Talk:Jim Laker

Laker's sense of humour

Jim Laker, as a BBC commentator in his later years, displayed a fine sense of humour. Once, in the late 1970s, he was commentating on a Sunday afternoon (John Player League) 40-overs match between Somerset and (I think) Warwickshire. For some reason which I don't recall, Viv Richards was captaining Somerset, and put himself on to bowl 8 overs of his off spin - taking (again I think - my memory is not as good as it was), 4 wickets for 27 runs.

Laker waited until his spell was over, and said:

"I'm most impressed by this lad Richards - I hear he bats a bit an' all ..."

Hair Commodore 16:20, 21 October 2006 (UTC)

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Sourcing

Bearing in mind WP:CITEVAR, I don't think the sourcing in this article has been done at all well. Many citations are formatted Hill, 159 instead of Hill, p. 159 and there is frequent re-iteration of citations instead of deploying refnames (Harvard sfn would be a good option). The bibliography lacks author links, ISBN and publishing locations. Unless anyone has serious objections, I'd like to apply standard WP:CITE notation throughout, continuing where I left off over a year ago.

I have an interest here because my father knew Jim Laker. They met in WWII when they served together in North Africa. My dad had Jim's book, Over To Me, so I might be able to use that here. I've ordered the Alan Hill biography but it might be a week or two before it arrives given postal difficulties at present. If anyone knows of other biographical works about Jim, could you please let me know. There is one book he wrote called Spinning Round the World, but I'm not sure if it is an autobiography or a work on spin bowling.

There is another problem with the article because section one has been written like a drama which culminates in the not-so-startling revelation that Jim was a great cricketer. I think sections one and two need to be combined. I'll work on it as and when. Thanks in advance for any help. Stay safe. No Great Shaker (talk) 20:12, 10 January 2021 (UTC)

The first two sections have been merged. I've tried to retain all the cricket information and terminology in the old section 2 but have moved it so that it is presented in the context of Jim's life and times, rather than as an entity with a separate existence. Alan Hill's book is a good read. If anyone can help with the numerous statements needing citation, especially cricket facts and figures, that will be much appreciated. Thanks. No Great Shaker (talk) 15:36, 6 February 2021 (UTC)

All sources have now been found and citations added. Repeating some of the edit summaries, thank you again to the people (no names here, as promised) who responded to my enquiries and provided help that is much appreciated. I was especially surprised by the Barclays scan – that book must be a real shelf-buster! I'll send this article to GAN now and see how it fares. Thanks again. Stay safe. No Great Shaker (talk) 14:45, 9 February 2021 (UTC)

Many thanks for all your work on this. JH (talk page) 16:41, 9 February 2021 (UTC)

Thank you, JH, it's been a pleasure and I hope it can achieve GA. Actually, I've done hardly anything with the content and the earlier editors deserve the credit for that. What I've done is really just a cleanup. I bought the Alan Hill book, which is a good read, but I've had a lot of help offsite with the sources – fortunately, I know a man who knows some other folks and we're all stuck at home eager for something to do! All the best and stay safe. No Great Shaker (talk) 09:25, 10 February 2021 (UTC)

Did you know nomination

The following is an archived discussion of the DYK nomination of the article below. Please do not modify this page. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as this nomination's talk page, the article's talk page or Wikipedia talk:Did you know), unless there is consensus to re-open the discussion at this page. No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was: promoted by MeegsC (talk) 14:08, 18 July 2021 (UTC)

(

• Comment or view
• Article history

)

• ... that Jim Laker did not become a spin bowler until he played on coconut matting strips in Egypt during World War II? Source: Hill, Alan (1998). Jim Laker: A Biography. London: Andre Deutsch Ltd. p. 27. ISBN 978-02-33050-43-0.
  • ALT1:... that Richie Benaud re-modelled his style and attitude as a bowler on those of Jim Laker? Source: Benaud, Richie (2005). My Spin on Cricket. London: Hodder & Stoughton. p. 169. ISBN 978-03-40833-93-3.
  • ALT2:... that Jim Laker could make a cricket ball buzz when he imparted spin onto it? Sources: Sobers, Garfield (2003). My Autobiography. London: Headline Publishing Group. p. 200. ISBN 978-07-55310-07-4. Arlott, John (1984). Arlott on Cricket. London: Harper Collins. p. 261. ISBN 978-00-02180-82-5.

• Reviewed: Cerro Overo

Improved to Good Article status by No Great Shaker (talk). Self-nominated at 11:51, 24 June 2021 (UTC).

• Review. This is a recent Good Article nominated in time. QPQ has been done. The article is interesting and the prose is good. Alt0 is good to go. I've struck Alt1 because it would be confusing to a wider audience and it isn't supported properly by the refs. Alt2 is making the assertion that he could make the ball buzz, but in the article it appears to be discussing a single occurrence of buzzing. For this alt to be considered you'd need to address this in the article. Desertarun (talk) 08:50, 30 June 2021 (UTC)

Thanks for the review. I think the article is clear, however, that Laker would frequently produce a sound as he spun the ball. It isn't about a single occurrence as Arlott mentions batsmen (plural) and Sobers is talking in general terms. No Great Shaker (talk) 09:29, 30 June 2021 (UTC)

• I've struck Alt2 because I just don't get it. This is good to go with Alt0. Desertarun (talk) 09:44, 30 June 2021 (UTC)

I'm happy to go with ALT0 but I don't think "I just don't get it" is a valid reason for striking out ALT2. Perhaps a second opinion on that? No Great Shaker (talk) 10:34, 30 June 2021 (UTC)

I don't get your explanation of why you think the article and hook are aligned. I've removed the tick and requesting a new reviewer. Desertarun (talk) 10:53, 30 June 2021 (UTC)

In that case a new reviewer needs to make up their own mind about ALT1 and ALT2 so I am restoring both. Desertarun, if you really "don't get" articles, hooks and rationales you need to think very carefully about whether DYK is the right place for you. All three of these hooks have been taken from the text of a GA-rated article, they did not present any problems for the GA reviewer and the meaning of each is clear enough for DYK purposes. No Great Shaker (talk) 11:42, 30 June 2021 (UTC)

Edit conflict I've re-read and Alt2 is OK. Approving Alt0 and Alt2. Desertarun (talk) 11:46, 30 June 2021 (UTC)

Okay, thanks, but let me know if there are any questions. No Great Shaker (talk) 12:47, 30 June 2021 (UTC)