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Whether it's turning your back on burgers, training for a triathlon or simply resolving to take better care of your eyebrows, new year is an obvious time to promise ourselves that we'll be better. But while you may spend more time choosing new running shoes than you actually spend running, if you're in the world of influencer marketing we have 3 resolutions that you'll absolutely want to stick to.
This blog has been mumbling on about micro influencers for ages and, thankfully, we've seen massive leaps forward in the appreciation being shown to the small, but mighty, members of the influencer community.
But 2018 is the year we'd urge you to get serious about shaking up your content creator choices and add a few micro influencers to your marketing strategy.
One enormous reason behind such a move is that audiences on social media are remarkably savvy when it comes to authenticity – particularly when it comes to relationships between brands and content creators.
And while the superstar content creator you've chucked your entire marketing budget at will undoubtedly deliver big reach, they're also probably working with a fistful of other prominent brands – which doesn't reflect too well on their genuine love for you.
Micro influencers on the other hand offer the perfect chance to develop genuinely unique relationships with people who are not only passionate about your brand, but excited at the chance to talk about it.
And we know that brands will continue to spend their money with content creators who creep over the magical (and misleading) million-follower mark – even though micro influencers with fewer than 100,000 followers represent better engagement rates and also mention brands in their posts 3 times more often than the big hitters.
It takes a fairly astonishing piece of research into influencer marketing to knock the Collabary team off our fancy office chairs.
But one such revelation was that, currently, just 10% of brands are reposting the content that their influencer partners produce for them on their own accounts.
Take a minute to think about that while we readjust our toppled chairs. Ten. Per. Cent.
So, in a world where influencer marketing ROI – and extracting the best possible performance from every piece of content – is the thing that brands continue to toss and turn over, here is a golden (and ridiculously easy) way to profit even more from your influencer relationships… that only 1 in 10 brands are taking advantage of.
We're not saying it's a no-brainer. No wait, that's exactly what we're saying it is.
Saying that the problem with Instagram is that it's too beautiful is like saying the problem with umbrellas is that they're too waterproof.
But, as odd as it may sound, there is a suggestion in 2018 that the polished perfection of an Instagram image may begin to undermine your audience's trust in what they're seeing.
Video, on the other hand, is described by 75% of people as more 'enjoyable, relevant, believable and credible' than other types of content.
And even if credibility doesn't float your social boat (and it absolutely should) influencer video content also continues to be nearly twice as effective as other content at driving sales.
Now, that's not to say everyone should be thoughtlessly hurling their marketing budget at making videos. Brands need to decide how video content fits in with their objectives and, most importantly, how it can be used to inspire their customers.
There are now, of course, some amazing live stream, 'in the moment' video opportunities through social media but there's also room for the permanence (and safety) of archived video.
But, however you decide to use it, 2018 is going to be a big year for the brands that get influencer video content right.
Now, we're off for a run. Or a burger. Probably a burger. Happy new year!


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We all wish we could be superheroes but let's face it, sometimes getting a healthy meal on the table after a long day just isn't an option. If you're having one of those weeks, this is for you.
We've rounded up all the best grocery deals from South Africa's leading supermarkets so you don't have to slave away for hours in front of a hot stove.
Meal of the week: Sweet Potato and Lentil Rogan Josh Curry with Rotis – R129.99
The easy-to-prepare meal kit contains Rogan Josh spice, sweet potatoes, brown lentils, coconut cream, coriander and mini rotis. It's enough for two servings and the cooking time varies from 45 minutes to an hour.
The box comes with a recipe card, alternatively, either scan the QR code on the box, or watch the instructional video.
Also read: The ten best breakfast places in Johannesburg
Chicken Pie – Buy two pies for R110.00, or one for R76.99
Woolies' Chicken Pie is on special this week – buy two for only R110.00. The shortcrust pastry base is filled with tender chicken, and goes well with green salad.
Alternatively, add two servings of butternut, spinach and red onion bake for R54.99, or their creamed spinach and cinnamon butternut for only R42.69. It's ready to eat in under 2 minutes.
Also read: The six best lunch places in Johannesburg
Pick 'n Pay
Spaghetti with tomato and chorizo for under R100.
If pasta is what you're craving this week, Pick 'n Pay has a special on their inhouse brand – get two 500g packets spaghetti or macaroni for only R18.99. Jazz it up with tomatoes, garlic and chopped chorizo for an easy dish.
Simply heat olive oil in a pan and fry the chorizo until crispy. Add 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar, 1 punnet cherry tomatoes, one crushed clove of garlic and toss together. Add shredded basil, cooked pasta and season with grated Parmesan.
Read also: De-stress your next dinner party with these helpful hints
Roast chicken with couscous for under R130.00
With Spar's chicken portions selling for only R54.99 for 2kg, there's no reason why you cannot treat the family to roast chicken this week.
If you have some time on the weekend and want to go all out, try Spar's recipe. Don't forget to add garlic, bread, lemon and couscous to your trolley this week and prepare a feast that's out of this world.
Roast Chicken with lemon and herb stuffing and pomegranate couscous
- 1 onion, chopped
- 3-4 cloves garlic, crushed
- Olive oil
- 3-4 slices of crusty bread, crumbed
- Zest and juice of 1 lemon
- A handful of flat-leaf parsley, chopped
- 6 sage leaves, chopped
- Salt and pepper
- 2 whole SPAR chickens
- 500 g couscous
- Seeds of a large pomegranate
- 120 g pine nuts, lightly roasted
- 4-5 spring onions, thinly sliced
For the chicken onion gravy:
- 3-4 onions, cut into thin rings
- A knob of butter
- A glug of olive oil
- 250 ml white wine
- 250 ml SPAR chicken stock cubes
- Preheat your oven to 180C.
- Gently fry the onion and garlic in olive oil until soft, about 3-4 minutes.
- Combine with the bread, lemon zest and juice, the fresh herbs and seasoning.
- Spoon into the chicken cavities and stuff firmly. Tie the drumsticks together.
- Rub the chickens with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
- Roast for 40-45 minutes or until the juices runs clear when you pierce the chicken through tis thickest part.
- Transfer the chickens to a warmed plate, loosely cover with foil.
- Prepare the couscous as per the instructions on the packet. Combine with the pomegranate seeds, pine nuts and spring onions.
- While the chicken is in the oven, start with the onion gravy.
- Fry the onion in the butter and olive oil over very low heat for 30 minutes.
- Increase the heat, add in the wine and allow the alcohol to cook off.
- Add the stock and any pan juices from the chicken which should be ready just about now.
- Simmer until reduced by half.

subset: commoncrawl


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Nobel Prize-winning economist Robert Shiller believes investors should continue to own stocks because the bull market may continue for years.
CNBC's Mike Santoli spoke with Shiller in an exclusive interview for CNBC PRO. Santoli asked Shiller about his market outlook.
"I would say have some stocks in your portfolio. It could go up 50 percent from here. That's what it did around 2000, after it reached this level, it went up another 50 percent. So I'm not against investing in the stock market when you consider the alternatives. But I think if one wants to diversify, US is high in its CAPE ratio. You can go practically anywhere else in the world and it's lower," Shiller said. "We could even set a new another record high in CAPE, that's not a forecast."
Shiller developed the "cyclically adjusted price-to-earnings ratio" (CAPE) market valuation measure, which is calculated using price divided by the index's average historical 10-year earnings, adjusted for inflation. The economist's research found future 10-year stock market returns were negatively correlated to high CAPE ratio readings on a relative basis.
Shiller CAPE PE Ratio
Source: Multpl.com
However, even though the current CAPE ratio is at 29, which is above the 17 historical average, the economist is not calling for a market decline.
"I can see it as a real possibility that stocks prices and house prices would both keep going up for years, but I'm not forecasting that by any means," he added.
Shiller is Sterling Professor of Economics at Yale University and helped develop the widely followed S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences with Eugene Fama and Lars Peter Hansen in 2013.
See here for the full CNBC PRO report and the interview video.


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People all over the world now realize it's possible to invest money in the market, yet most have no clue as to what they are getting themselves into. If they invest their money carelessly they do not get good results. The advice and suggestions presented in this article can help you be better prepared to make wise investment decisions and get better results.
Take advantage of free resources to investigate investment brokers before contracting with them. You can be more confident of avoiding fraud by gathering important information about their track record and background.
Stocks aren't just a piece of paper! Owning a stock makes you part of the body that owns the company which issued it. You become vested in the earnings and assets that belong to the company. You are also generally given the chance to vote for who should be running the company, and what actions they may take that affect shareholder value.
If you hold common stock, you should be sure to exercise your right to vote. You might be able to elect people to the board or vote on major changes like selling the company. Generally, voting takes place at the annual meeting of the shareholders or via proxy voting if a lot of the members are not present.
Try to purchase stocks that will do better than average. Average is typically defined as 10% annually. In order to predict potential return from a given stock, locate its projected growth rate for earnings, take its dividend yield, and combine the two figures. Any stock yielding 3% with 10% earning growth is going to provide you a 13% overall return.
If you value the assistance of a broker, but want the option of also trading on your own, look for a broker that can offer you both online and full-service options. This way you can delegate half of your stocks to a professional manager and take care of the rest on your own. This strategy can provide you with elements of both professional help and personal control in your stock trading.
Use restraint when purchasing the stock of the company you work for. There are certain additional risks you take on by holding stock in your own company, even if it feels like a vote of confidence on your part. If something bad occurs to your business, your salary and your portfolio are at risk. However, if you can get discounted shares and work for a good company, this might be an opportunity worth considering.
Keep your plan simple if you're just beginning. The temptation to diversify and try every strategy you hear of can be strong; however, as a beginner investor, it is more prudent to discover, and stick with, one strategy that will work for you. This ends up saving you a whole lot of money in the end.
Try to avoid investing heavily in your own stock. While it may be nice to support your business by holding plenty of company stock, you will want to diversify your portfolio more. It used to common for people to invest mainly in their company's stock, but then too many suffered the fate of losing almost all of their wealth when their company failed.
With the tips in this article you should have a better idea about what stock market investments you should be making. You should now be better prepared to start investing and see your money multiply. Make sure you understand that you have to take some risks to have success. Therefore, apply all this knowledge as best as you can and continue learning as you progress. Once you do this, you should easily have success.


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"The Goonies," is a good but not great film. I get into the reasons for this later but a huge portion is it is hard to take any of the villains seriously and product placement.
"The Goonies" is also a film I hadn't seen for years, so seeing it again with new eyes also gave me an appreciation for everything that worked and didn't work in the film. The story was written by Steven Spielberg, with Chris Columbus doing the screenplay while Richard Donner was one of the producers and also directed the film. The other producer was Harvey Bernhard.
The story involves a group of kids called The Goonies made up of Data (Jonathan Ke Quan) the inventor, Mouth (Corey Feldman) the bully, Chunk (Jeff Cohen) the nervous kid who likes to eat a lot and tells tall tales and Mikey (Sean Astin) the leader. They live Astoria, OR where their homes are being foreclosed on and go on a quest for One-Eyed Willie's Pirate Treasure when they find a map in Mikey's father's things. Around this time the Fratellis are being chased down the cops and go out in the woods to hide. From here the story unfolds.
Here is the assessment of the film:
The Pros: The Goonies – The Goonies are great characters. I'll describe why below.
Data – Ke Quan is fantastic in this role! He isn't annoying like when he played Short Round in "Temple of Doom" and is a super creative character, with lots of inventions that they put to use to stop the Fratellis and get to the treasure. We learn later his dad is an inventor too. His arc is his facing of his fears as he is the one of the ones who wants to leave when they have a chance to escape up the well.
Mouth – Mouth goes from being a prick to a nice guy. This is partially due to his attraction to Stef and in the end they both balance one another out as his laid back attitude rubs off on her and her caring attitude rubs off on him. Hated this character for the first third because of how much of a bully he was to Chunk. He acts as translator of the map since he knows Spanish.
Chunk – This is the character who becomes friends with my favorite character, Sloth Fratelli in the movie. He is anxious but uses that to his advantage when he stalls the Fratellis during his questioning. It is also his kindness that leads to Sloth breaking them out of their cell and saving the Goonies.
Sloth – The abused and deformed Fratelli who just wants to be cared for. This character is great and has been completely shaped by television since that's all his mother and brother left him in his cell. For this reason we see him adopt the hero role when he is treated with kindness and saves all the Goonies at the end as well as being taken into Chunk's family. He is by far the best character in the film and shows not to judge by appearances.
Stef – She started out really annoying but came around and was the one who actually had a character arc out of all the teenagers traveling with the Goonies. She finds joy in the adventure in the end and is there to add perspective to amazing places like the wishing well.
Mikey – Is the leader of the Goonies played by Sean Astin. His role is fighting to keep their homes from being foreclosed on and driving the adventure forward. When they have the chance to escape he tells them that they need to take of their parents now as they've been taken care of and that they should take risks and not live with regret. He is a kind character who was a good choice for the lead.
The Adventure – The Adventure to get the treasure is amazing! They go underneath the town, travel through trap filled caves and have to have a skeleton piano played to reach the treasure and the pirate ship. The adventure is the best part of the story besides The Goonies.
Okay: Andy and Brand – The generic teens along for the ride. They are attracted to each other and eventually get together. Brand is also Mikey's older brother but not nearly enough is done with that relationship.
Momma Fratelli – The only Fratelli that felt like a threat since she threatens to cut out Mouth's tongue at one point. Besides that she's just as much of a joke villain as her kids.
The Cons: The Villains – Most of the villains are one dimensional jokes, which doesn't help if they are supposed to provide tension.
The Fratelli Brothers – They brake one out of prison but they never shoot to kill, they are also constantly bickering which makes their threat level go down. They have some slap stick humor moments happen to them too which doesn't help their case for being villains worthy of fear.
The Suits – The guys coming to foreclose on 50 houses in the neighborhood to build a country club and golf course. They have no personality traits beyond dickishness and are a waste of characters. I get they are the bad guys, doesn't mean they have to be caricatures.
Product Placement – There are two really big product placement moments…when Sloth breaks his chains to get the Baby Ruth that he and Chunk share and at the end when someone brings Domino's which is Chunk's favorite pizza. It isn't subtle at all as the camera lingers on the Baby Ruth and Domino's label.
This film is based on a story that Spielberg wrote, but you can tell he didn't direct as the quality of the direction isn't super memorable. I attribute this more to Richard Donner and the problems with the villains to the screenplay by Chris Columbus. It still is a fun movie I'd recommend, but it's problems are extremely apparent. The best parts of the film are the adventure to get the treasure and the moments with Sloth and with The Goonies.
Final Score: 8 / 10. Solidly good with problems.


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I like kids. I couldn't eat a whole one – well, not in one sitting anyway. But on the whole they're quite pleasant creatures.
What irks me is their owners. Some people call them parents, and apparently some of these parents can even have names. That's fine, don't expect me to remember them all, that's simply impractical and slightly unfair. But I accept that kids have owners, and the owners feel some insane obligation to make outrageous demands.
Like play dates.
It is my firm belief that play dates were invented by the devil, just after flies, and just before bubble gum.
It goes like this. Would your child like a play date with my child? Yes, good, then you can pick up my child from school, take it to your house, where it can behave like a trained circus monster, then you can feed it – here's a list of things it won't eat – and a list of things that it WILL, which is shorter – and finally could you pop it back to me at such and such a time.
Nannys and childminders charge a fortune for that service, but child owners happily trade tit for tat trade offs like that all the time.
But that's not the worst of it. Play dates are a doddle compare to the identity theft which is parenthood. Before : You're Quentin. A 32 year old financially systems synergiser. You have a reasonable social life. Go to he bar, meet friends, have the occasional late night with missed last trains and shared cabs, and everyone knows your name.
Then you have kids.
Now you're thingumy, you know, play dates dad. You do something, can't remember what, but finish work at five and is dropping my kid off around six, after he's refused to eat the lobster which was the ONLY thing he ate last week.
I love my kids, but only sometimes am I sad that they're only on loan.
Blobsters Blog. (12)


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That all may eat
George W. Bush and his wealthy patrons will probably feast this Thanksgiving without a thought to the millions of people made hungry by their "steal from the poor, give to the rich" policies.
In trumpeting "economic recovery," Bush is sounding like Herbert Hoover with his "chicken-in-every-pot" malarkey. But facts are facts. The U.S. Census Bureau reports that the number of Americans in poverty jumped by nearly 2 million last year, soaring to 34.9 million in 2002. For African Americans, the poverty rate was 24.1 percent and for Latinos, 21.8 percent. And this is based on the federal government's absurdly low definition of poverty, $18,392 for a family of four.
These statistics translate into hunger. The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported in October that "food insecurity" jumped 2 million to 35 million in 2002, up from 33 million a year ago. Of these, 13 million are children. Utah, Texas, Mississippi, Arkansas, New Mexico and Oklahoma all had "food insecurity" rates of 14 percent or higher. At greatest risk are single-parent families, African Americans, Latinos, Native American Indians and other victims of racist discrimination.
Second Harvest, the Chicago-based anti-hunger group, warns that food banks "are seeing last year's donors and volunteers becoming this year's clients." The hunger danger grows in this "jobless recovery" when workers are unemployed so long they run out of their unemployment benefits.
The Food Research and Action Center is appealing to supporters to join a "call-in" to the White House Dec. 1-5 demanding that Bush add $550 million to child nutrition programs like WIC, school lunches, and food stamps. The White House number is (202) 456-1111.
The Bush-Cheney economic royalists believe the poor have only themselves to blame. "Let them eat cake" and "Greed is good" are their mottoes. So telephone the White House. Ask that Bush wipe the gravy from his chin and help feed hungry people.
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Terrorist attacks serve war interests
The suicide bombings in Istanbul, Turkey, of two synagogues, the British Consulate and the London-based bank HSBC resulted in 57 deaths, hundreds of people wounded and a country reeling with fear and anger. These are condemnable criminal acts and crimes against humanity. Such is the goal of terrorism – killing, maiming and instilling fear in the majority of the people.
Terrorist actions, while often using as their cover legitimate demands and grievances against U.S. foreign policy and corporations, have nothing to do with ending war, oppression, racism and poverty. Terrorism furthers the interests of the ultra-right extremists who favor militarism, unilateralism and multi-sided attacks on secularism and democratic, civil, workers' and women's rights. That's why, throughout the years, the forces of imperialism have supported and trained terrorists to help carry out their agenda. It was the CIA that set up and funded training camps used by Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan.
After the horrific events of Sept. 11, the Bush administration unleashed its "war on terror." Since then the world has seen more violence, war, terrorism, death, instability, destruction and corporate plunder. Meeting terrorism with war just continues a vicious cycle of violence giving the Bush administration the upper hand.
Turkey, in a historic vote, went against U.S. wishes and opposed the war on Iraq. A mass peace movement in Turkey prevented the U.S. from using its territory to launch air assaults into Iraq.
The Communist Party of Turkey, in a Nov. 21 statement, condemned the terrorist bombings and said they play into the hands of imperialism and those who "condemn Turkey to the arms of the U.S." The statement points out that the attacks coincided with a debate in Turkey about sending troops to Afghanistan.
After the bombings, thousands of Turks marched against violence and anti-Semitism and for tolerance. Only through united, militant, mass struggle for peace, equality, democracy and economic justice can terrorism, war and the ultra-right be defeated.


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8 Ways to Kern Any Typeface Like a Professional Typographer
Kerning is a subjective art. Every designer may feel differently about how combinations of letters look together. Most though can agree that almost every bit of type needs a little kerning.
Kerning – the adjustment of space between two letters – is something the untrained eye can rarely see. Good, or poor, kerning is more of a feeling as to whether type works or not. Here we have eight tips to keep you from falling into the auto-kerning trap so that you can kern type like a pro. (This post is filled with letter combinations; use them as a springboard to thinking about kerning. Do you like the way the letters or numbers work together? How would you kern them differently?)
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1. Think About Visual Space
Because kerning is a visual element, think of it that way. While many other design elements can be quantified and defined as mathematical elements, kerning is not one of them. Good kerning centers on the visual space between letters. How close (or far apart) do they look?
There are two ways to tackle visual space.
- Color the spaces between letters in and look at the shading. Do the spaces feel similar?
- Draw boxes around each letterform, remove the letters so you are only looking at the boxes and remaining spaces. Does this result in forms that work together in harmony?
When you think about kerning, remember that space can be added or subtracted. Many designers are great at thinking about tightening the space between an AV pair, but often forget to add space with other often-tight combinations like 00.
2. Kern in Threes
Yes, kerning is defined as the space between letter pairs, but looking at the space in three-letter groups can make it easier to see what tweaks you should make.
Here's how it works:
- Start by isolating the left-most trio of letters.
- Kern the two pairs.
- Isolate the first letter to create a new three-letter combination.
- Kern the pairs.
- Repeat until you have kerned the whole word.
What's different about this approach is that you actually take a look at each letter pair twice – once behind the preceding letter combination and then ahead of the next letter combination. By isolating other letters during the process, you really focus on the letterforms at hand individually.
3. Remember Word Spacing
While most designer associated kerning specifically with letter spacing, the space between the last letter of one word and first letter of the next word is also a kerning pair. Word spacing can be just as important (or more important when it comes to readability), because you want clear distinction from word to word in the text to ensure readability.
Depending on the style of typeface you choose and where it came from spacing – particularly between words – can be tricky. It is not the case with all free typefaces, but spacing is often a concern with some of those freebies. It can be less of a concern with higher quality fonts.
4. Use Quality Typefaces
Speaking of quality typefaces, using a quality type family can be beneficial. While you will often have to pay for a license (or kit for online usage), high quality typefaces are often kerned more professionally right "out of the box." A professional typographer or typography house has often crafted the typeface down to the last detail, including letter-pairing combinations.
Selecting a typeface comes down to a lot more than who made it. The point here is this: If you struggle with kerning, opt for a high-end typeface. If you are confident in your kerning skills, you will feel good working with typefaces from rather unknown typographers with great style and letterforms but maybe less-than-acceptable spacing.
5. Turn it Upside Down
One of the oldest tricks in the typography book is to turn letters upside down when kerning them. This works because it changes your perspective and forces the eye to actually look at shapes and spaces and not try to actually read the text.
(Plus it's a fun little game to play with other members on the design team.)
- Flip the word upside down.
- Kern from left to right. (Don't try to force yourself to read it upside down.)
- Pair with other kerning tricks for maximum kerning ability.
This trick works in other ways too. You can flip the letterforms horizontally as well. (They will look much like the wooden letterpress characters in the image above.) The idea behind any type of flipping, vertically or horizontally, is that you look at the space rather than read the words. Try it both ways and see what works best for you.
6. Print It Out
Designers love to zoom in on the screen and look at elements of the design detail-by-detail. This actually is a detriment when it comes to kerning. Zoom in too close and the space appears much bigger than it is and can trick you into kerning too tightly. Conversely, spacing looks may too tight when zooming out to an extreme degree, also resulting in kerning trouble.
To accurately kern type, it needs to be viewed at an accurate size. Print it out. Look at it on paper and make adjustments based on a "live size." When kerning for a web-based project, make sure you are looking at lettering at 100 percent and are not zoomed too far in or out.
This is not to say you can't zoom at all during the kerning process. Just remember to keep an actual size perspective so that you aren't disappointed with the final version.
7. Color and Reverse Type
Kerning in color comes with a few special considerations. Color contrast can make letters appear closer than they really are in a few scenarios.
- In high-contrast elements, such as a vibrant red on a bright white screen.
- In reverse type – especially for printed jobs – when ink lay and bleed can impact letterforms.
- In low contrast monotone design, where letterforms can be harder to distinguish.
When using any color with type, it is vital to think about how that color can impact the way users see and read the letters. Odd contrast pairs, screen brightness and even the type of paper used for print jobs can have an impact. In many of these situations, the solution is to kern a little looser than normal, but the key is testing so you know how letters will look when it comes to the finished product.
8. Kern Last
Kerning should be one of the final steps when you are working with lettering in a design project. How letters are kerned depends on all the other design processes before it from color and size to tracking and leading.
Changes to any of these elements can impact kerning pairs. Any time you make a significant design change that involves the type, you will want to reconsider kerning. This is especially important when it comes to font, case and leading. Even small changes can make a large difference. (Yv can look quite different than YV or yv.)
Learning to kern can be one of the most rewarding aspects of working with typography as a designer. Seemingly small changes can impact the overall design in such a large way and take you from thinking "that does not quite work" to "wow."
The trick to becoming an expert is practice. Look at letterforms in your projects and all around you. Imagine how the letters could work together better, or why they do work together so well, or what is making them read poorly. And then use the tips above to kern! It's takes practice to feel good about it, so get started.
Image Sources: See-ming Lee, Andrew Steele, VFS Digital Design, Kyle Van Horn, Double-M, Opensource.com and Lauren Manning.


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Colin Blythe 1879-1917
Wednesday 8th November 2017
Colin Blythe
Born: 30 May 1879, Deptford
Died: 8 November 1917, Forest Hall to Pimmern military railway line near Passchendaele, Belgium
Right-handed batsman, slow left-arm spin bowler
Kent 1899-1914, capped 1900
Tests: 19 for England (9 v Australia, 10 v South Africa)
Wisden Cricketer of the Year 1904
Educated: Duke Street School, Deptford
Parents: Walter Blythe & Elizabeth Blythe (née Dready)
Colin "Charlie" Blythe's standing as one of the greatest exponents of classical left-arm spin has diminished over the last hundred years or so. Few of his contemporaries seem to have had doubts.
England batsman Ranjitsinhji said he was the best left-arm bowler he had ever faced and England all-rounder Gilbert Jessop "the best left-hand bowler of my time, the most difficult and probably the most accurate". One of his opponents, Charles Macartney, thought him: "The best left-hander on English wickets I have ever seen. His remarkable flighting of the ball and his deception in pace are the best I ever met."
Pelham Warner was more circumspect: "Peel, Briggs, Rhodes and Ferris were in their day great bowlers but he would be a rash man who would aver that even Peel was a greater bowler than Blythe".
Writing in 1909, Philip Trevor, manager when Blythe toured Australia with MCC in 1907/1908 and one of the more technically knowledgeable of the pre-1914 generation of cricket pundits, put it simply "better than any other bowler on a good wicket and much better than any other bowler on a bad wicket".
By the turn of the century, all had changed. When the 2000 Wisden published its Five Cricketers of the Century, Blythe, did not receive a single vote from the 100 assorted experts who made up the electorate. Blythe took his 100 Test wickets at 18.63 each.
In Test cricket, of the 28 bowlers nominated, only Sydney Barnes (who received eleven votes) had a better career average and strike rate. Blythe's hundred wickets came in just 19 Test matches. Shane Warne needed 23, Muttiah Muralitharan 27, Wilfred Rhodes 44.
Leaving aside that many in the modern media appear programmed to ignore anything prior to the latter part of the 20th century; more recent writers may be relying too much on the rather curious obituary in the 1918 Wisden.
Editor Sydney Pardon wrote "Blythe's reputation will rest on his doings in England. His two visits to Australia scarcely added to his fame and when he went to South Africa in 1905-1906 and again in 1909-1910, he did not find the matting wickets altogether to his liking." He ends: "Nearly all his finest work was done for his county".
Although it is true that Blythe did nothing exceptional in his six Test matches on Australian pitches, in half of them he was bowling with an injured hand and his record in all first-class matches in Australia, 75 wickets at an average of 21.94, compares favourably with those of Rhodes' 114 at 24.68 and Hedley Verity's 72 at 21.65. As to matting wickets, on his two tours to South Africa his record was 33 Test wickets at 21.69, twice ten in a match, and 107 in all first-class matches at 17.09.
In the Wisden obituary Pardon discusses the relative merits of five left-arm spinners, Ted Peate, Johnny Briggs, Peel, Rhodes and Blythe, and concludes "judging by the practical test of results a good case could be made out for Rhodes as the best bowler of the five." When war ended Blythe's first-class career in 1914, he had 2503 wickets at 16.81. At this stage, Rhodes had 2735 wickets at 17.31. In Test cricket, compared with Blythe's 100 wickets in 19 Tests at 18.63, Rhodes had 105 wickets in 47 Tests at 24.90.
In Kent v Yorkshire matches and other occasions when they were on opposite sides, Blythe's record was 161 wickets at an average of 18.39, Rhodes 104 at 19. When they were in the same team, Blythe took 121 wickets at 19.4, Rhodes 58 at 21. For the MCC Australian XI against an England XI at Hastings in 1908 they bowled unchanged together throughout the match (Blythe 5/77 & 2/33, Rhodes 5/78 & 4/54). Against each season's Champions (or runners-up in years when their respective counties won the Championship) Blythe's record was 138 wickets at 18.09 and Rhodes took 105 at 24.98.
When attempting direct comparison between the two there are, however, pitfalls. Rhodes began his career a year before Blythe and was already an experienced cricketer when he did so. On the other hand, in the three or four years immediately prior to the outbreak of war he played for both England and Yorkshire primarily as a batsman. Admittedly, he took 100 wickets in 1914 but he hardly bowled at all above county level. And of course Rhodes' career continued until 1930. Judging by Pardon's "practical test of results", i.e. statistics, Blythe clearly has a very slight edge.
Some more recent writers have helped to muddy the waters. Clearly echoing the Wisden obituary, in his 1971 history of Kent the historian Bill Arrowsmith wrote that Blythe's Test record was "not outstanding" The prolific and much respected late Christopher Martin Jenkins, in his The Complete Who's Who of Test Cricketers wrote that Blythe "bowled to a full length so could be driven on good wickets", a strange judgement which must surely apply to most spin bowlers who have made the grade in first-class cricket.
The subject of two biographies as well as a book in the ACS Famous Cricketers Series, rather more is known of Blythe's method than most bowlers of the period. Anyone interested can see his run up and action described at length complete with diagram in the Kent Messenger of 31 July 1909. Several sources refer to unusually long fingers, strengthened according to Blythe himself, by hours practicing the violin.
One of his greatest assets was accuracy. Sir Home Gordon, who in his long life saw more cricket than most, wrote that Blythe "kept down runs on a batsman's wicket more skilfully than anyone since Alfred Shaw".
In a long career, Shaw bowled more (mainly four-ball) overs than he conceded runs. In the nets Blythe could reputedly land five balls out of six on a football placed on a length.
His supreme quality however seems to have been flight – Jack Hobbs thought him one of the greatest- ever exponents. Numerous batsmen were lured into playing good length balls as half volleys or offering catches from balls pitching a foot shorter than expected.
A deep thinker about the game, he was, to quote the cricketer/journalist Teddy Sewell, "One of the last of the dying race willing enough and far seeing enough to give away two or three boundaries to get a wicket.
On wet or worn pitches he could be unplayable but as well as the left-arm spinner's stock delivery spinning away from the bat and the ball that went with his arm, on benign wickets he bowled a full medium-pace in-swinger, often a yorker.
He believed in bowling faster to quick-footed batsmen and if a batsman looked like settling he would bowl from a yard or more behind the crease.
If there was nothing in the wicket, he would sometimes switch to leg-theory with six or seven on the leg-side. To a batsman reluctant to play strokes he would on occasions try an in-swinging full toss aimed at the off-bail.
"Long Leg" in the Kent Messenger rated an afternoon spent watching Blythe from behind the arm "an intellectual treat".
Although he arrived with "no idea of batting" according to William McCanlis, he developed into a competent batsman, sharing in several valuable late- order partnerships. At Trent Bridge in 1904 he put on 106 for the ninth wicket (Blythe 82*, Fairservice 50) and against Sussex at Canterbury in 1906 he assisted his captain Marsham in adding 111 in 35 minutes (Marsham 119, Blythe 53).
Colin Blythe was born in Evelyn Street, Deptford, the eldest of 13 children, seven boys, six girls, all but one of whom lived beyond infancy.
His father was an engine fitter at Woolwich Arsenal who, far from being poor as often asserted, was well enough off to afford violin lessons for his eldest son and in later life help him to buy a house. Eventually, he set himself up as a bookmaker.
On leaving school in April 1892 Charlie Blythe joined his father as an apprentice fitter and turner and appears to have nourished hopes of a career in engineering .According to his biographers he began studying for a Whitworth scholarship but gave up on doctor's advice when his health broke down, possibly under the strain of combining work with spare time study in a crowded household.
There are conflicting accounts of when and how cricket entered "Charlie" Blythe's life but most agree that it was when he was aged around eleven. According to some accounts, he played for his school; others refer to "boys" clubs" on Blackheath.
Either way, his first cricket was almost certainly on primitive pitches on the broad expanse of Blackheath which could and did easily accommodate 20 or more matches at a time.
There are indications that he had experienced a higher standard of cricket before he became established with Kent. In An Unconventional Cricketer, Albert Kinross, who played for Plaxtol, includes Blythe among well-known cricketers who have played village cricket – "Blythe and his fiddle performed at our village concert long years before that gifted hero had figured in the London newspapers".
Kinross does not link Blythe to any particular club but young players were regularly "farmed out" to nearby clubs and he could well have played at Plaxtol during his early years on the staff. There is another possibility.
The Woolwich Arsenal's Gun Factory, Torpedo Factory and Ordnance Stores all ran teams and, given the size of the Arsenal work force, it would not be surprising if there were other "in-house" sides although research has not so far found them.
The story of Blythe joining Kent is well known. Christopher Sandiford in The Final Over: The cricketers of summer 1914 asserts that Blythe "applied for a county trial largely to avoid working alongside his father as a fitter" but this is at total variance with every other account, including Blythe's own.
On Saturday 17 July 1897, he was at Rectory Field, Blackheath for the last day of Kent v Somerset. Some accounts suggest that this was his first county match but this seems unlikely given his age. Rectory Field and another regularly used Kent venue, Catford Bridge, were in walking distance (or a short tram ride) of his then home in Wotton Road.
Before play started Walter Wright came out to practice and asked Blythe to bowl to him. In Blythe's own words, "I don't think there were more spectators than players" but looking on was William McCanlis, manager of the Tonbridge Nursery.
He was impressed. "I spoke to him and arranged for him to come and bowl to me one evening". This he duly did in the nets of the Charlton Park Club where McCanlis was captain and the outcome was an invitation to a trial at the Nursery. The result appears in the Trial Book at Canterbury "Bowls slow left. A very useful bowler."
Blythe was taken on the staff in August 1897, carrying on at the Arsenal in the winter. Despite the absence at the time of a structured programme of Second Eleven or Club & Ground matches, Blythe, coached for the most part by George Webb, proved himself a quick learner and in 1898 took over 100 wickets in all matches.
On August 21 1899 he made his first-class debut, against Yorkshire at Tonbridge. Brought on as second change, he bowled Frank Mitchell leg stump with his first ball and retained his place for the remaining four matches of the season.
On his third appearance, against Surrey at Blackheath, his figures read 5.1-1-15-3 in the first innings, 24-16-24-3 in the second and included the wickets of Bobby Abel (bowled) and Tom Hayward (caught).
In the final match of the season at Hove he added the even more illustrious scalp of Charles Fry. With the bat he was less successful; after four visits to the wicket (twice not out) he had yet to score a run.
Wisden was non-committal, "he has not yet done enough to justify one predicting a great future for him" but the 1900 season saw Blythe make, to quote Wisden again "a sudden jump to the front".
With 114 wickets at 18.47 each, he was Kent's leading wicket taker. Eleven times that year he claimed five or more in an innings, twice ten or more in a match. To Wisden he was "clearly one of the best slow bowlers in England."
He excelled in his first Canterbury Week with 11 for 74 against Lancashire and 6 for 73 in Surrey's only innings and two weeks later on the same ground 12 for 123 against Worcestershire.
His season's bag included the cream of English batting – Abel, Reginald Foster (twice), Fry, William Gunn, George Hirst, Jessop, Archie Maclaren (twice), Ranjitsinhji, John Tyldesley (twice) and Pelham Warner.
During the 1900/1901 winter Blythe returned to Woolwich Arsenal as usual but missed several weeks work due to an unspecified illness. In March the Kent Managing Committee, in a rare but not unique gesture, decided that "because Blythe has wintered badly he should be examined by a doctor and then "sent to the seaside for a fortnight".
Whether due to illness or the effect of an exceptionally dry summer on a young and still inexperienced bowler, 1901 proved to be the only season in Colin Blythe's career in which he failed, albeit narrowly, to claim a hundred wickets – 93 at 23.12.
Among his best efforts were 7 for 64 & 4 for 57 at The Oval and at Taunton where with Jack Mason he bowled unchanged through the match (Blythe 4 for 37 & 2 for 48, Mason 4 for 26 & 8 for 29).
After an early taste of Test cricket in Australia, Blythe returned to English cricket in 1902 fitter, stronger and probably wiser and, although Rhodes was preferred for the Test series, he excelled on the numerous rain-affected pitches in a very wet summer.
For the first time he claimed 100 wickets (111) in Championship matches alone and by the end of 1903, another wet one, he was firmly established in the very front rank of English spinners.
He claimed five or more in an innings on 13 occasions including his best analysis to date, 9 for 67 against Essex at Canterbury. Wisden chose him as one of their Five Cricketers of the Year.
There can be little argument over Blythe's status as a county cricketer. He was Kent's leading wicket-taker in 1900, 1902 to 1905 and 1908 to 1914.
Between 1900 and 1914 he headed the Kent bowling averages eight times and in each of his final two seasons he led the national averages. Apart from 1901, he exceeded 100 wickets in every season between 1900 and 1914.
In his eight final seasons his haul only once fell below 150, his highest 183 in 1907, 197 in in 1908 and 215 in 1909. His most economical season was 1912 when his wickets cost 12.26, his most expensive the dry summer of 1911 when the cost rose to 19.38.
While statistically his most remarkable bowling was at Northampton in 1907 when he bowled Northants to defeat with 10 for 30 & 7 for 18 in a single day, given the quality of the opposition, he rarely bowled better than in 1903 when, in the space of five days he took 7 for 41 & 5 for 26 v Surrey at The Oval, bowling unchanged throughout the match, and 6 for 35 & 7 for 26 v Yorkshire at Canterbury.
Possibly the best of many notable performances on bland and unhelpful wickets was at Old Trafford in 1914 where, as Lancashire compiled 475 from 148.1 overs, his figures were 52.1-14-138-7.
In addition to his 17 wickets at Northampton in 1907, he took 16 for 102 at Leicester in 1909 and 15 in a match three times of which perhaps the most significant was 15-99 for England v South Africa in 1907.
He claimed nine in an innings five times, 9 for 67 v Essex in Canterbury 1903, 9 for 30 v Hampshire at Tonbridge in 1904, 9 for 42 at Leicester 1909, 9 for 44 at Northampton in 1909, 9 for 97 v Surrey at Lord"s, 1914.
Blythe's two hat-tricks were both in 1910, v Surrey at Blackheath and Derbyshire at Gravesend. Against Surrey he actually dismissed four in five balls and five in ten – Hayward from the first and Andy Ducat from the last ball of one over, Herbert Strudwick, William Abel and "Razor" Smith from the second, third and fourth of the next.
Linked as it is with what is now widely assumed to be Blythe's epilepsy, his career in Test cricket is worth examining in some depth. Test cricket came to him earlier than he or anyone else can have expected.
In 1899 when MCC having turned down an invitation to send a team to Australia, Maclaren was faced with raising one as a private venture. It was hard going.
Not only were most of the leading amateurs unwilling or unable to make the trip; half a dozen top professionals also refused. The upshot was that Blythe, with only 48 matches and a little over 1800 first-class overs under his belt, was chosen in place of Rhodes.
He had not had an outstanding season in 1901 and the selection was not without its critics. Ranjitsinhji, soon to be one of Blythe's greatest admirers, predicted he "would never get a wicket".
On the outward journey the team amused themselves and their fellow passengers with "musical entertainments", a feature of which was the popular sentimental ballad The Blind Boy sung by the Somerset all-rounder Len Braund, accompanied by Blythe on his violin.
The song was not to everyone's taste. Poor Jessop, enduring agonies with sea-sickness, wrote "I had Blind Boy before breakfast and at regular intervals during the day for so long that in the end ophthalmia seemed to me a small infection as against the dreadful fate of a listener condemned to constant reiteration of the plaints of that visionless individual."
Whether Jessop objected to the singer, the song or both is unclear but apparently he attached no blame to the violinist, He judged Blythe's performance with the ship's band "quite one of the features of the tour".
Blythe began well with 5 for 45 v South Australia at Adelaide and 3 for 26 & 4 for 30 in the first Test at Sydney, the latter earning him an engraved gold pocket watch.
Despite the handicap of a split spinning finger, his good form continued with 4 for 64 in the first innings of the Second Test at Melbourne but he suffered further injury to his bowling hand and was advised by a doctor to rest.
However, Maclaren, never the most considerate of skippers, was short of bowling and a handicapped Blythe played for the rest of the series. According to Jessop in A Cricketer's Log, in the third Test Blythe delivered the ball from the palm of this hand and in the fourth bowled with two fingers strapped together.
His figures make instructive reading – 12 for 205 in the first two Test matches, 6 for 265 in the remaining three. Even so, Blythe dismissed Victor Trumper three times in Test matches and his other victims included Monty Noble (three times), Joe Darling and Syd Gregory (twice each), Reg Duff and George Giffen.
Charlie Blythe experienced cricket overseas again at the end of the 1903 season when Kent broke new ground by touring the USA, the first county to tour outside the UK. He was one of four professionals who for "expenses and a ten pound note" offered to join what was originally envisaged as an all-amateur venture.
Although unwell for much of the tour, he nevertheless took 23 inexpensive wickets, ten of them now recognised as first-class.
In 1905 Blythe tasted Test cricket in England for the first time, when chosen against the Australians at Headingley as a replacement for the injured Rhodes. Little used in the first innings, his 3 for 41 from 24 overs in the second gave England a brief hope of victory as Australia played out time. In the winter he toured South Africa with MCC under Pelham Warner.
The team was not fully representative and England lost the series by four matches to one but, while most of the batsmen struggled on matting wickets, Blythe contributed hugely to England's only victory with 6 for 68 & 5 for 50 in the fourth Test at Cape Town.
He was second in the Test averages with 21 wickets at an average of 26.09 and 57 at 18.35 in all first-class fixtures. During the tour Blythe was impressed by CJ Nicholls, a young fast bowler of Malayan extraction who bowled to MCC in the nets but family opposition prevented the young man from accepting Blythe's invitation to come over for a trial.
When South Africa toured in 1907, Blythe played in all three Test matches, selected for the first time ahead of Rhodes. Split webbing in his left-hand acquired in attempting a catch at mid-off in the first Test at Lord's meant bowling throughout almost the entire match under the handicap of strapping and in the circumstances 2 for 18 & 2 for 56 was a satisfactory return.
In the second Test at Headingley, played throughout on a rain-affected wicket, Blythe produced his, statistically at least, finest performance in Test cricket.
After England had been dismissed for 76 he bowled them back into the game with 8 for 59 although, interestingly, Wisden judged "he was not quite so accurate in length as he might have been".
On the last day with the tourists needing only 129 he skittled them for 75, his figures – 22.4 – 9 – 40 – 7. The only spinner in the side, he bowled unchanged except for one over and suffered at least three dropped catches.
Ten of his victims were caught, three lbw, two stumped. In the light of Wisden's comment it is worth noting that Fry in his autobiography Life Worth Living insists "from start to finish he never bowled a single ball except of impeccable length".
Blythe had, to quote Wisden, again, "almost bowled himself to a standstill". Fry described him as "completely knocked up". In 1907 epilepsy, if such it was, was little understood and seldom spoken of and it seems likely that this was its first semi-public manifestation. Fry says as much in his autobiography (see above) published in 1939.
Although Blythe joined Kent for their next match at Worcester, 1 for 143 suggests he was some way off his best and he was rested from the following fixture, the first of Canterbury Week .When he returned for the second, against Lancashire, his three wickets cost 170 runs but normal service soon resumed with 5 for 69 v Gloucestershire at Cheltenham and 7 for 45 v Somerset at Bath.
The Oval Test match was also affected by rain. On a drying wicket, Blythe was below par on the first evening finishing 1 for 47 but returned to his best on the second morning with 4 for 14 as the last five South African wickets fell for 29. He headed the bowling averages for the series with 26 wickets (avge.10.38).
Both Rhodes and Blythe were chosen for the 1907/1908 MCC tour of Australia but after playing in the first Test match in which he took only one expensive wicket Blythe was not picked again.
In all first-class matches he took 41 wickets at 22.80 including 11 for 83 against Queensland and actually ended with a better record than Rhodes – 31 at 27.00. Chosen presumably by virtue of his superior batting, Rhodes" seven wickets in the Test series cost 60.14 apiece.
In 1909 Blythe marked his benefit year with 215 wickets in all matches, 178 in Championship matches –his personal best in both cases.
Both Blythe and Rhodes were chosen for the first Test match against Australia at Edgbaston but in the event the Yorkshireman bowled only one over, Blythe (6/44 & 5/58) and Hirst (4/28 & 5/58) bowling unchanged through the first innings and all but five overs of the second. Given the opposition, this was arguably Blythe's greatest Test match but the aftermath would reverberate for the rest of his career.
In the next fixture, against Middlesex at Lord's, he felt faint after bowling one over and was taken off although he remained on the field. After an hour or so he was back to normal and finished with 6 for 37.
He again started shakily at Old Trafford but, carefully nursed by Ted Dillon, he returned after a rest to bowl superbly for 7 for 57. Blythe was in the 13 for the second Test at Lord's but Dillon and the Kent committee were clearly worried-and called in a specialist.
The outcome was a telegram from Lord Harris to the acting Chairman of Selectors, "Shrimp" Leveson Gower. "Specialist strongly advises Blythe ought not to play on Monday but is quite hopeful he will be fit for the remaining Tests if wanted".
The specialist concerned was Sir William Gowers (1845-1950), at the time the foremost authority on epilepsy and author of several books on the subject.
His Manual of Diseases of the Nervous Systemis, known as the "Bible of Neurology", is still widely-read. The Sir William Gowers Centre in Chalfont St Peters, part of the charity the Epilepsy Society and now run by the University Colleges London NHS Foundation Trust, is named after him.
In the period between the first and second Tests, Blythe had taken 26 wickets at 15.65 but in the match at Tonbridge against Worcestershire, starting 14 June and played over the same three days as the Lord's Test, he apparently had a 'fit' on the second evening and returned home.
At that point Worcestershire had batted twice, Blythe had bowled 65 overs and picked up nine wickets. On the final day, as Kent declined from 51-1 overnight to 108 all out, Blythe, batted and was bowled for one.
Over the next two days, still at Tonbridge, he bowled 61 overs and took 4 for 226 against Lancashire. If this was some way below par, three days later he bowled unchanged with Arthur Fielder to dismiss Gloucestershire for 61 at Catford (Fielder 6 for 34, Blythe 4 for 20).
Meanwhile, for reasons which need not concern us here, the selectors, Leveson Gower, Fry and Maclaren, were on the receiving end of a storm of vituperation from the press and others.
At the end of the season Wisden joined in, accusing the selectors of decisions that "touched the confines of lunacy. Never in the history of Test matches in England has there been such blundering in the selection of an England eleven." In defence of the selectors but with sublime disregard for patient confidentiality, Sir William Gowers' report was made public:
Mr. Blythe, whom I have seen this morning, suffers from the strain on his nervous system caused by playing in a Test match, and the effect lasts for about a week afterwards.
It is desirable that he should take a temporary rest from the work, and should not play in the coming match at Lord's. If this can be arranged there is good hope that with treatment his difficulty will pass away. It does not exist in the case of county matches.
At the time the press and others seem to have accepted the report calmly enough but some 90 years later, with all those involved safely dead, Peter Mahony would have none of it.
In his account of the 1909 Australian tour Mary Ann's Australians, he wrote: "The autocratic Lord Harris, keen to preserve Kent's Championship chances, jumped on the medical board bandwagon. How any 'specialist' could judge the degree of strain on Blythe's nerves so that spearheading a county a county attack was tolerable but appearing in Tests insupportable defies credibility."
He thereby labelled Harris, Blythe and by association the Kent Committee as liars or worse and blackened the reputation of Sir William Gowers, a man described as recently as 1949 as "probably the greatest clinical neurologist of all time."
Although it seems unlikely that the decision to publish was taken without some discussions, if formal permission was sought or obtained from Kent, the specialist or Blythe himself, there appears to be no documentary evidence.
What cannot be much in doubt is that the publicity affected what remained of Blythe's England career. Although fit for the Third Test match at Headingley, he was not chosen. While England were losing by 126 runs, Kent were beating Northants by 125 runs at Gravesend (Blythe 6/49 & 1/44).
Whatever his state of health, in the nine matches in the period between the end of Tonbridge Week in which he suffered his 'fit' and the next time the selectors called on his services Blythe garnered 72 wickets at 12.77 apiece, eight times five in an innings, three times ten in a match including 5 for 48 & 7 for 55 for Players v Gentlemen at The Oval, the only time he appeared in what was then still in the eyes of many, the high point of the season.
In what proved to be his last home Test match, Blythe returned to the team for Old Trafford and, in tandem with Sydney Barnes, bowled superbly in the first innings (Barnes 5 for 56, Blythe 5 for 63) but did less well (2 for 77) in the second innings when Rhodes (5 for 83) was the pick of the bowlers as the game subsided into a draw. He was one of the 13 for the fifth Test match at The Oval but was left out of the final eleven.
Blythe was selected for the 1909/1910 MCC tour of South Africa but the captain, Leveson-Gower revealed in his memoirs that he did not want him, ostensibly because there were two other left-arm spinners, Rhodes and Frank Woolley, in the party, both better batsmen.
Despite 7 for 20 v Natal and 5 for 21 v Eastern Province, Blythe did not get into the Test side until the fourth Test match but he emerged with far the better record – in Test matches: 13 wickets at 12.92, Rhodes took two at 73.50, Woolley seven at 35.85.
In all first-class matches; Blythe 50 wickets (avge.15.66), Rhodes 21 (25.47), Woolley 15 (30.53). Together with the batting of Hobbs and Rhodes, Blythe's 7 for 46 & 3 for 58 in the final Test match at Cape Town was decisive in England's nine-wicket victory and, if nothing else, ensured that his Test career ended on a suitably high note.
Blythe's problems were not it seems entirely confined to Test matches. In a much publicized incident during the 1911 Canterbury Week he was accused by Charles Fry, quite wrongly according to all the evidence, of deliberately bowling full tosses out of the sun (a full account can be found in the Kent County Cricket Club Annual 1992).
Although virtually the entire cricketing community supported Blythe, the incident affected him and he missed the second match of the Week against Lancashire, his friend 'Pip' Fielder's benefit.
Although arguably still the best spinner in the country, Blythe was not chosen for any of the six home Test matches staged in the four years remaining before the outbreak of war or for the MCC tours to Australia in 1911/1912 or South Africa in 1913/1914.
In the early years of the 20th century mental health, nervous disorders and related matters tended to be swept under the carpet and rarely talked about outside an enlightened minority which makes it difficult to avoid the suspicion that his health may have had a bearing on selectorial decisions.
Oddly enough, it seems to have been generally overlooked that, other than Lord's in 1909, Blythe never actually turned down an invitation to play in a Test match.
Apart from a remark to his violin teacher, Leonard Furnival, and a statement by the South African all-rounder Gordon White that "Charlie Blythe hated Test matches " there seems to be no actual evidence that the man himself ever expressed a view one way or the other.
In the Wisden obituary Sydney Pardon referred to a "tendency to epileptic fits" and the consensus now seems to be that some form of epilepsy was the problem.
Not everyone agrees, notably his biographer John Blythe Smart, a member of the extended family, and it has to be said that, as far as can be discovered, no suitably qualified medical authority ever used the word.
Some authors since have preferred "nervous disposition" "highly strung" "temperamental" etc. Simon Sweetman in his Dimming of the Day, (ACS Publications), also published in 2014, described Blythe as effective at Test level "when he could bring himself to play. Patrick Morrah, in his Golden Age of Cricket published in 1967, went rather further.
To him Blythe was "sensitive, shrinking, neurotic" Odd words to use for a man promoted Sergeant after little more than a year in the Army. Somewhat different but equally puzzling, Christopher Sandiford in his book published in 2014 (see above) without naming his sources, asserts that Blythe "would sometimes work himself into a state approaching hatred of the batsman." Fielders if they watched closely enough, could hear him muttering to himself and see him clenching his jaw.
None of this seems to bear any relation to what was written of Blythe during his career and immediately following his death by those who played with and against him. Dick Lilley, who played against him on numerous occasions and toured Australia with him, in his Twenty Four Years of Cricket (Mills & Boon, 1912) writes "He is also one of the most pleasant fellows it is possible to meet.
He never seems to mind if a batsman hits him for a few fours but on the contrary does not always discourage him from attempting this.as he knows it often gives him a better opportunity of getting his wicket. I have never, under any circumstances seen him lose his temper; he is always too keen on getting as much pleasure out of the game as possible".
When Hampshire's South African all-rounder CB Llewellyn hit him for five sixes, Blythe was reported as saying "Charles. I would give all my bowling to be able to bat like that" and a similar story is told of his reaction to suffering at the hands of the supreme stylist, Reggie Spooner.
Another who batted against him, Harry Altham, wrote in his A History of Cricket, "Here was bowling raised from a physical activity on to a higher plane. The very look on his face, the long sensitive fingers, the long last stride – all these spoke of a highly sensitive and nervous instrument, beautifully co-ordinated, directed by a subtle mind".
From his Kent colleagues, "even tempered", "genial," easy-going" "sterling character", "heart & head of a lion", "calm, reflective and unflinching" were just some of the terms used.
Nor do Charlie Blythe's off-the-field interests fit the 'shrinking violet' image. As well as a love of boxing – "he would pay five guineas to see a good fight" he was no stranger to the racetrack, played football and, after he moved there, turned out on occasions for Tonbridge Town. On his first tour of Australia he formed a formidable half-back line with John Tyldesley and Willie Quaife when England beat Freemantle 4-0. He also skated; his last holiday was for winter sports at Chamonix in early 1914.
In the days before radio and television, the ability to play a musical instrument was not an uncommon skill but, as a violinist, Charlie Blythe was clearly well above front parlour standard.
In his latter years from October to March he practiced every day for two hours and owned two violins, one made in Italy for which he paid £80. One of his bows was by the celebrated bow maker Alfred Tubbs who presented it to him in recognition of his bowling at Leeds in 1907.
In March 1907 at Greenwich Registry Office, Colin Blythe married Janet Gertrude Brown from Tunbridge Wells, almost ten years his junior. Up to that time he had lived with his family in New Cross and, when not touring, worked in the winter at the Arsenal or at the Maxim Gun Company in Crayford.
On his marriage he moved to Tonbridge, eventually settling in Goldsmid Road in an eight room detached house for which he paid £800 with the aid of a mortgage and help from his father.
While living with the family, he had played with the orchestra at the long defunct New Cross Empire but after moving he was able to indulge his love of classical music as a first violin in the Tonbridge Symphony Orchestra, conductor the former Kent batsman Dr Haldane Stewart.
After one performance of the final movement of Mozart's Sixth Symphony, Stewart named Blythe as "the nimblest player in the orchestra". Blythe's services were much in demand by other local musical societies, notably the Rochester Orchestral Society with whom he worked closely.
Blythe played his last first-class match, against Middlesex at Lord's, on August 27-28 1914, taking 5 for 116 & 0 for 67 as Kent lost in two days. Following the outbreak of war, married men were in the early days under no great pressure to enlist and, with his health issues and his experience in the armament industry, he could easily have avoided military service.
Nevertheless, Blythe, alongside Henry Preston, David and Tom Jennings and Frank Woolley's brother Claud, had enlisted in a Territorial Army unit" the Kent Fortress Engineers, and he missed Kent's final game of the season at Bournemouth. He joined Number One Reserve Company in Tonbridge.
In October Blythe and his fellow recruits were posted to the Woodlands depot in Gillingham. According to the Tunbridge Wells Advertiser, who sent a reporter to see them off, Blythe was the life and soul of the party".
Promoted to Corporal at the end of 1914 and Sergeant in the following year, he remained at Gillingham for two years with 2/7 Reserve Company working on coastal defence and construction tasks.
While at Gillingham, Blythe was involved with Woolley and Bill Fairservice in the formation of the KFE cricket team which, with seldom fewer than four county cricketers, proved too strong for much local opposition.
In their first game, when a RE side was beaten by an innings he took 3 for 33 & 4 for 3, followed by 7 for 36 against a South African Eleven at Gravesend and match figures of 14 for 85 v Chatham Garrison.
Following the introduction of conscription in 1916, all Territorials were obliged to sign Imperial Service Forms and became liable for service overseas.
Early in 1917 Blythe and Woolley were among a party posted to Marlow for further training prior to posting. While there Blythe, Woolley, Jennings and others played for Royal Engineers (East Anglia). Unsurprisingly, Blythe was too much for the opposition – 9 for 33 v RNAS (Transport), 7 for 26 v RE (Regent's Park), 7 for 13 v Royal Naval Division.
He played his last match at Lord's for Navy & Army v Australian & South African Forces for Lady Lansdowne's Officers' Families Fund. Not fully fit, his figures were 14-2-54-1, his last wicket, Charles McCartney.
In September, a party of Kent Fortress Engineers from Marlow, including Sergeant Blythe and Corporal Woolley, were among 277 soldiers who sailed to France as reinforcements for the 12th (Pioneer) Battalion of the King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry (31 Division).
In John Blythe Smart's biography it is suggested that, following his younger brother Sidney's death on the Somme in September 1916, Colin Blythe had asked for a transfer to an active unit but as some 30 others from the KFE were posted at the same time, this seems unlikely.
However, the local Marlow paper carried a story that he had offered to take a step down in rank to ensure he was not left behind which might indicate he was not an original choice.
Arriving in early October, the new draft was posted to Watou for a course in light railway construction and maintenance, an activity in which the 12th Battalion specialised.
On rejoining the Battalion, B Company began work on the Wieltje (Forest Hall) and Bedlington lines near Passchendaele. On the night of November 8 a shell from a long-range gun burst above a working party killing three, wounding six with one missing. Sergeant Blythe was killed instantly by shell splinters, Corporal Woolley was among the wounded. Blythe left an estate valued for probate at £2,828.13s 8d.
Colin Blythe is buried in Oxford Road cemetery in Ypres and is commemorated on the memorial at The Spitfire Ground, St Lawrence in Canterbury as well as on a plaque in Tonbridge Church.
The memorial is the site of a simple wreath-laying ceremony, traditionally held during Canterbury Cricket Week and the Club intends to mark the anniversary of his death in a similar fashion in future years.
First Class Career (1899-1914)
439 matches, 2503 wickets at an average of 16.81 and strike rate of 41.36, 218 five-wicket hauls, 71 ten-wicket matches
Test Career (1901-10)
19 matches, 100 wickets at an average of 18.63 and strike rate of 45.46,
9 five-wicket hauls, 4 ten-wicket matches.


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Think it's time for a new air conditioning unit? You might be right because summer in Carlton Woods, Texas, is just around the corner. There are financial reasons that make buying a new system a practical choice as well. Everyone, from the federal government to your local utility company, is pushing the idea of energy efficiency these days. Additionally, some agencies are willing to offer incentives to get homeowners on board. Consider tax rebates and energy savings that mean it's time to install a new air conditioner.
A New HVAC System Can Save a Bit on Your Taxes
The exact benefits you might see with an AC upgrade depend on many factors, but the tax credits are straightforward. The available credit for home upgrades and repairs changes with each new tax season. Therefore, it's critical that you check the current guidelines before making your purchase. This will ensure you have up-to-date information.
When it comes to home HVAC systems, the IRS offers the following benefits:
- Central air conditioning — tax $300 credit
- Advanced main air circulating fan — tax $50 credit
The credit is not available on all AC units. The air conditioner must have the Energy Star seal of approval to qualify, but even then, it must meet specific criteria. For a tax credit, central air conditioners must be rated below 65,000 Btu an hour. There are guidelines for selecting an HVAC unit as well.
This is just the beginning for home energy credits. In 2016, energy upgrades offer as much as a 30-percent tax savings on the cost of purchase and installation. You could see benefits with other upgrades, too, such as switching to an electric heat pump water heater or improving your home insulation to tighten the envelope around your home.
Applying for a Tax Credit
When applying for the credit, you need to fill out Form 5695 and submit it with your taxes. Store your Manufacturer Certification Statement and any receipts in a safe place in case the IRS asks you to produce them. Make sure to include any installation receipts as well.
Finding rebates is a little more difficult these days. The federal government does not offer any at present, but the state of Texas sometimes will, and certain local governments have energy-saving programs as well. One of the best resources for place-specific savings is your utility company; the AC vendor can help, too. Texas has over 100 incentives available. Not all will apply to homeowners purchasing new air conditioners, but most go through the local power company.
The type of rebate varies based on who is providing the offer and the AC unit you're buying. Asking for an energy audit is a good place to start. A technician will come in and evaluate your home cooling needs. Most rebate applications need a complete audit within 30 days of installation. When applying for the rebate, the contractor needs to sign the application and provide a copy of the evaluation and invoice.
Savings Beyond the Incentives and Credits
Ultimately, buying a new air conditioner is about making your home more energy efficient and lowering your monthly bills. Choosing an Energy Star-certified central air conditioner means using at least 8 percent less energy each month. An Energy Star unit also uses 14 percent less energy than minimum government standards. Once you have the new unit installed, finding easy and efficient ways to maintain it will save you even more money.
Picking the right unit for your home matters, too, so let a knowledgeable expert give you options. An oversized unit will actually cost more to run. It will turn on and off more often than necessary and may not dehumidify the air properly. The technician can recommend alternative cooling methods, perhaps a ductless air conditioner.
At Integrity Comfort Solutions, we can make recommendations on which air conditioner will be best for your home, as well as help you find ways to save money on it. For more information, visit our website or give us a call at 281-346-3095.


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They appeared to be doing random checks on vehicles, some just being checked on the road, but others being pulled into the car park.
I put my little innocent (it wasn't me ossifer) face on and they waved me through.
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Set of 3 Pink Planter Our Colourful Cactus collection celebrates the cacti and its unique aesthetic. Bringing the outdoors into the home has been embraced in recent years and there is a trend for surrounding spaces with greenery. Plants spread positivity, adding fun pops of colour and our Colourful Cactus collection embodies this. Find a wide range of items depicting a happy cactus or a beautiful illustrated print of a whole host of quirky cacti.
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Costco West Sale Items for Mar 11, 2019 – Mar 17, 2019 for BC, Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan
My brother Tynan is travelling with his wife and two kids on an adventure through Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand. I will be covering the weekly posts while he is away. Happy Birthday to Tynan who will be celebrating his birthday overseas on March 16!
Huggies Pull Ups are on sale for one more week this week($8 off a case)! If you missed it last week, there's still time to stock up moms and dads (or expecting parents)!
Also, look out for an announcement later this week about additional Costco warehouses now officially opening at 9am.
This week has a few great items: canned Pepsi products, Mach 3 razor + cartridges, Scotties tissue, Bounty paper towel, Purex Tissue, Whole chickens, Chicken Drumsticks, Kirkland 4 meat or pepperoni pizzas, Resinite Wrap, Froot Loops, Raisin Bran, and Oil of Olay Body Wash. Deal of the week: Crest Toothpaste with scope ($2.50 off)
Here is a link to the latest weekly cocowest.ca food review about the Costco Ready Cuisine Honey Garlic Pork Box
Happy Shopping!
cocowest.ca has officially added an Instagram page:
Instagram: For those of you on Instagram: @Costco_West_Fan Blog
The Instagram Page can be found here: https://www.instagram.com/costco_west_fan_blog/


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Our pet parrot, Jackoo, is back from his long holiday at "Club Fletcher" in Tshikaji. He seemed to adjust quickly to being back in the big city of Kananga, but I'm sure that he misses the companionship of Coltrain, the other parrot who he lived with in Tshikaji. We heard that a couple of times in the months before we returned, they got out of the enclosure at Fletchers, and seemed pretty proud of themselves. Neither parrot can fly, so it was fortunate that they were found before a hawk found them! We found that Jackoo, in particular seems to have picked up a knack for escaping – if the string we use to tie his cage is accessible, he will work at the knot until it comes loose enough to get the door open.
Jackoo pushes on the door to loosen the knot in the string
One day, Bob casually watched him escape from his cage, but then when he tried to coax him onto his hand, Jackoo refused – of course excited about his newfound freedom. He then went out to the overhang beyond our balcony, and we could tell he was scared and not sure what to do. Since he can't fly, being free outside is a risk, and we were afraid he would go down to the street. Bob went out to try to coax him, and of course it provided entertainment for all the passers-by on the street as they shouted advice. Bob finally coaxed him onto a stick, and he was by then happy to be back in familiar surroundings.
You can't see Jackoo in this picture, but he is in front of Bob, while Bob tries to coax
him onto his hand on the overhang of our balcony. Note the spectators on the street below.
Another day a few weeks ago, our house-worker, Tatu Muanda, rushed to our office to tell Bob that Jackoo had gotten out and was down on the street. Bob went home to find him on a bar of the grate of the offices below us, panting and shaking and obviously scared. It took Bob almost 10 minutes to coax him onto his hand and bring him back upstairs. So…we are much more careful now about how we tie the cage shut, and he has not recently had any break-outs. We know that parrots are active, intelligent birds that need to stay occupied with toys or challenges, so we have tried various things to keep Jackoo distracted. I gave him a small white plastic bottle that I expected him to chew to pieces, but he has left it intact and likes to play with it. What we found interesting is that he also seems to crouch over it for long periods at a time, as if it is an egg he is sitting on…or maybe "she" is sitting on??
We've received a few requests for a video of Jackoo speaking. It is hard to capture some of the funny ones on tape, but we've tried to put together a short sampler of some of his noises. His "vocabulary" is not extensive, but he is great at imitating all kinds of noises. He provides some good distraction and amusement for us, as you can imagine.


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Brandnew luxury villa close to the sea for sale in Guardamar
Luxury villa with private pool for sale in Guardamar, Costa Blanca398.870€
Spectacular modern villa for sale located 900 meters from the lovely Guardamar sandy beach, with sea views, 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, with an area of 145 m2, 260 m2 of land with a swimming pool. It is equipped with appliances, air conditioning, underfloor heating and built with excellent qualities. Contact us without obligation to schedule the visit.
- Energy rating: In process
- Construction year: 2017
- Distance to beach: 0,900 km.
- jacuzzi
- Electric Appliances
- Automatic sun screens
- Bedroom in the ground floor
- Private garden
- Solarium
- Outside parking
- Sea view
- fitted wardrobes
- Terrace
- Security door
- Double glazing
- Private pool
- Underfloor heating
- Air conditioning hot/cold
- close to the sea
- January 0 €
- February 0 €
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- December 0 €
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