Spin bowlers improve with age

Graeme Swann is one of those spin bowlers who made an early impact, featuring in England Under-19 sides of the 1990s. He did not develop as quickly as one might have expected - indeed, I remember commenting that his replacing Robert Croft in the full England side was premature - but he certainly had a late flowering. This is demonstrated in his autobiography which Jonathan Calder reviews here.

That is why county selectors should have patience with young practitioners of the art. There is no substitute for learning in the middle and teams should be prepared to include bowlers who have not yet reached their full potential.

Hats off to Glamorgan

After the rude things I have said about the county's cricketers, it was a pleasure to watch the run target on cricinfo counting down to achieve their second win (against promotion candidates Worcestershire) this season. Congratulations especially to Owen Morgan who held the innings together after going in as night-watchman. He deservedly sealed the win and his maiden championship century with a four. A word too for Aneurin Donald who found his form again after clearly suffering a reaction to his record double hundred, and to Will Bragg who contributed 46.

Clean up our streets

There has been much discussion on the Ferret about the filth and rubbish on our streets in Neath. Cen Phillips tells me that Aberavon is as bad. Now there is a way for concerned citizens to make their feelings known to the council. There is a petition here.

The biggest single-member ward in the borough

This news item reminded me how skewed council representation has become. In 2004, the population of Coedffranc West  was 1,727. In 2012, it had risen to 2,142. I do not have the exact number, but with the surge in house-building after that election the population in 2015 was around 2,600 and it will clearly exceed 3,000 by the time of the electoral register to be used for the 2017 council elections. In all that time, the ward has been represented by a single councillor. Contrast that with Coedffranc Central nextdoor which has had a fairly static population of just under 3,000 and has been represented by two councillors since the inception of Neath Port Talbot county borough. Margam ward has also been growing, though not quite as fast. It, too, has only a single councillor.

There was an opportunity in 2010 to equalise representation and bring it more into line with government recommendations. However, an inexperienced boundary commission (pdf here) produced an impractical and unacceptable solution, much to the relief no doubt of the ruling party which over the years has stood to gain from the unchanged situation.

Russian Liberals launch new manifesto

Liberal International reports that Grigory Yavlinsky, YABLOKO's founder, has presented the party's programme for upcoming elections in Russia. Their trouble is that if they look like achieving any real power, Donald Trump's butty Volodya has them locked up.

Liberal Democrats policy-making more transparent

This page is a new handy guide to the progress of current federal Liberal Democrat policy discussions. Note the invitations to contribute where the consultation process is still open.

Signal control centre in Port Talbot to close

The rail lines in South Wales will be the latest to come under control of one of Network Rail's Rail Operating Centres. These have already opened in Manchester and York, so far without any reported trouble. The Cardiff ROC is scheduled to open in October 2017 and will eliminate the need for the facility in Port Talbot, as I read this report from Rail Technology magazine (RTM).

This reorganisation would clearly be carried out anyway, as it is part of Network Rail's programme to make job savings. However, re-signalling is also essential to the future electrified running of the Great Western main line (GWML) including that to Neath and Swansea. The RTM report has a slight sting in the tail:

The mammoth GWML electrification project recently reached a major milestone at the end of May when a section of the line was officially declared “energised” for the first time. But the project still faces major challenges, with the ORR [Office of Rail and Road] saying in its annual Network Rail assessment in July that while the infrastructure owner had improved its performance, the GWML electrification scheme remains “at risk”.

The rolling stock share of the programme is running well, however, with Great Western Railway recently ordering seven more Class 800 IEP trains from Hitachi after the first took its maiden voyage at the beginning of July.

Illiberalism on the rise

Another sign of a world-wide trend to authoritarianism comes from Nicaragua, as reported by Liberal International. In a clear attempt to remove all effective opposition in advance of parliamentary elections in November this year, by stripping liberal parliamentarians – the largest opposition group – of their power in parliament. This follows a decision by the Sandinista-backed courts to rob Liberal International Vice-President, Eduardo Montealegre MP, of his legal position as head of the liberal party, Partido Liberal Independiente.