chrisobee

Indeed, weather looks set fair, beautiful today. One tip for Cheltenham: Wed 5.15 ( Weatherbys Champion Bumper) Frawley ew at 16's.

Pakistan 2005 for sure.

Paul Terry played 2 tests in 1984 I think it was but had his arm broken by one of the WI quick bowlers. Gower played all 5 tests but managed only an average of 19 However, he did not join Hants until 1989/90. By that time Robin Smith was a regular and they played together in the 1989 Ashes series but I think before Gower joined Hants. However, I would be sure they played together thereafter as Gower retired from Tests in 1992 and Smith in 1996. Of course the Windies in '84 had Gordon Greenidge and the late great Malcolm Marshall so you certainly had 3 Hants players in the same match. Greenidge averaged about 81 in that series, Marshall took 24 wickets at 18.2 and together with Garner ( 29 wickets) and Holding ( 15) put England to the sword. No surprise they won the series 5-0 !

Yes, that is rather the conundrum people face. Under benefit rules you should not be worse off working than on benefits, the Jobcentre will do a " better off calculation" which should ensure you are not worse off working. However, how do you factor in non financial issues such as time spent travelling ( in London particularly often longer than you might expect), the sheer boredom of some jobs ( Ok, beggars cannot be chosers they say but for certain many employers will take advantage and if they know your situation give you what I always refer to as the "tea boy jobs" which will invariably drive you bonkers!). I think the point is anyone who is unemployed should accept any reasonable job opportunity but the problem is in deciding what is "reasonable". From my own expeience about 10 years ago I was unemployed ( though not claiming benefit) but wanted to work. I took a job in a warehouse which I had done before but not for 20 years when I was a student. All day, every day, I was given the most strenous jobs whilst others were given much more of a variety. I ended up black and blue, aching and really tired at the end of each day ( my travelling time was about 3 hours as well) and after less than 2 weeks simply could not do it any more so I left. I then found an office job which was more in keeping with my experience but then this employer gave me such boring stuff to do it was really demoralising. Again as I was Ok financially I left as that option was open to me. However, if you put someone who needs to work or claim benefits into either of those 2 working environments then I can imagine that as hard as it was for me it would be much more difficult for them faced with the problem if they did resign of possibly having sanctions applied to their benefits. So it is something that needs to be considered very carefully, Jobcentres do now offer "Work Trials" but they are something I know little about other than It is entirely voluntary. You will carry on getting your benefits while you're on the trial, so it's a risk-free way of finding out if a position is right for you. If your employer offers you a job at the end of your Work Trial period and you accept it, this does not mean that all financial help will end - you may be eligible for some in-work benefits and tax credits.

LOL Very good idea!

Surely Pahars has to be Dave Jones best signing as good as Beatts and Richards were ? KK is the obvious LM signing and he certainly generated more interest than any other signing in our history I would feel pretty safe in saying. However, for me it would be Bally, particularly first time around and Phil Boyer. No question in my mind that without these 2 we would not have got promoted in 1977/78 and that of course paved the way for signing players like KK, Golac, Shilts and Mark Wright. Colin Clarke was an excellent signing for Chris Nichol and last but not least Ron Davies for me as Ted Bates best signing.

Oh dear, post 35. My point 3. 3) - One of my "favourites"- If you happen to find a job quickly and before your claim is assessed then so far so good. However, if it happens that job is only temporary or lasts for only a short while of course you'll need to sign on. No problem, there is what they call a Rapid reclaim process which means you may be lucky enough to only have to complete a far less detailed form than for a totally new claim. Great ! But wait, there is just one problem which many staff are blissfully unaware of. If it does happen that your original claim was not processed then it is treated as never having being made, so no in fact the Rapid reclaim does not apply even though you may well be told it does. So 2-3 weeks later you wonder why you are not getting paid and the penny drops, the wrong form was completed and you need to complete the more detailed form per a new claim. It gets worse though as the 2-3 weeks you have waited are totally wasted as that "claim" is not valid and you end up back at square one and having to endure a further wait. However, it SHOULD not apply to you !

Cric info is excellent for following Cricket, the commentary is really amusing at time. Just waiting for Colly to reach 100 And he is there, 520/4. Bell 53*

Too much I dare to venture, no worries the IR will get you one day !!

Ricky Ponting !? England v Aussies at Egdbaston 2005

You mean he's been cheating on me

As indicated earlier they cannot stop your benefit for just signing a day late once ! I really would love to know exactly what reason(s) they give for this, from what I can tell it is just plain wrong!

The mind boggles at what for it has to be said!

Indeed there are lots of job vacancies but there are at least a hundred times more people looking for jobs. Watford Council advertised for 4 Clerical vacanies, they had nearly 500 applicants. So you don't need to be Einstein to figure out that unless you are well above average you've less than a 1 in 100 chance of getting one of those jobs. Unless you've experienced the despair of people attending Jobcentres at not even getting interviews despite applying for numerous jobs, at reaching the conclusion the reason they don't is that they are "useless", at getting so depressed they end up on Incapacity Benefit which is a nightmare even beyond having to "sign on" and then being called lazy scroungers and of course much worse when the reason they end up in that situation is simply because they can't find a job then you really don't know you've been born. Far too many blase comments from all corners aimed at people on the whole who are genuinely unable to find work.

I think his user name suggests he is well aware of that !!

Seems like we have a lot of "experts" on here with regard to the benefit system and the Jobcentre in particular. As MB will know I have a very good knowledge of how the JC works and there are 100's of problems which people face and many like MB have the misfortune to fall foul of what appears to be a ridiculous decision and from what he has told me incorrect and therefore illegal. Just as a taster try these little gems which the Jobcentre has particular problems with: 1) They'll sumbit you for a crappy job for which you are totally unsuited, for which the Employer(s) - those who advertise via the JC are every much a client as someone signing on- will not be happy about if you do apply and then if you don't apply they'll take action against you for not applying. This is very, very common and largely due to incompetent and/or arrogant staff who could not care less about you but are purely interested in meeting their targets so they get a pay rise at the end of the year. 2) They'll make it a condition of your claim that you keep a written record of your jobsearch, not particularly unreasonable but actually illegal if they then threaten to stop your benefits for not keeping such a record. In virtually all cases this is down to ignorance, a common problem amongst Jobcentre staff who invariably get inadequate training and many are on fixed contracts and as soon as they begin to get the hang of the job ( albeit it's not that hard for anyone of reasonable intelligence) they are given the boot. Not exactly a good practice both in terms of staff motivation and gaining the experience necessary. 3) - One of my "favourites"- If you happen to find a job quickly and before your claim is assessed then so far so good. However, if it happens that job is only temporary or lasts for only a short while of course you'll need to sign on. No problem, there is what they call a Rapid reclaim process which means you may be lucky enough to only have to complete a far less detailed form than for a totally new claim. Great ! But wait, there is just one problem which many staff are blissfully unaware of. If it does happen that your original claim was not processed then it is treated as never having being made, so no in fact the Rapid reclaim does not apply even though you may well be told it does. So 2-3 weeks later you wonder why you are not getting paid and the penny drops, the wrong form was completed and you need to complete the more detailed form per a new claim. It gets worse though as the 2-3 weeks you have waited are totally wasted as that "claim" is not valid and you end up back at square one and having to endure a further wait. I could write a book, one day maybe I will but in short Jobcentreplus can be summed up in one word- USELESS !

Good idea, my MP is very helpful as indeed is my local Mayor!

Yes, I replied back !

I don't think MB is finding it in any way fun TBH

Sent you a PM, I'm pretty au fait with Jobcentre rules.

Yes, as I stated above I find this quite unacceptable, something doesn't ring true to me.

Agreed and even though it is Pompey which makes it even more galling any team who have conducted their affairs in such a disgraceful way and for so long deserve no less than total oblivion. Really find it hard to accept the HMRC decision, having worked for the Revenue I have seen far less serious cases end up with a company/individual being made bankrupt. Cost never entered the equation, for all those made redundant they are likely to find to make things worse that £1000's in NIC they have paid is not on their accounts so that will add further to their vows in terms of the always painful experience of trying to claim benefits. Really appalling, it's hard to see any justice in this at all.

I would love to find the winner of this race again as it is one I have fond memories of ever since Collier Bay won in 1996 and at the price I was on ( 16/1) meant it was my biggest ever winning bet. Truth to tell I was new to horse racing then and when I phoned to place my bet which was each way I stated a stake of £100 which meant I wanted £50 ew, however it was taken as £100 ew and I was too embarrassed when it was read back to me to say it was wrong so ended up staking £209 ( still 9% betting tax then, I even remember that! ) . But I got lucky !!

I'm slightly worried about where this might be going, stick to the horses please

Finally I remembered the this classic song, Tom Hark, which may or may not have "inspired" Flag of St George . I liked the Piranhas.... till now