I can see clearly now the rain has gone

Many readers of this rubbish may feel the tone of this blog has been rather smug. There has been an unnecessary number of references to fine weather, what a great time I’m having, how I’m not getting hangovers (till yesterday’s shocker), how dark and rainy it was in England and so on.

Well in an attempt to redress the balance, here’s some edited highlights from Xmas day in Melbourne.
It was the coldest Xmas day on record.
There was snow in Victoria, where a week ago there were bush fires.
I was at the bar at the Barmy Army lunch and suddenly got crushed-everyone was running in from the rain.
I heard someone say ‘It’s gonna get like Glastonbury here.’ It didn’t, but my trainers are very muddy.
Oh yeah, and it hailed on us. 2,500 people at the Barmy Army Xmas BBQ and it fucking hailed on us (sorry, no other word for it).
So, you could say that Xmas day on the beach didn’t quite come off.
I don’t expect any sympathy.
I called it quits, went back to the hostel to warm up, and really rather enjoyed Love Actually, which was on. So I clearly deserve no sympathy at all.

I have a photo of the deluge that I’ll post another day.

Odd as it was to spend Xmas day in this way, I did feel it must have been a lot weirder to have spent your Xmas flipping burgers for the Barmy Army.

So the Boxing day test. At the MCG. Something I’ve wanted to go to for as long as I can remember. Did it live up to that build up? Essentially yes. England were poor. They rode their luck and got thumped today. I do love to see England win, but I am essentially a cricket fan. Test match cricket at its best is simply is the greatest sport there is: during a break I was flicking at last year’s Wisden and saw this line from Oliver Holt (on the 2005 series): “Take each of these tests on its own and perhaps you could argue that Liverpool’s miracle comeback in the European Cup Final was its equal. But put them together and they have no rival. They have lit up this summer like a burning sun.”
Key word there-‘perhaps’.
Key point-Oliver Holt was a football correspondent last time I checked (i.e. before he went to write for a Tab).
My point-I enjoyed that the Aussies were magnificent and what ebb and flow there was. As a cricket fan, I can enjoy another Warne showpiece; I can enjoy Gilchrist carting us to all parts of the WACA: I can admire Ponting running out the hapless Geraint Jones while everyone else is appealing (Warne had no idea what was going on); I can respect Hayden obvious disapproval of Warne’s excessive appealing and theatrics. As a cricket fan, I also hope to see Glenn McGrath finish without taking another wicket, and hopefully sustaining a lasting injury to his big mouth.

There were just under 90,000 people there. It was special. I have some photos I’ll have to post another day.

Shane Warne provided the pantomime for Xmas this year: he used every trick in the book to build the crowd up for his entry into the action. He went off the field (presumably for a massage), started bowling the ball back rather than throwing it, went through elaborate stretching routines, pretended he was going to start bowling when he wasn’t (the biggest cheer to that point of the day). Each bit of acting got a huge crowd response and reduced the rest of the game to the sideshow. When he finally did come on, it was a surprise that England resisted as long as they did. The build up would have got him a victim first ball against a lot of teams. The fact that Warne’s celebration of his 700th test wicket was pure Monty Panesar means we’re doing something right.

So, I’ve now got Augusta, Wimbledon and Eden Gardens on the sporting ‘places to go before I snuff it’. Great stuff today.

I’m pleased to say that Helen’s having a champagne breakfast before tomorrow’s play-I expect I’ll need some fortification.