I was once part of a cricket team that called itself 'The Bradmans'. Quite predictably, we didn't have much of a bowling attack. You'll find many an oddly-named cricket team if you have a look around. Perhaps you'd care to and share them with us. In the meantime, here's a 'funny name' story."Sir James Barrie (the nattily-dressed gent pictured here) creator of Peter Pan, was one of the most enthusiastic cricketers Scotland produced. He was once asked to describe his bowling and replied that, after delivering the ball he would go and sit on the turf at mid-off and wait for it to reach the other end which, he said, "it sometimes did". Sir James loved the game so much he formed his own side and named it the Allahakbarries, in the mistaken belief the Arabic term "Allah Akbar" meant "God Help Us".
Further into the piece we discover: Others in Barrie's side included Arthur Conan Doyle, AA Milne, PG Wodehouse, EW Hornung and Rudyard Kipling. To think, in one team, the creators of Sherlock Holmes, Dr Watson, Peter Pan, Tinkerbell, Winnie the Pooh, Eyeore, Raffles, Jeeves, Wooster, Mowgli and Baloo. It must have made for some wonderful after-match repartee.
For the rest of this quirky single by Richard Brook, go here.
