Cricket's part in Oasis going supersonic

HUW TURBERVILL: With a reunion confirmed, here's how cricket played a part in Liam and Noel Gallagher's Oasis split

Huw Turbervill | 27/08/2024 at 10:13

This article was originally published in May 2018.

With Noel Gallagher wooing crowds on tour at the moment, it seems timely to remind our readers of the part that cricket has played in his life.

His High-Flying Birds have just notched up their third successive No.1 album, and are playing in front of sell-out crowds at venues like Wembley SSE.

Oasis split because they were always rowing, and the game was at the centre of one of these spats - dubbed 'Cricket Bat-gate'.

The supergroup were in Wales in May/June 1995, recording their second album, What's The Story, Morning Glory, when there was a frightful spat. Liam had brought a bunch of party-goers in from the local pub to a recording session. An unappreciative Noel had asked them to leave the studio. Liam hit out at Noel and his guitars, so big brother struck back with a cricket bat.

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^{Noel Gallagher}

It was shades of Javed Miandad and Dennis Lillee, something that would not have been lost on Guigsy (Paul McGuigan), who is a big cricket fan. He was a bassist with Oasis from 1991-1999.

According to the entertaining film, Supersonic, shown by the BBC at Christmas, he left the band on tour at one stage, and "sat at home watching cricket".

"Guigs always had a cricket set around. He was an absolute cricket nutcase," Noel told Mojo mag. "He could pull up statistics from Glamorgan v Hampshire, 1983. The bat was just there and I thought I'd better grab it before Liam did."

OUR OASIS TOP 10 OF CRICKET

Definitely Maybe - Nasser Hussain

Wonderwall - Rahul Dravid

Don't Look Back in Anger - Kevin Pietersen

Stand By Me - Steve Smith

All Around The World - Dwayne Bravo

Supersonic - AB de Villiers

Live Forever - Darren Stevens

Cigarettes & Alcohol - Phil Tufnell

Lord Don't Slow Me Down - Pat Cummins

Champagne Supernova - Virat Kohli

There was no lasting damage - they patched up their differences, and What's The Story, Morning Glory sold more than 22m copies worldwide.

The bat looks like one of the ancient ones we used to have in the school playground, no obvious maker, and missing a rubber grip, with the wrapped-around string falling away from the handle.

It was sold as a collector's item, with a letter of authenticity from Paolo Hewitt, a music journalist who had witnessed the scene. I have found one claim that it sold for $1,800 - still some way short of the $161,295 that won a superfan MS Dhoni's at the 2011 World Cup.

Bad Blood: When Taylor Swift and Kevin Pietersen clashed over cats

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^{Liam Gallagher played the One Love concert at Old Trafford last summer}

The cricket connection with Oasis doesn't end there, however.

They played a very famous gig at Lancashire CCC's Old Trafford in 2002, their biggest in their home city since the one at Maine Road in 1996. Apparently, the brothers insisted that any promotional material for the concert centred around 'Lancashire County Cricket Club' rather than 'Old Trafford'; those two words something of an anathema to the ardent Manchester City fans.

Liam returned to Emirates Old Trafford last June to take part in Ariana Grande's One Love concert, as well as returning with his band later in August.

And... Oasis were managed by Marcus Russell - a huge cricket fan. When not dealing with the band's commercial activities (and smoothing over spats), he loved to watch Glamorgan, and his late brother, Paul, was chairman of the county, bringing Test cricket - and the Ashes - to Sophia Gardens.