Mark Butcher v Australia, 173 not out - 10 Great Innings

By and large we consider bowlers to be the match-winners and batsmen to be no more than impediments. Occasionally, there is such a thing as a match-winning innings.

In the fourth Ashes Test of 2001 at Headingley, Adam Gilchrist, deputising for the injured Steve Waugh, declared Australia's innings closed towards the end of the fourth day, setting England 315 to win. There was very little further play that day, but in time-honoured Ashes tradition, Glenn McGrath got Mike Atherton early on day five. Marcus Trescothick soon followed.

From that point onward, Mark Butcher rose and rose, eventually reaching some sort of cover-driving nirvana. Against the best bowling attack in the world, on an admittedly decent last day pitch, Mark Butcher struck 173 undefeated runs off only 227 balls to take England to an unlikely victory.

More than the fact that he managed it all was the way Mark Butcher set about his task. The scorecard of that match says that he hit 23 fours and a six. If we're not much mistaken, every single one of those fours was fired through the covers off the middle of the bat. McGrath, Gillespie, Warne and Lee pitched the ball outside off-stump, thinking Butcher would edge one sooner or later. 'Ping' said Mark Butcher's bat and the umpires waved their arms once again.

Blistering.

10 Great Innings

Steve Waugh v England, 157 not out - 10 Great Innings

During the Trent Bridge Test, Steve Waugh had been stretchered from the field with a torn calf muscle. Three weeks later, he was playing at The Oval. As you might expect, the muscle stiffened up a touch.

Australia were hardly in trouble when he started struggling, early in his innings. Waugh had arrived at the crease with Australia 489-3 having opted to bat first. No-one would have held it against him if he'd have retired hurt, but that wasn't really Steve Waugh's style.

Instead, he limped around like a pensioner who's been forced to sit cross-legged for nine hours. He stood in front of his stumps and worked the ball onto the leg side. He threw the bat and clobbered ugly, ugly fours through the covers. It was hideous and unnecessary and he hit 157 not out.

This sums up why we like Steve Waugh for two reasons. One, he was patently as hard as a battalion of adamantium sharks. Two, why give an opponent a chance?

We love that sporting mentality. Why the hell should he make anything any easier for England just because Australia were already crushing them easily? Why give them even the slimmest chance when you can keep them down where they've no chance of winning? He was injured, so fate had already handed England something on a plate. Why add to that?

We once ran a half-marathon with a torn calf muscle. We couldn't do anything for ages afterwards. It bloody killed.

10 Great Innings

Nathan Astle v England, 222 (and video) - 10 Great Innings

It's a complete cop-out because we've already done this innings. That's all you get today: A link. And it's a link to a page within the same site. And you've probably already read it.

We're not bothered. We think it was a great innings. We'll probably cover it about six more times without adding anything of value.

Nathan Astle hits the fastest-ever Test double hundred.

Oh all right then. Here's a link to a video of it. It's 12 minutes long. Get a brew. Irritatingly, it cuts off just as he's about to REALLY get going. It's still worth a watch though. See how quickly he reacts later in his innings and how quickly his bat moves. Awesome, in the most literal sense.

The start reminded us that Nathan Astle had dropped Graham Thorpe on four during England's innings, costing his side a mere 196 runs - probably more when you take into account what would probably have happened if Flintoff had found himself at the crease with the tail.

10 Great Innings

Shahid Afridi v Sri Lanka, 100 off 37 balls - 10 Great Innings

Name: Shahid Afridi
Age: 16
Occupation: Cricketer
International innings: None
Interests: Hitting the fastest ever international hundred

That was the warning that we got. Not so much as a 'good morning'.

It wasn't his debut. He'd played once, but he wasn't called upon to bat. In his first international innings, Shahid Afridi hit the fastest ever international hundred. It was against Sri Lanka. He hit 11 sixes.

We think it was the former Lancashire opening bowler, Peter Martin, who best descibed Shahid Afridi's batting, in the wake of the most anticlimactic run-chase in living memory. Lancashire had managed a respectable 190-9 on a difficult pitch in the C&G Trophy semi-final. Their opponents were a Shahid Afridi-enriched Leicestershire.

Afridi opened the batting and hit 95 off 58 balls. Then he was out. We'd anticipated a tense climax, instead we were left watching Vince Wells and Ben Smith attempting to score 30 runs in as many overs. Anyway: Peter Martin.

Peter Martin said that he bowled one ball to Afridi that he was especially proud of during that match. It swung a little, pitched on off-stump and then seamed away alarmingly. It would have been impossible for most cricketers to lay bat on it. Shahid Afridi pivoted, adjusted for the seam movement and deposited the ball over midwicket for six.

10 Great Innings

Ian Botham v Australia, 149 not out, Headingley 1981 - 10 Great Innings

Yes, Ian Botham's Headingley innings is predictable and yes, you all know about it, but we don't care. We're doing it.

Australia hit 401-9 and declared. England responded with a weak 174 all out and Australia asked them to follow-on. Batting again, England folded to 135-7. They had three wickets left, were still virtually a hundred behind with Australia able to bat again, yet somehow England won.

Ian Botham hit 149 not out off only 148 balls, supported by Graham Dilley, 56; Chris Old, 17; and Bob Willis - albeit only briefly. Then Bob Willis produced the most overlooked world-famous bowling performance of all time, taking 8-43. Australia were all out for 111 and England could celebrate, except Bob Willis who was really grumpy about it for some reason.

For many years we actually thought that we remembered this innings, but what we actually remembered was about fifty BBC replays of it when the cricket was rained off in later years.

One of the reasons why it's so great is that it stands as a high-water mark for sporting competitiveness. Some would say for the 'never say die attitude', but we hate that expression. 'Never say die' is just kidding yourself. Trying your damnedest to win, even when all hope seems gone, is admirable.

There are a great many occasions when cricketers show extraordinary fight in similar circumstances and lose. This justifies those attempts. But more than that, it's how cricketers SHOULD approach the game.

On the face of it, the game was lost with seven wickets down, but what Ian Botham, Graham Dilley et al did so well was to shift the pressure. At seven wickets down, the pressure was firmly on England. You could give up then. Alternatively, you could recognise the fact that with each run, it would get easier for you and harder for your opponents. It's only a small amount, but keep doing it and eventually you get into credit. Having come from so far behind the effect was magnified.

This is why Bob Willis's eight wickets are given a lower billing than Ian Botham's hundred. Obviously, Willis couldn't have taken those wickets without Botham's innings for one thing, but secondly, by the point Australia came in to bat, they felt overwhelmed.

It's the most straightforward piece of sporting psychology there is: Someone with a will to win will always beat someone with a fear of losing.

The Australians certainly didn't go out there with a fear of losing, but Ian Botham created that fear. Some players respond to a situation. Ian Botham influenced it.

10 Great Innings

10 Great Innings

Ian Botham v Australia, 149 not out, Headingley 1981
Shahid Afridi v Sri Lanka, 100 off 37 balls
Nathan Astle v England, 222 (and video)
Steve Waugh v England, 157 not out
Mark Butcher v Australia, 173 not out
Andy Flower v South Africa, 142 and 199 not out
Brian Lara v Australia, 153 not out
Yuvraj Singh and Mohammad Kaif v England, 69 and 87 not out
Dominic Cork v West Indies, 33 not out
VVS Laxman v Australia, 281

Oh great - another one of King Cricket's series

We're going away, but DON'T WORRY. We've written loads of stuff and we've asked someone to publish it all intermittently in our absence.

It's another series, like our 10 Great Bowling Performances series, or our Some Batsmen And Their Signature Shots series. The latter got sort of forgotten about after a bit, but this one's already written, so we can promise you an ending. We'll even put the best one last, so it's kind of like the whole thing's leading somewhere, rather than just meandering along like most of our stuff.

So we won't really be covering any news for the next few days. All that really means is that you won't have to read us pretending to be impressed with a Jamie Dalyrmple innings of 32 during an England one-day defeat. It's a blessing really.

Imaginitively, we've gone for 10 Great Innings. Lord knows what we'll do when we go away again later in the year. Suggestions are welcome.

Comments are being looked after as well, by the way.

Nathan Astle retires

Nathan Astle has rather surprisingly announced his immediate retirement from international cricket, a la Damien Martyn.

We're not going to write too much about Nathan Astle here, because - without wishing to give too much away - he turns up in a post next week. Suffice to say that Nathan Astle was frequently mediocre, occasionally brilliant and on one occasion, he looked down on 'flawless' with barely-concealed contempt.

Resting cricket players

South Africa have rested Shaun Pollock and Andre Nel for the third Test against Pakistan. We previously predicted the coming of squad rotation and concluded: "If it makes fast-bowlers fast again, we're in favour."

We must have been on the strong stuff that day, because we most definitely AREN'T in favour. At least as far as Test cricket is concerned. For one-day cricket, squad rotation's fine, but Test cricket is not just a test in name. It's supposed to be the best against the best, operating at the fullest of their capacities. We'll not repeat ourself. We'll provide a link to a better update we did about how Test cricket should remain a BIG DEAL.

This instance is made worse by the fact that this is a deciding Test. The series is currently 1-1.

Less cricket please.

England's lowest one-day score: 86 all out v Australia at Old Trafford

We were there. We were fortunate enough to witness England's worst ever one-day score first-hand. It was quite something. However, unlike today's 110 all out, there were at least some mitigating factors. They don't excuse a score of 86 all out, but they paint today's débacle in an even harsher light.

At Old Trafford in 2001, Australia had the decency to bat first, so there was at least a decent amount of cricket to watch and the result wasn't crystal clear after about the first two overs. We seem to remember it being a day-nighter, although we could be wrong. It was certainly very damp, because Australia's innings was cut short by rain.

So England were always going to have the worst of the conditions and then it rained to compound this. Those are the mitigating circumstances. Steve Waugh recognised these factors and in a masterful piece of captaincy set the most aggressive fields imaginable, despite England only requiring 212 off 44 overs. England felt the pressure and couldn't lay bat on ball.

It was fascinating in a morbid kind of way. They were fields with slip cordons longer than for a Test match. Did Australia think the ball was doing THAT much? Shouldn't England's batsmen be cashing in on all this space? Perhaps England had too much to think about, because wicket followed wicket.

For the record, Paul Collingwood played in that match, as he did in England's second-lowest total of 89 against New Zealand and as he did today in the 110. Poor guy.

This is just ridiculous

You don't want to throw words like 'ridiculous' around prematurely with this England side. Before long they do something even more ridiculous and then where do you go? You've no room for manoeuvre.

England's complete inability to post anything approaching a challenging total in one-day cricket is just laughable now. Today they were bowled out for just 110. It goes without saying that Australia won with ease.

Why does it always feel like all the other international nations are the innovators when it comes to one-day cricket? England just produce weak imitations of others' templates. Perhaps if they had their own ideas they might stand a better chance.

Where's Alan Mullally?

Test Match Special have drawn up a greatest-ever England one-day side.

The first thing that strikes you is that it's pretty crap. Many of today's international one-day sides would fancy their chances against this team, in our opinion. The second thing that you notice is that Alan Mullally's been omitted.

Is this some kind of mistake? Is this anti-left-handed prejudice? - something we're bitterly opposed to. Were the TMS team unsure how to spell his surname and consequently playing it safe?

Whatever the reason, it's an egregious error.

Seriously though, Derek Underwood's included - a great bowler, but one with only 32 one-day international wickets to his name. Also omitted are Nick Knight and Neil Fairbrother.

Holy Crap: Nathan Bracken

As we all know, Nathan Bracken's rubbish. Like many mediocre, third-reserve seam bowlers, his main skill is being left-handed.

In the good old days, this was enough to render you a pariah, but nowadays in these times of 'tolerance' and 'understanding' you can not only get away with it, but are considered useful. Difference isn't always a good thing. Deep down Nathan Bracken's parents are bitterly disappointed with him and his choice of handedness.

Anyway, he's rubbish, but due to Australia's pitiful pace-bowling reserves, they keep having to give him international caps. Look inside any discarded bottle of Victoria Bitter and you'll find at least eight Australian batsmen of Test standard. Conversely, get below the top three or four pace-bowlers and you're scratching around for anyone at all who doesn't look like Pat Sharp.

Well, as is the tradition with our limited Holy Crap feature, here's the unlikely statistic: Nathan Bracken has taken 89 wickets at 20.12 in one-day international cricket. That's frighteningly good.

So it is that we say:

Holy crap! Nathan Bracken's not rubbish!

Small scores are still better - India agree

At least India agree with us today, because they won a low-scoring match. West Indies bowled India out for 189, but India defended it. We were only watching the scorecard and it was nailbiting. Low scores are better. Every run counts.

In hindsight, Dinesh Karthik and Ajit Agarkar's partnership was crucial. India were 90-7 when they came together and you don't win many games from that position. However, Karthik hit 63 and Agarkar a more than handy 40.

In reply, Shiv was the only West Indian batsman to offer resistance with 66. Everyone's favourite uncool spinner, Ramesh Powar took 3-42 for India. He's always worth a mention. In fact, let's make him the accompanying picture.

Being uncool is the new cool. At least that's what our girlfriend tells us.

Is Daniel Vettori an all-rounder yet?

Not that he scored any runs today, but he did have a good game, taking 4-24, so we're justified in talking about him.

Is Daniel Vettori an all-rounder? He bats at nine and he averages more with the ball than he does with the bat, so most people would say he isn't.

On the other hand, he plays for New Zealand, for whom every player's essentially a number six or seven batsman. Somebody's got to be at nine, but they're not necessarily a tail-ender, like they would be for England, for example.

Daniel Vettori's hit two Test hundreds for one thing. Matthew Hoggard is highly unlikely to ever match this feat. Vettori's been playing a hell of a long time as well considering he's only 27. He made his debut at 18. It's no surprise that he's a better batsman now than then. What's his record over the last few years? On current form could he be an all-rounder?

In his last 30 Test matches, which seems a significant number - particularly for New Zealand who only play about two a year - Daniel Vettori has hit 1,378 runs at 38.27 with two hundreds and nine fifties. In the same period, he's taken 90 wickets at 34.93.

The verdict: All-rounder.

Also, he wears glasses, so he gets extra marks. You get extra marks for glasses and facial hair. This points system once led to Bill Bryson's selection for Yorkshire. Fortunately, a quick-thinking Yorkshire member cited his US nationality just in the nick of time. Americans can play for Yorkshire, but the resultant loss of marks meant he fell below Paul Jarvis in the reckoning and the disaster was averted.

New Zealand identify key difference between England and Australia

Last week New Zealand were playing Australia. They lost early wickets, but their number six batsman rallied them and they topped 200. When bowling, they took a couple of early wickets, but Australia came back at them and won the game.

Today, New Zealand were playing England. They lost early wickets, but their number six batsman rallied them and they topped 200. When bowling, they took a couple of early wickets. This time it was England though and pretty soon New Zealand had not only won the game, but secured the bonus point awarded for drubbings.

Now it's true that New Zealand missed a number of decent chances against Australia that arguably cost them the game. On the other hand, who's surprised that England didn't mount a rearguard action?

That's our new wish for the remainder of the one-day series. We want England to produce a rearguard action. And a big score. And an individual hundred. And a partnership. And another win.

Maybe we should have used 'or' instead of 'and'.

Kamran Akmal gets Pakistan home

'Home' being 'a win'. We're not quite sure why we're focusing on Kamran Akmal. Possibly because he's not been having the best time of it. He had a great start to his Test career at a time when just about every international side seemed to be weighed down by wicketkeeper-batsmen, then he really tailed off.

Today he hit 57 not out, alongside Younis Khan, 67 not out, as Pakistan reached their target of 191 with the tail-enders waiting in the wings. Hopefully Kamran Akmal will regain some confidence from this and get a few more runs. We hate to see a player underperforming. What about Matthew Hayden, you say? Well he only overperforms. When you think he's underperforming, that's actually how he SHOULD be.

Ricky Ponting's 'future of one-day cricket' increasingly sounds like balls

A week or so ago, Ricky Ponting pronounced that a batting line-up of six-hitters was 'the future of one-day cricket'. Two days ago, we revealed that as being complete testicles.

Today we underline how right we are and how wrong Ricky Ponting is. Australia beat New Zealand. The top-scorers were Michael Clarke and entirely predictably, Mike Hussey - Australia's two least six-happy batsmen. Okay, Hussey managed one six, but still.

Don't think for a minute that you've heard the last of this. We'll still be boring the arse of you with it when Robo-Ponting 9000 lifts the six-hitting World Cup in 2050.

Sourav Ganguly gets run out for 98

Running people out when they're nearly 100 should be outlawed. It's too cruel for words. They're lucky to be walking unaided at that age, never mind sprinting quick singles.

You know what we mean though. Sourav Ganguly must be pretty irritated by getting run out for 98 today, even if he played a major hand in an Indian victory and went a fair way to getting his name inked in at the top of the Indian order for the World Cup. Batsmen deal in hundreds and he was as good as there.

We're still a bit unsure about Ganguly being reinstated in the Test team, but one-day-wise we've no problems with his presence. He's obviously been motivated by his previous omissions and he seems to have come back a rejuvenated player and arguably a better bloke.

It's not his team any more, but he can still play a part. Particularly in the World Cup.

Virender Sehwag: Take note.

PS: If anyone can do better than the 'eat your own spit' insult from the comments on our previous Sourav Ganguly post, fire away.

Shivnarine Chanderpaul battles in vain

Shivnarine Chanderpaul is probably the most horrendous looking batsman around. We mean in terms of his batting style, of course. We're not passing judgement on his looks. He looks fine. He's not really our type, but... Er, the batting anyway.

We're not actually sure if Shiv HAS a stance at the crease. At least not one that he uses repeatedly. He stands there and he's got a bat, but it's not what you'd call a 'stance'. As far as his technique goes, he tends to face the bowler and unfurl a visual catastophe of limbs when the ball arrives.

In Test cricket, opening batsmen tend to be the ones with the best techniques. In one-day cricket, they're either Test openers or big-hitters. We're not quite sure why Chanderpaul got his chance at the top of the West Indian one-day order, because he's neither of these things. Or at least he wasn't.

In Test cricket, Chanderpaul sort of spoons the ball around at weird angles and spends an age at the crease. He's good, in that he's effective, but he doesn't look good and he doesn't score quickly. For some reason he's been given this chance as one of the West Indies' one-day openers and punch our teeth out and steal our wallet, but he's really pretty damn good at it.

Maybe his effectiveness is why he got the chance. He's an effective yet hideous Test batsman and equally he's an effective yet hideous one-day opener. Suddenly he's smashing the ball to all parts and he and Chris Gayle are really something to be feared.

Today he hit 149 not out off 137 balls against India. West Indies lost, but you can't really blame Shiv, can you?

Makhaya Ntini: 300 Test wickets

Makhaya Ntini has today taken his 300th Test wicket. No mean feat and one that's taken us slightly by surprise.

He's been around a while and he's always taken wickets, but 300? When did that happen? Oh, that's right: Today. That's what we're writing about.

One thing we like about Ntini, other than the fact that he's fast, aggressive and supremely fit, is the way he bowls from really wide on the crease on occasions. Getting close to the stumps is certainly and advantage for a quick bowler, but you can get carried away with it.

Ntini bows from all over the place. A batsman may think he knows where his off-stump is, but Ntini occasionally goes so wide that a batsman leaving the ball might find that very off-stump on its way to meet the keeper.

Another thing we like is that he's hardly ever injured. Some fast bowlers, like Shane Bond and Simon Jones, play about one match in twenty. It feels like it's a bit of a treat when they're actually on the field. Makhaya Ntini treats you every day. He's like an indulgent relative who says 'never mind what your mother says - here's more sweets'. Only he's better than that, because we don't like sweets. And we DO like fast bowling.

And ANOTHER thing that we like (they're coming thick and fast now) is that you just have to type 'nt' and his name pops up in the tagging field below, because no-one else has the sheer BALLS to start their name with a combination of consonants like that.

Fast bowling a go go

The phrase 'a go go' always reminds us of the old Amiga game, Nebulus 2: Pogo a go go. We were always struck by how the dark, barren imagery of the word 'nebulus' was entirely negated by the word 'pogo'.

We haven't actually seen much of the Test cricket that's taken place in South Africa since England were last there, but we get the impression that it's one of the few places left in the world where bowlers can come out on top.

Shoaib Akhtar returned to Test cricket today with 4-36. South Africa were all out for 124. In reply, Pakistan are currently 135-6. Makhaya Ntini has the exceptional figures of 4-18 off ten overs.

This will make us a tiny bit happier for the duration of the weekend. Go bowlers, go!

A Shahid Afridi six

We've just been watching some Shahid Afridi videos because of a future update. There are lots of sixes, as you'd expect. We're expecting to be six numb later.

Hitting sixes is what Shahid Afridi does, but this one's just ludicrous:

The future of one-day cricket?

In a recent press conference, Ricky Ponting described Australia's batting line-up as a glimpse into the future of one-day cricket. What he meant was that since the inclusion of Cameron White, virtually all of Australia's batsmen were strong six-hitters.

Australians in particular seem to be convinced that this is the future of one-day cricket, ever since their startling defeat at the hands of South Africa when they'd set them 435 to win.

We disagree. In a one-day match today, England were bowled out for 155, Australia's big-hitters floundered and it was left to Mike Hussey to see them home for the loss of six wickets. There'll always be matches like this. Every side has to have room for a player who recognises when singles are a valuable commodity.

Mike Hussey brings Australia home

How appropriate that the update immediately following our embiggenment of Michael Bevan should revolve around his spiritual successor in the Australia team, Mike Hussey. A top order collapse and the number six batsmen brings Australia home alongside the number eight. Bevan would have been proud.

Mike Hussey top-scored in today's one-dayer against England with only 46 not out. Mal Loye was the second-highest scorer with a run-a-ball 36 on his debut, including a trademark slog-swept six off none other than Brett Lee. It was strange that it was such a low-scoring pitch, because the pitch wasn't bad. They never are for one-day matches.

In truth, Hussey should have been given out caught behind off James Anderson on 19, but the decision went his way. This arguably influenced the outcome of the match, but there's never any way of knowing. In any case, if England deserved a win, they should have scored more than just 155.

A nod to Brett Lee as well who was 20 not out when the winning runs were struck. Brett Lee can bat. Watch this space.

England 155 all out
Australia 156-6

Retiring Michael Bevan retires into retirement

Some players, like Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath and Justin Langer, go out in a blaze of glory. They go out with style and everyone remembers the grand event.

Other players sidle out of the back door, forced into retirement through injury. Sometimes these players are also greats.

Michael Bevan has announced his retirement. He's been suffering so badly with injuries this season that he's "finding it hard to get up for matches". In our opinion Michael Bevan was the greatest one-day international batsman of all time.

Being a great one-day player doesn't have the caché of being a great Test player, as proven by the general lack of coverage of his retirement. Michael Bevan was a great player though, make no mistake.

It's a slightly different type of batting to Test cricket. Like all great players, the way Michael Bevan explains it, it sounds simple, but it's not, so don't underestimate his skill. In a run-chase, Michael Bevan would calculate what was required; work out who he could score off most easily and then, for each ball, he would weigh up the field and pick no more than three shots that would get him runs; then he'd select one according to the delivery.

What was astounding was how successfully he managed this. Time and again Australia would eke home in the last over, with Bevan at the crease. If Australia had batted first, then Bevan was just as adept at gauging what a decent score would be.

We remember his rearguard innings against England in the 2003 World Cup alongside World Cup winner Andy Bichel best, when Australia recovered from 135-8 to successfully chase 205 (Bevan 74 not out). But his finest innings was against the West Indies in 1996. Australia slumped to 38-6 chasing 173 and then 74-7. Bevan won the match with a four off the final ball.

The way Bevan batted was perfect for the one-day spectator as well. It's only a short-term thrill to see the ball dispatched for six. Michael Bevan's way of playing created the best kind of one-day matches. The tension mounts as the overs tick away and it all builds to a giant, nerve-jangling climax.

Of all the batsmen to have ever played one-day cricket, only three have averaged over 50 and only those same three's averages have never dropped below 40. Mike Hussey and Kevin Pietersen are barely starting their careers. Michael Bevan sustained his level of performance over 232 matches, finishing with an average of 53.58.

Some say that his average is artificially inflated by his 67 not outs, but in many way's that's the point. He didn't get out. He got Australia home.

He would have made a fine Test player as well. Ignore people who say he had a weakness against short-pitched bowling. His first-class average was 57.32. He hit 68 hundreds. He was ABSOLUTELY class.

Mal Loye: Everyone wants to know about him

Sometimes we do updates because we've got something to say. Sometimes we do updates because something happens that's impossible to ignore. More commonly we do updates because we've read a quote by an Australian cricketer and when taken out of context it makes them look stupid.

On very rare occasions, we do updates because lots of people want to find out about something and we feel like we ought to make the effort.

So Mal Loye's been called into England's one-day squad for this tri-nations series. Most people don't know who Mal Loye is, so here goes.

Mal