Big Wednesday

What a great day ! ! !


Not Wednesday but today, Saturday...


...I had to nip out early in the morning to pick up the first part of Squidly's birthday present, something she already knew about, so the day started off pretty well. As I'm not around for the actual day and she needed them straight away I gave her trainers to her as soon as I got back in. Fortunately she loved them so that was a result :-)

I had brought myself some new trainers and some cricket boots too ready for the trip to Tasmania. A quick trying on session proved that they all fitted OK and we wore them out as we made our way to Reading...

...or Basingstoke as it turned out. Exiting the M4 at Junction 11 was a nightmare so we redirected and found oursleves in Festival Place just 25 minutes later. Shopping has never been a favourite past time of mine and I usually limit it to dashing in to pick up the things I know I need. Today however was a departure from that approach as we wandered round the shopping centre eyeing different shops and picking up those bits we were after. I have been looking for a new pair of jeans recently and I found the perfect pair in French Connection in their sale. I also found another pair of trousers and superb T-shirt so they went in the shopping basket too. More T-shirts added to the load in River Island; the quick "nip-in and get some jeans" had become a long shop but I was enjoying myself so rolled with it.

We had Spanish Tapas for lunch in La Tasca, the food was fantatsic and the Sangria even better! I'm a newcomer to Spanish food but recently I have aquired a taste for it.

Squidly had been looking for something to wear to the annual dinner dance and was getting a little nervous as the date was looming but she found her perfect dress before we left to go home so all in all we had a very successful trip.


We ordered a taxi for 19:15 and then dashed about the flat getting ready to head out. Fortunately the cab didn't appear until 19:30 so we were able to apply the finishing touches, jump in and head over to Lorretta's to pick her up on the way. We were meeting Tutts at the pub before heading in to see the band.

After couple of beers and a brief introduction to the lead guitarist we made our way into the club to catch the end of one of the support acts. They were pretty impressive but were unfortunately followed by a poor band who clearly had a high opinion of themselves. I'm sure that they would have faired a little better if they had got their soundcheck right, as all you could hear was heavy guitar and no vocals.


The headline were called Big Wednesday and absolutely rocked the place. An unsigned Indie band with a perfectly polished live set. I'm no music buff but their sound is awesome and it would surprise me if they don't make it. If they don't then both record labels and music lovers everywhere are missing out! Check out their MySpace page to sample their music and head over to iTunes or IndieStore.com to download their EP "Don't Let Go".

Tour Begins

The feeling I get each time I'm at the Club on the morning of tour is incredible. It's like being a little kid again on the morning of your birthday or Christmas, having woken too early, just sitting there waiting for everyone else to get up so that you can open your presents. It's one of those moments where you know that you're going to have some great laughs with your best friends.

Herman jumped in with me, the car stocked up with all our clothes, cricket gear and beers. The journey down took just over 2 hours with Bandai trailing us. He was carrying Dazza who had made a welcome return to England just to come on tour with us (admittedly he had only been in Scotland seeing family and friends). Dazza had come over from Tasmania to play with us back in 1998 along with Minty. They were both great cricketers and top blokes too. In fact I had travelled out to Tassie that Winter and stayed with Minty for about a month.

Our usual meet in Bickleigh at the Fisherman's Cot started with an attempt to fix the faulty passenger window. Pritts lent me a screwdriver and I tried to get it sorted, eventually leaving it wound up never to be opened again. Oh the woes of owning a classic car. As ever the food at the pub was tremendous and the views fantastic, marred only very slightly by a few spits of rain.

Onward to Thorverton for the first game of the tour. I had been pencilled in to play this match but as Bro was coming down just for the one day I sat it out so that he could get at least one game in. Thorverton are a fun side and we have played this game first on tour for as long as I can remember. As ever the game was played in great spirits and when they heard that tomorrow's game against Filleigh had been called off they offered us another match to fill the gap in. We obviously accepted their generous offer and after a few beers with them all we made for the hotel.


A shower and a quick settle in to the rooms and we were ready to hit the town hard. The plan was to converge on the local Aussie theme bar and then stagger onto Rococos, possibly the cheesiest nightclub in Exeter but the scene of some cracking times on previous tours. A few shots later and we dragged ourselves out of the Walkabout bar and made for the nightclub. It wasn't as busy as it usually gets when we first arrived so we sat at the bar and started on some more drinks. Taffy and Herman were practicing their model poses made famous in the comedy Zoolander, the latter using this as his "pull story." The night improved as more and more of the locals arrived and the place was soon pumping to the sounds of dance music and we were all gracing the floor and the blocks with our presence.

As is always the case with Roccocos the best place to pick up is in the Golden Horn kebab house on the corner having just left; Bandai and Robins obliged picking up two of the most horrendous specimens of the female form. I'm not prepared to go into details, not because I'm a prude but simply because I may vomit over the keyboard as I type. I'm feeling a little queasy at the thought so I'll sign off. See you tomorrow.

3rd XI Day

I finally had a day where the things I needed to get done were possible. For sometime now the car had been without a CD Player, only because I didn't have the time or skills to fit the one I had taken out of the previous car :S Pritts kindly offered to help me with it when time permitted so I had arranged to meet with him in the afternoon to try and get it done.

Today was also our club's 3rd XI day. The 1st and 2nd XI's did not have a fixture and so arrangements were made for the 3rd XI to play at the home ground with the support of both the senior sides. It also happened to be the day before our annual cricket tour which made sure that everyone was in party mood!

Finally, one of previous overseas players was making a return to the club so that he could come on tour with us. DL hadn't changed a bit and was soon the life and soul of the day necking lagers with the rest of us and watching the cricket which was a surprisingly interesting match.

Pritts and I had actually missed almost an entire innings whilst we had gone off to work on the car. 9 wickets had fallen in the hour and half that we had spent fitting the CD player and fixing the dodgy passenger window, respectively.

Our lads had bowled the opposition out for 125 and when we got back Teed had made 27 of the 30 runs on the board with the other 3 having been byes! He went on to made a solid half century and saw the team home to victory. Another valuable 20 points for the 3rds and more reason to drink!

The excitement about the pending tour was clear to see on the faces spread around the clubrooms, new players yet to experience it, older lags that had been on numerous trips and those of us that had missed out on what tour was all about for one reason or another. I was brimming, this was the first tour for quite some time where I would be able to enjoy myself properly. I would also get to sample what sharing a place with Herman was going to be like prior to spending 6 months living side-by-side.

For what is likely to be the best week of the summer, read on over the coming posts...

President's Day

Our club has always held a cricket match where the peers of a former great player combine to play against the current 1st XI for a trophy in memory of his wife. Unfortunately last season saw a decline in the numbers of players still living let alone able to play. So this year it was a nice touch by the President to combine his day with that of the memorial match so that the winner of the President's Day would win the aforementioned trophy.

The day began early as a number of the club members got together for a big fry-up. Bacon, Eggs, Beans, Hash Browns, Mushrooms, Sausages and Black Pudding left us all satisfied.

It has traditionally been a day where we meet some of our antipodean friends that aren't playing at Frimley. Jarv has been down before and returned this year a little more sober than last, smashing 85 along with Scotty who was playing up North with him. Suffice to say that Frimley got a good hiding at the hands of our illustrious President and made for the bar with our tails between our legs (we had been giving El Presidente some stick since winning last seasons contest).

The night went off as usual and beers flowed aplenty. Squidly joined us at the club and we all made for town hearing of a Joe Bananas reunion night. At first we couldn't get in as the bouncers were being less than helpful but Jarv worked some magic on the door and we were finally making our way upstairs...
...only to find that our group had doubled the amount of people in the club! They were prepared to turn us away when there were only 7 people in the place! We decided to stay and make the best of the night which in all honesty turned out to be a bit of a laugh. There was a tragic hen's party consisting of just two girls and a sparsely populated dancefloor but as the night progressed more people showed up and a good night was had by all. Believe me when you go out with Jarv you'll always enjoy yourself!

Restoration

Today a good friend pointed me in the direction of a television series where a guy called Mark Evans restores old cars.
I found the website and ordered the DVD "An MG is Born".
Possibly a bit beyond my skills but I may pick up a gem of info that could save me some time and money.
Thanks Duncan :D

Additional Enquiries

"Aaaaaaarrrrrrrrrggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

The noise I made was like the sound I used to imagine some unfortunate "hun" in the Victor comics would make as he was shot by "tommy".

It seems that our purchaser's solicitors need to know who is responsible for the pathway leading up to the pathway that leads to our house. Why this doesn't appear on the deeds is anybody's guess but apparently it doesn't; seems our solicitor's overlooked it when we were buying the place.

So the dreaded call needs to be placed to the council; the property was a council house some 20 years ago. Lets just hope that they make me eat my hat again!

I shan't be holding my breath...

Playing Catch Up

Having not been able to get to see P on her birthday and with all the events of recent months it had been quite some time since I had been able to speak with the gang and find out how they are doing and how the kids are.
I went over at lunch and took her presents. We chatted for ages over a good cuppa and informed each other of all the latest developments, some good and others not so. The point had been made though that nothing was to prevent our all keeping in contact. Chief had already made that clear to me on a number of occasions but it was encouraging to hear it from P too.
One at school and the other fast asleep, the kids were not to be seen but arrangements were made to visit again and soon, there is also a massage in the offing ! ! !

Happy birthday P, albeit a few days late...

Woe is the day when there is no competition...

A 30 run victory against a local side was much more comfortable than the stats suggest. They had dropped out of the league at the last minute but maintained the same fixtures as friendly matches. They complained that the league was now too competitive for bringing youth players through to the senior setup and decided that friendlies were the way forward. In my eyes, if they are good enough to play then they are old enough to play and that limiting them to friendly village cricket is simply going to bore them away from the game or end up producing soft cricketers.
It seems this country's need to wrap kids in cotton wool will be the downfall of national sporting success. Our rugby team is in tatters ahead of the defense of their world cup crown and I wonder if that is because the next generation of player has come from a smaller crop of kids because of the turgid matches fought... ...sorry pranced out by instilling 'touch' rugby in schools?
It wasn't long ago that I heard of a school banning sports day because it meant that some poor soul would have to come last and it might their pride. It's ridiculous notions like that which will produce pansies out of these potential winners. What is going to happen to these kids when they finally hit the real world and suddenly there is no prize for coming last?

That said it seems that benefits and housing are often given to the underachievers of this country so perhaps that school is just preparing their kids for life in the real world.

It's disappointing to lose but it's those times that stick in your memory and act as the catalyst for victory the following week and the week after that. It's easy to be a part of a winning team but standing up and being counted when everything is going against you is what marks competitors out against the rest and earns you respect from your team-mates and opposition. Why, oh why, deny that opportunity to the kids of today?

Ladies Day!

Last year this event was probably the best to be held at the Club. This year it didn't quite live up to it's illustrious beginnings. With only four of the lads prepared to don women's clothing it was always going to be a bit of a let down but those that did got cheap beer and proceeded to make the most of it!
The match had been lost so the mood wasn't great and the numbers dwindled pretty quickly. Thankfully Webby, Robins and Skip all made the effort with me so I didn't look a total plumb.
But on a brighter note it was Mum and Dad's wedding anniversary today. They had a lovely day. I had always greatly respected the way in which they had made their marriage work. It's a shame that in this day and age a couple who are prepared to commit to each other for life and stick to that commitment appear to be in the minority.

Happy birthday P!

There were a number of things which stopped me seeing her to celebrate her birthday with her. The details are neither interesting nor important. The fact is I didn't get there. A message was sent but I always view this as a cheap way out. So I planned to see her on Monday.

Slasher

They are top of the league and the table never lies.

They approached the game with an attacking mentality and each of their batsmen came to crease and smashed the ball to all parts from the word go. This cavalier attitude can often be the downfall of a good side but their position in the league proves that it has paid off more often then not for them.

Watching some of them bat was like watching one of those American teen horror movies with some type of slasher bad guy hacking the group of friends up one by one. Each of our bowlers that tried to stand up to this intimidating bowling got short shrift as the was sent careering to the boundary.

As is always the case when we play against this lot there was a lot of bad feeling and words were shouted from the boundary. On a better day during a more successful season we might have been able to let it flow like water off a duck's back but this day and this season I feel that we let our frustrations get to us and crumbled in the face of a side that we could have upset had we approached things in a more professional way.

Our response to their target of 255 was laughable, we managed just 125 before being bowled out. Back to the drawing board methinks.

Let Down By An Old Foe

This evening was supposed to be a match for our under 13 side against a team that we have always had problems with at senior level.

I received a call from their manager very early to state that the pitch was waterlogged and that we would not be able to play. Given that the weather was uncharacteristically dry this week (we managed to play on Wednesday evening) I asked him why he couldn't leave it until later in the day to check the pitch again. He never gave a decent response, rather he just flatly refused to play the game.


This has happened a couple of times during the season and it makes me wonder whether they are unable to field a strong or even complete side and so make up some story to legitimately call the game off rather than forfeit the result.


I'm all for the kids playing as much cricket as they can but in our first season with kids that have never picked up a bat and ball before it woulod have been nice for them to have played in some scheduled matches where they might achieve something.

Taking Responsibility...

...or not as the case may be.

Why is it that some people who take on some responsibility in whatever walk of life then fail to actually deliver or should I say try to deliver on that which they had promised?

People like this are prepared to take the kudos for standing up and being counted when they can garner some improved reputation from it but when it actually comes to rolling your sleeves up and getting your hands dirty they are the ones slinking away from the forefront and apologising because other committments have left them unable to help.

The kind of people that are prepared to drop those 'other committments' are few and far between.

Independance

To all Americans that may be reading this little ditty, I hope you enjoy your independance day celebrations!

To those of you that don't know what this is all about read up on it on Wikipedia on the Independance Day (United States) page.

"I'll eat my hat..."

I had to e-mail the council today to book up 3 home cricket pitches for matches during next week for the colts at very short notice. Given their normal turnaround for any type of business I was expecting the council to drag their feet, um and ah and generally act like the solicitors managing our house sale.

She responded in just over an hour confirming that all 3 pitches had been booked as requested.

So now it is time to eat my hat...

Draft Contract

The draft contract has been written up and is ready to send to the buyer's solicitors. So what is the hold up? Why have we had noe news from our solicitor?

You would have thought that selling a house with no chain on either side would be a straight forward affair. It seems that solicitor's have an inherent need to delay things even when there is no good reason.

Happy

Considering the day and all the events of the past year I'm glad to say that I had a really good day.

Not A Problem!

For once the rain did us a favour this weekend. Our opposition were flying away at the top end of the league and had convincingly beaten us last season when we had a stronger side. Rain prevented a start and we shared the points. Not a problem for us, maybe for them...

Gaffs

I used to love the "Own goals and gaffs" videos that used to be released after each football season. Someone has kindly added this to YouTube for general appreciation, enjoy...

Digital Conundrum

Following a change of address my digital life took another turn today as I invested in a new mobile phone. The Nokia N95 comes with a 5 megapixel camera, DVD quality video recorder, MP3 player, satellite navigation, radio and web access, it even makes the tea for you if you ask kindly ;-)

This little box of tricks, smaller than a packet of cigarettes, could be my lifeblood whilst I am away. It would ensure that I can keep in contact with all those that I care about and enable me to take the pictures of my travels. It will help keep me occupied when I need some music and ensure that this blog can be kept up-to-date at least somewhat. I'm hoping that I can also get maps for the places that I visit so that I need not get lost.

All that said though I feel that when I'm making a journey like this, a once in a lifetime opportunity, it would be nicer to detach myself from the digital world and spend some time enjoying the more substantial world that surrounds me.

The natural beauty of the places I will be will no doubt need recording and the camera will be the most used component of the phone. So, will having the digital connections close to hand blur what should be an experience of a lifetime or will it help to ensure that it remains unforgettable?

In answer, the best times of my life remain memories as clear as if they were happening right in front of me today, no camera, blog or phone will make these new memories stand out any clearer than they aught to for it's the experience that creates the memory. They will however let me create a picture and story for those I leave at home, giving them an insight into the things that I will remember for a lifetime.

Homeward Bound

Everything went smoothly this morning and there were even reports that the motorway may be opened later on.

I left at about 1pm in the end, having to go back via the hotel to check-out as I wasn't sure if I was going to end up having to stay another night or not. I had a call from Chief which was good, I needed to catch up with him and he always makes me laugh. It was a nice way to start my return journey.

The drive itself was quite smooth. The motorway was still closed near Yorkshire but a diversion around the closed junctions was almost as quick as if it had been opened anyway. I made it home in very good time and quickly got ready before heading out to see how brown she had got.

We spent ages catching up again and I listened intently to the stories of her holiday. She showed me the photos she had taken and all of the places that she used to call home. It's a place that I would love to see before it gets too commercialised, whilst it still looks something like her hometown.

Floods

The news filtered through during the morning that there had been serious flooding throughout Yorkshire and that the M1 in that region had been closed. The closure had actually taken place yesterday, shortly after I had driven through the area. There were fears that a bank was going to burst and damage the motorway nearby. The newscaster said that the motorway was likely to be closed for a number of days as the rains were set in for quite some time.

So periodically during the day I checked the weather reports and news reports, things didn't look like they were going to change so I spoke to a number of the locals to work out what alternative route I could take.

As it was things had not gone so smoothly today and another late night meant that I was going to have to come back tomorrow. My fears of not making it back in time resurfaced and were redoubled by the news that the alternative route I had planned was also affected by flooding. I was to be trapped over 300 miles away from where I desperately wanted to be...

Driving Rain

The trip started and ended in puring rain. Fortunately the hire car had some incredibly fast wiper action and I was able to make the road out for most of the journey :S At one point, given the early start and concentration required just to see the end of the bonnet, I begun to feel so tired that I pulled over into a service station, locked the car and had an hour's sleep. A stop for breakfast and then a long haul to get to the destination and give myself enough time to make good inroads on the project.

I tried to check-in at the hotel early but they wouldn't allow it so I made my way to the Hall and started working on the plan that would see me finish by Wednesday and head home to see her.

The call to head North again had been unexpected. Before she had left I had agreed to meet on the Wednesday evening after she returned and there was no way on earth that I was going to miss it. So I worked until late and made a big dent in the tasks I needed to complete.

Detox

After four days of solid drinking it was time to get my life back in order and spend at least 24 hours clearing my system of alcohol. We all met up at the Club for a review of the previous night and early hours. Coffee and a McDonalds breakfast were the order of the day and they certainly did the trick for me.

With today's game washed out we all decided that a nice lunch and possibly a movie to be the way forward. So we headed for a nice pub which overlooked a beautiful cricket ground. We each opted for a Sunday roast and were more than happy with the meals laid in front of us.

With the film, Pirates of the Cairribean: At World's End, decided upon we left for the cinema. The start time was a way off yet so we went to the local arcade and played around on the fruit machines and computer games until we needed to head back to buy our tickets.

I took my seat a did my best not to fall asleep in the gloom. I can honestly say that I really enjoyed the film. Johnny Depp is a masterpiece as Cap'n Jack Sparrow and anything with Keira Knightly in is worth a watch in my eyes.

All that remained was to head home and get some shut eye before a very early trip to the North East.

Race(y) Night

Cricket was doomed before we even set off for the opposition ground. The rain was falling pretty hard where we were the away ground was at best only 30 minutes away but we had to travel and give it the best shot of playing. This after all was a match we fancied ourselves to win.

As we arrived Pritts let us know that there had just been a huge downpour there and the track was looking decidedly dodgy. We all wandered out to the square and knew straight away that the game would be called off without a ball being bowled...

...we hadn't accounted for their eccentric umpire though. "It'll drain in 30 minutes, give it until the hour and we'll make a start."

"Umps, there is water soaking into my boots when I tread on the track!" Skip retorted but to no avail. He was dead set on a start so at 2pm we took to the field and bowled. 2 overs and 2 balls went by before SemiPro slipped through his delivery stride and landed flat on his ar5e. At this point the game was stopped until conditions improved.

As the minutes ticked by and a couple more rain clouds dropped their payload onto the sodden wicket, we waited and still the umpire believed we would resume. To break the monotiny we took to their outfield in what was a rare dry spell and started some catching practice. We played a game called "Kings and Sluts" where the catcher on the hook is the king and the catchter on the cover drive is the slut, these grades are relevant to the difficulty in catching from these positions. A dropped catch sends you to the end of the semi-cirle and you become the slut in turn promoting each of the other players by one. A missfeild on a grounded ball costs you one place to the catcher's left. We each took out turns as king and slut, our catching is atrocious, before we moved onto some big outfield catches.

Finally the game was abandoned at almost 5pm. We had a few beers at their clubhouse (on the toilet floor of which we had found a sample of human faeces) and then made a move home to get ready for our annual Race Night.

If you have never been to one of these nights I can thoroughly recommend them. It a bit of harmless gambling and a great social event rounded off with plenty of alchohol amongst great friends. SemiPro's housmate had brought with her a good looking friend who quickly found her feet amongst the welcoming pack that we must have appeared. The beers flowed freely and when they were running low we moved onto Malibu, or should I say all but Nayling and me. No, we had some very cheap vodka which I'm sure is normally used to strip back paint. A punt on 'Beef-Eater' at the end of the night saw C-Bear, Nayling and me rake in some big winnings so jugs of beer and more shots were called for.

As people started to leave the hardcore turned their thoughts to a round of poker, with money not an option the currency was clothing. Now, I am not the best poker player in the world so starting the round with only 4 pieces of clothing on, and that included my necklace, was not the best idea. 4 hands later and I was stark bo**ock naked!

Fortunately the others started to lose some hands too and I was soon joined in the "free" world by Bandai, SemiPro, Robins, C-Bear and Nayling with Herman and Pritts fighting it out at the end. For those of us that made the naked state early forfeits were ordered for a failed hand.

Before the end of the night SemiPro and I took on the role of naked barmen!

"Two pints of lager and a packet of crisps? Certainly sir! Can I get you anything else?"

Congratulations Robins!

Having had two big sessions in a row I was in no mood to have a beer...

"I've just passed the hardest module of my course and I'm going to get smashed!" shouts Robins as he storms into the Club.

"Ah!" I say, almost to myself.

So it was that we started session number 3 and began celebrating his good news. The place emptied till it was just me and him sat with a stubby, toasting his success. A group of local youths had congregated outside so it seemed a good time to lock up and make a move. We went via Mum and Dad's where Robins popped in to introduce himself and I picked up some clothes to change into. Half way to the pub Herman called to inquire our whereabouts and was staggered to hear that we had opted for pub a) when pub b) was closer and as he put it "not a sh1t hole". It being too late we carried on and arranged to meet him somewhat later.

For a young guy Robins can be surprisingly savvy. We sat and talked in great depth about a number of things. It turns out we have both been having some rough times lately for a number of different reasons but we were able to drown our sorrows together.

When Herman arrived our thoughts had just started to wander toward extending the night and heading for town. He kindly gave us a lift and we entered JB's with a night of promise ahead of us.

Robins pulled a girl who turned out to be the sister of an old school friend of mine. I hadn't seen him in years but sort of remembered his sister. As we piled out of the club it transpired that the other sister and a mate were about too and we all headed off for a few more.

Later on I headed back to Mum's leaving Robins to walk home still receiving texts from one of the three girls, which one now escapes me.

Unplanned Session

I was only supposed to be dropping some boxes off at Teed's place. Still "one would do no harm" I said to myself.

We decided to head to the pub for a curry and a quick pint. At this point deja vu is probably kicking in as I have certainly been here before. That quick pint turned into 7 or 8 as Big Al turned up and tried to play catch up. We all staggered back to their place extremely well fed and very, very drunk. I was ready to climb onto the couch and close my eyes but Big Al had different ideas. They had put a bottle of Vodka in the freezer a few days earlier and now seemed as good a time as any to crack it open and knock back a few Vodka and Cokes.

2 or 3 strong examples were polished off before I fell into a stupour waking early in the morning and preparing myself for a quiet Friday.

Victory!

Our Under 15 side were victorious tonight, having bowled the opposition out for just 74 they plndered the runs in just 12 overs. Our star in that age range made 54 before being forced to retire, which was a monumental effort considering that there were only 75 runs available at the beginning of the innings.

I never hoped that any of our sides would win a match this year given that they all had never played a game of cricket in their lives before. So to achieve a win and in the Under 15 age group was such a fantastic result. It's moments like this that make the slog of organising and coaching the sides worth it. The elation on their faces said it all and every credit to them. They went out and approached this match in the right manner and deserved the victory.

That evening I had dinner at Mum and Dad's. My brothers and sister-in-law were there too so it was a bit of a family affair. They had all been down at the ground watching as the boys had won so our family meal included a bit of a celebration for the team too. A number of vinos later and I was sparko on their couch.

"Suits you sir"

I went for a suit fitting today. I have always had suits that were off the hanger and never felt that I could afford a tailor made suit. However, a few days ago I found a tailor's online called King & Allen. Their prices were extremely reasonable and their website very informative so I booked an appointment for today. I was also impressed by the fact that a fitting appointment didn't mean that you were committing to actually purchasing a suit.

I wandered into the hotel where they had a fitting room and waiting until I was called through. Two very good looking young girls waited for me and as I glanced around the room searching out the male fitter they greeted me with a smile. I'm far from sexist, it was just my childish embarrasment of undressing in front of the two lovely girls.

For all my concerns though they did a fantastic job of relaxing me and throughout the fitting chatted easily about what I was looking for in my suit. They both spoke with confidence in their field and gave a strong impression of expertise which belied their age.

With all my choices made and measurements taken I paid my deposit and made my way back to the car. Instantly I started to picture what my suit would look like. They had told me it would take 6 to 8 weeks to be made and then I would have to return to try it; if alterations were required they would be covered in the total price.

I feel foolish saying it but I'm really excited about collecting the finished article.

Route Planner

With both our sabbaticals approved all that remained was for Herman and I to plan our trip. By the end of the evening we had worked out where we wanted to go, in what order and had booked the key round the world trip. Deposit paid we finally felt we were on our way!

Run Fest

Today was like lambs to the slaughter. One by one we went to the crease and smashed the opposition bowling into oblivion. Bandai opened in explosive form with a quickfire 60 ably supported by Pritts making 40 odd. I batted conservatively compared to the others and finished on 65 not out but plaudits go to Herman who dismissed the oppo's bowling attack as he stormed to 85.

With a big run chase staring them in the face the opposition took to the crease and to be fair made a pretty good fist of it all things considered. Laugh of the day though was following his dismissal a young batsman who had looked like a rabbit caught in the headlights turned to our keeper and said "Cheers" in what was the most sincere voice possible.

Happy Birthday Skip!

For a 30th birthday not a great dal had been planned. It's funny how those are usually the days that you remember though isn't it? :D

Skip had hired a minibus to take us to the ground for today's game, we all chipped in a fiver to cover costs and then set off to play a league game that we had high hopes for. As the rain hammered onto the metal roof of the bus we all knew the likely outcome of todays match. Shared points and a long journey home. Our league have applied a rule which forces sides to travel to away games before a match can be called off. So we had to make the journey and in an amazing turn of ridiculousness the umpire made us wait until 4:30pm before calling the game off.

A beer or two at the oppos ground whet the appetite so we picked up a few crates for the journey home. 2 of the other players weren't able to join us on the bus so they were treated to some interesting views from the window as they followed or passed us on the motorway!

A detour via a well known local watering hole gave us a chance for the calls of nature to be answered and a few more beers to set us on our way. I think we got back to the Club by 7:00pm by which point we were beyond salvation. The 2nd XI were just wrapping up their match so we all got yet another beer and took a turn around the boundary hurling abuse at both the players we know and those that we didn't. Umpires were not excluded either as we all barracked them for their "poor decisions" :-)

It was a terrible mistake to bring his new girlfriend down to the cricket club on a night like this and Teed had tried to avoid it but she was adamant that she wanted to meet his mates. They walked toward the clubrooms with us all seated outside getting further toward a comatose state and my brother's heart must have sank. I stood up and shouted "F**K OFF!!!" at our club Vice Chairman for no good reason and then when Herman advised me that he wouldn't of known that it directed at him particularly I followed up with "GPS F**K OFF!!! Owzat Herm?". It was at this point that a) GPS ignored me (thankfully) and b) Teed said "Casper, this is my new Girlfriend."

Whoops.

The drinking continued unabated and Teed's new lass didn't let the side down. A new big drinker is just what the family needs. So off to the local nightclub herein referred to as JB's for some crazy dancing and more drinks.

Quiz Night

The Quiz Master put on a pretty tough show this evening for the Club's annual Quiz Night. 4 rounds battled out by 6 teams lubricated with a wide range of drinks were tonight's fayre and a pretty close run thing it was too.

Why don't you have a go?

Cakes and Confectionary:

Scene for a famous mutiny
Dusty coastal plain less than 30 miles from Athens that ended up lending its name to a
chocolate bar
Who reputedly said 'let them eat cake' when told that the populace was revolting over
their lack of bread
Family name at the time of his birth of a member of the Royal Family assassinated in 1979
How is Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte commonly known in this country
Where are Whipple-Scrumptious-Fudgemallow-Delights produced
'All because the lady loves __________' Please give one of two possible answers
Which British city is the home of chocolate-makers Rowntrees & Terrys
London Routemaster is the most famous ….
To what piece of music does David Bowie fall to Earth in the film of that name
Whose bite from a small cake - a madeleine - revived his childhood experiences and provoked
him to spend the rest of his life writing a huge novel based on his recollections
Portuguese-owned territory in the Atlantic …Original home of Christiano Ronaldo
Having completed two starters, a main course and several pints of lager what did Phil Lion
consume 36 of at the 2004 FCC Annual Dinner
Subject of a 1991 Court Case to decide whether it's a cake or a biscuit
Top-class urban thoroughfare

Sports Injuries and Illness

Bone in the foot broken by David Beckham & Wayne Rooney prior to the last two World Cups
NBA star who announced that he had contracted HIV in 1991 and temporarily retired before
returning to play in the 'Dreamteam' at the 1992 Olympics
Talismanic Australian who stepped on a cricket ball during a game of touch-rugby and
arguably lost the 2005 Ashes
Who recovered from cancer to ride to victory in the 1981 Grand National
The injury-prone horse on which he rode
Who 'dropped for World Cup Glory' in 2003 but hardly played for club or country for the next
three years
In what circumstances was Herbert Jones seriously injured in the 1913 Derby
What did Canadian snooker player Bill Werbenuik drink during matches to counteract benign
familial tremor
Whose tackle ended the career of footballer Alf Inger Harland
Glasgow-born top ten player who missed this month's French Open due to injury
Having been hit under the heart and seen a team-mate hit in the head, who famously
proclaimed that only one team was playing cricket in the 1932-3 Ashes series
Which member of the 1966 World Cup winning side had undergone an operation for cancer the
previous year
400m runner whose hamstring snapped in a heat at the Barcelona Olympics and who was helped
to the finishing-line by his father
Whose battle against illness is recorded in his book 'It's not about the bike'
Number of Indian batsmen absent hurt in second innings of 1976 Jamaica test

Numbers

What is the next number …. 1,1,2,3,5,8,13,21____
Distance in hours of Gene Pitney from Tulsa
In Shakespeare play how may daughters did King Lear have
Including current one how many Big Brother series (ignore Celebrity version)
Value of Mayfair on a Monopoly Board
How many individual scores in test cricket between 350 and 400 inclusive
Cube root of 512
How many Benedicts before the current Pope
Age of the Earth according to Creationists (10% leeway)
How many King Williams so far in English history
1994 Film starring Morgan Freeman & Brad Pitt
Motorway linking London and Reading
If all 10 wickets fall clean bowled to the first ten balls of an innings
which batsman is not out
Number of minutes for light from the sun to reach the Earth
Answer to the meaning of life, the universe and everything

Asia

Lake holding 20% of world's freshwater
City served by Chattrapathi Shivaji International Airport
Cricket stadium devastated by Tsunami
Only Carry On film set in Asia
World's leading golfer is half American, half ______
Colonial name of Myanmar
Location of Petronas Towers
World's most heavily-armed frontier divides which two countries
Miss Malaysia 1984, Bond Girl, Geisha and most recently astronaut
Oscar-nominated Bollywood epic about a cricket match between British Army
and Indian villagers
Kazan - Perm - Yekaterinberg - Omsk …. Which railway
What draws tourists to the Chinese city of Xian
Ignoring countries with less than 50 million inhabitants, which is the planet's
most densely populated country
Great Pakistan batsman only ever out once LBW in a home test over
17 year period
President of Afghanistan

Fruitless Comparison

"It's like comparing chalk and cheese, oranges and bananas... ...melons and... ...well, I'll not go there."

Everyone roared out laughing and admittedly it was funny in the context, unfortunately the salient point was lost in the mirth.

Sabbatical

I wasn't sure how it was going to go, I have to be completely honest, but my 6 month sabbatical was approved and now I can make my plans in earnest for the trip of a lifetime.

Everyone has been so fantastic since this opportunity arose and I have to pass them my heartfelt thanks.

I have had support on a number of levels throughout what has been a hard time. Those people I am indebted to in a way that I can never imagine being able to repay. They know who they are and I hope they know that I am always here should they need me to be.

I once heard an approach to repaying a debt which sits well with me. Rather than try to repay the kindness shown to you by another, ensure that when someone else needs it they get it from you. This way you spread the good deed further.

I'm heading off now to start my planning. Keep your eyes peeled for updates.

Canary Flight

She left today for 2 weeks. Hopefully it will fly by...

Another long drive

Not quite Sunderland admittedly but Warringotn is still a bit of a hike. I had to make the return journey the same day as well which made matters worse. The purpose of the trip was a success though and I even got to spend 3 hours in the most wonderful sunshine thanks to a mixup with the location info.
The reason for the return journey being on the same day almost got scuppered by mother making plans for me when she didn't realise I needed to see someone and very soon. Still I did what was needed and managed to make the trip I wanted and the evening was everything I had hoped it would be when I had decided to throw caution to the wind and drive all the way back.

Life is good :)

A walk in the sun

We met up and decided to walk together to find the pub we planned to go to for lunch. The weather had decided to turn and was for once sunny. We enjoyed the stroll along the canal bank passing under overhanging branches which offered some respite from the midday sun.
A Corona each whilst we chatted and caught up with one another's lives saw the time fly past and our reverie was broken by my alarm. I needed to be somewhere else though I didn't wish to be.

Weather lends a hand...

We drew today against a fairly strong side. We were helped in the main by the weather which gave forced us to leave the field of play when the opposition had us where they wanted us. Thankfully the downpour was vehement enought that it was in fact the oppo that took the decision out of our hands. We had played enough overs to make it a game rather than an abandonment so we shared the points.
This is in stark contrast to a previous post where our opposition deliberately called the game off denying us a certain victory when conditions were not unplayable.

Home Sweet Home

Whilst I had undoubtedly had a fantastic time out during the week and had been completely successful in all my tasks I was extremely happy to be heading home. The drive was long but problem free and my mind was filled with the exciting evening that stretched before me. I didn't have a clue how things were going to go tonight or even where it was all going on but at that minute I was heady with the thrill of things to come.

Suffice to say that the evening did not disappoint :)

Morning after the night before...

He must have escaped her clutches at some point as he drifted in around 10am. Some of the others came later and Mawson never made it at all. A quick text to make sure he got home ok was fruitful.

This morning was the first time that my wake-up call had worked for me. 2 sober nights in a row and I sleep straight through it, big head on after late night binge drinking and I'm up at sparrow's fart just to make sure that I get a full day's hangover in. Believe me though, last night was well worth anything that could be thrown at me today! I was in by 9am and had made good progress byt the time the others showed up. I was feeling like utter sh1te but seemed to have a resolve about my tasks which saw me motor through them efficiently. In juxtaposition to the way in which the alcohol from last night was making me feel I was approaching today with a renewed vigour.

I can only imagine that this superhuman feat of charging on through my hangover was instigated when I first awoke to find that I had 'lost' (sorry for the pun) my mobile phone. I freaked out wondering whether I had dropped it in the cab or even in the nightclub. I knew I had been texting on it all night but couldn't find it anywhere in the hotel room. Calling it proved futile as it went straight to voicemail; someone had obviously found it and removed the SIM card! So resigned to having to explain away the loss of a mobile phone and the unenviable task of rebuilding my contacts list I decided to make the bed and leave. One flick of the duvet and hey presto, as if by magic, my phone flew into the air and landed neatly in front of me. The feeling of relief was astounding when you consider that this is just a piece of electronics inside a plastic case. It's funny how something like this can become your lifeblood...

...especially when there is someone you really want to get in touch with.

"7th best nightspot in the world..."

It's a lofty claim but one that is made of Newcastle by some residents that I know. "...one place behind Rio." Well I'm glad that Rio pips Newcastle even if it is just for the weather however the comparisons between the two cities are some what closer in other areas. Both have huge constructs with splayed arms, the Angel of the North and the Statue of Christ the Redeemer and both have a buzzing night life.

It was the night life that I got to sample tonight. We headed for Shearer's Bar under St James' Park in order to catch the England match. A win got the night off to a good start and after a few beers there we all headed for The Gate which is like a covered shopping mall rammed to the hilt with pubs and night clubs! The first bar we drifted into I was met by busty young barmaids dressed only in skimpy bikinis! My jaw hit the floor and it took Mawson 3 attempts to get my attention to find out what I wanted to drink. I thought I had died and found heaven when two of the girls climbed the steps from the bar to a small dancefloor and started to gyrate to the heady sounds thumping out of the speakers. This was trully an awesome start to the evening!!!

A serious number of JD's later and we were drifting from pub to pub soaking up the atmosphere as we went. We finished up in a nightclub and spent the night dancing and drinking away with a bevvy of beautiful girls surrounding us. My memory from that point on is a little hazy but I think I remember Stu being cornered by this brute of a woman and being scared to say anything to her; the lads providing her with answers.

I got a taxi back to Sunderland and drifted off to the land of nod almost as soon as my head hit the comfy pillows.

Audio relief

Having bought Now 66 on my way up here yesterday I spent the journey to and from The Hall listening to a number of great tracks and flicking through a greater number of sh1t ones. In my defence the petrol station I picked the CD up from gave me a choice of the Carpenter's or this so I plumped for it. Typically today when needing to top up for the remainder of the week I went into another petrol station that was more like a music store, such was the range available!
There are a few tracks which stood out for me for one reason or another, I wont go into details but they are, in no particular order:

• Ordinary Boys - I Luv U
• Robbie Williams with Pet Shop Boys - She's Madonna
• Justin Timberlake - What Goes Around... ...Comes Around
• Nelly Furtado - Say It Right
• Seamus Haji - Last Night A DJ Saved My Life
• Jamie T - Calm Down Dearest

Mackem

The drive to Sunderland went quite smoothly. It took me about 7 hours with a couple of lengthy stops and a small detour through Bedale (thanks to the kind lady that gave me the directions I need to find the A1M again).
The Marriot hotel in Sunderland was very nice indeed. The surroundings were a little bleak but this probably wasn't helped by the weather, which ever since the Watford gap had been solid cloud. I'm sure there was a sun up there somewhere but I didn't get to see it. A king size bed suited me just fine though and the meal was very good fayre indeed.
Hopefully the rest of the week will go as smoothly.

Pair

My second duck of the weekend completed the dreaded "pair" that every batsman fears. All the lads were as supportive as would expect from teamates and friends that always look out for their own...

"So Casp, whats your favourite fruit?"

...was the line that seemed to raise the most laughs.

The game was won quite comfortably in the end. We were playing a local side and we knew 2 or 3 of their team, they being past players at our club. It was at least something that it wasn't one of those guys that had got me out :)

My average has now plummeted from a healthy 43 to just 21. Oopsie!

Stand and Deliver

That is exactly what their number 4 bat did today.

Having got in amongst some wickets early on we all felt bouyed. We had defeated this side in the league cup at the beginning of the season and now were confident of making it 2 nil. When someone like that comes to the crease in that kind of form though you just have to accept it. He's a better player than us and I can honestly say that it was a pleasure to watch him bat. He couldn't be a nicer guy either which is why you find it hard to dislike him even though he is setting about our bowling attack with aplomb. A quickfire century was well deserved and he had pretty much dragged his side into a position that they should win from. As the same guy took the ball at the beginning of their innings you started to realise that without him the opposition would have been destroyed. His left arm spin was bowled with guile and after a 23 over spell his figures were pretty impressive.

We had been comprehensively beaten by one man. Cricket is funny like that, its one of the only sports I can think of that it is made up almost exclusively of one on one battles between individuals and yet can be affected in such a huge way by a strong team spirit and work ethic.

Change of Address

Not only will my postal address be changing in the not too distant future but today my e-mail address changed too. It's amazing when you come to do something like this how many different online registrations you find you have made using your current account.
It was like a spring clean going through them all and either updating the information for ones I wanted or needed to keep and cancelling ones that were no longer of use. Iwould like to have been able to have told a story about some bizarre registrations that I had made but sadly no my online life is pretty mundane.
One thing that I will be registering for soon, using my new account, will be round the world travel sites. Herman and I have decided to throw caution to the wind and set off around the world to see places and friends that we would otherwise maybe never have done. I'll be keeping you all posted (no pun intended) on the progress of our plans.

More Viewings

We have had a deluge of viewings arranged and some promising news from those that have already been around. Here's hoping that we can effect a quick sale...

Typical

A day after putting the house up for sale I get an e-mail from GPS to the effect that one of our members could save a considerable amount of money for anyone selling a property.

Devastated !

:(

Market Rates

It took an hour all in to put the house on the market. By five O'clock a viewing had been arranged.

Resolve

Not only did I need to take some to help recover from last night but I instilled some in myslef. I had got my shit in order and decided to move on a few things...

Leo Sayer

With no game today and a bank holiday the following day we all converged on the Club with the intention of going on a "Leo Sayer". The Carlton Colds flowed a plenty as we whiled the early afternoon away enjoying what we knew was going to become a huge drinking session.
A mammoth hand of poker ensued, a game which if you remember I am no good at, and for the first time in ages I partook. I got the distinct impression that I was being favoured by my mates as one by one they were dropping out whist me a mere rookie began collecting chips for fun. Victory was mine as a punt on a bad hand went my way which left me feeling on top of the world, albeit if I had been handed the win.
As more drinks came and went in the usual manner our thoughts turned to sustenance and Pizza's became the order of the day. A quick bite and then we were preparing to head out to a local club to round the evening off.
Having queued for over an hour I was desperate for a drink as we entered the club, JD and cokes by this point had taken centre stage, a favourite tipple of mine. The club played on around me as my stupour began to take hold. I had been drinking since before midday and it was taking it's toll on me, until I finally gave in and fell asleep. I woke up still in the club to find a girl talking to me, quite how she hadn't noticed I was sparko I don't know, but with a head on me already I had to just get up and go. Fortunately H was on hand to pick us up and Herman, one of his mates, Robins and me all piled into her car and got taken back.

Victory denied

On one of the worst days of the year so far we comprehensively outplayed the opposition only to have our victory swiped away from us by a sour groundsman/player/arsehole!
We had worked hard in the field to bowl them out for 141, a total which they would probably not have reached had it not been for some dubious umpiring decisions and some of our players getting carried away with an on field argument. Once this had been calmed over a drinks break we got back to the business of seeing them off in a constant drizzle.
Tea came and went with the weather still gloomy and wet but they took to the field awaiting me and Skip to come to the crease. We had in the region of 45 overs to get the 142 target and set about their bowling with promise. Although we survived a couple of chances each our partnership grew and soon Skip was celebrating his half century. Before long we had passed the 100 mark and the target was easily attainable given the time and the number of wickets in hand. That's when it started...
...the opposition had approached this game in the way it should have been. They wanted to play on regardless of the weather and see it through to a result, all bar two of them that is. Their two most senior players, people that you would normally expect to have had the polar opinion, began moaning about the conditions and arguing that the weather was causing them problems in the field. To be fair to the rest of their team they just wanted to get the game finished and get back into the bar, whilst these two were clearly trying to use the weather to call the game off in order to deny us what was a certain victory.
In the end we needed 26 runs to win having faced only 21 overs and still had 10 wickets to get them with. Skip and I had put on a 116 run partnership and I was close to joining him on 50, finishing with 43 not out. One of the opposition fielders had slipped slightly on the wicket whilst trying to retrieve a ball and their groundsman (who was also playing) insisted that the game be called off due to safety and damage to the ground that he had to tend to. Skip's opposite number had been harangued by these two protesters for some 5 or 6 overs and eventually gave in pulling us all off when it had got so close. He cannot be blamed, he had tried everything in his power to get the game completed and he deserves to be applauded for that. If only ever team we played against was made of people that approached the game in the way he did.

Best yet

This evening's youth match for the under 9 age group proved to be their strongest display yet. Playing against a strong side who made no bones about approaching the game to win rather than give everyone a go we managed to restrict them to an attainable target and were unlucky to fall short. Some strong bowling spells from each pair in the first innings made me proud as their coach whilst the best batting score that they have so far achieved was the icing on the cake. A good deal of their parents were able to come along and support them in their venture which I'm sure helped them. It's matches like this; the excitement on the kids faces and the pride displayed by their parents that makes all this worthwhile.

Unwell Part III

Not quite right still I decided to take another day off and try to get shot of this flu.

Unwell Part II

I took today off and spent most of it in bed. My sore throat had grown into full man-flu. By this evening I had started to feel a little better so fingers crossed...

Unwell

I have had a really sore throat all day today. Yesterday's news puts things into perspective though so I must not complain.

More bad news

I found out that a good colleague and friend is suffering with stomach cancer. I hadn't even heard that he was ill and assumed he must have been on holiday. Apparently the prognosis is good. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for him.

Heat ! ! !

It's the only way to describe today.

Sunburnt whilst umpiring a colts match, dehydrated whilst legging it round the field and pinned by a bowler of serious pace!

MG Owner

I bought a Damask red MGB GT today! I love it!

The deal was struck fairly smoothly mainly thanks to the gentleman (and here I mean the term gentleman sincerely) on the other end of the deal.

It purred all the way home and then onto the away match where Pritts got to see it first, running round to the car park to have an ogle and congratulate me. Although not in the same class as his MkII Jensen Interceptor, it's my pride and joy!

A hard fought knock of 33 saw us post 150 odd before dismissing the opposition for just 140. Handing us our first league win of the season. That will teach them to sledge SemiPro with the fated line, "You're the worst cricket team that I have seen in 10 years!".

They must be feeling pretty sick :-)

Home Improvements

Tonight saw a massive improvement in the fortunes of our colts sides. Not only did we bowl and field well and leaving a target far more reasonable than before, but our batsmen stepped up to the mark producing the best performance I have yet seen.
The young captain led the way with a fine knock of 23, which had not long ago been a team score, ably assisted by the others reaching 66 in reply. Although defeated our boys can stand proud of their efforts today. Having only had 6 batsmen dismissed was also a personal best for the lads who once again managed to use up the overs.

Visiting Hours

We travelled to Brompton Hospital this evening to see our Uncle. He was recovering from major heart surgery.
When you hear about someone in that situation but don't see them straight away your imagination takes over and you build a mental image of what to expect. Often it can be a bigger shock than what you had prepared for. When I saw him the day he had his heart attack I was stunned at how different he looked; tonight he looked somewhat better than I had envisioned. He was clearly very weak and emotional with it but there was something about him that put my mind at ease regarding his welfare. A couple of little wisecracks left me feeling that he was on the mend and the journey home was that bit more comfortable than the journey there.
The staff at the hospital seemed magnificent. Although a big party of us had appeared they were untroubled and quietly got on with their business of helping him recover whilst allowing us to speak with him. Our Aunt has been able to spend every day with him which I'm sure in the long run will help her by seeing a little progress each day.

Mighty oaks from little acorns grow

A wet evening almost saw the end of another colts match but with a little perseverance we managed to get the game through to a result...

...not the one we wanted but still a completed game.

The lads were, to be blunt, a little disappointing tonight. Their fielding let them down albeit in the rain and their batting left a lot to be desired with only 10 and 11 avoiding a dismissal. Although costly in terms of the runs we could have scored the youngest player in our side this evening was the only one to play with a straight bat in the way that we have been coaching them. To his credit he stayed at the crease for 10 overs. It was his first game, playing against kids 3 years his senior, but it was definitely a promising start. If he continues in that vein he will become a good player.

Washed Out

I am but that is not what this is about...

...Our colts had yet another match called off thanks to what must surely be the wettest May in living history!

They were devastated and so was I.

Flawed Prospect

We have a young player at our cricket club who will I'm sure become an absolutely fantastic cricketer; the sky is indeed the limit.

The only flaw is that he has a slight skip in his delivery stride as he comes into bowl which I have now made it my mission to fix. Getting a bowler to remove a habit like this is a notoriously hard thing to achieve so I have my work set out but fortunately he is young enough to allow for this to be done and keen enough to learn, making me believe that this is not beyond him or indeed myself.

Please wish me and him luck :)

The Great Escape

With a washed out Sunday in terms of upcoming cricket matches all that was left to do was watch West Ham United scrape themselves out of the relegation quagmire with a smash and grab raid against Manchester United on the final day of the 2006-2007 Premiership season.

I met Teed at the clubhouse after popping in to see Ma and Pa and regaling them with the latest dispatches, whilst quaffing a cheeky red. In a second display of what seems to be my unplanned lifestyle change, favouring all things retro, I veered toward an old style pint glass with handle and drank bitter at the club.

Put it down to experience

Today was pretty much a write off , a blitz of the house was the only worthwhile event. The weather seemed to be coming out in sympathy of the mood, that dull, overcast gloom threatening a downpour. I snapped at Babe over something ridiculously unimportant and spent the rest of the day regretting it, I don't know why, but I had woken up so angry this morning.

It was the first match that I have played in where we failed to score above 100. 67 all out chasing 236 to win was a dreadful showing. None of us can put our hands up and say we batted well. I tried to sweep a spinner just three balls into the innings and was given out albeit off my forearm. The shot deserved the end result though and a couple of people lent their advice on that one so I will be putting that stroke away until I'm being well set next time.

Bandai was near suicidal after his dismissal. He was saying how he had been struggling for form recently and today his luck hit rock bottom. He was facing a clever spinner and popped one in the air from the shoulder of the bat. The ball looked certain to fall into empty space as a fielder tried to make up the ground; he stuck his boot out, caught the ball before it hit grass and sent it looping in the air to a gleeful short cover who gobbled the catch. Bandai will never see another wicket like that let alone be on the receiving end of it but that did little to console him.

And finally British entry, Scootch, mustered a lowly 19 points in this evening's Eurovision song contest.

All of us should put today's events down to experience...

Fantastic Service

Twice now I have ordered a large number of cricket shirts from Owzat over the telephone of an afternoon and twice they have managed to get my order delivered to me the following morning! I'm completely amazed that during the cricket season they can keep up this kind of service. The first order some weeks back had been in the off season and so stock levels permitting I could just about see a next day delievery (free by the way) as being possible. To repeat that just a few weeks into the season makes me think they must be miracle workers. I'm sure that one day I'll receive a delivery of an order that I'm about to phone through ;)

Keep up the good work guys, I'm spreading the word!

One step closer

My dream of driving a classic sports car is a little closer today.

I was concerned that as a young man my insurance premium on such a vehicle was going to be astronomical but a quick call to Footman James for a quote gave me the best news that I have heard in ages. They quoted me almost £400 less than I currently pay so an issue which I thought was going to be a show stopper actually meant that the extra cost of maintaining an MGB GT compared to a normal car would be covered to some degree by the savings in insurance. If you add the fact that I'm particularly interested in a model which was registered before 1973 and therefore would be tax exempt then the dent in the potential running costs is even greater.

I'm so excited about the thought of a beautiful car that I have forgotten to impart that I had a sound nights sleep last night and feel chipper for it. Here's keeping my fingers crossed that this may long continue.

Insomniac

I guess that it was the fact that I couldn't sleep what-so-ever last night that I spent most of today feeling like shit. To be honest it's probably been about 2 weeks since I have slept properly and things are beginning to take their toll. I could sense that I have been getting crabby and easily irritated but today I didn't feel that I even had the energy to get moody.
A walk home in the cold air was hard going but did the trick for a while in terms of pepping me up. Babe cooked whilst I tried to ring round players for the forthcoming matches, a chore that I could have done without. Dinner was delicious, chicken and asparagus pie with new potatoes and sweetcorn, and thankfully kept me going until about 22:30. I was going to have a sleep when I got back in from work but thought better of it, sleeping in the evening would only make it even harder to doze off tonight.
I'm keeping my fingers crossed that things improve otherwise I might be taking a trip to the GP.

Classic

I am no car enthusiast but have always loved the look of an early 70's sports car. I have recently had a yearning to buy a modest one and with the ever increasing cost of maintenance and ever decreasing time on the road with my current heap of junk I started to look about.
I had always been drawn to a Triumph Spitfire before but had recently been advised to look at a Stag. Neither really did it for me so I called my Father who is a classic car nut and asked what he thought.
Within an instant he responded "MGB GT, it's perfect for you!" So I looked around and found a whole host for sale online and a wealth of information. I must admit that I fell in love with the look of them straight away and now have my heart set upon purchasing one.
Watch this space...

Bank Holiday Weather

Today was a typical bank holiday in terms of weather. The rain came in torrents making up for the whole of April it seems. Things cleared somewhat for the early afternoon and held on enough for coaching to go on. Although it doesn't look pleasant I'm sure that most gardeners are pleased that finally they'll have some moisture in their turf.
Babe, having washed her car yesterday was desperate as we wound through the back lanes to Chief's place, splashing through numerous muddy puddles, but on inspection there wasn't too much mess.
It's always nice to have a three day weekend though.

Half Century

They put on 288 in 40 overs. Their opener hit the ball like nothing I have ever seen. The majority of our fielders were nursing sore hands for the rest of the day.
It was a daunting total to chase but Skip and I were asked to open in order to set a platform for the team to make that total. We made a fantastic start together, both reaching 50 around the same time. It was my first of the season so I was pretty chuffed. I managed another 11 runs before holing out to a great catch at mid-on but Skip turned up the heat with a classy 128. We came within 3 runs of winning, the game having seen a total of 574 runs scored during the day. It was a good game to be a part of in cricketing terms but the atmosphere turned sour when our opposition (in what was a friendly match) started to whinge about everything that was happening from us making a legitimate run when they made fielding errors to suggesting that the only reason we prevented a 15 year old spectator from coming out to do the umpiring was that he might give us out. "Yeah, he might give me out when I'm not supposed to be!" Skip quipped. It's a shame because it marred a good competitive game of cricket and foul language in front of some of the club's ladies just made matters worse, however it all got settled over a beer and they stayed around at the club for a while, showing an interest in joining the Sunday league that we play in. Now that would be a fiery encounter!

Credit where credit is due

We were slaughtered today by a side that we really should have beaten to progress to the next round of the cup. To be fair our fielding display was pretty good and the bowlers that were asked to bowl today did a sterling job. Missing SemiPro was always going to hurt but the track was lethal, it was the third match to be played on it in a row with mowing being the only preparation; he would have been unplayable today.
Ground fielding was like playing 'dodge the minefield' on a desperate oval but as the saying goes "they have to play on it too". In another display of fickleness I was promoted to opening the batting with Skip and fared OK making 18 with some beuatiful drives to the boundary albeit littered with some awful slashes too. Our batting collapsed with no-one making more than 25 the only player that looked at all in good shape was Pritts.
After the match Skip sat down with me and told me over a beer that I had impressed him as opener and that he wanted to take back what he had said to me on Tuesday. It's a big man that can admit that he is wrong and he deserves credit for having that conversation with me. Here's hoping that I can continue to deliver on what he has seen so far.

Delayed Write Failure

When I started this blog I used to update it each evening with the highlights of that day's events. The odd slip or prior engagement sometimes meant that I didn't write the post until the following day. Recently however it has been a number of days between updates or in the most extreme case almost 2 weeks.

At first I thought that this was a problem (well 2 weeks is a problem) but sometimes that little delay in penning typing your thoughts can help to clarify exactly what you want to convey to the reader. It can calm what at the time was an emotional moment or conversely it can build the strength of feeling missing from an off-guard situation.

Either way reflection on the events of your last day, week or fortnight in my case, is a healthy thing. I will try to ensure that my blog is updated as regularly as possible but I won't worry if posts must wait for a day or so.

League Match and the AGM

Our oldest youth side played in their first league match this evening yet still playing against kids a number of years their senior. They bowled well taking four wickets but the opposition were very strong and took advantage of the numerous fielding errors to amass a huge total of 198.
Our boys didn't make a dent in that score but still made an impressive show against some very quick bowling in worsening light.
Ou football team's AGM took place tonight too, I made it there late but was able to deliver my report on all things player related and present TaxiTom with his new shirt to celebrate his stellar debut where he stepped onto the pitch with his shirt on back-to-front.
An American football top in the right colours did the trick ;)

Unwelcome News

Babe phoned to say that her uncle had suffered a heart attack and had been rushed to hospital. I didn't know what to say. It was his birthday today too.
We went straight there after work and thankfully he seemed better than I had hoped.
"We all hope you get better soon."

Selection Update

Well following last week's selection meeting and my despair at what I felt was unwarranted treatment by the captain I am stunned to impart that I have been promoted from 9 to first drop!
Skip in his usual display of self importance asked to speak to me quietly outside the club rooms. I was expecting to be told that I wouldn't be needed in the first eleven this weekend and had begun to prepare a barrage of abuse.
After about 4 attempts to spit it out he finally opted for "Casper, where do you think you should bat?" My response was that I would back myself to bat anywhere in the side (diplomatically passing the buck straight back to the fella) but I went on to air my grievance re: Saturday.
I was told that a large number of the team believe that I would make a good opener for the side which was nice to hear but he followed this up by saying quite bluntly "I don't think that you're good enough." I figure that was his stab at building the morale of one of his team that was clearly unhappy. Just another example of his incompetence in the position.
So finally he told me that I was to bat at 3 on Saturday, which most cricketers would tend to agree is as good as opening or maybe even better. His logic therefore is somewhat flawed but I guess I have my chance and it's now down to me.

A club feel

Tonight's coaching session went well with the younger kids playing a little match and the older ones in focus groups moving between the different aspects of the game.

What was more encouraging was the parents coming into the clubhouse and using the bar and perusing the many photgraphs displaying our proud history. Many thanks to Pritts for ensuring that they were all welcomed including the cups of tea and coffee he served to the Mums.

Swingball

We all went over to Chief's place to celebrate j's birthday this afternoon. He turned 8 today but he is a boy beyond his years. After we got there he started to open a mountain of presents from friends and family and looked genuinely delighted with each and every gift. The atmosphere was great and we spent our time drifting in and out of the house and the back garden enjoying the sun and birthday cake.
We all took it in turns playing the swingball that had been installed, I was soundly beaten by j on a number of occasions. Watching J and his brother Chief, both 6' 4", smashing the ball round the pole to each other had us all in stitches. Each and every strike seemed to be harder; the ball was just a blur. Next up was Babe and P producing some long rallies and as many laughs.
Happy Birthday j !!!

This morning had been a happy time too. It was our youth team's first cricket match ever, pitting a very young side against a strong local team 2 to 3 years their senior. Our boys aquitted themselves very well and making me and their club very proud. Our seamers were making the ball swing and caused some of the opposition's good batsmen a bit of trouble at times. All the kids were buzzing after the game, thrilled to have been a part of it no matter how heavily they had got beaten.

Delight tinged with disappointment

As planned Hebbo and I met up this morning for a spot of breakfast followed by a net session. He amazes me every time that I see him take on some sporting activity. It was only October when he broke his leg in an horrendous accident playing football and he had been told that he wouldn't play sports again let alone walk properly. But there is something about him, something special that sets him apart from your average bloke and he has made what can only be described as a miraculous recovery. He is running well and even kicking footballs around again, obviously some way off playing competitively but you would never have believed that he would have been doing this if you had seen him back in October.
He had told me that he had been netting and that he was bowling again but I didn't realise how well he had been doing until I saw it first hand this morning. I am trully delighted for him as he is an extremely talented cricketer and the game will be better off for having him play it.

We finished up around 11:30 and made our way to our matches. My mood started to drop as I got closer to the clubhouse knowing that I was destined to field all day, watch others bat and then pay for the privilege. So imagine my surprise when the skipper tossed me the ball, albeit after making a balls up with the bowling order, and asked me to have a little trundle. I impressed myself with my line and length, the ball flighted well but still going through the air that bit quicker than I normally manage it. It had the desired effect, I took two wickets, got through my overs pretty quickly and was genuinely delighted to have played a little part in the game that I wasn't expecting. We had restricted a strong batting side to 214 on a very good track and fast outfield; my second wicket wrapped the innings up and ensured that we didn't concede any penalty for taking too long to bowl our overs.
The boys batted well as I watched from my number 7 spot and we always kept ourselves in the frame to win. When out fifth wicket fell I remained glued to my seat as our illustrious captain had decided to promote SemiPro above me. He is a much, much better batsman than me and also had form on his side so I was in no place to complain but the plain fact is that he should never have been that far down the order anyway. Thankfully he and Bandai saw us home with overs to spare, SemiPro hitting 2 big sixes in a row. So a big cup win for the club against a very strong side from our division, I'm always delighted to win amongst my mates but can't hide my disappointment at being overlooked time and again.

1st BBQ of the year

We all went over to Big Mama's for the first barbeque of the year. Unfortunately the weather wasn't as good as we had hoped but we were all out in the garden anyway and the food was fantastic.
I love the smell of the burning coals, it really gives you a feeling of summer, although it's bizarre that we are still in April and doing this.
The dartboard came out as it usually does and we played 301 until Jackster finished with a double 8 leaving me and my Father-in-law stunned.
We retired to the lounge and watched 'My Family' followed by 'Have I got news for you' until it was time to go home.
I couldn't sleep for some reason so sat up and watched the television for a while until my eyes started to sting.

Training

We fitted the net on the cage tonight to ensure that we can train properly in the coming weeks. Last week's session had been a bit of a farce without it so this was an important job to get done. Once finished we had an impromptu catching drill with Prittsy launching cricket balls high in the air with me, Robins and Herman underneath them.
A beer and a bit of the Sri Lanka vs New Zealand cricket world cup semi-final later I was trotting out for football training.

Half Time

We went over to Chief's place tonight, I watched the football whilst she got her beauty treatments. One of our Nephews was in fits of laughter all night seemingly about anything whilst his brother who is growing up fast and taking on a quieter demeanour joined us watching the Champions League semi-final.
It was a good match and Chelsea certainly dominated the first half deserving their 1 - 0 lead at the break. The second forty five was a slightly different matter as they came under pressure from Liverpool but managed to restrict them to very few real chances. In an ideal world Chelsea would have finished the tie in this leg, they had the opportunities to make their lead 2 or 3 goals but I would have taken 1 at the start of the match.
The tie is delicately poised now for the second leg. Liverpool will have to come out at home to score and this will hopefully provide the Blues with further chances to strike the killer blow. An away goal at Anfield will surely do the job.
1 nil at half time.

Selection

I was devastated as it dawned on me that I was going to be treated this season in much the same way that I was treated last season. It seems that my place in our first team is for my fielding only as I watched my name go 7 on the list with a batsman who struggled in the 2nd XI last year was given the opening berth.

Did my efforts over the weekend count for nothing? Am I not one of the in-form batsmen?

Clearly not, as when the opener who had just been generously given a start phoned in to say that he would be unavailable, another batsman was brought up from the 2nd team and drafted straight into the number 1 slot, whilst I remained lingering at 7! I was livid, especially given that this second usurper had only manged single figures against a weak attack on Sunday.
If this is coming over as a rant against the players picked in favour of me then I want to make it clear that I hold no grudge against them. They can only play where they are asked to. Some of them may well be better players than me and I wont dispute that but in my eyes form is key and a week watching others bat will do nothing to keep me in the good touch that I felt last weekend.
I bit my tongue and vowed to let the skipper know my displeasure if indeed I was number 7 on Saturday.

Mayhem

I turned up to the coaching session about 30 minutes early to get prepared as I knew we were at least one coach down. 3 of the lads turned up about 15 minutes early so I went back into the clubhouse to get the kit out. By the time I walked out the front door again there were 18 or 20 kids standing there all asking different questions simultaneously, their parents all wanting to pay the fees, subscription or purchase the kit! As more kids turned up I started to panic, here I was on my own with 33 kids potentially about to cause havoc unless they were given some direction. There are as few simple fielding drills which can include all the kids at once so I started with one of those just to make sure that they were active, I asked all the parents if we could deal with monies at the end of the session and then kept my fingers crossed that one of the other coaches would turn up early.
Thankfully Herman and DelBoy turned up fairly quickly and we were able to break the horde down into more manageble groups. The session turned out to be a roaring success, the kids loving the little games we set up and the parents sat on the sideline watching. We had something like 10 or 12 new kids turn up this week and we also had a good number of the existing group sign their forms. What had started as a desperate effort to introduce a few kids to cricket at our club has become a strong and ever growing youth section with some very promising players. I'm proud to have been instrumental in the success so far and I'm sure that all the kids will be doing me proud out on the field each week. To all that have helped me in this endeavour I pass my hearty thanks.

2-1-49-2-1-0-1

Not a strange and wonderful new mathematical series but rather the summary of my Sunday.

We were defeated 2-1 away to Jubilee in what was a good game of football played in the right spirit. Had we turned up with more than 11 players and been able to substitute in the searing heat we may have been able to get something out of the game.

I made 49 batting at number 4 against Merrow narrowlt avoiding another jug (I hope this doesn't become a regular thing) and even managed to turn my arm over for a cameo at the end end returning figures of:

2 overs, 1 maiden, 0 wickets for 1 run.

Opener?

The season got underway today with an interclub match pitting players across the spectrum of the club against each other in a light hearted by keenly contested game. It was also an opportunity to introduce the younger members of our club to senior cricket and to get a look at some of the new players upon whom we will undoubtedly be pinning some hopes on for the forthcoming season.
Chasing 202 I opened the batting with Robins against Bear and SemiPro. I took to the crease with as much protection as possible, pads, gloves, helmet, arm guard, box and chest guard. I even wore a jumper in the searing heat just to add an extra layer to absorb some of the pace of SemiPro's bowling.
Little did I know that I would only face 3 or 4 balls from him whilst watching my strike partners get skittled at the other end. Standing at the non-striker's end is the best protection in the game.
46 runs later I played all round a straight one and made my way to the changing rooms having avoided the purchase of a jug. I must learn to convert a good start.
What was heartening was the display laid on by our youth players. Each of them produced some fine performances in the field and bowled well too. Their batting stood up pretty well with one in particular looking like he has a good future in the game.
"Now, where is the bar?"

Happy Birthday Dad!

I hope you had a great day Dad, you deserve it! I really enjoyed our chats this evening and later on and I hope you understand that I was just doing my duty by pinching an oinion bhajee. I know you'll like your main present and I'm sure that the second will go down well.

My Father shares his birthday with Adolf Hitler. This in itself is quite a scary thing but couple that with my Mother sharing her birthday with Eva Braun and the coincidences take on a sinister feel.

I dare not check who I may share a birthday with :S

New Home

Bruv and his wife proudly showed off their new home to me tonight. It's a really spacious place and perfect for the two of them. I'm really pleased for them that they are finally owners rather than tenants although they both said that it was taking a while to sink in that they no longer answered to a landlady.
There is a well known saying often used to describe what to look for in a property...

"Location, location, location."

Well, situated directly above the local pizza place this little number can certainly claim to be well located :)

I'll be keeping an eye on their waistlines in the coming months as I'm sure that they will struggle to resist the temptation!

Massage

I have never felt so relaxed in my life. Many, many thanks to P for her healing hands!

I have been in need of a good massage for a number of months and this was a second attempt to keep a booking I made some time back. Let me tell you that it was well worth the wait. It is amazing how relaxed your body can become when relieved of the stresses and strains of day to day life. I think that my incessant chat at the beginning was a little off-putting but she persevered and about half way through a full body massage I was drifting off. I'm sure that at some point I was asleep, it was just bliss.

"Right, when can I book again?"

The Handover

Marking the official beginning of our cricket season we took control of the clubhouse again today.

Sharing it with a football club has it's downsides. The place was in a real mess tonight and looked far from the cosy club rooms of last season. It doesn't help that the walls are missing the photos of past players and the trophy cabinet is bare but even so...

We were supposed to be all out to prepare for the forthcoming season opener on Friday but delays with the handover meant that a proper clean up wouldn't take place until later in the week. Time for a quick beer and a recount of the weekend, catching up with friends and looking forward to what this season may bring.

Broken Record

I felt like a broken record as a recounted the same mantra for 30 minutes each hour throughout the day. I would say that it will be nice to have a change tomorrow, but no such luck.

Whirlwind

We saw one of our nephews today, in his Nan and Grandad's back garden in the sun. He has grown so much since the last time I saw him but what stood out the most was the way in which he has matured as a little person. He was playing with toy cars on the paving slabs and I joined him for a bit. I was thinking to myself that it wasn't so long ago that I was doing something like that. The last time that I saw him he was at the stage where he would pick any toy up and wave it around or throw it about; today he was there 'driving' the cars around.
Another trait he has picked up is to court a little controversy. He's pushing each and every boundary to see what he can get away with and what is out of bounds. It was like a little whirlwind had hit the garden as piece by piece the ornaments were pushed until they toppled over. "No", said Big Mama. "NO", said P, "NO!!!" shouted Chief. It was only when there was a little feeling put into the command that he stopped, stared at his father and knew that the boundary had been crossed. He still looked around the garden with an air of someone planning their next 'job' though :-)
When we got home we split the jobs between us, I cooked the roast beef and by so doing avoided mowing the lawn. The dinner was a roaring success. For the first time I got my timings right across the board, I was like a whirlwind in the kitchen!

Do not pass go. Do not collet £200.

"Who's brought the get out of jail free card?" we all joked as we sat on the train headed for London Waterloo. "Beer anyone?" said AL clearly starting as he meant to go on. It was his 21st birthday and we were all going to attempt to pub crawl around the Monopoly board. Starting with a couple of beers on the train was probably not the best move but we were all having a laugh spurred on by SemiPro who was in particularly good form.

Our effort to make all 26 pubs (22 spaces that you can build on and the 4 train stations) took a blow right at the start as we struggled to find a pub that was open on the Old Kent Road but we got there in the end. It amazes me that so many pubs were shut in London but I'm not a city boy so maybe I'm not up with what goes on in town. The barmaid in The George must have thought we were a bunch of amateurs as she told us that we were an hour late starting and would have been better off starting with halves instead of pints! Apparently 3 groups had already been through.

We had opted for the quickest route encompassing each of the spaces rather than going for each one in order to avoid criss-crossing London which was probably a good idea but in all honesty we were never likely to make it to the end from the word "Go" (pun intended).

We found some excellent pubs en route, The Castle on Pentonville Road was particularly good given it's roof top beer garden and the blazing hot weather. Having moved on SemiPro displayed his skills on the ivories by giving an excellent rendition of "It's a little bit funny" by Elton John whilst the pub DJ kindly bought AL a birthday drink.

The pints were beginning to take their toll and we soon reverted to the halves so rightly advised by our first barmaid. We made the fatal error of taking a seat in The Rocket in Euston Road and never really got back on the crawl properly after that. I think we took in 2 or 3 pints here which was the start of the end but the day was clearly being enjoyed by all so no-one was too worried.

My brother has an in-built failsafe for when he goes out drinking, he falls asleep. He's never sick and never causes trouble but almost always catches some Z's. This led to an ejection from a bar but we were able to find another with seating outside so he could nap in a chair whilst the rest of us carried on drinking.

It was a combination of SemiPro's attempt to do the chivalrous thing by escorting a lady home and us trying to coax Sleepy toward the taxi rank that saw us miss our chance to get the last train home. I will not take the blame even though I was buying some food. So we embarked on a £160 taxi fare across London and back home to what was undoubtedly going to be an enormous hangover!

Many thanks should go to the guys over at Monopoly Pub Crawl whose maps and guides helped us get as far as we did (14 I think?).

"Right, who is up for the circle line?"