The Anonymous Widower

Australia On the Brink

There are just three overs left and three wickets to fall.

So it looks like Australia will have a few hours of rest before the almost inevitable happens.  I bet they wish this Test had been played in Rockhampton.

Even in the unlikely event that this match is drawn, England will still win the series, so well done to the England cricket team.

January 6, 2011 Posted by | Sport | , | Leave a comment

England in the Pink

England finished the day on 488 for 7, which is a good score that could get even better with some quick runs and then a couple of quick wickets tomorrow.

The most amazing thing was that yesterday was Jane McGrath Day, in memory of the cricketer, Glenn McGrath’s wife, Jane, who died of breast cancer. Obviously, all the money raised will be wisely used. My late wife, C, had breast cancer a few years before she died and fully recovered, so I’m all for days like this and we should see more of them.

Provided of course, they raise either funds or awareness!

January 5, 2011 Posted by | Health, Sport | , , | Leave a comment

England Survive Triple Nelson

111, 222 and 333 are dodgy totals as far as England cricketers are concerned.

They’ve just survived the so-called Triple Nelson.  Let’s move on now for a bit.

January 5, 2011 Posted by | Sport | , | Leave a comment

Crapman – An Australian Hero

This piece appeared in The Times today.

It is not just sport that they take seriously in Australia. In a country beset by drought and at the mercy of its climate, the environment is high on the agenda. On a Christmas Eve visit to the impressive Healesville Wildlife Sanctuary near Melbourne, we were quickly aware that the battle is on to get Australians to use recycled toilet paper. “Wipe for wildlife” signs greeted us at every turn and at regular intervals we are wished “G’day” by a superhero figure whose cape was decorated with an unfurling toilet roll.

It was only towards the end of our visit that I discovered that our green crusader rejoiced under the name of Crapman.

The Australian sense of humour has a distinct edge.

January 3, 2011 Posted by | News, World | , | Leave a comment

Flying The Queensland Coast

When C and I flew around Australia, one of the highlights of the flying was to take the plane off the Barrier Reef from Dunk Island and fly down to Brisbane. 

It was a long flight of about eight hours and it was necessary to refuel the aircraft half-way.  There were two choices; Rockhampton and Mackay. Rockhampton, which features in the floods as I write and reminded me of this story, was a little early, so I decided to use Mackay.

The flying was wonderful, as we at about eight thousand feet following the coast at a speed of about `120 or so knots.  We were also one of the few planes in the air, as the Australian airline pilots  were on strike, so there were no airliners at all.

Mackay welcomed us with open arms and the two refuelling companies almost fought to give us the best service.  We even ordered snacks over the radio on final approach.

In the end, we were on the ground for perhaps fifteen minutes on the one and only time I set foot in that part of Queensland.

January 1, 2011 Posted by | Transport/Travel | , | Leave a comment

My Australian Friend Even Sent Congratulations

It is good to wake up this morning to the news that England have retained the Ashes.

One of my Aussie friends even sent congratulations and said well done!

December 29, 2010 Posted by | Sport | , | Leave a comment

Will England Win Tonight?

Let’s hope so!

It would certainly silence the groans I can hear coming out of Kangaroo Valley.

I’ve just had this view from an Aussie by e-mail.

We have not had a Team in Oz like these Brits . . .
 
Great Batting . . . Great Bowling . . . Great Fielding . . . Great Wicket Keeping 
 
Look at the Bowlers working the Ball . . . I have never seen such work . . . New Ball one side and rough the other . . .
 
Ponting’s gone for twenty . . .
 
Congratulations the Ashes are Yours . . .
 
This is just the Brits need . . . now the run up to the Olympic Games . . .
Now the Brits will start to rebuild,
 
Great Team, Great Win . . . Cricket as we Love it . . .

I don’t get this bit about us needing to rebuild. It just strikes me that we call up a new player and they just fit.

A British team getting things right for once.  But only like the cyclists, rowers and the boxers, with the gymnasts following close behind. The English football team should take note.  Especially, as I have a feeling that either the 2018 or 2022 World Cups will have to be moved to somewhere friendlier.

December 28, 2010 Posted by | Sport | , | Leave a comment

Geoffrey Boycott is Distraught

Poor Geoffrey Boycott is distraught for Australia, after the first day in Melbourne.  He has just said that it couldn’t have happened to nicer people.

December 26, 2010 Posted by | Sport | , | Leave a comment

The English Bowling Wasn’t That Good!

Looking at the wreakage of the first Australian innings in Melbourne this morning, as a statistician it is strange that every wicket was caught and there were no lbws or bowled.  So perhaps, England weren’t bowling that straight and the Aussies just gave catches away.

Was it just a ploy to give England a false sense of security?

December 26, 2010 Posted by | Sport | , | Leave a comment

The Worst Beer I Ever Had

As a coeliac, I don’t drink beer, except for the occasional one from Green’s which is gluten free. 

However watching the cricket from Australia has reminded me how bad their beer is.  When I went to Australia with C, I hadn’t been diagnosed as a coeliac, but as a proper man from Suffolk, I only drunk real ale and of course in a country like Germany, their real lager.  So I think virtually before we got to Australia, I had decided that I’d stick to the excellent wines and totally ignore the Fosters and the other products of chemical works.

I was also piloting an aircraft around the country, so obviously safety was paramount and alcohol was low down on my priorities.

I was  tempted once to have a beer and that was in a five-star hotel in Alice Springs. It was in a can, which is not the right place for any alcoholic drink anyway and called a Red Centre.

It was so bad, I gave up after perhaps a third of a glass.  I remember C was very surprised, as she always felt I could drink anything.

Talking of beers in cans, my father used to drink something called Long Life, which was a beer in the 1960s, that they said was brewed specifically for the can.  I did have a few at the time and the taste was not unlike the Green’s gluten-free beer I drink now., but rather gassy, with a chalky aftertaste. A good way to lose money would be to start brewing Long Life again, but then never underestimate beer drinkers’ taste.  Just advertise it a lot.

Incidentally, I’ve never drunk, anything like Fosters or Carling.  Trying Watney’s Red Barrel in the 1960s put me off that sort of so-called beer for life. But then I always had Adnams, Greene King, Youngs or Fullers on hand in Suffolk or London.

December 26, 2010 Posted by | Food, Transport/Travel, World | , , , | 2 Comments

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