Nightwatchgirl’s Ashes 2009 diary:
Dear Diary,
So here it begins. with nine months and nine days to go (thanks Miss Field for the countdown), tickets for Lord’s went on sale today. Today. No warning. Just a letter in the post, informing NWG that she must part with £95 of her hard earned money (?) to be part of Day 1, Test 1 of the Ashes.
Now NWG realises that Lord’s might be the ‘greatest’ destination to play cricket; the place where players bat longer, bowl faster, jump higher and run quicker than ever before, but to be honest, it appears that England don’t buy in to any of that. Lord’s has become a large, ugly necklace that weighs all the English batsmen down.
This must change. England must stop fearing the ‘home’ of cricket and learn to embrace, to love, to adore Lord’s. As soon as they arrive in St John’s Wood, their heartbeat must increase, their eyesight must improve and they just have to remember how to win there.
OK, so this wasn’t such a problem last time. England lost the first Test and that did them no harm. It probably helped, in fact. They bowled out the Australians in double quick time, the only problem being that they themselves were bowled out in triple time.
There is a lot of cricket to be played between now and then for both teams. Matches that will decide which frame of mind each team will arrive with and a Twenty20 World Cup as the cherry on the top.
Oh diary, how Nightwatchgirl so looks forward to next summer. How many days will be abandoned due to rain? How many pitches will be under six feet of water? How many players will develop interesting ways of getting injured before crucial games?
Excitement must not build just yet. We must hang on. We must take each day at a time and stay in the present. But what the hell?
Bring on Ashes 09.
Love Nightwatchgirl
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Comments:
3 Comments
Thanks Nightwatchgirl,
the countdown has truly started on “Silly Points”.
I am looking forward to more of your entries.
Thanks NWG, but one point. Day One, Test Two, i think. Isn’t it all kicking off in Cardiff? Or are you presuming (probably correctly) that that idea will be dismissed as a frivolous indulgence nearer the time?
This is true, Cardiff is the first test, but NWG isn’t a member there or going, so Lord’s is the closest to her, aside from the Oval. And another thing: it is her prediction that the Cardiff Test will be a write-off due to the deadly mixture of rain and sheep. And you can quote her on that one.