PPE

Until recently, Fantasy Bob understood PPE to refer to the degree which Old Etonians who wish to become Prime Minister study at Oxford University - the present post holder being a notable exception.

Recent times have however given him another interpretation of the acronym.  Many are the lamentations in the media about the redoubtable heroes and heroines of our NHS having to do battle with the present deadly virus wearing only a motley collection of bin liners and oven gloves. It is the, not unreasonable, view of most commentators that this doesn't really adequately count as Personal Protective Equipment.  Even the summa cum laude PPE graduate flexing his or her philosophical muscle would find it hard to disagree with that assessment.

Ready to face the fast bowling?

FB sincerely hopes that the situation improves rapidly and that those heroes and heroines get all the equipment they need.  He notes with approval reports that the Army is now distributing essentials.

For as a cricketer (if that is not extending the use of the term beyond credibility) FB is acutely sensitive to the need for proper protective equipment.  And the more personal the more important.

It is hard to believe that in the dark ages when FB first came to manhood and required to consider seriously personal protection at the crease, he had to dig deep into the team kit bag to liberate one from the confusion of unmatched gloves.  Dark and deadly though the kit bag was FB considered this a better option than that favoured by some team mates, who would not only gather information about the bowling from the outgoing bat but take delivery of a still warm box. In those days, trust in team mates was absolute - not only that they would take catches and not call for suicidal runs but that they had behaved themselves the night before the match.

Failures of this equipment also figure prominently in cricketers' memory - at all levels of the game batsmen remember the box escaping its moorings to slide down his leg just as he plays forward to an off cutter on a juicy wicket.  And there are many celebrated anecdotes placing the cricketer's PPE at their centre.  One of the most celebrated concerns Australian batsman and beer drinker David Boon. The story goes that Boon forgot his box when he went out to bat against a rampaging Jeff Thomson (an easy oversight for a professional sportsman to make). He was somewhat disconcerted to discovery this oversight at he end of the day's play after several hours dodging all kinds of grenades. He resolved to be doubly sure that he resumed his innings fully protected. Having done so the first ball of the morning struck what Richie Benaud would decorously described as his lower abdomen, shattering the box. 

But these are inconsequential trivia compared to the challenges being faced daily in hospitals around the world. All those PPE graduates need to get the PPE in place.