Kmflett's Blog

Supported by the London Socialist Historians Group

We stand with the University & College Union (UCU) in supporting this vigil.

There can be no space for racism or racist pile-ons in academia or in wider society.

Christopher Hill. His highest ambition was to be a  Yorkshire cricketer but be became one of the most well-known British Marxist Historians

A biography of the British Marxist Historian Christopher Hill(1912-2003) has long been awaited and Michael Braddick has now written one (Verso 2025).

There is a wealth of interesting information and some fascinating incidental detail.

The Hill family were from Yorkshire and fielded a family cricket team. Braddick notes that Hill’s ambition was to play cricket for Yorkshire. Hill told the historian Penny Corfield that ‘I practised and practised but I wasn’t any good’.

Hill became a leading of the Communist Party Historians Group, leaving in 1956 and the author of numbers of important works, informed by Marxism, on the English Revolutionary period from the 1640s to the 1660s. He was also Master of Balliol College Oxford

Perhaps Hill made a bigger longer term impact in this context than if he had become a left-wing version of Yorkshire batsman Geoffrey Boycott

On the improvised cricket pitch, however, he was energy itself. He confided that his youthful ambition was to play for his natal county of Yorkshire. To us kids, imbued with stalwart Yorkshirism from our mother, Christopher’s first aim in life seemed entirely laudable and natural. ‘I practised and practised’, he then explained, ‘but I wasn’t any good’.

He told  fellow historian Penny Corfield in a 1988 interview that he had a birth qualification which would have allowed him to play cricket for Yorkshire. It was his highest ambition, higher even than playing cricket for England.

Penelope J Corfield appreciation of Christopher Hill

CHRISTOPHER HILL, THE MARXIST HISTORIAN AS I KNEW HIM

Interestingly Geoffrey Boycott, now well into his eighties, has given a series of interviews to the Telegraph where he notes that in the early 1960s, as he transitioned from being a civil servant to being a cricketer his ambition was to play cricket not for England but for Yorkshire.

Sir Geoffrey Boycott interview: Children were safe when I was growing up

Sunday Times 16th August 2026

The Hundred has finished for another year. The first year it had been franchised.

Crowds were down at all venues except Cardiff were ticket prices were not increased.

In the last few days any amount of official bluster has been deployed to explain a) smaller crowds were all part of the plan b) things can only get better.

I did venture to a daytime womens and mens fixture at Cardiff (attendance 10,288) and a lot of the hype of the earlier years had gone. In fact it looked very much like a T20 game with very minor tweaks.

We’ll see where it leads in 2027….

The Sunday Times (Editorial 16th August) has entered a ‘not guilty’ plea in relation to the media pile on that appears at the very least to have played a part in the tragic death of Jason Arday.

To an extent that is fair enough. The paper only published three pieces on Arday. However it appears only once a week and shares ownership and journalistic resources with The Times that appears on the other six days. The Times published 59 pieces the most of any media outlet

The Observer Editorial (16th August) concludes in part ‘who breaks a butterfly upon a wheel’ Alexander Pope’s question became a warning about disproportionate use of power. It would be good to see those media outlets that have gorged on the Arday story ask themselves two questions: has their reporting been proportional? And have they thought sensibly about their treatment of an autistic man now dead?

The Sunday Times Editorial suggests not, or at least, not yet…

The Ambridge Socialist

16^th August

What BBC reports from Ambridge are missing

The Archers is recorded weeks in advance but there has been a heatwave since June.

So far little or no mention of:

Climate Change

Drought

Poor crop yields

Wildfires

Veg Boxes

David decides

Sgt Burns has put Monty in the frame for the attack on Brookfield’s sheep and the dog in his custody. His record on sleuthing is not brilliant- the bunting is still missing- so this may not be definitive. Meanwhile David has been offered a chance to suggest a community resolution. Given that he was convicted of badger murder and was present when Nigel fell off the roof of Lower Loxley he may not be the best judge.. Unsurprisingly he opted for not supporting Monty

Lower Loxley

Freddie is concerned that he is being frozen out of opportunities at Lower Loxley despite the fact that he already has a perfectly good job. Elizabeth who has reappeared is, as usual, not hugely sympathetic. The Ambridge ruling class at war again.

In other news

The vicar has gone into the field of financial advice checking Carol’s banking app for her. Meanwhile his plan to raise money for the church by charging for the fete failed.

Lily has returned and had chat with Amber in the tea room. Understandably they are not convinced about men in general but also specifically..

Meanwhile Keira and Amber have had a discussion. Chatham House Rules.

Peter Jukes has analysed the media pile on that took place before and indeed on the day of the tragic death of Jason Arday. A key conclusion is below

One honest finding up front: this was not a red-top phenomenon. The Mirror ran two pieces and the Daily Star one; the BBC and Sky covered it as news, at news volume. The pile-on was led from the top of the market: The Times, the Telegraph, the Mail, the Spectator and the Express account for 158 of the articles counted here.

The most racism came from the ‘quality’ media rather than the popular press with the Times and Telegraph leading the way.

That media needs to be called to account

249 Articles in 22 Days. Jason Arday Is Dead at 41. | NewsCord Analysis

The tournament director of The Hundred which concludes at Lords on 16th August Vikram Banerjee is on record as saying that the newly franchised business is now second only to the Indian Premier League in terms of short form leagues.

Anyone who has watched the IPL will know that the bottom line KPI are the number of sixes hit.

Below are the figures for The Hundred 2026 (not including the Finals)

Most sixes

1. Mitchell Marsh (Sunrisers Leeds) – 29

2. Ryan Rickelton (Sunrisers Leeds) – 23

3. Jos Buttler (Manchester Super Giants) – 22

=4. Paul Walter (Manchester Super Giant), Harry Brook (Sunrisers Leeds) & Joe Clarke (Birmingham Phoenix) – 17

Most sixes

1. Marizanne Kapp (London Spirit) – 11

2. Annabel Sutherland (Sunrisers Leeds) – 10

=3. Sophie Devine (Welsh Fire) & Smriti Mandhana (Manchester Super Giants) – 9

=5. Nadine de Klerk (London Spirit) & Chinelle Henry (MI London) – 8

The Spectator edited by Michael Gove is Reform friendly but not 100% so. Below is an extract from a report by Madeline Grant (14th August) with a rare account of what was going on at Farage Fest, a festival at an airfield near Harwich in Essex. Its 25 minutes drive away from Clacton.

Farage was there in the early hours of Friday 14th August rather than being his own By-Election Count

This ‘political festival’ included Farage-branded plastic pint holders, a ‘Farage wheel’ (which ground to a halt with GB News’s Political Correspondent Christopher Hope on board) and the mind-boggling opportunity to ‘have a sleepover with Farage’. It was compared to Glastonbury, but it seemed to be more like a theme park that had been taken over by a personality cult. Peppa Pig World meets Heaven’s Gate. The man himself gave a three-hour long speech in which he ticked all the standard Farage boxes; he railed against the establishment, he told jokes, he made oblique references to being proved right in the future.

The Times(15th August) reports that the event lasted from midnight until 7am. There was a free bar & Farage spoke at 3am

Tuesday 16th August 1977 ‘Little bit of sunshine. Went shopping. The rabbit died’ Tony Benn Diaries