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!
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.
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.
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?
Going Back to Bed as a Happy Bunny
It’s now approaching 4:30 and I’ve just watched an interesting ninety minutes of cricket as Australia decided to give England a lot of catching practice and became all out for just 98 runs.
So I’ve just made myself a LemSip and after I’ve drunk that and listened to the news, I’ll go back to bed and see if I can get back to sleep again. I suppose though I did get about six hours sleep overnight.
The LemSip is an odd flavour; Wild Berry and Hot Orange. If I need to buy some more, I’ll buy the traditional.
Hopefully, it will be alright when I get up in the morning, but England did look a bit collapsible in the last Test and I’ve got Ipswich today, tubes permitting. Town will have to try to play as well as they did in the snow eight days ago.
Waking up to Good News
There’s nothing that a good Pom likes more than to wake up to the news that the Australian cricket team is in trouble.
I turned television on just in time, to see the fifth Australian wicket go down for just 69 runs.
In some ways it all seems rather surreal with a troop of English fast bowlers bearing down on the batsmen. Never in my lifetime have we had so many good ones. Why? In the past we might have had a pair like Fred Trueman and Brian Statham, but usually it was a good one like John Snow or Bob Willis working with whatever could be found in County Cricket.
Why have things changed so much?
Perhaps other sports and business should find out and follow a similar path.
Shane Warne has Better Things to Do!
Shane Warne will not be trying to do the difficult job of helping out the Aussies in the next Test Match, as he seems to have found something better to do.
Up With the Morning Star
Venus has very bright these last few days, as I hope this picture shows.
Venus, The Morning Star
The planet is just above the tree in the middle.
I’ve pointed Venus out to several people lately and they haven’t realised what they are seeing. Knowledge of the stars and planets is something that should be properly taught. At my school, Minchenden, there was an observatory that contained a beautiful telescope in both artistic and scientific terms, that had once belonged to Prince Albert. One night, someone broke in, smashed it all and stole the lens. It was no act of wanton vandalism, but a cold calculated crime. I at least hope that the thief dropped the lens, so got no pleasure from his act.
I always look up when I’m in unfamiliar lattitudes. I remember when C and myself were in a hotel in Alice Springs, a kid of about sixteen had set up his telescope and was showing the guests the night sky from an Australian perspective. We had perhaps an hour of his charming and informed company. I hope that somewhere in the world, he is still following his hobby. Perhaps as a career!
Sadly, we were the only people, who that night took advantage of his company. But how many read their horoscopes every day and act on them?
No wonder the world is in the state it is today, if that is the general view of science.
So what am I doing up at this hour?
I slept well as I usually do, but last night, I spent several hours clearing my loffice loft of my past life. So most of it was old magazines, books and software I no longer need, but the only way to clear it, was to drop everything into a wheelie bin and then transfer it to boxes, which I then threw in the skip.
Clearing the Office Loft
It may have been a long-wnded process, but my shoulders aren’t strong enough to carry the boxes down the rather rickety loft ladder.
So perhaps the adrenaline is flowing through my body. I certainly feel pretty well today, although my left arm is tired.
Eleanor Oldroyd Solves the Aussies Problems
Eleanor Oldroyd is the First Lady of Fighting Talk and on today’s show she gave her learned opinion on how to improve the dreadful performance of the Australian’s so-called cricket team. She actually made two suggestions.
- We persuade the ICC to let the Aussies have a third innings.
- The English team play French cricket, which would mean they had to face the bowler directly.
The latter is a really serious suggestion, as it would probably mean that the likes of Strauss, Pietersen, Bell and Collingwood would rise to the challenge with superb stroke-play.
If you’ve never listened to Fighting Talk, it is one of the best programs on Radio 5 and is also available as a podcast.
Today’s was a particularly good edition, with the program finishing with Eleanor explaining how athletes fail drug tests for too much testosterone and/or Viagra.
The Anonymous Widower 