(no subject)

[athersgeo]

WE WON!!!

Also:

Dear England Cricket Team

Please stop giving cardiac units across the country work to do. It's really NOT necessary to win by the skin of your teeth. A nice 100 run victory would have been quite all right, thanks!

(Though a 2 run victory's considerably better than losing by 1 wicket.)

Rach

Comments

[allygatorkin.livejournal.com]

*jumps up and down in an excited manner*

Im so glad I dont have a nail biting habit!

[athersgeo.livejournal.com]

I chew my knuckles. I have teeth marks around my index fingers!

I have to admit, at 7 to win, I'd given it up. I fully expected Lee and Kasprowicz to succeed.

[(Anonymous)]

Yes, me too once the target got into single figures - many apologies to the England team for my lack of faith there! I'm sure they were just being nice to the paying public by making sure ticket-holders got as much of a day's play as possible *g*.
I had to tear myself away from the TV coverage about 5 minutes before the end, unfortunately - OK, straight to Test Match Special on car radio at that point, but it was more than a little frustrating!

Beth

[athersgeo.livejournal.com]

I think, based on things certain folks have said, the players thought it was gone at that point, too!

Ouch on having to go out before the end - as good as TMS is, it's no patch on actually seeing things as they happen. (Of course, only on TMS can you get such gems as "There are two prats at Durham..." *grin*)

[katherine-b.livejournal.com]

Dear Australian Cricket Team

At least be thankful we don't have bullies in our team who bowl at players they have just injured and try to injure them further. I, like you, thought that went out with the infamous Bodyline series, but it appears there was a time-warp and that is still being used by the Poms.

Yours,

KB

[athersgeo.livejournal.com]

Three words: Thommo and Lillie

[katherine-b.livejournal.com]

*lol* Should I have added 'this test'? ;-)

[athersgeo.livejournal.com]

*grin* I think Lee was only getting in return what he gave to Flintoff, to be fair. :)

So, where's your money for the next match? Is McGrath going to be fit? Will Stuart MacGill play as well as Warne? Can someone finally score a century?

[katherine-b.livejournal.com]

*lol* Well, I'm not betting anything on the result. I very much doubt Glen will play, if only because they won't take the risk of him further injuring himself. MacGill isn't someone I considered, being spin rather than speed, but as Edgbaston (that is where the next test is, isn't it?) does tend to offer more to spinners, he might be an option. As for a century, that will only happen if the bowlers get sloppy.

And absolutely no further comment on Lee vs Flintoff.... *eg*

[athersgeo.livejournal.com]

It's Old Trafford next - they've just finished at Edgbaston (I was going to be going to today's play had there been any!) - which is why I was wondering about MacGill. The question is, who would you drop to bring him in?

I agree about Glen - as perverse as it sounds, I hope he IS fit if for no other reason than he is such a nice bloke*. (They'll be revoking my English citizenship if I keep this up!)

As for the century, I think maybe it'll happen, too, if the batsmen STOP being sloppy *grin*

[katherine-b.livejournal.com]

Oops, my bad. And I think they would drop Gillespie, who really hasn't stood up and been counted properly. *lol* to your MacGrath comment. I believe he is a wonderful man, and he's had a really tough time. You know his wife has had cancer twice?

And I'd love a century from either side!!! They are such fun to watch, particularly in the 'nervous nineties'.

[athersgeo.livejournal.com]

I'd agree with you about Gillespie - except that would you really want to go into a five day test match with only two recognised seam bowlers? I think, myself, I'd drop a batsman (probably Hayden) and go in with five bowlers. From what I remember of Kattich playing county cricket, he can open and Hayden, like Gillespie, hasn't really stood up to be counted so far.

I didn't know that about MacGrath's wife - poor soul. I think I met her, in passing, in 2001 [see below!]. Hope that things have improved for her - and that they improve for him, too. I've always had a soft spot for him (yes, they really WILL be revoking my citizenship at this rate), ever since I was 'introduced' to him by Steve Waugh's diaries for the 93 tour to South Africa.

Ahh yes, the nervous nineties. Something that Mark Waugh and Mike Atherton managed to succumb to in the same test match *grin* There's a trivia question for you...

[katherine-b.livejournal.com]

They don't seem to like breaking up the Hayden-Langer pairing and they have let them keep playing together when both went through form slumps. And now that Brett Lee's in hospital with an infected knee (>:-<) there's a spot for MacGill. I don't know what the Australians will do know, although there are some very promising bowlers in the state levels who could go over. Personally, though, I wonder if the English team (I know the crowd and papers won't mind) will feel rather cheated if they win against less than a full-man Australian squad. I know I feel rather that way if, for instance, Australian wins against India without Ganguly, to name one example.

Jane MacGrath had breast cancer the first time and bone cancer the second, so it's amazing she's still alive. I also hope things go smoothly for them. (And yes, I'd say your citizenship is in dire straits right now. *g*)

The only thing more amusing than the nervous nineties is a tail-ender getting to double figured. *eg*

[athersgeo.livejournal.com]

You're right, Jane MacGrath is extremely lucky to be alive - both forms of cancer are treatable to a fair degree, but actually GETTING both and surviving both...wow.

*grins* You mean like Simon Jones? ;) (For what it's worth, I actually don't count Warne, Kasprowicz or Lee as actual tail-enders - they score far too many runs on far too regular a basis, where as someone like Glenn MacGrath or Simon Jones [or going back a few more years, Phil Tufnell and Devon Malcolm!] *tends* to be a wicket waiting to happen. They might score a few runs, but they're just as likely to send their first ball straight down the throat of fineleg!)

As for feeling cheated, I know exactly what you mean. I *do* feel that way about Edgbaston, to a degree (of course, had Mr MacGrath been playing, we might just have finished the game a little quicker on Sunday! *grin*), and if you're missing Brett Lee at Old Trafford, I shall feel it moreso.

[katherine-b.livejournal.com]

Yes, she's very lucky, but she's got a great attitude. When I checked her cancers on the web, most of the implication seemed to be that she was 'cured' of bone cancer, but I hadn't even heard that she had achieved proper remission, so that is good news.

And Warne and Lee learning one end of the bat from the other is a very rare occurrence. In fact, I have to admit to not having huge faith in either of them. Still, I wait to be contradicted. *settles comfortably for a long wait*

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks 'well, it's great we won, but it would have been better if so-and-so was playing'. And it doesn't sound like Brett will be back for the third test, but at least we should have both him and MacGill back for the fourth one.

[athersgeo.livejournal.com]

*I say this on the basis of having met him several times and discussed the relative merits of fruit rollups with him. (Long story.)

[katherine-b.livejournal.com]

And you think you can leave it at that? Details girl!!

[athersgeo.livejournal.com]

*snickers* Nothing like *that*. I met him in the 1997 Ashes series - I had gone down to watch Gloucestershire vs Australia and had taken some A-Level physics revision with me...which attracted some amused attention from certain Aussie bowlers. (I think, they could see there were diagrams on the pages I was reading through [diagrams of the Solar System, in fact!] and I *know* at least one of them came and peered over my shoulder at them [think that was Andy Bichel]. At close of play, I joined the autograph hunters and Mr McGrath and, I think, Mr Kasprowicz [in addition to Mr Bichel!] made comment about my reading material!)

Between then and 2001, I did some catering work at the County Ground and when, in 2001, I happened to pitch up at the County Ground to watch close of play in a county match (I'd come there from work), the head chef asked if I'd like to work at the England/Australia match, in the players' dining room...which is how come I've discussed the relative merits of fruit rollups - Glen was looking for something to give to his small child and he was wondering whether or not fruit rollups were any good.

[katherine-b.livejournal.com]

*lol* I thought nothing of the kind! Just your dirty mind that made you think I would think that...

I have to say that I can imagine they all being very amused, particularly as I dare say some of them *coughWarniecough* probably couldn't understand it if he tried. I'd forgotten about you working at the County Ground, so that explains how you had time to chat about something so mundane. If you'd done something so mundane while autograph-hunting, you would have been lynched by the impatient people behind you! *lol*

[athersgeo.livejournal.com]

*laughs* No lynching on Ian Healy's watch, I can tell you. He actually martialed the autograph hunters into a neat line and made sure they stayed that way. (Of course, it DOES help being an ex-teacher!)

As for understanding the diagrams (or not) - the one that Bichel peered at over my shoulder was the very, very basic plot of the solar system and the nine planets. Assuming they can all read, they can all understand that one *grin* (It got vastly more complicated after that!)

[katherine-b.livejournal.com]

Good for Heals! I'd believe it of him, too. When he's in the box, one always has the feeling he's in charge, and on the field, he definitely appeared to be dominating.

And I make no comment on the intelligence (or otherwise) of the Aussie team, or I might be got up for defamation or something. Bwahahaha...

[antigone-ks.livejournal.com]

heh, ok, today's getfuzzyfeed was directly above your post on the flist today. And even though that was football and yours is cricket, it gave me such a laugh.

[athersgeo.livejournal.com]

Beautiful syncronicity, I think :)

And ooooh, there's a feed for getfuzzy?

[athersgeo.livejournal.com]

*reads today's comic*

*giggles*

Hartlepool FC would be one of the teams I express an interest in - of all the random footie teams to mention...

*loves get fuzzy*

[antigone-ks.livejournal.com]

so glad I found that feed :) makes my day a little brighter.