel like a little kid again seeing it for the first time. In the film, my favourite parts were the inventions Caractacus made. I was excited in the breakfast scene that these were present as it gave me flashbacks to the film and the happiness it brought to me back then!

Overall, I really enjoyed the touring production of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and you could see why it appeals to such a wide age group. Although some of the characters were in my opinion just okay, the other characters more than made up for this. As I left the theatre, I could not help but feel there was something missing. There was not a completely empowering moment where I just thought ‘wow’. But it cannot be denied that they put on a very good production of a childhood classic and left me feeling like my 8-year-old self again!