Howzat? Meet museum’s new fielders
World Museum names new Bush Crickets after Ashes stars
(embargoed until Wednesday 31 July)
See photo at end of press release
This fielder is sure to bowl over visitors to Liverpool’s World Museum.
Bush Crickets have arrived in time for the Ashes and museum staff have named them after England's test stars.
See photo attached to meet Jimmy, (named after swing bowler Jimmy Anderson).
Other crickets have been named Swanny (after spinner Graeme Swann) and to balance things out, one has been called Shane, after the legendary Aussie Shane Warne.
The Museum’s Bug House has welcomed eight of the creatures (otherwise known as Giant Floridian Katydid) and is looking for cricketing names for the other five members of the team. Can you help? Please send you suggestions via Twitter @world_museum or go to www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/cricket
Steve Judd, Director of World Museum, said: “This is the first time we’ve been able to display Bush Crickets. We are sure our visitors will be excited to see them. With their arrival coming at the time of the third test we were keen to name them after cricketing stars.
“We were stumped thinking of a current Aussie star, so we're naming one of them after former bowler Shane Warne.”
Paul Finnegan, Education Team Leader at World Museum, said: “Bush crickets are members of the grasshopper family. They are vegetarian and like nothing more than chewing on bramble. They sit still all day pretending to be leaves. So just like an Australian Ashes win, they are quite difficult to see.”
Bush cricket facts:
Good innings? We know very little about the lifespan of Bush Crickets. The ones at World Museum are making their debut and we hope to breed them.
Good length? These Bush Crickets are certainly long leg at four inches.
Hawk-eye? Bush crickets do not get on with birds of prey.
Nightwatchman? Definitely! – our crickets love the darkness when they ‘sing’ by making a continuous hum.
Home county: You do find Bush Crickets in the south of England but they are very common in North America.
/Ends
Notes to editors
About National Museums Liverpool
National Museums Liverpool comprises eight venues, including some of the most visited museums in England outside of London. Our collections are among the most important and varied in Europe and contain everything from Impressionist paintings and rare beetles to a lifejacket from the Titanic. We attract more than 3 million visitors every year. Our venues are the Museum of Liverpool, World Museum, Walker Art Gallery, Merseyside Maritime Museum, International Slavery Museum, Border Force National Museum, Sudley House and the Lady Lever Art Gallery.
World Museum
From the sea to the stars, a visit to World Museum reveals millions of years of the Earth’s history through thousands of exhibits and hands on activities. Find out how humans have created the world we inhabit, from Africa to the Americas, Asia and Europe. Look out for the Ancient Egypt gallery where our collection is amongst the finest in Europe, bringing this age old civilisation to life. Discover the wonders of the natural world in the Clore Natural History Centre, packed full of mounted and preserved specimens of all types of animals, as well as rocks, minerals, fossils and plants. The Aquarium is home to fish from Australia to Anglesey, while an array of creepy crawlies live in the Bug House. Then, blast off on a spectacular journey through space and time as the universe unfolds around you in the Planetarium.
World Museum was a winner of Netmums favourite place to go in Merseyside 2011 and was short listed for the Telegraph Family Friendly Museum Award in 2012.
Contact Dickie Felton – Communications Manager
e dickie.felton@liverpoolmuseums.org.uk t 0151 478 4779 / 07706 166 787
