Geoffrey Wheatcroft bemoans the declining standard of the nicknames used by members of the England cricket team here:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/jan/17/english-nicknames-humour-irony-wit
Have the Cross suffered a similar decline?
This roughly chronological list of nicknames might suggest so:
King
Coco
[Ferret]
Two Dogs
Deadly
Butchie
Shifty
Smudger
Bradders
[Rocket]
Slasher
The Dr
Bonfire
Ziggy
The Professor
Spickers
Beast
Coastal
Jezza
Ozzie
Senior
[Shambles]
Killer
Milley
Sharpey
Bimbo
Popey
Certainly Crossers of more recent vintage have tended to fall into the lazy habit of merely appending ‘ey’ to the end of names (this reached its nadir with EC’s tendency to describe a former 1st team skipper as ‘Ianey’-though I seem to recall he called him something different after being run out by him as he neared a century vs Edinburgh CC…). The club also has a somewhat unimaginative tradition of ‘nicknames’ that merely use initials. e.g. EC; BAF; PVB; HJK; JLRB; JB; KF.
Am I wrong? Surely a good nickname should have an air of mystery about it and take some time to explain (e.g. classics such as Two Dogs and Shifty)?
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Well said, Fartypants.
ReplyDeleteA timely article in the week that The Gerbil was shot to national prominence.
ReplyDeleteShambles is a great nickname too.
I propose a few new ones, some requiring working out (as requested). I'd also propose no footballers (Euan) are allowed to contribute.
Murdoch - Bates
Rupert - Bates
Boycs - Ellis jnr
God - Ellis snr
Dog - McGill
Papa - Pope
Bambi - Anyone unavailable due to a stag do.
Hyacinth - Anyone unavailable due to their bird.
Primrose - Anyone else unavailable due to their bird.
Gordon - Any captain leading their team to relegation.
Lord Brown - Any relegated skipper.
Lucan - Anyone making their first appearance of the season.
Kravitz - Lohan
Rab C - Shifty
Cheryl - Pickering
Dawkins - Quinn
And some of those gangland monikers;
The Licensee - Raymond
The Rat - Dannreuther
Bananas - Bonfield
Fatboy - Shammo
Ronnie & Reggie - Calum & Euan
Whilst recently typing a current Crosser's occasional nickname into a predictive text it came up with, Phantom, a quality nickname but for whom???
ReplyDelete'Whilst recently typing a current Crosser's occasional nickname into a predictive text it came up with, Phantom, a quality nickname but for whom??'
ReplyDeleteBimbo,
you really should stop sending Popey those abusive texts.
Nutter and Psycho were a double act for the first XI about 10 years ago. (Both being 1st XI captains at some point.)
ReplyDeleteA couple of suggestions;
Margaret - Broonster
Meccano - Dougs
Edinburgh Cricket Club got into a similar issue a few years ago when the student newspaper picked on our poor nicknames with 'Blacky, Rushie, Popey'
ReplyDeleteHowever, we had some fine nicknames with strange conitations such as 'Merman' (a one game crosser now at Carlton) and recently our own Andy Graham nicknamed 'The Toss' leading to great shouts of 'C'mon the Toss'
I think with any club lazy nicknames will always be intermingled with some gems
You're probably broadly right, Charlie. There were some half decent nicknames 10-15 years ago: a few you've missed include Warren "Wicketless" Davis, Chris "Albert (Steptoe)" Barker and Tom "Jesus" Jordan.
ReplyDeleteTruly great nicknames evolve. "Two Dogs" briefly became "Two Sprogs" after Robin's second daughter was born and Eileen the Bar could never get Shifty's nickname right. He's been Shirty, Shorty, Swifty, Stiffy, Shitty - several of which were quite appropriate at various times.
Perhaps we've lost a little ground on this one front (but no other, grrrr) to MUFS with their Day Bus, Night Bus, Claypole, Nasty, Mr Belly etc etc. On the other hand I thought Amstrad for Amjid was an improvement on them calling him Mr Telly.
Hang on a minute ! I've just noticed that you've left your own nickname out - one of the modern classics, surely ?
ReplyDeleteOh, and not to forget Ricky "Slapshot"/"Rocket" Dyer.
ReplyDelete'Hang on a minute ! I've just noticed that you've left your own nickname out - one of the modern classics, surely ?'
ReplyDeleteI would but you may be aware that there are several umpires amongst our readership.
What about Hillary & Norgay for our two intrepid arctic explorers (see earlier 'Anyone for Sledging?' post)?
ReplyDeleteAnyone remember 'Ballerina' Baxter?
ReplyDeleteI once played with a chap nicknamed 'ferret' for the number of holes he used to get into. And another called Bumyum. No, it's not what you think...
Many thanks for your kind suggestion Anonymous....
ReplyDelete