tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1111954708286392671.post3080563653111529373..comments2024-03-17T20:41:08.291+13:00Comments on My Life in Cricket Scorecards: Vintage Summer 2015Peter Hoarehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03787338137200532386noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1111954708286392671.post-60250081967687483942016-06-11T14:21:45.561+12:002016-06-11T14:21:45.561+12:00Thanks for taking the trouble to comment and quest...Thanks for taking the trouble to comment and question. Courteously framed comment and enquiry is always welcome.<br /><br />Your assumption that the comments of Compton's which I characterise as "shameful racism" relate to links with apartheid-era South Africa is incorrect. I think that there were a few comments about how South Africa should never have been excluded from international cricket; that's a point of view that I profoundly disagreed with but would not necessarily characterise as "racist" (a term that can lose impact if overused). <br /><br />The comment that I had in mind in particular arose out of comments about how teams socialised more in his day. Then he added (I won't put this in quotes but stand by it as an accurate report) of course that's with Australia and South Africa, we didn't bother (or maybe wouldn't want to) with the West Indies and India. This accompanied by a knowing wink (yes, an actual wink)leaving us in no doubt that among friends he felt able to make his distaste for spending time with black people clear. It was this that caused a number of people who had attended the event out of admiration of Compton to start examining the state of their shoes or the ceiling with some concentration. There were other comments of similar tone, but that's the one that sticks I my mind.Peter Hoarehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03787338137200532386noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1111954708286392671.post-32446203623237442642016-06-11T07:22:42.522+12:002016-06-11T07:22:42.522+12:00Re. Denis Compton speaking at Bristol where he del...Re. Denis Compton speaking at Bristol where he delivered himself of 'shameful racism'. Might you share some of what Compton said? There are of course two schools of thought on whether Compton was a racist or not, and it would be worth understanding what was said. Obviously they revolve around links with apartheid-era South Africa, but it is very rarely explained what he said.<br /><br />Without this context, one school can paint him a nice old gent who had been given a good time (and some good grub, when we had rationing) and just didn't want to say bad things about his hosts, and the other can paint him as a vile supremacist who thought black people matter naught. The truth - as ever - must be in between - just what did he say?ASFnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1111954708286392671.post-9856834406261961462016-03-14T01:59:03.650+13:002016-03-14T01:59:03.650+13:00Lovely stuff as always, Peter. I remember well yo...Lovely stuff as always, Peter. I remember well your pieces about the 2015 World Cup at the time; it was obvious how highly you regarded it and you captured the feeling of that time in New Zealand very well.Brian Carpenterhttp://differentshadesofgreen.blogspot.co.uknoreply@blogger.com