RE: GINGER TOP

So a ginger man* is now England limited overs Captain in a society which apparently bullies, certainly ridicules and has a definite aversion to the ginger mop, the carrot top.

Don’t get me wrong, Paul Collingwood is I think an excellent choice to be the joint England Captain. He has throughout our disastrous recent one day campaigns shown talent, dedication, and perhaps most importantly the ability to catch the ball and to score runs. Something sadly the likes of Michael Vaughn and Andrew Strauss have not been capable of doing.

My point is that there has recently been media coverage of the case of a ginger family being bullied out of their home, simply because well, they are ginger haired. So what's the history of ginger bashing? Where did it come from and how common is it? Is it unusual for a ginger person to do so well?

Historically, ridiculing people for having ginger hair can be traced back to the Middle Ages, when it represented the devil and a sign of moral degeneration, indeed Vikings are often associated with being ginger. In these seemingly more genteel modern times, this is perhaps taking it a little too far, although evil fictional characters are often created as ginger, think characters from Dracula or the Brothers Grimm stories. Not forgetting real life scary examples, think Mick Hucknall.

Of course paradoxically, there is much to say being ginger is really something special with only 1% of the population enjoying the phenomenon. Ginger people are also very often positively portrayed as having a ‘fiery’ temper with strong characters. Take Queen Elizabeth I for example or um screen sirens, Rita Hayworth, Nicole Kidman and Gillian Anderson. Or the adored ‘Weasley’ family in the Harry Potter stories.

One would guestimate that there are more successful ginger nuts per head of population than say brunettes or blondes (no blonde jokes necessary here, I am one). Although, according to my cricketing guru father, Paul Collingwood is the first ginger England Captain (well at least in his living memory and he is significantly older than some). Suggesting the aforementioned family are really quite unlucky, although perhaps this whole blog is testament to the fact that a culture of mickey taking of ginger mops exists. But then, as stated above, it does for blondes – so what’s the worry?

More importantly, which set of characteristics would it be best for Paul Collingwood, the latest carrot top to make it to the top of his food chain to embody? He is by all testimony a jolly decent chap, but I wouldn’t mind if he was maybe just a little evil. The ability to drop and change the team when not playing up to scratch and to change fielding positions when and where necessary with a colder heart is definitely something we need and have lacked in limited overs cricket. There is just not the time to stick to a tactic just because it may have worked on a previous occasion.

Of course wearing a ruby on your teeth or singing ‘Something’s got me started’ would just be too much.

*yes, I do realise that he could perhaps be called strawberry blonde.