Forty years since the bitter strike of 1984-85, the threads between cricket and mining are frayed but, just about, still bound.
A century or so ago the backbone of English cricket came from the pits. Nottinghamshire won the County Championship in 1907 with seven miners in the team and whistling down the pits for a fast bowler wasn’t just idle fancy. Though presumably you’d have to time your whistle just right, for when the young men had built up immense strength and stamina, but hadn’t yet developed the cursed miner’s cough that came from hours crawling around in the dust.
