Wicket keeping and the Shy Tory

My journo friend martin advised me yesterday to see deadlines as stimulus to produce - or in my case to 'post' - we have a writing group this sunday and I have posted nada in 3 months.

So........... what have I been doing since ? Well two important events have happened since then: firstly, I played my first game of cricket of the season(3 in 3 days in fact); and secondly, I recall there was an election held.


Now, since this blog is about the economy I should write about the secondary event. Before I do that I will offer a stump mike view of the game of cricket.

I am a wicket keeper.Why do I love to'keep?  The simple answer is I like catching balls always have always will.
And I am involved throughout the innings.
 But more than that i will review after a session the
whole thing over - who bowled and how they bowled ; each batter and thier strengths and weaknesses; where I did well and where I lost concentration; where I could correct my technique.
This is I believe amplified by the fact that to most spectators and a lot of players that the keeper is invisible. The batter and the bowler are the contestants - in this view - and keeper and fielders extras. Because of the keeper's proximity to one of the stars of the show - he is metaphorically and sometimes literally over shadowed. In this there is a secret, undercoverness to my pleasure in the role.
You may call it geeky or anoraky. What do these terms refer to but a normative judgement that takes its perspective as privileged ('balanced')


Now turning to the other (not so) sporting  event - the election race. Why did noone forecast the winner?Even the bookies got it wrong! One theory is the 'shy Tory' theory. I understand this and take some small comfort from it. I would be mortified if anyone knew that i voted Tory - but that is because I don't. But if a Tory voter is shy about voting Tory I am hopeful that they have an inkling of why they should be ashamed - why else would they be shy?
When will they realise what they have done? It is likely that  a good percentage of the quarter of the electorate who voted Tory will be worse off in 5 years time as a result of their choice. What I want to ensure is that the blame for this is not shifted on to immigrants, the EU or any of the other scapegoats that the right wing press promulgates.It is an old but sadly effective trick to project the threat outwards on to the 'other' and then represent oneself as the bastion of traditional values.
I am encouraged that more people are joining political parties since the election as a recognition tha we cannot wait 5 years for change. We must be active inside and outside of political parties to represent alternative narratives to the deficit reduction neo- liberal paradigm and to keep pointing out that those policies are responsible for making things worse.

PS I am seeking crowdfunding for a new political party based on the unsung values of wicketkeeping to challenge the hegemony of the two party (Batters and Bowlers) system