SXSW 2007

2007-03-22T05:31:00.000Z

There's a saying "What happens in Vegas, Stays in Vegas" so I'm not sure if I'm breaking some sort of unwritten code by showing these pictures. But I couldn't resist.

Probably the one thing I've wanted to in Vegas since I was here with Faz in 2005 has been to shoot various machine guns/pistols at a range here. I only found out about it too late last time & I've been waiting for a chance to have a go ever since. It's the sort of scene that you just can't imagine in the UK. You walk into a little store a couple of miles from the strip and plastered all over the walls are every conceivable type of machine gun, rifle and pistol, most of which are available to rent and fire in the range out back. All it takes is to sign the legal disclaimer (presumably to cover them if you shoot yourself or anyone else - "going postal" as I believe it's known over here), pay the girl at the till, collect earmuffs and safety glasses and you're ready to go. I decided to start with the favourite of terrorists and rebel armies the world over, the AK47. (Picture no. 2 above). An instructor takes you into the range, gives you a few quick safety drills and than hands you the weapon!

It gives you a real shot of adrenalin when you're handed a fully loaded machine gun (or technically assault rifle). You gently squeeze the trigger and BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM suddenly you've loosed of half a dozen rounds! The muzzle jumps around a lot too making accurate firing hard. The target of Osama Bin Laden I was aiming at was only 10 yards away at the most and I hit it easily, but I suspect if it was say, double that, you would miss with as many shots as hit. I had bought 2 magazines (50 shots) and loosed them off in rapid

fashion. The rifle barrel gets surprisingly hot too! You have a forward grip to hold but can feel the heat though it.

I then tried a Beretta 9mm automatic pistol. This was a bit less daunting than the AK47, but I gave myself the more difficult target of a hostage being held in front of the gunman. You have to try and aim for the head, missing the poor old hostage. Again from only 10 yards, I managed to hit the gunman fairly consistently, but unfortunately 100% accuracy is required in these sort of situations. One shot would have winged my hostage in the shoulder, one in the ear, and more fatally, one right in the throat! I won't be volunteering for a SWAT team any time soon. I will definitely have more respect for the armed police after this. Having to deal with all the variables, with the possiblity of someone firing back at you too, is a job I wouldn't want for all the tea in China.

Next up was a Heckler & Koch MP5. This is the sort of gun the police carry in airports in the UK. It was a much more subtle machine gun - less muzzle jump, and more accurate by far than the AK47. The results at 10 yards are very similar though!

Finally I plucked up the courage to try try the .44 Magnum revolver, the infamous Dirty Harry gun. (Picture top above). This is a BIG gun! Compared to the Beretta, it's a bit like comparing a collie dog with a Great Dane. Off we go back into the range, my instructor being a small blond woman, with me wondering if I'm going to make a right fool of myself. She loads up the famous 6 shells (Did I fire 5 or did I fire 6? You know in all the commotion I'm not quite sure myself!!) and gives me some safety rules and then hands it over. Grip with both hands, making sure to keep the thumb away from the hammer, stand square to the target, bend the knees, and squeeeezze the trigger and KABLAM!!! The muzzle jerks upwards and you get a real kick backwards. I'm aiming at a more stylised target with red dots to indicate the target areas - body, head etc. After 6 shots the instructor empties the gun and reloads and I aim at another area. In all 20 shots, and then the target is reeled back towards me. To my amazement the groupings are pretty good (check it out on the picture). Even the instructor was very complimentary - though I suspect she may say that to all the blokes!

You can tell the effect all this had on me - just look at the size of the grin on my face in the photos! It's a very weird feeling, part fear, part power, part total elation. I wouldn't want to get too attached to it, but I'm glad I've had the chance to do it. I would heartily recommend anyone going to Vegas to give it a go. It's pretty cheap really - $50 for AK47 & 2 mags, $40 for the H&K MP5 and one mag, $25 for the Beretta for 2 mags and $60 for the Magnum and 20 shots. There were loads of other weapons - Uzi 9mm, M16, Sten gun, Tommy gun, German MP40 (WWII) etc etc. You won't get a chance to do anything like this back in good old Nanny State UK. There were other British guys there while I was there too. Obviously there's a bit of a latent desire in many blokes back home in the UK to try and emulate Arnie, Sly and Clint.

Incidentally, if you're a fan of the Dirty Harry movies (as I am) you may have noticed the way the gun in the movies really kicks upwards when fired. This is totally realistic. Though I wouldn't want to try firing it one handed as Clint does. I was using both hands and still had to fight to control it. But I suppose Hollywood has never made accuracy one of it's watchwords.

Anyway I've rambled on a bit too much about this now so I'll stop now. But as they say in the moves, I'LL BE BACK!!!

2007-03-18T06:27:00.000Z

Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a winner! The much coveted Best Performance at SXSW 2007 goes to.......................................

THE AUTOMATIC!

I started this evening by visiting a venue a bit away from the centre as there was an Israeli guy playing there that I had met when Daniel Johnston played the SESAC stage at the convention centre. He had described himself as a sort of Badly Drawn Boy type of singer so, as I had no other "leads" I thought I'd take the plunge. Unfortunately he turned out to be more Poorly Sketched Lad than Badly Drawn Boy! After the Moz enspired 3 song minimum I gave up and went outside to see the other band playing on the patio. They went by the name Wax Fang and hailed from Louisiana. They were greaser rockers in the Motorhead tradition, but redeemed themselves by having the eccentricity to include a theramin in their act. I'm assuming it was a theramin (or similar device as the singer "played" it by waving his hand around a central aerial). I stayed til the end of their set and then wandered down to the Convention centre to the live TV set where a cable network had been broadcasting sets all week. I was particularly interested in seeing Stars of Track & Field who I had seen briefly on Weds (or possibly Thurs - the days and bands are beginning to merge into one). There was a reasonable crowd given that it was away from the main action areas. I enjoyed the set - they are a sort of slightly rockier Coldplay I suppose. I will definitely get their album if I can find it somewhere. They finished their set in true rock fashion - the bass guitarist trashed his guitar by smashing it on the ground in the finest Who tradition.

Then, as they were on next, and I had nowhere else to go, I thought I'd watch The Automatic. I got the album some time ago, but apart from the tracks Monster and Recover I hadn't been that impressed. They kicked off in fine fettle, and it soon became apparent that one of the band (the guy who plays keyboards and sings) was not a happy bunny. He made some comment about the stage manager being "disrespectful" and seemed to be picking a fight with his lead guitarist. All this led to the whole performance having a real edge for a studio gig with only 20-30 people in the audience.At one stage he threw his mike off the stage where it had to be fetched by a stage hand, and proceded to wander among the audience while still singing. Despite all this the band kept up manfully and the songs came over very powerfully. When they finished I turned to leave and saw a guy behind me with a festival badge that read "The Automatic" so I assume he was with the band. He was saying to his female companion "I think we'll let them calm down be fore we go back to see them". Whatever was the problem it certainly made for a great live show.

After that I went back to 6th street and queued for ages to get in to see Daniel Johnston again. The place was heaving, with a queue to get in stretching across the street. I wanted to see if he really was as I had remembered from the other day. I wasn't dissappointed. He was just as oddball as I thought, tho he had obviously been told not to tell the concentration camp joke again! With a person such as this it's a fine line between naive genius and freakshow. It's up to you to decide where you think he falls but I personally come down on the side of the former (just!). I have no idea if he has any recordings at all, and I suspect they would not capture the live performance that well.

The rest of the evening rather petered out - I tried to get in to see a band called +/- (plus/minus) but there was a long queue on a one in one out basis. I could hear what they were like and it didn't grab me so I moved on to another bar and watched a all girl trio of singers called Au Revoir Simone. They performed sweet sort of hamonic songs which were easy on the ear but to be honest had no real substance to them. I listened for a while and moved on again. I aimed to see a band called the Wildhearts from Newcastle but upon reaching the venue saw that their name had been replaced on the bill by someone else. I took this a sign and called it a night at about 1:30am.

So that's about it. I think there might be one or two places with gigs tomorrow but I will probably give them a miss. I have seen more live performances by bands doing their own material in the last few days than I have in the entire rest of my life so forgive me if I feel a little gigged out! I can now add SXSW festival to my travel CV and can heartily recommend it to any music lover.

2007-03-17T14:57:00.000Z

Has anyone heard of Daniel Johnston? He's the guy on the left, a sort of Van Morrison type figure to look at, but with more mental health problems apparently. Check him out on wikipedia and you'll get the full picture. He was down at the SESAC stage at the convention centre yesterday. I was only there really to sit down and have a (very) late lunch, as I didn't surface til gone 1:30pm yesterday. These late nights are too much for an old man like me.

Anyway, I'm sitting there, watching a rapper from NY called Brother Ali, a 250lb albino Muslim (I quote from the write-up in the paper!), followed by a mix/scratch artist by the name of Kid Koala (a Chinese guy), as the area slowly begins to fill up. By the time the turntables had been dismantled the place was heaving. And this guy shambles on stage. He's obviously got the shakes as he has to hold the microphone with both hands to keep it anywhere near his mouth. He tells a couple of very questionable jokes while waiting for the band to tune up (including one about jews in concentration camps, and gives a nazi salute - I kid you not!) and then launches into a song about wanting to kill the devil! So far, so weird. But his voice is very hypnotic. Sometimes it's almost cracked but also sounds somehow absolutely right. It's very odd, but also sounds like I've heard it before. You know, in the way you hear a song and think, Hang on I know this, but you have never actually heard it before. So he does a few more numbers, including a cover of Band on the Run for good measure and it's over. I felt a bit sorry for the next guys on, who I saw last night anyway, called the Cinematics, doing an acoustic set. There was no way anyone could follow this guy. He was a complete show stopper.

So on to the evenings entertainment. I hadn't managed to find many must see bands so I was prepared to just go with the flow and see what happened. I started with a band called Cities, who I can hardly remember to be honest, which is why I should have done this write-up last night when I got in. The next band however were unforgettable. They were a keyboard duo in the mould of the Chemical Brothers, with the added visual of dressing in black and white chequered jumpsuits, with covers over their heads and only ski type goggles to see out by. I have been trying to upload the picture to give you the full impression but my wireless connection is playing silly buggers so I try again later. Edit: Now added but appears at the top for some reason.

After that I returned to the first bar I was in and caught the end of a set by canadian band called Rock City Plaza, who were rather folky, with accordions. I then waited in the same venue for the singer I mentioned a few days ago, Robyn Hitchcock. Thanks to wikipedia again I now know he was in a band called The Soft Boys back in the UK in the 70/80s. He did an acoustic set with another guitarist and a backing singer, finishing with a song entitled I want to kill you, Karl Rove, which went down a storm with the crowd, despite Texas being Dubya's back yard.

I then had a pit stop at the hotel and returned to the fray in time to see a band called Sloan. They hail from Toronto, and are a real throw back to the 70s and 80s AOR. Think Boston or Foreigner etc. They comprised 3 guitarist/singers, a drummer who also could play guitar and sing ( and did for 2 numbers, being replaced by the lead singer on drums) and a keyboard player. So they knew their onions. Real rock stuff, harmonised voices, posturing guitar playing etc. I loved it! I've a secret penchant for such cheesy stuff (I could admit to owning albums by Toto - but won't) so really enjoyed it. They even had the crowd singing along to their last number, so they must be reasonably well known over here.

The last band of the evening were called the Ettes, and were somewhat removed in style from the last band. They were a 3 piece, with female lead guitarist/singer and also a female drummer. (Incidentally I've seen more female performers in bands over here than one ever does back home). They played buzz saw style fast punky stuff a la Ramones. No harmonized voices or long guitar solos here, just loads of attitude and quick numbers fired at you out of a gun.

So there it is - 6 bands in a evening. You could do more, but there is a limit to how much you can take in at one time really. If you're not careful everything can just blend in together.

2007-03-16T18:26:00.000Z

I've only just realised I can adjust the settings on this blog so that anyone can write comments without having to be a member. Which I have now done. Let the comments flow..........

2007-03-16T07:18:00.000Z

Tonight turned out to a game of two halves. It started well with a band from Glasgow called The Cinematics, who were really a sort of Franz Ferdinand knockoff, but none the worse for it. They were followed by Wombatz, a Liverpool band, at another venue. Nothing very special to write home about there. Then a stab in the dark, based on nothing other than a throw away line in a newspaper interview, the wonderfully named New Violators. They hail from Norway and have a delightfully eccentrically dressed lead singer and produce powerful, melodic songs. Very listenable.

Then followed a bit of a hiatus as the band I wanted to see at 10pm were in such a small venue that it was too cramped to really be able to watch them comfortably. As there was nothing else I fancied close to hand, a quick pit stop back at the hotel was called for. Then followed The Dears from Montreal. Again, nothing to write home about here either. Nothing that grabbed the ear or the soul. I then decided to give Amy Winehouse a try (so to speak!). Having gained entry to the venue & located a good spot to watch from, it soon became apparent I was in the wrong place! A quick check of the all important schedule confirmed I had read the wrong line and was in the wrong club. Fortunately the correct one was just along the road and I was soon inside. The instruments were still being set up, so I thought that Ms Winehouse would be on shortly. Fashionably late so to speak. Again it soon became clear that the next band were definitely not Amy Winehouse. Instead we got a hard rock band in the Limp Bizkit mould, complete with psycho bass player who must be responsible for at least one dismembered body, judging by his 1000 yard vacant stare. He rather reminded me of the pot man from the Wheatsheaf - a sort of Cro-Magnon missing link! Having made a few inquiries, I discovered that the running order had changed and Amy would be on last at 1am. Eventually after what seemed an eternity of instrument setting up and sound checking, we were ready to go.

I wasn't really sure what to expect as I'm not really a great fan of her style of music, but I was really surprised. Her voice is amazing. She's another tiny person with a massive voice. She did about a 40 minute set, finishing predictably with her Rehab hit single. True to her bad girl image she sipped various drinks throughout the set. I doubt one could see her in such an intimate venue in the UK. It was no bigger than the Furnace (Level 3 for you oldies) in Swindon. The crowd seemed to like her anyway, and it would probably been even more packed had some people not left, not realising the running order had changed.

So there we have it. Another day and night of music gone. Two down, two to go!

2007-03-15T22:38:00.000Z

The picture left shows 6th street which is one of the main bar/venue streets for sxsw. They close it off to traffic and as you can see it's busy all the time. Come midnight it will be jam packed with people hopping from venue to venue, trying to see as many different bands as possible.

Yesterday when I was wandering around trying to get my bearings I kept seeing signs on bars and restaurants saying "Best Brunch in town" & "Cheapest Brunch" and I wondered what the fascination with brunch was. I now understand! After a late night (or early morning) finish it's very unlikely that many people will require breakfast. I finally had mine at about midday. I then mosied on down to the Convention centre to the stage there and spent a good chunk of the afternoon watching a succession of different bands and performers there. It's a good place to see an eclectic mix of genres, with the added bonus of a cafe to keep the stomach happy, and plenty of chairs to sit on (a very important factor at my advanced age and general state of relaxation).

I had better record who I saw while the memories are still fresh: a female singer songwriter by the name of St Vincent (nothing really stood out for me), a large group called Oakley Hall who performed understated lo-fi pop songs, a rapper call Busdriver, who had great stage presence and energy, but totally incomprehensible lyrics (my application to be a High Court Judge is in the post), the commercially suicidally named Holy Fuck, who I only went back to watch because of their name, and who turned out to be a great mainly instrumental synth based band who also had a guitarist and drummer. They played really fast stuff that I really enjoyed. Then came Stars of Track and Field (who I may have heard of before, I'm not sure) who were very good as well - fast guitar based songs with good hooks, and finally, just before I left, Martha Wainwright (any relation to Rufus? I don't know), another acoustic singer songwriter, with no backing band, who attracted a large crowd.

I also spent a bit of time wandering around the Trade Show part of the Convention centre - loads of stands with people either promoting bands from their particular region or country (there were stands from UK, Australia, New Zealand & Canada, among others), who all gave away free CD samplers of the bands they had at the festival. There were also music industry stands - everything from instruments and gear to CD recording companies, and loads of websites that will manage your material and sell it online for you (be warned Smyth, I've got loads of ideas for you to think about!). Generally a real freeby fest. I now have enough CDs of unknown bands to keep me interested for months.

It really is amazing how many bands are here - as well as the official venues (there are 1300 official bands) there are other bars and places having their own lineups of artists, mostly local or US bands, and a lot of the venues have afternoon shows as well - you could watch non-stop music from about 12 midday until 2am the next morning if you so desired. Obviously the quality can leave a bit to be desired in the afternoon, but the quantity is still impressive.

While I was watching and listening this afternoon I managed to find a couple of free papers with all the listings in, and reviews of a lot of the bands, so tonight I have a bit better idea of what's on where and when so I should be able to hop between venues a bit more. As the bands have to take down their gear and the new one has to set up and tune up, there tends to be a reasonable gap between acts so it's quite possible to nip out, see a bit of someone else and return to the first bar in time to see the next act you wanted to see. Maximising your viewing capacity. Among the bands/artists I will try and see tonight are Thomas Dolby (mainly because I heard a rumour when I was a kid that he went to my old school), Amy Winehouse, Badly Drawn Boy, Albert Hammond jr (he of the Strokes) and The Fratellis. I also have a list of unknowns that sounded like stuff I might like as well.

Just to annoy Faz, as he wasn't able to come, I should point out that Ian McLagan of the Small Faces lives out here now and has been performing stuff of theirs, and was joined on stage by Pete Townshend last night as well (he's here as a keynote speaker). Also Donovan (yes the original one off the 60's) was here as well playing in a Church hall of all places opposite my hotel. I saw the name but assumed it was someone else. I saw the review today that said he saw so many canes and crutches among the audience that he thought it could be a faith healing service!

Anyway that's enough for now. A shower and change of clothes & I will be ready for the fray. More later - or should I say tomorrow?

2007-03-15T07:25:00.000Z

It's about 2:30 in the morning and I've just got in from the night's entertainment. I have to put some of my thoughts and memories down now or I'll have forgotten most of them by tomorrow (or today as it is now). I have to say that I was a bit unsure as to whether this trip would be a bit of a bust or not. It was a bit of a shot in the dark really. So it is really gratifying to be able to report that has been GREAT FUN! I've seen about 8-10 different bands or acts so far, from acts I've never heard of, to ones that I have, and really like already, such as Razorlight who played the NME event. I guess that they are not as big over here as they are back home as you would never be able to see them in such a small venue in England. Other people I've seen are the Automatic (just caught the end of their set), Jamie T and the Bravery (pictured).

I also saw a strange performance down at the stage at the convention centre this afternoon. The schedule said Robyn Hitchcock, so I was expecting a female singer/songwriter type. Instead I got a male 60's hippy throwback, who proceeded to perform accoustic versions of songs from the sixties and seventies, while, in between numbers, interviewing a guy by the name of Joe Boyd, who was some sort of producer in the sixties and worked with people such as Bob Dylan (he was there when Dylan did his famous electric performance), Pink Floyd, The Incredible String Band, Nick Drake etc. It doesn't sound much on paper, but in the flesh it was rivetting. These guys must be better known than I would credit because the auditorium was packed. Perhaps the better musically educated (Faz/Pug/Moz?) can enlighten me?

I also saw on the same bill a band from London called Scanners, a fourpiece, with 2 guys and 2 girls. One of the girls was the singer and she (and they) were very good. As a result I went and saw their set in the evening as well. Some catchy numbers, lots of attitude and a good looking female singer. Could go far? You heard it here first.

A quick point - as a well known non-drinker I am often found ordering a diet coke (other brands are available) from the bar. In 2 separate venues tonight the bar tender wouldn't let me pay for it on the grounds it was only a diet coke and had no alcohol in it. It seems that in the land of the unfettered profit, there is a heart after all. Indeed in all my years buying the same drinks in the UK I have NEVER been given a free one! So perhaps a little less of the sense of superiority over the Septics could be in order? OK, rant over.

2007-03-14T17:49:00.000Z

As I write this I am looking out over the grey Austin Downtown skyline, as shown in the picture on the left. In fact I'm feeling quite at home as the conditions are suitably English - grey, a bit damp, but not cold. What you see in the picture is 6th and 7th streets, the epicentre for the SXSW music festival. 6th street especially is lined with bars and venues, all of which come 6pm will be blasting out music at high volume. In fact I can hear music already (it's about lunchtime) even up on the 12th floor of my hotel! There are venues all over town as well, but I'm pretty much in the centre of things here in my hotel and can easily walk (at my usual fast pace) to everywhere I need to go.

I arrived in Austin last night (Tuesday) at about 11pm. I felt like I had been on the road for ever! I left Swindon at 8pm on Sunday, and despite a night at the Stansted Hilton, and a night at the Golden Nugget in Las Vegas, I hadn't had a great deal of sleep.The airport was chocka with people arriving for sxsw - fans, bands, music industry types. I was lucky in that the chap I was sitting next to on the plane was getting picked up at the airport by his girlfriend and very kindly offered me a lift to my hotel as he lived nearby. So I got a bit of a short guided tour from some locals. I finally fell into bed at about 12:30am.

After a solid night's sleep that has put paid to the jetlag (I hope),this morning I went down to the Convention Centre and picked up my registration badge, which has to be worn on a lanyard around the neck to gain entry to all the venues. Everything was a bit chaotic, but after an hour or so of queuing the not-at-all inexpensive badge was mine. It came with a goody bag of stuff, mainly promotional stuff for bands, and venues, but also some cds and oddments, including 2 condoms! I suppose this is a music bash after all. Sex & Drugs & Rock'n'Roll and all that. I'll stick to the rock'n'roll. (For now anyway...............)

I think I'll head down towards the convention centre as there's a stage there with bands all afternoon, get some lunch, and try and work out which venues I'd like to take in this evening, and which bands are must-see items. Apparently most places will be open until 2am so it could be a late one!

2007-01-06T23:14:00.000Z

End of tour analysis.

The worst thing we could do now is do the usual England media inspired new broom approach. I guess the media back home are calling for Fletcher's head (as usual with any England coach in any sport who fails to win). I think this would be stupid. When you look dispassionately at what has occurred several things come to mind.
Firstly this is a very good Aussie team. No, make that a great Aussie team. In terms of how they dominate their sport they are up there with the West Indies from 1975-95, the Brazilian football team of the early 1970's and the current All Black rugby team. To give you some idea of the amount of experience in the side that just beat us, Moz and I were watching a rerun of the Oval Ashes test in 2001 on TV (it was raining in the S.Africa vs India game) last night.Of that Aussie side, 8 played in this series - Langer, Hayden,Ponting,Martyn, Gilchrist, Warne, McGrath and Lee. Only the Waugh twins have retired and Gillespie is still on the fringes of the team. That's over 5 years ago. No-one from the England side was still around for this series. Tufnell was still playing for God's sake! When you have that sort of continuity you have a massive body of experience to draw on.

Secondly, this series was closer than the 5-0 scoreline would suggest. Just as 2005 could have been 4-1 to Australia, this series could have been 3-1 to the Aussies or even at a pinch 2-2. In every test bar Brisbane there has been a point at which the test was right in the balance. And each time some Aussie player stood up and produced a wicket or innings when required. We didn't. That has been the difference. Make no bones about it, we competed in this series, just not for long enough in each test to force the Aussies into errors.
Thirdly, despite all the naysayers England are still 2nd in the Test rankings, slightly above the pack chasing Australia. No-one else has looked remotely like challenging them - they are on a run of 10 or 11 consecutive wins since the Ashes defeat in 2005. They have just beaten S Africa home and away. The last team to manage a series draw here in Oz was India in 2003, when they had their very powerful batting lineup at full strength and (more crucially) both McGrath and Warne were unavailable through injury and a ban. That is what faces the Aussies now those two are gone. The inability to bowl teams out in pretty much any conditions.
Fourthly, England's team is young. Of the current lineup all should be available for the 2009 Ashes series in England. A good proportion of them are in their early to mid twenties. Cook, Bell, Pietersen, Anderson, Madmood, Panesar are all young and learning. This will have been a tough time for them all but they SHOULD take something from this defeat. It should give them the hunger to improve, give them a standard to aspire to. Indeed if I were England coach I would be looking at those young players for the signs that it has hurt them and that they want to improve. Those would be the ones I would want to keep. Anyone who was prepared to think that the status quo would be good enough, as you don't play Australia all the time, would be out on his ear. There must be a hunger to win.
Finally, as good as this Aussie team is, it's finished. Four members have gone this series - Martyn, Langer, Warne and McGrath. Before the next Ashes series both Hayden and Gilchrist will have gone too. As good as Ponting and Hussey are they will not be able to carry the batting lineup totally themselves. No-one could possibly repeat what Gilchrist has done at number 7. It's unprecedented to have a wicket keeper who can average 50 in Test cricket. As for Warne and McGrath, what more can be said. Over 1200 test wickets between them. Even if you found two players with equal talent they would take time to bed in. And you are not going to get replacements, especially for Warne. He is a once in a lifetime, even century, kind of player. So the Australian side faces a tough few years of retrenchment. You can see how tough it will be by the manic insistence in the Aussie press that everything will be alright and no-one need to panic. Everything will continue as normal. Well, I don't buy it. Right now I would rather be in England's shoes. Yes we are low, but the path is upwards. The Australians are standing on the edge of a high cliff looking into the abyss, with no idea how far the bottom is away. In 10 months time, when they play their next test series, they will have to step off that cliff and see what occurs. I for one shall be watching with interest.

2007-01-05T04:06:00.000Z

At least the end was mercifully quick. As McGrath removed Pietersen in the first over of the day there was never any faint hope of a lead over 150 and a potential banana skin run chase. A few edges and the odd slog from Harmison and the target was only 46 for Australia to chase to win the series 5-0 and repeat the 1920-21 scoreline. McGrath took the last wicket with what would be his last ball in Test cricket.
Harmison and Anderson did their best and Langer wore a Hamison short ball on the chest but the inevitable happened soon after midday. Hayden smacked Mahmood over long on for 6 to level the scores and hit an easy single next ball to win the game. This seemed rather selfish on his part as Langer had apparently never hit the winning runs in a test. It would have taken only one dot to give Langer the strike and let him score the winning runs. But I suppose that's the Aussie way - never give in to emotion, just win the game. Perhaps England should follow the example.

So we now have 3 spare days to kill before our return. Moz has booked up some tours - the Blue Mountains for one. I plan to go to Manly on the ferry one day, and into the blue Mountains by train to the Zig Zag railway tomorrow. It's a preserved steam railway travelling through some spectacular countryside so I should get some good photos. A bit of shopping on our last day on Monday and that's it! Back to damp, cold, dark evenings etc etc. All good things come to an end......................

2007-01-04T08:02:00.000Z

If only England had as good fortune as I have managed on this tour. Not only have I survived a train wreck without a scratch but today managed to score a ticket to day 3 at the SCG for face value. Due to a ticketing mix up we had no tickets for today. Moz decided to take the day off from cricket to do some sightseeing while I maintained the cricket hardcore stance and set off early to see if I could find someone with a spare ticket. After wandering up and down outside the ground for a good 15 minutes without even seeing a tout I was beginning to wonder if I would get in. Just then 3 guys wandered past, one pulling the tickets out of his pocket and passing them on to his mates, saying "Well that means I've got 1 ticket to get rid of then." I don't think I've ever moved so fast! Before anyone else could get in there, the deal was done and a ticket in the Bill O'Reilly stand was mine for face value. Result! Now all I needed was for England to come up with the goods as well.
Jimmy Anderson came up trumps and dismissed Hussey in his first over caught behind. Some attritional cricket followed with several close shaves as Gilchrist rode his luck, skying one off Harmison between all the fielders. Then a stupid shot by Symonds 2 short of his fifty, and he was bowled by Panesar. Warne came in to a standing ovation to what will probably be his last test innings. First ball went for 4, swept down to fine leg. Second ball for 6 over mid wicket. He then survived a very confident appeal for caught behind off Panesar. Radio confirmed he had gloved it which led to some heavy sledging from behind the stumps by Read. This led Warne complain to the umpire.Very ironic given his history when bowling himself! Gilchrist looked in good form and ready to take the game away from England when he got a bit of a shocker from Bowden - given out caught behind off Anderson, when it looked like he had hit the ground. Lee fell immediately after lunch caught behind again giving Read 5 catches in a innings for the second time in a row. At this stage Australia were 325-8, 36 in front. Stuart Clark played and missed repeatedly but England could not get the wicket. Warney played his shots as always and Clark began to hit a few as well. Mahmood made a schoolboy error by not getting behind the stumps when bowling when he could have run Warne out easily. It proved a costly error as the runs mounted as did the lead for Australia. It began to look as if Warne might get his much desired Test hundred in his last test! At least that ignominy was spared for England when eventually Clark skied one off Mahmood and Warne soon followed, well stumped by Read off Panesar, going for one big hit too many. Read ended up with 6 dismissals in the innings, equally the record for Ashes tests, again for the 2nd time in succession. If only he could bat..................
So England went in for their 2nd innings 102 in arrears. Cook fell with only 5 on the board trying to pull a ball from Lee that was too wide for that shot. Strauss then got poleaxed by Lee, being hit on the side of the helmet. For while it looked like he might have to go off but seemed OK and carried on. But not much later he was lbw to Clark, Bell following soon after as well leaving England 60ish-3. Collingwood and Pietersen ground it out to just about par, batting stoutly against very well directed bowling. Nothing to hit was given and eventually Collingwood drove loosely at another Clark delivery and was caught in the gully. Freddie and Pietersen seemed to be seeing it out til the close when that man Warne lured Freddie ever so slightly too far forward and was stumped by a very alert Gilchrist. With that, any chance England had probably vanished. Monty was sent out as nightwatchman and did his job, facing out Clark with every fielder around the bat.
So the end should come fairly quickly tomorrow, unless Pietersen can summon up a miracle. I keep going to games involving England and Australia which require a miracle. Maybe tomorrow will be the 1 in a 1000. Who knows?

2007-01-03T08:56:00.000Z

It's nip and tuck in this game so far. Despite England's failure to manage reach even 300 this morning, they are still in this game.
Collingwood went early, caught behind, Read soon followed that, having never looked like getting in. Mahmood went first ball, completely flummoxed by a Lee thunderbolt. Harmison hung around with Freddie who got within 11 of his century. After Harmison was out Freddie rather threw it away when faced with just Panesar and Anderson to bat with. England closed on 291 all out.
Australia set off like the proverbial, Langer especially. He was strangled down the legside by Anderson, but Ponting and Hayden looked really set to grind England into the dust when, completely out of the blue, Hayden flashed at a wide ball from Harmison and was caught of the toe end in the slips. Not long after Ponting pushed the ball straight to Anderson at mid on, set off and Anderson hit direct with a rocket throw. I could tell from my position at deep mid wicket that it was out, and England's body language said the same. Sure enough the 3rd umpire confirmed us all correct and Ponting was on his way. After tea the rain clouds threatened us several times but seemed to pass around the ground. Then, just as a dark bunch of clouds promised us a heavy shower , Harmison produced a lifter to remove Clarke. Before Symonds could even reach the wicket the umpires were on their way off. The covers soon followed and for about half an hour the drizzle set in. Then as it cleared the umpires came out and were very decisive for once. The covers were slowly (in my opinion) removed and play resumed with 11 overs or 55 minutes to finish the day. Despite tight bowling from Harmison and Anderson England could not force another wicket, despite a poor shot from Symonds in the last over, bowled by Panesar. Having just lofted him over the infield for 4, he tried to repeat the shot, a skewed the ball just over points head. It's that sort of headstrong behaviour in a crucial point in a test match that will prevent him from becoming genuine test all rounder.
With Australia on 188-4 at close, tomorrow looks set to be a good day with all to play for. Unfortunately we don't have tickets due to a mix up over tickets. But we will try to get some from the touts outside in the morning. Failing that we'll just have to watch it on the TV. We've got tickets for day 4 and day 5 should be OK, so lets hope it goes to the wire!

2007-01-02T21:48:00.000Z

The after effects of the NYE celebrations are still being felt by certain members of our group. There was no movement by anyone before midday on New Years Day. I spent most of the afternoon sorting out my photos and uploading them to this blog and the online album. Moz eventually surfaced and went for a walk to Bondi beach. Later we both met up with John Shiner (another ex-Nationwide expat), who had sorted out our tickets here, for a curry, which is the Morris tradition on New Years Day. It turned into a bit of a farce, as despite making a booking, the restaurant cancelled it and gave our table to other customers. So we were standing around for ages to wait for a table. They then messed up our order and Tutes didn't get his main course, and various other dishes never showed up either. The food that did arrive was very good though. I think we ended up paying about $15 each (£6) so at least we weren't too out of pocket!

On the the CRICKET! Another damp start to a test, with the start delayed by over an hour. It had rained heavily overnight and the drizzle was enough to stop play. When things got underway England won the toss and batted - a reasonable decision given the conditions vs the obvious problems of batting last at the SCG. Despite another solidish start Strauss and Cook failed to push on and both fell close together, either side of 50 runs. A solid partnership between Bell and Pietersen ensued. Play was pretty slow at times in the afternoon, but they batted through unbeaten til tea. Unfortunately they both got out (to that man McGrath) soon after. Despite an obvious opening Australia didn't seem to really push their advantage and by the close Freddie and Collingwood had moved on to about 240-4. Honours even for day 1, loads to do on day 2.

Our seats were in Barmy Army central. In fact our seats were directly in front of the trumpeter Billy Cooper, and "Jimmy Saville" the cheerleader. So we were involved in all the singing and chanting and general chitchat between the Barmies and the Aussies. Today we are in the same sort of area but higher up in the stand.

2007-01-01T01:26:00.000Z

There are 3 ways to get the best views of the NYE celebrations in Sydney Harbour - Firstly queue for hours to get the best spots around the harbour. You can count on at least an 8 hour wait, probably 10-12. Secondly own your own boat. Then you can sit in it in the harbour and enjoy the show at your leisure. A bit of an expensive option. Or you can take the third way as we did and book onto a cruise boat that takes you around the harbour all night and gives you great views of the city and the fireworks. It's not cheap but in terms of bang for your buck it's worth every penny. We were booked on to one of the paddle steamer type boats, and were on an all in ticket. All food and alcohol included. I think Moz and Tutes took this as a challenge. As I write its about 12:30pm here and Moz is still in bed. I suspect he maybe there for a while yet. I have a great picture of him sprawled on a bench in the metro on the way home. I'll try to upload if I can. As for Tutes, well I left him at Jason and Fizza's hotel in Darling Harbour. They were drinking champagne as a celebration of Jason getting engaged to his girlfriend earlier in the evening, also on one of the party boats. Tutes had to get back to Kings Cross where his hotel was so I hope he made it.
Our evening started when we met Tutes in the metro as we were heading towards the quay to find our boat. Only he was heading in the opposite direction.
"Where are you off to Tutes?" "Oh I've forgotten the booking sheet. I've got to go and get it" "You won't need that, come with us. You won't make it in time" "Yes I will. Don't worry, I'll be back."
So off we go to the quay, find the boat, find out we don't need any booking number. Ring Tutes "Come back Tutes you don't need it" Eventually he makes it back about 15 minutes before the boat was due to set off. Under questioning admits would not have made it back in time if we hadn't rung when we had. Not the best way to have spent NYE - on your own, knowing you should be out on the harbour having a ball.
Anyway, everything went very well after that. The food was excellent - I had expected nothing too fancy but we had a 4 course meal, served in stages over the evening. The alcohol, well that flowed freely as you might expect. One strange thing that occurred was as our boat left Darling harbour, we were standing up front outside. A catamaran passed us and as I looked down on it I saw a bloke standing at the front of it that looked just like Monty Panesar. "Oy Moz that looks like Monty Panesar" "Yes it is. OY MONTY MONTY PANESAR" yelled at top volume. I've never been so embarrassed in my entire life, the situation not improved by the fact that it was actually Monty, together with the rest of the team. Well I assume so, as we saw Freddie, Jimmy Anderson and Geraint Jones as well. Amazingly Monty gave us a wave anyway. Perhaps if they got a pissed as Moz and Tutes did last night they might play a bit better!
The fireworks were superb, with 2 shows, one at 9pm and the other at midnight. The theme was A Diamond night in Emerald City. So called because the bridge is celebrating its diamond (75th) birthday in 2007, and Sydney is also known as the Emerald City. So lots of green and white fireworks, all the boats decorated with diamond and emerald shapes. All in all a great show.
Back to more mundane matters the news has just announced that Justin Langer is retiring as well after the SCG test. So that makes 3 retirees after this series. Just Hayden and Gilchrist to go.

2006-12-30T10:26:00.000Z

England’s ineptitude at the MCG has given us a few extra days to explore Melbourne and it’s surroundings. Yesterday Moz went out to the Dandenong Mountains for a trip on the Puffing Billy steam train, and I went to Williamstown to have a wander around and visit the railway museum there. (The more observant of you may notice a bit of theme in my museum visits). Williamstown was the original port for Melbourne but was superseded by the current port in Melbourne itself. It’s now a chi-chi sort of resort for Melburnians to visit the seaside at. In the evening we both went to the cinema, Moz to see the new Bond one, Casino Royale, and I to see a film that Kerry O’Keefe recommended to Aggers on the ABC radio commentary. It was an Australian film, low budget mockumentary about a guy who works for a Portaloo hire company. Quite comedic, but also rather touching in places as well. In all a good little film, much better than the usual Hollywood crap, although it did make me feel rather nauseous towards the end due to the jerky camera work!
Today Moz went on his wine tour to the Yarra valley. (His verdict - very good indeed. I’ll leave you to decide what that means……..). I decided to get the train up to Bendigo which was the largest goldfield in Victoria. There is an old mine there that you can go underground at and see how the gold was mined. It closed in about 1954 but was opened up for tourists in the 80’s. The main shaft is very deep - apparently you could fit the tallest building in Melbourne (the 55 storey Rialto tower) in the shaft twice! The tour only goes down to the 2nd level down of about 17, about 60m underground. You have to wear hard hats and miners lamps though. They have fitted a larger hoist to take the tours down, as the main shaft is only about 4 foot square. Everything had to go into or come out of the mine via that small hole. If the winding gear failed it would take 3 hours for the men to climb the ladders back to the surface. After the tour down the mine I looked round the museum which was very interesting - the winding gear is steam driven by the original engine and is still operational. You can also pan for gold. They have some ore from the mine which you can crush and swill around a panning dish and hopefully find a few tiny grains of gold. Unfortunately all I found was iron Pyrites - better known as Fools Gold!
After the mine I took a trip on the Bendigo tram which was saved from closure in the early 1970’s by some very forward sighted citizens and now operates as a tourist attraction along the main street from one end of town to the other. They have the original 1903 tram depot still working and a collection of electric trams from around the world. There must be something about the State of Victoria that loves trams as Melbourne never got rid of it’s trams either. It definitely adds character to a place.
Anyway it’s goodbye Melbourne tomorrow and off to Sydney for the last leg of our trip. The NYE boat cruise round the harbour will be one highlight, and I hope an improved England performance will be the other. Last time they managed to avoid the dreaded 5-0 scoreline with a face saving win, in fact possibly the last time Australia lost at home. Lets hope they can repeat it this time as well.

2006-12-28T08:23:00.000Z

The wheels finally totally fell off the England bandwagon today. It was only day 3 but the game was completed about 10 minutes before the scheduled close of play at 6pm. Earlier in the morning England shot out the last 3 wickets in about an hour with Warne playing a bright and breezy innings of 40 not out. Mahmood ended up with 4 wickets for the rather expensive cost of 100 runs off about 23 overs. I do rate him though . He bowls with a very smooth easy action at the not inconsiderable speed of 90mph. His problem is maintaining a good line and the fact that his action is rather low causing him to not get a great deal of steep bounce. He also tends to try too many different variations. When you can bowl that quick all you need to do is maintain a good line and length and the rest will follow. I think he is worth persevering with. Obviously if Simon Jones is fit he wouldn’t make the 11 but until that happens someone has to take his place. I don’t rate Anderson or Plunkett very much.
The batting was no better than the first innings. In fact worse as the conditions were considerable better for batting. There was no great amount of bounce, a little seam movement and only slow spin. Despite all this England only improved by a run or two on their first innings effort. No-one really did much. Strauss stayed in for a fair while, Pietersen moved up the order to number 4 but only lasted 8 balls. Just to rub it in Australia got 3 lbw decisions (all out admittedly) compared to zero when England bowled. Both Hayden and Symonds were given not out by Rudi Koetzen when neither had scored many, from deliveries Hawkeye showed were plumb out. As both scored 150 this kind of influenced the match outcome a bit. Even the Aussie press has noticed the poor decisions that had favoured them both here and in Perth.
So that gives us a couple of free days in or around Melbourne. Plus our ticket money back for the tickets we already bought for day 4. Moz has already booked up for a wine tour and a steam train trip. My thoughts haven’t really got beyond a good lie-in tomorrow morning……………..

2006-12-27T09:07:00.000Z

England followed my script for the morning session. Early wickets fell as Flintoff got Ponting, skying a hook, Hoggard bowled Hussey through the gate for his first failure of the series, and Harmison produced a snorter to dismiss Clarke with his second ball of the match. At that point Australia were 88-5, admittedly one of those wickets being Lee the night watchman. At lunch they had progressed to about 120-5. First ball after lunch Hayden hit the ball straight to Mahmood at mid off and set off for a suicidal run. Mahmood wasn’t really watching and fumbled the ball. Despite that he still had time to hit the stumps (and he had 3 to aim at) and Hayden would have been out by yards. Predictably his throw was wild and missed by a mile. This set the tone for the session. Symonds and Hayden batted very sensibly and slowly accelerated. Hayden got his ton first, then Symonds who got there with a straight six. Aggers on the radio commentary revealed that Boycott on the TV commentary had said he would eat his hat if Symonds got a fifty. What he will do now he is 150 not out I’m not sure. England looked all at sea for the entire afternoon session, totally devoid of invention and new ideas. Flintoff seemed too defensive, allowing the batsmen easy singles almost from the word go. Eventually as the scheduled close of play passed and with about half an hour of extra time remaining to be bowled my watching companions cracked and both Moz and Tutes decided to commit the cardinal sin of sports watching and left early. No sooner had they left their seats than Mahmood produced a pearler to remove Hayden. Moz then shamefacedly returned to see Gilchrist fail again (if he follows the pattern he should hit a ton in the second innings). Tutes did not return thereby proving that he is England’s bogey man - he did not show up until after lunch today after a late night last night, missing the early fight back. If he can be persuaded to stay away tomorrow perhaps England have a chance. Who knows - knock over the tail quickly tomorrow, bat for 2 days and get a 200 run lead and put the pressure on on a wearing last day pitch. Well a man can dream. The pitch is pretty docile still - not surprising really as it’s only the end of day 2. If we had bowled first we would be batting now in the best conditions. But let’s not go over all that again.

2006-12-26T09:20:00.000Z

I give up. I’m just not going to support England any more. Today at the MCG was wet, dark, overcast, windy and cold. The forecast was for no real improvement all day. Freddie Flintoff won the toss. So what did he decide to do? Bat. I couldn’t believe it. It was madness. The wicket was damp anyway from the rain we’ve had over the last few days anyway, and despite the steady drizzle as we arrived at the ground it was not covered either. They don’t have proper covers here just tarpaulins. They were eventually put on and play started 30 minutes late. McGrath somehow didn’t get a wicket in his first spell, one that spanned several breaks for drizzle and the early lunch break. How so I don’t know. His first delivery seamed about a foot away from Alistair Cook’s bat and the smile on McGrath’s face was as large as his tally of Test wickets. Lee made the early breakthrough dismissing Cook, and then Bell with a snorting lifter. Strauss managed to lift the score to 100-2 with Collingwood until both were dismissed with an over of each other. Strauss made himself immortal by becoming Shane Warne’s 700th test victim, having just reached his first 50 of the series. After that is was a procession of wickets, Pietersen getting himself out caught on the long on boundary in a forlorn hope of increasing the score when 8 wickets were down. England were 159 all out. Warne ended up with 5-39. The only glimmer of hope was Flintoff getting 2 wickets in two balls near the close, getting Langer (who word has it will announce his retirement soon as well) and Brett Lee (sent in as night watchman) both caught behind. Australia closed on 44-2.
I can put up with the problems on the pitch. It’s the poor decisions off of it that make me so mad. The initial decision to make Flintoff captain for one, the lack of preparation before the Brisbane test, the refusal to pick Panesar, if not at Brisbane, certainly at Adelaide, the playing of 5 bowlers at Perth and then only bowling one (Mahmood) for 17 overs in the match. Then to bat in such bowler friendly conditions, when the opposition have McGrath, Clark, Lee and the little matter of Shane Warne and his 699 wickets, well that takes the biscuit. I can only assume the stories that are circulating aboutt there being a split in the England camp being true. It would account for some of the eccentric decision making.
The MCG is looking very good. The entire northern half of the ground has been redeveloped since I was here last and the capacity is now 100,000. Despite day 1 being sell out the crowd was only 89,000, thereby not quite beating the record of about 91,000 set back in 1961. With sunnier weather forecast for tomorrow it could fall then though. The weather was more suited to Manchester then Melbourne. Fortunately I remembered the chill from last time & came suitably prepared, but even so it was a chilly day throughout and the sun never really shone. The sales of hot chips and pies will have out ranked those of cold drinks and icecreams by a long chalk.
With a bit of luck perhaps England can take 2-3 early wickets tomorrow, especially Ponting and Hussey, and put some pressure on the rest of the batting lineup. Flintoff’s brace has given them a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel. Hopefully it won’t turn out to be an express train thundering towards them at top speed……………………

2006-12-25T10:41:00.001Z

A very merry Christmas to all my readers back in the UK! We had an excellent Christmas buffet lunch at an hotel down near the river Yarra. We were on the 10th floor looking out towards the south bank - a magnificent view. The MCG was visible from there also. The deal included free alcohol (as a non-drinker Moz and Tutes kindly paid my share for me but I think they still got their money’s worth!) and the food was good too. I’m glad we decided not to try for a beach BBQ or picnic as the weather is positively Arctic! Very similar weather to April in the UK - hailing it down one minute and sunny the next. Rather windy too and generally not what we expected. If you had just flown out for the last few tests you would not be impressed. At least we have had some good weather already in Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth.
The test match starts tomorrow, and given the forecast the clever money could be on a draw. Rain and cloud are forecast for most of the 5 days. With a bit of luck the seamers will get all the wickets and Warney would fail to get his 700th in front of his own crowd. I did wonder back in Perth what the odds would be of that and I expect they must have shortened due to the weather.
I’ve done some shopping at the Queen Victoria Market, lost all my winnings at the Casino (proving the old adage that the only winners there are the casino owners) and managed to see a few of the sights of Melbourne. It’s also rather odd to see loads of very white Englishmen arriving here over the last few days. The Barmy Army alone have 2000-3000 fans here for the last 2 tests. I can only guess at the total but it could be up to 20,000. Hopefully the extra support will give England a boost. Pride is at stake now if not the Ashes. Just to end McGrath’s career on a low note would be great.

2006-12-23T08:31:00.000Z

I’m not sure what it is about Melbourne that makes one feel so at home. Perhaps it’s the 1230 restaurants (2004 survey) serving all types of food at all times of day and night, maybe it’s the Queen Victoria Market where all types of fresh fruit, veg, meat, cheese and fish are available most days of the week, plus loads of clothes, hardware etc, maybe it’s the numerous small bars that seem to lurk down every side alley, maybe it the sports facilities - MCG, Telstra dome, Rod Laver arena for tennis, Melbourne Grand Prix, Melbourne Gold Cup etc etc, maybe it’s the wonderful trams, maybe it’s the great countryside not far out of town. In fact apart from all that it’s hard to see what Melbourne has to offer at all…………
Of course it wouldn’t be anything to do with the fact that I’m in profit at the Casino to the tune of A$350 so far. Not at all. Not one jot.
I saw the Ashes urn today. It’s small. Very small. It also looks suspiciously new, but that maybe due to it’s renovation before starting this tour of Australia. I also discovered an uncomfortable fact. The Ashes urn is entirely Australian. The urn itself is Australian as were the contents. It was presented to Ivo Bligh, the captain of the English team sent out to avenge the first ever English test defeat at the Oval in 1882, by the ladies of the country house he was staying at in Australia. Indeed one of said ladies was to be his future wife. When he died in the 1920’s she presented the urn to the MCC. Hence the reason it belongs to us not them. Possession is nine tenth s of the law and all that. We just better make sure it does make it back to Lords and not get held up by some modern day Ned Kelly.
I think we are on the present buying trail tomorrow at the QVM as although we have one more internal flight to complete, and we are both up against out luggage allowances on internal flights, Tutes has kindly volunteered to act as luggage carrier in his hire car down to Sydney. From there home is fine as we have loads of luggage allowance spare in Business class.
Glen McGrath has also officially retired as well as Shane Warne. I shall be more glad to see the back of him than Warney. Warney is a character, bowling leg spin, which was just about dead and buried as an art when he came on the scene. Whether or not he is playing for you or against you, you can’t help but enjoy his talent. McGrath by contrast is a real grumpy old git, never giving praise freely to his opponents. There’s always some sort of dig at how wonderful he is and how crap they are. He also managed to get the best of England at the most inopportune times. Time and time again just when England would think they were doing well, he would dash those hopes on the rocks of his line and length bowling. Roll on 2009 summer!

2006-12-22T09:04:00.000Z

Finally today the guy from the Great Southern Railroad got in touch. I had emailed him while back in Perth and had been waiting for a reply ever since. The good news is that they will refund us the cost of the Alice Springs to Darwin leg of our trip (approximately £450 each). The bad news is he was less than helpful over the costs we incurred during our enforced stay in Darwin. He suggested we send him the receipts for our flights and hotel costs and he would see what he could do. He had better come up with something as there are plenty of no-win no-fee solicitors in the UK that would be happy to try and get their pound of flesh out of them. It will be a lot cheaper to just pay us our expenses than employ lawyers to argue it out from 12,000 miles away. The ball’s in their court anyway so we will wait and see what transpires.
On a lighter note I visited the old Melbourne Gaol today. It was a hanging prison, and the last sentence was carried out in 1967. The Gallows are still in situ but are not the original ones - they were made for the Mick Jagger Ned Kelly film and fitted back in place for filming. Ned Kelly was hung there back in Victorian days as were approx. 160 others over the years. At least one of them was innocent - a man was hung in the 1920’s for the rape and murder of a child here in Melbourne. The main evidence was hair from the victim supposedly found in his bed. A journalist researching the case recently found the original samples of hair in papers relating to the case and modern DNA analysis proved the hair was not that of the victim. It wasn’t a very cheery place but it was good to get inside as yes, you will be pleased to hear it is raining! The forecast for Christmas day is not good so we have managed to get booked in for a Christmas luncheon buffet at one of the hotels on the Southbank, overlooking the Yarra river. So no barbie on the beach for us.
Moz and Tutes have been out for the day down the Great Ocean Highway and are due back soon. I plan to see the Ashes urn tomorrow - It’s definitely here now as I saw it on the TV being put in it’s showcase in the Melbourne Museum. We may go to the Crown Casino tonight - hopefully I recoup some of my losses from Darwin!

2006-12-21T07:58:00.000Z

Hip-hip-hooray! It's a holi-holiday! Warney is retiring and McGrath's on the way out too. For only 2 tests more will we have to put up with the main 2 reasons that it took 17 years to regain the ashes, and only 13 months to lose them again. Whoever replaces them couldn't be half as good. So far the name mentioned most as Warney's replacement is Dan Cullen who was one of Somerset's overseas players last year and was rubbish. Nothing to fear there. Ditto Cameron White, Nathan Hauritz, Stuart McGill etc etc.
At last something to look forward too. 2009 Ashes series in England - they're coming home, coming home, Ashes coming home.
It's good to be back in Melbourne again - it's just as I remembered it. Laid back, cool, friendly. Chock full of bars, restaurants etc. Always something going on. Great to ride the trams again too. I've just been out to Geelong to collect our tickets for the test match - a 50 minute train ride into the countryside. Everything looks very brown. The drought is pretty hard here and the bush fires are making the air hazy. If you could send some of the UK's rain out here I know it would be really appreciated.
We're staying right in the centre of Melbourne so really handy for the MCG and going out in the evening. Not sure yet whether there are any plans for Christmas day - somehow it doesnt feel very Christmassy when the temperature is in the 30s. Maybe a picnic on the beach perhaps. Depends on the weather as it can change fast here. Last time we were here it was overcast & dull so we'll play it by ear.
We've met up with Mark Tuton, who's staying with us here in Melbourne. He picked us up at the airport in his hire car, where I also ran into one of my Shrivenham CC colleagues, James Crowder, who is out here for the Ashes too. So we were able to give him a lift into the city centre.
Not got much planned before Boxing day but hope to see the Ashes urn as missed it in Perth. Moz & Tutes are going to the Neighbours set for a tour. The depths some will stoop to.................

2006-12-19T00:19:00.000Z

For a brief hour or so the Barmy Army dared to dream. Freddie Flintoff came out of the blocks like a sprinter. After playing and missing several times in the first over he faced, the shackles fell off when facing Brett Lee, hitting him for 2 fours in an over, then repeating that off the next over from Stuart Clark. Lee was then picked up (just) over the midwicket boundary for six. Pietersen just sat back and watched as Flintoff caught him up. But all good things must end, and as usual it was Warne who crashed this party. His introduction slowed the scoring rate and eventuallythe inevitable occurred. Freddie missed a tossed up legbreak and was bowled. Jones managed to repeat his first innings duck by being run out while waiting for an lbw decision. That was probably his last test innings for a while, maybe ever. The tail lasted no longer. Somehow Panesar managed to face out a few balls before lunch to make the Aussies wait for their moment, but it wasn't long coming afterwards. Pietersen swept a single first ball, and Panesar was bowled by Warne to start mass jubilation among the Aussies. Somehow I managed to photo the exact moment he was bowled thereby catching the precise moment the Ashes left our grasp.
I have managed to put up loads of photos also online and emailled the link to loads of you but if you want the link just leave a comment on here with your email address and I'll send it to you.
The game finished about 2:30pm so we spent the rest of the day having a bit of a wander around Perth. Neither of us are that impressed with Perth to be honest. It's a bit too new and modern, with no real heart. Adelaide was better I think, and I'm looking forward to seeing Melbourne again. Today I'm going to see the Ashes urn at the western Australia museum. I assume that we do get to keep it at Lords still even though we don't hold it anymore, but it'll be good to see it for the first time. If I have time I also plan to visit the Perth mint which deals with all the gold bullion from the mines around here. With a bit of luck the odd gold bar might be lying around..................
Moz has gone off on the ferry down the river to Fremantle, and I'll meet him later for dinner.
Tomorrow we fly to Melbourne

2006-12-17T11:49:00.000Z

England fought hard today. Bell and Cook batted well, with a bit of luck, throughout the morning session. Warne was turning the ball considerably, but Bell used his feet well and hit him for 2 straight sixes. They scored consistently, and never got bogged down. I was just thinking they might make it to tea when the Australian unlucky number 87 struck again and Bell was caught at short cover by Langer. Collingwood saw us through to tea but was caught behind soon after. Enter KP. Apart from one trademark pull to the midwicket boundary, he was resolute in defence. Boycott should have been proud. I had purchased a small FM radio in the morning and was able to listen to the ABC radio commentary all day. It was great to listen to Aggers again and get a slightly less biased view of play for once. Though I must say if you ever get the chance to go to a sporting dinner where Kerry O'Keefe is the speaker you will be in for a good time. He's pretty good value.
It was looking rather good for England and I was just beginning to believe that we could bat until close with only 3 down, when that man McGrath struck again. Time and time again he has done for us and the only way that we can get the better of him is to wait for him to retire. That or hope he carries on too long and old age really catches up with him. If he has any sense he will retire after the world cup in the caribbean. As Graham Gooch found out, it can only be one test series too many that ends your career on a rather sour note. Better to go out at the top than hanging on to former glories.
Cook batted very well. He never looked absolutely in but grafted away for his ton. The Aussies never give you anything so he can be proud of his efforts today. He's still only 21 and has 4 test 100's already. No other England batsman has achieved this ever. Aggers was really positive about him on the radio, describing him as the sort of chap every mother would like her daughter to bring home. I know Aggers has kids, so if he has a daughter maybe he's angling for a son-in-law.....................
We've got our tickets for tomorrow so hope we get a reasonable amount of play. At least we've made all 3 tests go to 5 days so far, which is better than 4 years ago. England have underperformed but have not been totally outclassed. Basically Flintoff, Harmison and Jones have not turned up really so far, Panesar wasn't picked early on, and neither Anderson or Mahmood can replace Simon Jones. We have a young side that should (injuries allowing) get better over the next few years. Australia could have 5 retirees after the world cup - Langer, Hayden, McGrath, Gilchrist and Warne. Martyn has gone already. I really don't think Warney will still be around come 2009 when they are back in the UK so who knows? There are no spinners to replace Warne here, and the seam bowling seems just as threadbare without McGrath. Without those 2 the pressure on the batsmen (without Gilchrist to rescue them a number 7) will be much greater than now. I've watched a bit of State cricket on the TV while I'm here, and it's surprising how many old players are still playing - Lehmann, Gillespie, Elliot, Mcgill, etc plus loads of players who have played in County cricket, not all with great success. Maybe the conveyor line of players has come to an end for a while for Australia. The next few years will really be interesting.

2006-12-16T11:14:00.000Z

I'm not sure which is more traumatic, being in a train wreck, or having to watch a days cricket like todays. Pretty much from the word go it didn't look like being England's day, despite the early wicket of Ponting by Harmison. Lbws not given, catches not quite going to hand, one or two drops, several chinese cuts, etc etc. England got 1 wicket before lunch - with a bit of luck it could have been 3 or 4. The rest of the afternoon proceded in similar fashion - Panesar got 3 wickets, but Hussey went on to another ton, being dropped twice, once by Jones off a skier that he should really have left for the fielder running in, and once by Strauss at wide first slip diving away to his right. Clarke eased to another ton as well, and although Symonds failed, that only brought in Gilchrist. On a pair in the match, his first scoring shot was a catch about a foot out of point's reach. After that he reached a quick 50 and then proceded to assault the bowling violently, hitting Panesar for over 20 in one over, and only failing to beat Viv Richards record for the fastest test hundred by a ball or two. At one stage Flintoff had 7 fielders on the boundary and still Gilchrist hit fours and sixes. Great if you are a neutral. I'm not.
Australia promptly declared leaving England about 30 minutes to bat. Lee's first 3 balls were wide of off stump, which Strauss calmly left. His 4th ball was straight and swung in to Strauss who padded up. Cue huge appeal, and a slow raised finger by Rudi Koetzen. To me it looked far too high, as it hit him above the knee roll, and this was confirmed by both people listening to the radio commentary, and surprisingly by the big screen which showed the replay. Strauss has now had 3 dodgy decisions in 3 knocks - a catch behind in the first innings here and a bat pad in the second innings at Adelaide.
All this was meat and drink to the crowd - you don't exactly get much sympathy from the home supporters here.
Anyway it probably won't go past 4 days. If we bat into day 5 I'll be very surprised.

2006-12-15T00:29:00.000Z

Not much to report at the moment really. Last few days have been taken very slowly, allowing one's thoughts to clam down a bit. We watched the first days play in Perth from our hotel - we found the non-smoking bar in the casino, which was of course pretty empty so had great seats right in front of the big screen, next to the bar which served food as well. Probably the most comfortable days cricket I've seen so far!
England bowled brilliantly, especially Monty-Monty-Monty-Monty Panesar (expect every headline to include "Panesar panacea for England"), but more importantly Harmison finally turned up to the party. His speed was regularly up over 90mph at last and the radar was back on track. He was a bit lucky to get Ponting LBW, as hawkeye (and my naked eye) thought is was a bit high. It might have clipped the top of the bails. But the Aussies are never down for long and 2 wickets before the close puts the game right on a knife edge. Unfortunately we will miss almost all the 2nd days play as we will be on a plane to Perth so it could be a nail biter when we get off the plane to find out the score. Of the wickets to fall Cook was the most culpable in that he has been out to the same ball 3 times in a row now - a ball angled across him fairly well wide of off stump. He is stepping too far to the off side with his initial movement and is playing at deliveries that he could easily leave well alone. Hopefully he will realise this & cut it out!

2006-12-13T10:16:00.000Z

The good news is that our luggage has almost entirely arrived at our hotel in Darwin. All that we are missing is one or two items of clothing that were in a cupboard in our cabin. More importantly our passports etc have arrived safely.
We were supposed to fly to Perth today, but were unable to do so due to the lack of documentation. We have provisionally booked flights out on Friday as tomorrow was completely booked out. So we will miss days 1 & 2 of the Perth test, but at least we will get there eventually. So we have a day to spare in Darwin. Which seems like a nice place but it's VERY muggy. Just walking out of the hotel makes my glasses steam up and walking around for a bit covers you in sweat. So we have spent the day just chilling out in the hotel, playing a bit of roulette in the casino ( I was up but now am about $30 down) and watching Australian one day cricket on the big screen in the casino. Life is good, in fact just having one seems pretty OK at the moment.
Small update on the crash - the lady who was taken ill was airlifted to hospital, and it seems she actually hit her head worse than was thought. She is described in the paper (we made pages 1-5 of the Darwin daily) as having a serious head injury but in a stable condition. We have also heard the driver of the truck has been arrested.
On a lighter note I would like to point out that the lady in the picture with Moz holding "The Ashes" on the Ghan was in fact the Gold Kangaroo Cabin manager who was the one who organised our game of lounge car cricket, and provided said cricketing momento, not some passing Australian Mata Hari type bent on seducing passing English cricket fans. Sorry to all involved for any confusion caused.

2006-12-12T14:48:00.000Z

Although these pictures were only taken a few days ago - the one of Ayers Rock on Sunday and the one of Moz with "The Ashes" on the Ghan on Saturday, they feel like a world away now.

I'm not sure if anyone reading this will have heard but the Ghan train suffered a derailment between Alice Springs and Darwin yesterday. Unfortunately Moz and I were on it. We are unhurt, as was all of the passengers and crew of the train, although one woman was airlifted to hospital having collapsed after the event, due to an existing medical complaint brought on by the stress of the accident.

The accident occurred at just before 2pm local time. We were fortunately all seated in the dining car and had just finished lunch, when we experienced 3 sharp jolts one after the other in quick succession. This sent most of the crockery into my lap, as I was seated with my back to the engines. We then continued forward, but it was very quickly obvious that we were no longer on the tracks, and had started to veer off to the side. Even now I can't work out how long we were actually moving off the rails for before coming to a halt. Everything seemed to happen in sort of dream state. It could have been a very short time that felt longer or the opposite. As Winnie the Pooh once sagely observed, funny thing accidents - you're never having them until you're having them. I was having this one but it felt like it was happening completely outside of myself. By the grace of God the carriage stayed upright and came to a halt. Everyone looked at each other, not quite able to believe what had just happened.

What had actually happened was that we had hit a road train lorry on a level crossing. A lorry towing 3 separate articulated ore waggons had driven straight in front of our train. The train driver had just enough time to apply the emergency brakes before hitting the truck. The truck driver was also very lucky, as we hit the line of trucks just behind the tractor unit, sending it, with the driver inside, spinning away to the right, and mangling the trucks to the left. The engines stayed mainly on the track, but the following carriages pulled up the track and veered off to the side. Fortunately they stayed mostly in line, with just one ending up almost a right angles to the track. As I said somehow no-one was seriously injured. It could so easily have been much worse. If we had not been all seated at lunch, there would have been more people in their cabins towards the front of the train. People would have been standing, and thrown around more, with broken limbs or worse possible. Also had we been on an embankment or near a rocky cutting, the carriages could have tumbled over or been pushed up in the air. As it was the ground was pretty level either side of the track and not much lower either.

The train crew were superb. They made sure everyone was safely accounted for, and backup from a mine that was close by arrived within 10-15 minutes. We were moved off the train to the mine bar and social club building within an hour an a half. Here drinks were made available, and air conditioned rooms also. We were about 120 miles south of Darwin. Eventually coaches were sent from the town of Katherine (which must have been closer than Darwin) and after much taking of names and checking of paperwork, we were driven to our respective hotels. Unfortunately we were not all able to collect our hand luggage in out cabins so as I write I have no passport, laptop, documents, wash bag etc. My clothes are in the checked in luggage van. The police have declared the crash site a crime scene, so no-one is sure when we will get our hand luggage back, though our clothes should get here tomorrow. We were supposed to fly to Perth tomorrow, but without passport and papers that will be impossible, plus I don't want to leave here until I've got my stuff back. It's hoping a bit much to expect it to follow me round Australia. So we're staying in the Skycity casino hotel in Darwin for at least the next few days until things sort themselves out.

I have taken quite a few photos of the scene after we got off the train but am unable to get the pictures off my camera as my laptop is still on the train. If it doesn't come back someone will have to pay for a new one. It was of course a top of the range one with all bells & whistles.........................

Maybe I should have made that will before I left home. You never know what's around the corner.

2006-12-10T09:28:00.000Z

Today I have travelled further by car than I have ever done before in one day. We picked up our hire car yesterday & set out today at about 7am for Ayer's Rock (the Aborigines call it Uluru in their culture, but in mine it's Ayer's rock. If they're allowed their culture so am I). It's a good sized trek out to the rock - about 290 miles each way. On the way there we passed various examples of the local wildlife, mostly in a state of advanced decay due to having been flattened by trucks etc on the road. Kangaroos seem especially vulnerable to this fate - we must have seen 50-100 corpses on the way there. One live animal we did see scared the wits out of us - the biggest lizard I have even see, right in the middle of the road. At least 4 feet long, nose to tail. We subsequently found out it's called a perenti. We thought it was another dead kangaroo lying in the road but as we got closer it turned out to be considerably alive. We should have stopped for a photo but neither of us were feeling that brave!
The rock itself is much more impressive up close than it seems in photos, which are generally taken from far enough away to get it all in. You don't realise how massive it actually is. You can drive round the entire rock, and get up close in places. You are allowed to climb it, but only during the day if the temperature is below 36 degrees C, which it wasn't today. The climb itself looks pretty dangerous - there are no steps, just steel posts with a chain attached to haul yourself up along. It's pretty steep too in places. Coming down is probably harder than going up. If you fall, or have some sort of seizure you are a long way from medical help. Quite a few have died while climbing to the top.
Anyway we're back on the train tomorrow afternoon, Moz is riding a camel in the morning, and I plan to visit a museum or two. Next stop Darwin.

2006-12-09T04:32:00.000Z

It's Saturday so it must be Alice Springs. After 19 hours on the Ghan and 1000 miles from Adelaide we have arrived in a town called Alice. (I've been waiting to be able to type that for ages). The Ghan train ride is great fun - well it is if you travel first class anyway! We had our own twin berth cabin with ensuite shower & toilet, a dining car and a lounge car just for the first class passengers, with all meals included. All very old fashioned and rather romantic (with a small r). We even played cricket down the centre of the lounge car with a bat and ball fashioned by the Aileen, the stewardess - and were presented with "The Ashes" - a shot glass filled with authentic outback red soil! Pictures of which will follow when I get somewhere with faster internet than here. So at least some Englishmen will take the Ashes home with them anyway............
There were lots of interesting people on the train - lots of English, including a John Oliver lookalike. He even played as well & only gave up a few years ago. Now he's an umpire in Scotland & does the Scottish national team games.
We've picked up our hire car and plan to go out to the rock tomorrow, starting first thing. Its a fair way but we should be able to do it all in one day. Moz wants to ride a camel while we're here, but I'll leave him to do that alone.
We pick the train up again on Monday at about 4pm and travel on to Darwin where there are tropical storms at the moment. Should make taking off a bit interesting!

2006-12-07T22:50:00.000Z

Goodbye Adelaide! Not too many fond memories I'm afraid, nothing to do with the place of course, which is beautiful, but more to do with what happened at the Oval on Tuesday (of which we shall not speak).
I spent yesterday down at Glenelg beach, just reading and chilling out. Moz has been on various tours, yesterday and today - drinking I think (no, sorry, make that fact finding wine tours!)
For our last evening in Adelaide we went out for a meal in North Adelaide where there are loads of restaurants. I thought "When in Rome" so had a kangaroo steak (and chips or course) which was excellent. A sort of mixture between pork and beef.
We check out today, and have some free time to spend around town - I think we are going to see the Bradman collection which is not far from the hotel. Then we catch the Ghan train to Alice Springs - That will be our home from home for the next 24 hours.

2006-12-06T09:35:00.000Z

I'm still not sure that I want to talk about Tuesday's desperate result. I've spent all of today just trying to not think about it. I've found a great bookshop not far from the hotel and stocked up on books for the next part of the trip. I've got a history of ancient Greece & Rome, a history of the Russian Front during WWII, Alan Alda's autobiography, ditto Lenny Bruce and a book of John Ronson's collected newspaper columns. So that should keep me going for a week or two. I think one of the things I like most about travelling is that it allows me time to read without any feeling that I should be doing something else. At home reading seems like a waste of my time - on the road it's a way of using spare time in planes, airports and hotel rooms when there's nothing else to do. I finished Atlas Shrugged during the Adelaide Test and perhaps it's better that I remember it for that than what actually happened.
Anyone reading this who has played cricket will have experienced the game that they lost not because the opposition are better (it's never bad to be beaten by a better side, as long as you give of your best) but because you handed it to them on a platter. That type of loss is the hardest to bear as you have in fact beaten yourself. And that is what England did yesterday. Schoolboys would be given a right royal rollocking for the type of headless chicken style batting that happened in the morning session. Club cricketers would hang their heads in shame. It was ludicrous. The worst culprits in my mind were Pietersen for trying to sweep Warne out of the rough, Flintoff & Jones for flashing a wide deliveries from Lee (so wide in Jones's case he could hardly reach it). Bell's run out was substantially his own fault - instead of watching the ball he should have been watching his partner Collingwood. It was a tight run but they would have got in safely had they both gone at the same time. After losing 4 wickets in the morning session England were always going to be up against it. Collingwood batted well and got good support from the tail. Had Anderson not got out to the last ball before tea, another 2-3 overs at least would have been lost for the changeover between innings plus probably a few more as well. That could have made all the difference in the end.
So that's it. The Ashes aren't coming home. In fact I predict a 5-0 result to Australia. At least it's sunny and hot.

2006-12-05T12:42:00.000Z

GUTTED!

No more words are required.

2006-12-04T09:45:00.000Z

There's only one thing that's winning this test match and that's the wicket. So far there's been over 1100 runs for 17 wickets and with England about 100 ahead going into the last day the draw looks favourite. Any track that allows McGrath to concede his worse ever test bowling figures (0-130) and Warne concede the most runs he has ever done so in an innings (1-169) must be pretty flat. All credit to Hoggard today for plugging away and ending up with a 7-for.
It was hotter today, but still cooler than in Brisbane and manageable to stay out in the sun all day. I'm beginning to get a reasonable tan now - but it is a T-shirt tan - golden brown to the bicep and white as a sheet above that! I'm also getting sandal wearers foot - a tanned square on the top of the foot where the sandal doesn't cover. Looks rather odd.
I do have loads of photos, especially of the cricket. My new camera can zoom in up to 16 times and gives some really good action shots. Unfortunately internet speeds here are crap, even broadband ones,so it's virtually impossible to upload them to the web. I'll try again when I get to Perth.

2006-12-03T09:26:00.000Z

It was a rather sonambulent Sunday's days play today. The close of play score of 312-5 contained approximately 280 runs and 4 wickets in the day. For long periods in the afternoon the most exitement in the ground was whether a mexican wave could be started in the ground and if so would the perpetrators be ejected for starting it? For the record a few circuits of the ground were managed which then provoked a rather schoolmasterish response from the stadium announcer that this was not permitted and if it was repeated whoever started it would be thrown out. Whatever happened to the Outback spirit?
One small flashpoint in the morning occurred when Harmison attempted a yorker at Ponting. It came out as a knee high full toss which Ponting lost sight of and attempted to duck and got nearly beaned on the helmet. There was a bit of staring and hard looks but as confrontations go it was about on a par with an argument between 2 suburban dads over who's got the biggest garden. It was that sort of day. No-one could really manage too much emotion or effort either way.
Anyway I would say the game is still in the balance. A couple of early wickets tomorrow would give England a definite advantage, whereas a good session for Australia would tilt things their way. It seems to be a wicket that once you get in on you make the most of it.
I have also discovered that Moz has an alter ego - Shoelace Man. Where ever there are people with untied shoelaces Shoelace Man is duty bound to inform them of that fact, thereby relieving himself of the responsibility if they later trip and fall over on their faces. No less than 3 times on our way to and from the ground has Shoelace Man made himself known to the world, only to disappear in an instant after doing good and fighting evil in the form of untied laces. What would we do without him?

2006-12-02T09:21:00.000Z

Today was the sort of day that you travel to the other side of the globe for. From the first ball to the last England were on top. Collingwood not only made his ton but powered on to his double. Pietersen was relatively subdued and somehow managed to end up on 158 for the third time in his career. A few lusty blows from Freddie and Gilo set up a 10 over spell at Langer and Hayden. Freddie produced an absolute snorter of a delivery to dismiss Langer who proceded to have heated words with some of the members on the way back to the dressing room. The only shame is we don't have Monty on board to put the pressure on over the next few days. The fact that England did well yesterday and today does not come as a surprise to Moz and me as we have realised that their improved form stems from the change in our own routine. For days 1-3 in Brisbane I was up before Moz & made my sandwiches first, thereafter Moz has made his first. I rest my case. We shall of course continue with the lucky sandwich making routine until the Ashes are safe.
The weather was cooler today - sunny but not too sweaty. If fact perfect for cricket watching. In fact the only fly in the ointment was the self declared armchair god of cricket who was sitting next to Moz for most of the day with his girlfriend. Somehow he managed to disparage England throughout their total of 551-6. Takes some doing even for a one eyed Aussie.
Last night we went to a pub (which tend to be called hotels here)not far from our hotel. It was rather similar to the Beehive back home - dark, smoky and rather eclectic. There was a band playing, locals I think. They were a 6 piece on a tiny stage, with 2 saxes, drums, bass guitar, lead guitar/vocalist and keyboard player (who also played accordian). The style was very psychedelic/1970's. Not my cup of tea but good musicianship none the less.

2006-12-01T08:58:00.000Z

Today was a all round improvement from the First Test in just about every sense. For starters play started at the more sensible hour of 11am allowing a generous lie-in, as we are only 5 minutes from the ground. The weather was much more amenable as well, starting with bright blue skies for the morning and afternoon sessions, without the heat of Brisbane, giving way to overcast conditions later in the day. Our seats were in the front row at the scoreboard end and gave a reasonable view, although we did have to put up with a row of young Aussies behind us who seemed to consider that any over that didn't disappear for at least 10 runs was boring.
England also continued with their improved batting form from Brisbane (2nd innings!) and despite early wicket losses of Strauss and Cook, worked really hard deserved the final score at the close of 266-3. Collingwood batted superbly and I hope he gets his 100 tomorrow. Pietersen was his usual self and got away with a few loose shots, but came in at the exactly right time with the bowlers tired in the last session. The Australian bowlers are looking a bit ragged for once, especially McGrath who didn't take the new ball towards the close and made some very old man-ish errors in the field - even to the extent of doing a "mummy" impression while trying to catch a Pietersen miscued skier. With Ponting taking some time off (hopefully with his bad back) and McGrath's heel giving him gyp the Old Man tag might be catching up with Australia. If only England had picked Monty as well as Giles they would be in a much stronger position. I just hope Giles will be able to exploit the spin later in the match as it's turning for Warne considerably already.
I have been taking my various books with me to the ground both today and at Brisbane, and have got through 3 already, and have today started Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. It was a bit heavy going to start with but now I'm well into it and it's proving to be a good read. Ayn Rand has been a darling of the right for a long time & I have never got round to reading anything by her before so having so much time to spare to read is great. I hope to go to a bookshop nearby before leaving Adelaide to stock up.

2006-11-30T05:38:00.000Z

This is the view from our hotel window (actually our balcony) in Adelaide. I don't think you could get closer to the Oval without actually staying in it!

Just arrived in Adelaide & its raining. So there's hope for England yet. The word is we will play 2 spinners with Anderson making way for Panesar. So we should get a few rounds of "Oh Monty Monty, Monty Monty Monty Monty Panesar" for the next few days.

Yesterday was spent just pootling around - I visited the maritime museum in the morning, and tried to visit the Art gallery in the afternoon. Unfortunately it and the Modern Art Gallery were both closed thereby proving the old theory about whenever an Aussie hears the word culture he reaches for his gun.

In the evening we both did the Story Bridge climb - a sort of Sydney Harbour bridge climb wannabe. We started in the twilight and the sun set while we were on the bridge giving us great views of the city at night. Unfortunately you aren't allowed cameras so couldn't get any photos but take my word for it the views were superb. We also we lucky (if you can call it that) that there was a big electrical storm sweeping round the edge of Brisbane at the time & we got brilliant sight of the lightning strikes. I'm not so sure Moz was that keen on the idea of being on a large metal structure in a storm but he seemed to come round to the idea eventually.

2006-11-28T23:25:00.000Z

I had a little trip out through the Brisbane suburbs yesterday on the train down to the town of Ipswich. I took a cab to the railway workshops museum and paid my $16 entrance. There was a tour of the blacksmith shop leaving almost immediately which I joined. I say joined as I was the only person there & so I had a one on one tour. I expected that we would be seeing exhibits and looking at displays of how the work used to be done. But no, this is still a working factory, now used to restore and maintain the historic steam trains used for tourist trips on Queensland rail. So I was in my element - loads of ancient engineering equipment still being used - no worries about Health and Safety here - I was able to see the forging, hammering and welding going on at close range.
The workshops here are just like the ones that used to be in Swindon - I felt quite at home. They even have a working traverser, which they used to take the tourists to the various workshops. For those of you that are wondering what a traverser is (shame on you) it's a device for shifting the engines & carriages from workshop to workshop - if you walk to the Outlet village in Swindon from the town centre you will have passed the Swindon works traverser which is still there.
We were also shown round the steam repair workshops where they are working on the various engines and carriages used for tourist trips. All the trains in Queensland are narrow guage - I think it's the largest narrow guage network in the world. It's also indicative I think of the Queensland mentality that they have stuck with it rather than go for the usual standard guage like the rest of the world.
Anyway I really enjoyed my trip down memory lane. After getting back to Brisbane & meeting up with Moz after his trip to the zoo, we went out for a meal on the pierside overlooking the Brisbane river. We sat out in the open in our shirtsleeves and enjoyed our view of Brisbane at night. I thought I'd just put that bit in for all of you back in the UK currently enjoying the rain and cold..................Sorry!

2006-11-27T22:37:00.000Z

The inevitable happened yesterday after about an hour and a half of play. That man McGrath caught Harmison off a top edged pull & England move on to Adelaide already 1-0 down in the series. Any remaining faint hopes that England could survive perhaps for a session or 2 and then be saved by some forecast rain proved illusionary when Pietersen clipped Lee to midwicket in the first over of the day. The rain never showed up either.
Today is one of our free days from cricket and Moz has gone off to see the Steve Irwin zoo outside Brisbane (now minus Mr Irwin of course). I'm off later to a town about 30 miles from the city call Ipswich to a railway museum there. Rather anorakish I know but it interests me anyway. I would have gone to another museum that was even more eccentric - the Gympie museum of woodworking - but it was too far north of Brisbane to get there & back in a day. Shame really because they have a working steam sawmill which was what my great grandfather used to own & run.
It's odd how even the most glamourous sounding holidays descend into routine - last night was mainly spent doing laundry (or rather Moz showing me how to laundry as I haven't done any since last time I was in Australia!). We also cooked our own meals - Moz with his rather impressive looking pasta dish, and me with a microwaved baked potato, ham & baked beans. I'm sure that indicates something about us but I'll leave you to decide what.................
We then went out for a drink at the Barmy Army HQ, the Pig & Whistle pub not far from where we are. It's really quite odd being this far from home & walking into a pub that sells Boddingtons, looks like any bar in any town in the UK & has a band playing Oasis covers as we walk in. Not an Aussie to be seen (except behind the bar so just like the UK as well) and an impromptue rendition of "We are the Army, the Barmy Army" for a good 10 minutes at one stage of the evening. The Barmies are getting great press here - everyone seems to love them. With a bit of luck in Adelaide they can group together more easily and get behind the team. I really think it gives the England team a lift when the songs are echoing around the ground. Only on the last day here were they able to get enough people in one place to make sufficient volume, as there was loads of space - probably about 10000 in a stadium that holds nearly 40000.

2006-11-26T08:32:00.000Z

Better. Better. That's all I can say about England today. The batsmen applied themselves and have at least forced Australia to bowl for most of today (Sunday day 4) and made the game go 5 days. Collingwood batted well - just lost his head trying to go to his ton the easy way instead of doing it the slow & steady way. KP was his usual self - lucky at times but that's the way when you bat like he does - the chances you give are often difficult. If he's still there tomorrow when the tailenders are in we should see some fireworks.
The Barmy Army are beginning to get a bit more organised now - they are congregating on the concourse near the bars & doing their best to raise spirits. The local police are acting with a kill joy policy though - even the locals are bemoaning the hard line they are taking. People are ejected for all sorts of petty reasons - even starting Mexican waves. The locals are reasonably friendly - Moz has had a bit of stick at times on his way to the bar in his England shirt but nothing too bad. We have also discovered our local pub The Storey Bridge Hotel which is actually under the aformentioned bridge (I haven't noticed any trolls yet..................) and serves an ale that Moz says is a reasonable substitute for 6X. They also run a red double decker London bus to and from the ground which we availed ourselves of today on the way back to our hotel.
Our hotel is very comfortable - we have a 1 bed apartment, I've got the sofa bed & Moz the bedroom which gives us a bit of space each (plus I get the TV). We also have kitchen & laundry facilities - whatever they are. The location is great too - quiet as it's away from the centre across the river but only a 5 minute ferry ride to all centre. We also have shops & restuarants on site too. Everything one could need in easy reach.
We have booked up to do the bridge climb here on Wednesday - it's like the Sydney Harbour bridge climb but about 3 times smaller. Should get good views of the city though.

2006-11-25T21:51:00.000Z

If this test match was a boxing match it would be stopped by the referee to prevent one side being seriously injured. England were given another right royal caning yesterday. Ricky Ponting decided not to enforce the follow-on thereby ensuring that Harmison would have to bowl again. He wasn't as wayward as in the first innings but still had no penetration. When Australia bowled the ball had pace, bounce, movement & accuracy. When England bowled it seemed to be on another track as the batsmen plundered runs at will. The only wicket to fall was a runout.
Earlier the only batsmen to get his head down was Bell who mange 50 exactly. Everyone else succumbed to the tight off stumpline kept by McGrath & Clark (a sort of McGrath clone). Pietersen was possibly unlucky in that his lbw might have been outside the off stump, and apparently Flintoff's dismissal was on a no-ball not spotted by umpire Bucknor.
On another tack umpire Billy Bowden is really pissing me off. He never misses an opportunity to get himself into the action with his assinine signals, twice on the first day gave lbw appeals not out but then ostentaciously scratched his nose making the crowd think he had actually given them out. He also has given England nothing in this game.
I doubt this game will go much past today and barring some miraculous tropical storm we will go to Adelaide 1 down. I can't really see what they can do to sort the bowling line-up out. Harmison is useless so should go, but who should replace him? Mahmood? It would be a very inexperienced lineup with Mahmood & Anderson. Possibly could play 2 spinners I suppose. Perhaps I should have brought my bowling boots after all.................
Day 4 awaits. It's possible we could have seats in an executive box run by one of Moz's old Nationwide colleagues so we might be in more comfort today. We have been watching from seats right by the sightscreen during the afternoon and evening sessions which don't seem to assigned to anyone and are out of the sun. You get a good view of the bowler & batsmen but the screen blocks off your view of one side of the outfield. But you can see the replay screen so you don't miss much. It's at the Stanley street end so look out for us.

2006-11-24T21:54:00.000Z

On the last Ashes tour Australia made 600+ in the first innings at Brisbane and won by (I think) 400+ runs. Only a miracle on the scale of the Dunkirk evacuation will save England from a similar fate over the next day or so. I realised that we were deep in the shit early in the day when, searching for somewhere to shelter from the sun later in the day, discovered that you could watch standing on the covered concourse behind the sightscreen. From here I could see Hoggard getting appreciable swing, Anderson movement off the seam & bounce from Harmison. Unfortunately the accuracy of their deliveries left a lot to be desired & so no pressure was applied to the batsmen. If we can move it that much I thought, what will McGrath & Co manage? And so it came to pass. Yea verily England are deep in the doo-doo and the first rule when you are in a hole? STOP DIGGING! So what did Strauss do? Hooked it straight down the throat of Hussey at backward square leg. Cue usual collapse.
Harmison should be sent home & never play for England again. If any of us who play cricket bowled as he did yesterday & the day before we would be dropped like a stone. At times he could hardly get it on the cut strip. His only wicket was one caught down the legside. At times the batsmen couldn't even reach the ball let alone hit it.
Oh well, I suppose it gives us a day off on day 5 & even perhaps day 4 as well. I'm off to the ground now so wish me (and England) luck. They need it...................

2006-11-23T21:40:00.000Z

I think yesterday (1st Test Day 1) was an education for all involved. Certainly for England as the score of 340ish for 3 indicates. It's going to be a long and very hot tour. Unless we bowl exceptionally on day 2 we are looking down the barrel of 5-600 and having 3 days to bat to save the game. I thought we stuck at it well - no real howlers in the field, apart from Harmison's first ball which was hardly on the cut part. Moz & I didn't actually see that ball as we were still queuing to get into the ground - the organisation was poor & we would have missed more of the game had they not opened the gates & let people in with no bag checks when it got close to 10am.
It was a bit of an education for me as well as I had forgotten from 4 years ago how hot it gets in the sun here. Just sitting watching cricket takes it out of you. You sit stewing in a marinade of suntan lotion and sweat, turning a sort of beetroot red colour. I had to take refuge in the back of the stand during the afternoon and evening sessions just to cool down. The sun reaches us about lunchtime and from then on it's a pretty full-on BBQ session. I managed to avoid getting burnt - just a bit of slight tenderness on the face but OK. Which is more than I can say for quite a few of the other England fans - there were a number who had been on the beer all day & had omitted lotion on their list of essentials who were going to regret it later when they sobered up.
The police were present in great numbers, several people got chucked out for being drunk, and they were cracking down on anyone trying to start Mexican waves as well.
Any way, Day 2 awaits. It's about a 20 minute walk from our hotel which is OK in the morning but seems like an hour in the evening when all you can think of of is a nice cool shower!

2006-11-22T22:16:00.000Z

Well, about 8 months of work is finally paying off. I've got in my hand tickets for all five days at Brisbane & Adelaide, and in about 40 mins will set off for the Gabba. Come on England!
There's loads of England fans here - you can spot the greater spotted Englishman anywhere with his white legs (soon to be lobster pink after falling asleep after lunch in the sun), cricket or footy tops and general demeanour of "where's the alcohol?". Pubs & bars are doing roaring trade.
Pictures - despite what my good friend Faz back in the UK said I do really need an Australian ISP to use my laptop from our hotel so I can't yet upload pictures to this site as I'm using the hotel's PC which won't allow that. But rest assured I will overcome this technological hurdle & glorious colour snaps of our hotel room view of the Brisbane river, sunshine & general shots of wonderful sights & weather will soon be winging your way!
PS Moz & I will be at backward square leg for the entire match at Brisbane so look out for us!

2006-11-22T06:46:00.000Z

Dude, what happened to Tuesday?

As I type this I'm trying very hard to stay awake as it's about 4:30pm on Wednesday 22nd - we left Heathrow at 8pm on Monday and arrived in Brisbane at 7AM this morning and if we are to stand any chance of surviving the whole day tomorrow at the Gabba we MUST stay awake 'til 10pm tonight. It's not easy tho' when your entire body is saying "Go on! You know you want to close your eyes! Just for 2 minutes. Really. Just 2 minutes.................."
We are off to meet Moz's friend Russell in a bit - he's the one who has acquired the Ashes tickets for us here in Brisbane so it's quite important that we meet up!
The flight was reasonable - we stopped in Dubai and Singapore which meant each leg was about 6-7 hours long with a break to stretch our legs in between. Very civilised. Especially when you can use the Executive lounges and get free food and drink! It was also rather impressive to be met by a chauffeur dressed in a suit and peaked cap............. Pictures of this to follow.

2006-10-15T11:12:00.000Z

As these things must start somewhere I thought I'd begin with a picture to prove my cricket watching history - this is me "watching" India vs Australia (1st Test Bangalore Day 1) in October2004. Despite the pictoral evidence to the contrary I'm not Australian but English. I just thought travelling around India watching an entire Test series as neutral observer would be a great way to see India.
In my defence I was jetlagged and coming down with the inevitable bout of Bangalore Belly, which meant watching day 2 on TV from the comfort (and proximity to the toilet) of my hotel room.

This Blog is to allow anyone who is interested to follow my trip around Australia this winter watching the entire Ashes series, from the 1st Test in Brisbane, via Adelaide (2nd Test), a trip on the Ghan to Darwin, Perth (3rd Test), Melbourne (4th Test) ending up in Sydney (5th Test).
My companion on this trip will be a fellow cricketing fan (both player and watcher) Mark Morris who will hereafter be always refered to as Moz.