Congratulations Sachin Tendulkar

Sachin Tendulkar, perhaps the best batsman I have ever seen and rated by Don Bradman as also the best batsman he has ever seen yesterday became the highest scorer of runs in Test cricket and also is the first player to pass the 12,000 run mark.



Whilst I am a one eyed Australian, I think it is also pertinent to point out that Tendulkar is not only a great batsman and now has the statistics to say that he is the very best ever since Bradman, but he also is an exemplary person and promoter of the game and its values.

He is a great player and a great person and I will long remember the day I spent at the SCG just last summer watching Tendulkar hit a chance less 150 odd and seemed to do it so effortlessly.

Congratulations.

CHAMPIONS!

Greystanes won the toss and batted and soon regretted it as we found ourselves 2/1 with yours truly out bowled for a second ball duck.

We struggled on Saturday and were bowled out for 103 in the 52nd over.... not good!

We went out to field and with the clouds gathering for a thunderstorm, we had the opposition at 1/4 early on before lightning stopped play.

Today, with a big job to do, our bowlers were magnificent as we bowled out Xenium Crusaders for just 62 before drinks (3:30pm).

Fantastic effort with opening bowler and skipper Terry "Siimon The Likeable" Hoban taking 5/8 off 11 overs.

CHAMPIONS!!

Needless to say, I am not feeling 100% at the moment!

Weekend - Documenting Not Much At All

Pretty tame weekend this weekend hampered by the weather and also Niki’s mum still staying with us.  Did play cricket on the Saturday and we turned up and the grass was very long and we had a heavy downpour about half an hour before play was to start.

We gave it half an hour to dry a bit and we promptly lost the toss and were sent in… with a wet, long outfield we struggled and batted for 60 odd overs to be all out for just 86.  Yes a run rate just over 1!  Yours truly opened and faced a dozen balls before I middled an on-drive and short leg stuck his hand out and it stuck… great catch, but sucks to be on the end of that!  We have the opposition at 1/2 at stumps after 4 overs.

Sunday was wet but Niki’s brother and sister-in-law relieved us and we took the kids to see the Water Horse.  Not a bad movie considering it’s a kids movie.  The girls loved it and it was nice to see a kids movie that wasn’t the usual American clap-trap.

So other than that, not much happened.  Brookie registered this year for netball like her big sister and we bought the girls a netball hoop – that remains inside given the weather and we’ve come to the realisation that the girls are just doing waaay too much this year.  Brooke has added Gymnastics and Netball to her already busy schedule.

I was so tired and flat yesterday that I went to bed at a bit past 9:30… must be getting old!

Mood: Impatient

Everything seems in a blur at the moment… my company is selling off half the business to a competitor and hence us corporate types are wondering which half we will fall into after the sale or whether some of us will fall through the cracks… its an uneasy time at the moment, but I am not too fussed about it but it’s a hard subject to avoid around the water cooler so to speak…

On top of this, I am seemingly endlessly busy!  Last night I had to take apart our old Queen sized bed in anticipation of my new King size ensemble arriving today.  Niki has told me its here… in three large separate boxes!  I presume I will be reacquainting myself with the trusty Allen Keys and screw drivers again tonight if I want to get any sleep!

The Cricket Test match I am also seeming anxious to see start… I don’t know why, I love cricket, but the fact that the match is in Perth and it will be some 3 hours or so before the toss, I am for some odd reason on tenterhooks this morning… I think its because I want to see Shaun Tait ram a bloody great big thunderbolt up the Indian batsmen!  I have never been so fired up and I blame the rubbish that has been embroiling world cricket this week and the shoddy, in my opinion, treatment that the Australian team has put up with in the press namely from Messrs Greig, Gavaskar and Roebuck.  (sounds like a law firm!)

In addition, the Aust Day long weekend approaches and I am aware that I have A LOT to do before I head to Canberra that weekend to run the Australian Blood Bowl Nationals.  From giving it a go three years ago, I am now running the damn thing!  The prizes have arrived, they need to be bagged and labelled, the trophies are done, the registrations currently stand at a healthy 32 participants and my own team is nearly complete (2 last miniatures to touch up, and then bases need to be done).  I need to organise a laptop, a printer and paper etc as well…

On top of all this, my knee is getting worse.  Finally got to see an Orthopaedic surgeon yesterday… unfortunately the booking was messed up and when I showed, they had to bump me to tomorrow morning… so again, I feel impatient.

Which is my whole life at the moment… waiting for things to happen!

Odd Game of Cricket

Played cricket today... Day 1 of a two day game.

We won the toss, batted and yours truly played OK to score 19 before I nicked one to the keeper. What I didnt realise then that my score of 19 would be the sides highest score as we were bundled out for a paltry 89.

We're coming first playing the team running 5th and we bat horrendously!

But... we then bowled and had about 2 hrs left in the day and BAM! We rolled em for 68 and we took the last wicket in the last over of the day... we've taken first innings points and can look forward to some batting practice next week!

Naval Gazing

Well, the election is over... I have been informed of who Amy Winehouse is (and I now dont care) and in the absence of any real political scandal I will take today to mull over what is happening in my world...

 

Well, for starters, work has been very busy.  I have been getting home very late at night the last couple of weeks with leaving the office at 6:30pm being "an early mark".  Got home after midnight the other night and last night was a 9:30pm home time... but once I reach this month end this week, the pace should slow down.

 

Between now and Xmas, work will remain busy.  My new company doesnt have a massive fancy dress Xmas Party and instead has a big in house lunch on the last day before we break up (Dec 21).  Seafood, hot food and heaps of beer & wine is apprently the go... and whilst I was initially disappointed there was no major alcohol fueled shin-dig, I am warming to that idea... besides, I am only newish here and I wouldnt consider myself drinking buddies with anyone yet...

 

Having said that my ex-drinking buddies at my old work are planning for a night out, so I may have the best of both worlds!

 

Xmas aside, work will still be busy.  I will probably be in Melbourne for 2-3 days in mid-December.  With my company having most of its physical operations in Victoria, I do have to get down there fairly often.  So, I will probably be down there Dec 17-18 and perhaps 19.

 

Outside of work, we're having a Xmas BBQ this weekend with my mates and as an indication of how old we are, we're hiring a jumping castle for the kids.

 

Xmas itself we're determined to alter last years disaster in which we had lunch at my sisters in Ryde and then dinner at our place for Niki's family.  We're doing the Xmas Lunch and the Boxing Day Lunch this year.  We'll be hosting the Boxing Day affair, so that should be more relaxing.

 

But before Xmas, its my birthday in early December and I am really unsure what I want... both Dad and Niki have asked me and I have drawn a blank... must be getting old :)

 

On the gaming front, CanCon preparations on Australia Day are heating up and I have had a stack of new miniatures arrive to paint.  So much so, that my friend PianoDan is going to paint me up a Chaos team.  Its $300 but money well spent in my opinion.  (Check out a sample of his work here)

 

Oh and little Brookie finished her 1000 piece puzzle and we have mounted it on some timber board and intend to hang it on the wall in her bedroom... but no rest for the wicked, she's helping to do Kate's now too... so again, our dining table is awash with puzzle pieces!

Irony At Its Best

Oh and one more quick thing, with all the Andrew Symonds racial monkey taunts going on in India, isnt this just too ironic!!

 

Monkeys Kill Indian Mayor

Weekend Wrap

Well, I had a very full and busy weekend!

 

Saturday morning:  Helped Kate do an assignment.  She's in Year 2 and she had to compile a Power Point presentation about her family.  In the end she had about 15 photos of her extended family and the thing she couldnt do was save the photos to her memory stick and initially how to paste them into powerpoint.  She learnt that very quickly and once the photos were on the stick she was away and new already how to do backgrounds, fonts and slide transitions!  Modern kids... sheesh!

 

Saturday Afternoon:  Cricket.  What a disaster.  Chasing 179, we were 0/45 at stumps on day 1.  We lost all our wickets in an hour and a quarter and were all out for 97 or so.  Had to follow on and were about 9/85ish when time ran out!  I scored 30 in the 2nd innings and was happy with that on a personal level, but the team had a collective Barry.  The destroyer was a 16yr old kid who took 4/8 off 6.2 overs in the first dig and about 5 for in the second.  Never seen a young kid bowl as well as that... big banana inswingers.

 

Sunday:  For the first time in an age, I spent the day at home doing chores and cleaning up... I started by giving the lawn a "Weed & Feed" and then Niki swept and I pulled some weeds from the backyard and come lunch time we had the yard looking 10 times better than it was.  Then we went to the garden supplies place at Blaxland and ordered 2 cubic metres of garden mulch for next Friday and had lunch at Subway with the girls.  Subway is good value and a damn sight healthier than anything else!  Then it was grocery shopping and afterwards I went to the hardware store to buy a wheelbarrow.  The only one left in the shop - apparently there was a run on them! - was an already assembled one... unfortunately it just didnt quite fit into the hatch back and so I had to partially dismantle it on the side of the road.  At home, I then spent another hour putting it back together... joy!  We then had friends Julie & Con + kids over for dinner and we BBQ'ed some steaks, snags and meatballs with onions.  Niki whipped up some salads and then we ate waaay too much.  I had a few beers and a glass of wine and then desert of ice cream and chocolate topping.  Then by 8:30 our guests went home and by 9:00 I was snoring on the lounge... until Niki kicked me into bed.... zzzzz

Zimbabwe - Its Just Not Cricket

The Australian Cricket team should not go to Zimbabwe.  Full stop.  No more correspondence on the subject need be entertained.

It seems as though everyone is making the right machinations to coming to this realisation, but seriously its cricket... not World Aid or anything remotely charitable.  Its just cricket.

Can the tour, can Zimbabwe's status as an ICC nation and get on with it... We did the same to South Africa in the late 60's / early 70's and it took 20 years, but change came.

But all this pussy footing around about upsetting the ICC and as Channel 7 news reported it this morning "upsetting the Asian members of the ICC" (which is Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh) is a crock of shit.  I dont know why it is, but the ICC is a schism of 2 groups and we seem to be split on Asia / Non Asia (but isnt Australia in soccer terms now Asian?)... seems odd, but lets just let common sense rule and we wont go.

Again, Australia is getting shown up again by New Zealand when they previously pulled out of the tour and showed better guts than we seem to do...

And what will the ICC do if we dont go and dont pay some preposterous US$2.5M fine?  Kick us out?  Yeah, not likely.  The Australian Cricket Board should tell the ICC to go shove it... send a "World XI" if they want, but no Aussie needs to go.

Ooh Aaah - a Weekend of Farce

I personally had a very good weekend... very relaxing and gave Niki the day to herself while she went out scrap-booking and I had the kids to myself.  We went out for a big brekkie at a local cafe and then after all the bacon, eggs and sausages had settled down we went down to the roller skating rink at Penrith where for 3 hours the girls skated and skated and skated.  They had a great time and for $8 for 3hrs (plus skate hire if you need it) and realistic food prices (drinks $2 and chips $1.80) you can spend an afternoon doing sweet FA whilst the kids had a great time.  I personally didnt skate, but maybe next time...

But what I really want to write about today is the bloody Cricket World Cup Final!  How ridiculous was it!  Imagine playing the end of the game in the dark?  I was watching it live on Sunday morning and I couldnt believe that the umpires wanted to play it out?  I thought the Duckworth Lewis scoring system was supposed to stop all this shenanigans?  (If you have no idea what I am talking about, read this)

But anyway, at least the best team did win and Glenn McGrath went out on the best note possible.  Even though he didnt take more wickets than Shane Warne or Murali, I still tend to rate him the better bowler overall.  To open the bowling for Australia for so long and really keep opposing teams under the hammer over such a long career, McGrath showed time and time again that he is (was) the best of all time.  From day 1 through to yesterday, he had a metronomic action that churned out line and length balls that batsman repeatedly couldnt hit... in my mind, he is the greatest bowler of all time.

Ooh Aah Glenn McGrath!

Normal Service Resuming

I have noticed that my blog postings of late have been very "me centric" and I have really not commented on some of the world events that have taken place lately… and I do know how much you all value MY opinion so much!  So in that vein, here is my views on some of the world events of the past few weeks and I will refrain from talking more about my shingles and/or my cricket and the impact of the former on the latter….

NSW State Election
I cant believe anyone is surprised that Iemma got up and won.  Whilst a lot of the rhetoric was how bad NSW is going, there was never a credible alternative and this clap trap about voting for a minor party because neither deserve it is also nonsense.  Minor parties are just that… MINOR.  They have no real say and with the way the preferencing system works, you are really going to vote for Liberal or Labor in any event.  So you may as well tick the major party you prefer.

I also don't think the Labor party has done such a bad job.  12 years is a long time, but there is no need to make change for changes sake.  It seems that the press get the whiff of staleness and they go for the jugular.  But really, what has been so terrible about NSW that Debnam could have fixed?  Nothing!  The Liberals, particularly since they are ruled by their religious right faction, are a complete basket case and the sooner Barry O'Farrell leads with a more moderate view then the better the government will be held accountable.

To put this simply, because the Labor Government has not been held accountable for the majority of the past 12 years doesn't mean that that inept opposition deserves the right to lead in their own right.

Bob Woolmer
Tragic and this is going to get a lot worse.  It could be very damaging for the world of cricket but I cannot see gambling being stopped.  You cant cure the 1 billion sub-continental gambling junkies who fund this corruption by simply "banning" it.  I think people now need to realise that gambling and spread betting is a part of cricket and that penalties for any involvement from a player or official need to be swift and severe.  Life bans should be minimum. If some player wants to chase some extra income, then they need to be aware of the risks.  Herschelle Gibbs, Mark Waugh, Shane Warne should ALL have been rubbed from the game not to mention the raft of rumour and innuendo around the Pakistani team historically.

The question is, was Bob Woolmer an innocent who knew too much or was he a man who had double crossed the bookies themselves?  I can only hope that any crooked cricket players or officials out there are now perhaps re-thinking their actions and maybe refrain from getting further involved.

David Hicks
I have been remiss in blogging about how Lil' Johnny Howard has been copping a pasting in the media… Rudd is making a credible alternative view and Howard is falling behind badly.  At least now the David Hicks issue is making him look bad and the fact that it seems that Hicks has pleaded guilty today simply to end his incarceration in as short a possible time is a damning indictment on the Australian Government.

I don't support Hicks and think he is a stupid idiot who got caught up playing Rambo, but at the very least he deserves fair justice.  He is not getting it and is now caving in to save his skin – it wont actually allow justice to be heard and will instead give him a finite end date for his circumstance.  What will Howard do if the US "justice" that is going to be metered upon him gives him a way too harsh sentence – life in prison or even the Death Penalty?  Will Howard THEN intervene?

Cricket Grand Final - Slaughtered

This weekend I witnessed the best innings by a batsman I have ever seen in my 23 years of playing cricket.  Unfortunately for us, it was an opposing batsman.  In short, on a hot day, we lost the toss and Pendle Hill elected to bat on the very small Binalong Park and in front of a healthy crowd of about 100 people, we restricted Pendle Hill to 3/70 off the first 30 overs.  Very tight bowling and good fielding kept them to a very slow run rate.

Unfortunately after drinks the Pendle Hill #5 batsman decided to take to us with a chanceless innings of 191 runs in just 35 overs and hit us for 20 sixes... yes 20 sixes - 120 runs - in just 30 overs.  This guy was unstoppable and we tried our best, but when he hits 20 balls out of the park there isnt much you can do in the way of fielding to stop it.  At the end Pendle Hill were 9/351.  Massive score.

We bravely set out to chase... needing 5.5 an over from the get go and yours truly got an early yorker and I lost my leg stump on 1 and the team was 1/1.  Then 2/26 and 3/42 before we consolidated to be 3/82 at the drinks break.  Technically we were ahead on the comparative run rate (they were 3/70 at the same stage) but we now needed our own miracle innings.

Unfortunately it was not to be and we had a mid innings collapse to be 6/87.  All over red rover really, but the tail batted strongly and we did get to 191 with the skipper Terry Hoban top scoring with 41 batting at #8 but the game was lost on the Saturday afternoon.

We then went to the club presentation night, had one or two too many beers and drowned our sorrows, but we knew we had been outclassed by a better team who had won the minor premiership in a canter.  I got my batting award 371 runs at 26.50 and young Simon Agius took the bowling awards.  Fielding award went to Paul "Noyz" Brewster and Crazy Dave Mandic took the Captains Award for putting in all year.

The good news is most seem keen to back up next season and we'll be seeing one or two players coming back to the team as well... so all looks in good stead for season 2008/09.

Also, I know a few of the guys read Lime Kettles as well so thanks to all of you guys for the very enjoyable season.  We played good cricket and had fun as well... one of the better seasons I have ever had (not just with the bat) but also we had a real good team spirit.  Didnt win the last game, but we had a good solid season!

Cheers.

Night Before The Big Game

Well, I have rested ALL week... I am not 100%, but I believe the infectious part of Shingles has gone with the rash virtually gone.  For the grand final starting tomorrow, I will still be sore across the chest - Shingles leaves a lingering pain (a neuralgia) but my medication should see that stop soon - otherwise it can linger for 6-12 months! And I still feel weak in my left arm where the rash was as well... but at least the shooting pain down my arm (sort of like pins & needles on acid) has passed.

The odd thing that really hurts is driving... I drove to the shops tonight and came back sore as a bugger.  Maybe it was the seat belt, but hopefully I can wield a bat on the weekend.

There is NO thought however of pulling out of the GF.  Have batted at the opener position all year and am set on Sunday night to claim my teams batting awards with around 350-400 runs this season - by far my best ever.  Not sure if I want us to bat first in the morning or not.  Personally it might be OK to have a field and have an extra day to get the neuralgia to pass, but I dont think it will make that much difference anyways.  Its probably best to win the toss, bat and get myself out there first over of the match.

For those of you keen to come down, we're at Binalong Park Pendle Hill.  Play starts at 1:30pm... hope to see all Lime Kettle readers there!

Go The Mighty B10's

Well, on a wet weekend, the mighty mighty Greystanes B10 cricket team prevailed in our semi-final match against the dark villainous Wenty Waratahs in a cliff hanger.  Sent into bat on a cold wet day, Greystanes struggled early on to be 5/51 when the rain and ultimately stumps came on Saturday night.  Yours truly had top scored with 17 but it was a grinding innings with just two 2's and thirteen singles and the long grass plus decent bowling of the opposition kept the pressure on us.
Sunday was the day of my shingle attack and having batted, I spent the day on the lounge watching football, but the boys gamely pressed on and Greystanes were bowled out for 109 with Nick Nardo clubbing 2 mighty sixes at the end which would prove the difference.
Greystanes, basically needing to bowl Wenty out quickly got off to the perfect start with a wicket on the fourth ball of the innings and Wenty were 1/0.  Wenty consolidated and at drinks were 2/45 and seemingly cruising.  Then according to the various phone calls, all hell broke loose as Simon Agius picked up 5 wickets and the rest of the bowlers also kept it tight and in jubilant scenes which I could hear down the phone line, the final Wenty wicket fell with the score at 105.  The team had pulled it out of the fire and its grand final week next week.
We will be playing away though as the other semi final was washed out and the minor-premiers Pendle Hill went through on the rain rule.

Been a while...

Been a) very busy at work and b) with no home internet access and hence the blog has been a little out of the priority list this past week or so…  The home PC “should” be right today pending no depressing news from the friendly local computer shop.  Also today may not be as busy today as I have a rare “empty” calendar day… no meetings!  A day of sitting at my desk typing away… boring, but sometimes very cathartic.

The rain continues to pour down today and I realised this morning that I still haven’t gotten around to buying a new umbrella since I lost my last 2.  Left one in a coffee shop and the other I am guessing I left on a train… so at the moment I am without shelter so to speak and with the rain being such a rare event these days, its never really front of mind when you’re at the shops.  I might see if the marketing department has a spare one with the company logo on it :-)

The weekend was good… we won our cricket match by an innings and 20 odd runs and spent the day in the field and took 17 opposition wickets.  My sole contribution was one catch at slip… At least we did better than the Aussie cricket team that lost the final series 2-0 to England!  England!! The rabble that couldn’t get past 150 runs and struggled in all facets of the game finally gelled at the same time we tired / got complacent and we got spanked.  I am not worried about it, the World Cup is the main focus and we are playing like it.  With the game barely over, the Aussies will be on the plane to NZ for another mickey mouse 3 game series against New Zealand and then its on to the World Cup.  On the local front, I guess we can look forward to the football season – but I must admit, the A League soccer is going gangbusters and yesterdays final (which I watched in amongst the rain delays at the cricket) was a great game.  Pity penalties had to be used, but a Grand Final berth AND a place in the Asian Champions League were on the line and the intensity in the game was huge.  Great stuff and despite the Grand Final being Melbourne vs Adelaide, I will probably watch it.

Also, and I am sure I will write about this later, but Kevin Rudd is now ahead of John Howard in the polls.  “Most popular Labor leader in 35 years” is the press quote.  C’mon Australia, don’t give the Liberals another term of screwing over the common person with the USA arse kissing.

The Australian Cricket Team

Picked this up last night on cricinfo.com after Australia’s big run chase victory…

"Australia isn't just a mere cricket team; it is an ever-evolving, totipotent genetically-engineered cyborg, slowly devouring all who dare to stand up to it, in an orgy of willow-encrusted destruction."

I like that… but I have no idea what “totipotent” means!

Twenty20 Cricket

Went to the Twenty20 cricket last night with Niki, Kate and my nephew Alex.

The night was a great "event" but not much of a cricket match. Seriously, England are soooo crap. Coming out needing 11 an over and they play dink shots and reverse sweeps... pathetic.

We had front row seats in front of the Noble stand on the fence and Alex managed to get Nathan Bracken's autograph on his signature bat and we had a couple of balls hit straight at us. Also had Jimmy Anderson slide face first into the fence right in front of us in a fruitless attempt at fielding.
The sixes though were plenty in the Aussie innings and the music pumping was good, but a few less KFC ads and why did they dress an entire bay of people in KFC t-shirts and make them wear KFC buckets on their heads? Marketing... why do we need it.

Overall, a fun night, was over in 3hrs and was great for the kids... not for the cricket purists though ;-)

Weekend Wrap

Just realised that I only have 4 days of work to go and hence only 4 more days of web access from work.  With my PC dying, I will be bringing my work laptop home, but I am not sure how to connect my Internode ISP service via my work laptop?  I guess I will fiddle around with it…

The weekend itself was great, a big Xmas party Friday night, a good win at cricket on Saturday and a Xmas Picnic on Sunday with friends at Parramatta Park.

Saturday night had a big Chinese meal with Mum & Dad to FINALLY conclude my birthday celebrations and I guess the whole weekend was an exercise in eating and drinking, but to summarise:

Xmas Party:  Dressed as a hobbit, costume was a bit of a success.  Drank fairly heavily, but was not too bad… didn’t eat enough food, got a fake tat that is still on… caught the bus back to the office, found a taxi and was home around 1am.

Cricket:  Played up at Castle Hill in a one-day game.  We were sent in and struggled.  Lost two early wickets before yours truly and Pete put on a 40 odd partnership.  Pete went for 25 and I went quickly behind for 18… the opposition bowlers were very SLOW and that meant there were lots of false shots and slogs.  We were in deep trouble at 7/73 before Big Nick Nardo slogged a massive 49 off very few balls and Stuart Cass hit 29 to get us to all out for 160 in 40 overs.

We then had Hills Barbarians in huge trouble.  1/0, 2/0, 3/2, 4/10…. We destroyed their top order and basically from then on had it in the bag, but some late hitting by their #11 got them to 120.   A great win, we reach the Xmas break in 2^nd spot on 50 points.

Dinner Sat Nite:  Mum & Dad gave me a new office chair for the study complete with a plastic floor mat – something I have needed but never had the cash or inclination to buy… funny how I now have a computer chair, but no computer!  Dinner at the Hilltop Phoenix at Castle Towers which included Salt & Pepper Lobster from the tank.  Love the Chinese and I hadn’t eaten on Saturday, so dinner was a gorge fest… Niki drove me home as I was once again a tad under the weather.

Sunday Xmas Picnic:  A great day at Parra Park with salads and chicken for eats, plus cake & chocolates for desert.  I didn’t intend to drink and only took mineral water, but I bummed a couple of beers of Siebs.  Some tennis ball cricket and sitting under the shady trees listening to the cricket whilst the kids ran around.  We also had brought our own kids a cheapie present and Joe played “Santa’s Helper” and handed out the presents and chuppa chups.  Amazing how kids really believe that Santa came and dropped off a bag of presents behind the tree…  Was a very relaxing day…

Birthday Wrap

Had an excellent birthday weekend this weekend, all thanks to Niki who despite our busy weekend with the girls’ dancing, was able to make me feel good.  It all started on Friday night with a great dinner with just the four of us.  Niki cooked a dish we call “Noodle Stuff” which is basically a pasta bake with rich cheese sauce, bacon, onion and champignon mushrooms – its been a favourite of mine since I was a kid. And to top it off, desert was a home made chocolate sauce pudding… with cookies & cream ice cream!!  Not food you’d eat everyday, but was a great birthday tea.  Niki and the girls also gave me my present – a PlayStation Portable!  Very happy with that, I get so bored on the trains given I have read every book in the house and listened to every CD… will make my trips a lot better.  It came with World Rally Championships and I am not much of a car racing gamer, but it is a very good, realistic game.  The graphics on the PSP are excellent as well, and I’ve been very impressed with it.

Saturday was cricket and Niki took the girls to dance rehearsals so I had the morning to myself.  Of course, I went to the shops and picked up some extra games for the PSP – Madden 06 and the Star Wars Lego game… I bought that as something odd and different and I can tell you it’s a very funny game.  I don’t think I have ever laughed out loud whilst playing a computer game.

Saturday at cricket was excellent.  We came from behind and took 6 for 11 to roll Wenty Waratahs for 80 odd.  We were only defending 128 so that was excellent.  We ran through them so quickly we decided to have another bat and of course yours truly got the obligatory golden duck!  Mistimed leg glace hit high up the bat and was caught at fine leg… ridiculous!  Anyway we set the opposition a target of 160 off 25 overs and they declined to chase and played defensively.  At stumps they were 4/80 odd and we went home with first innings points.  Sees us 2^nd on the ladder.

Saturday night I raced home to catch Kate perform at the Glenbrook Christmas Carols & Fireworks – literally got to the park as she was getting on stage, and saw her do her dance to a huge crowd of people.  We couldn’t stay as we had to get home were Niki had to do hair and sew costumes for the next days full dress rehearsal for Wednesday’s concert.  I of course played with the PSP :-)

Sunday (my actual birthday) was the dancing and I helped out there.  It wasn’t that bad actually and we all had a good day as Niki did the hair and costume changes and I video taped the dances and we got through all the photo sessions.  The girls did really well at the dancing and the concert should be really good – at Panthers this Wednesday night if you’re interested :-)

Then it was off in the late afternoon to Pete and Carly’s wedding at Bexley.  We had a great run from Penrith to Bexley and got there a little bit early!  The wedding was really good – when the bride & groom are relaxed and having fun, it makes a great wedding.  The ceremony was outdoors in the gardens and the reception was at the same venue inside so we basically had a lot of good laughs and caught up.  My mate Steve had returned to Australia with his new wife Kate and we met her – she’s a great girl and made a great impression with everyone and it was really good to see them both.  The boys also made sure I enjoyed myself for my birthday and I was passed a few bourbon & cokes and I did get a little bit boisterous (I actually feel great today – surprisingly!) and during Pete’s speech during the official bit of the reception, he mentioned my birthday and got me to get up and get a bottle of champagne!  Most unexpected – but extremely generous to be thought of.  The proviso of course is I am now dutily bound to remind him of his wedding anniversary!

All in all, a great weekend…. Pity I have to go to work today, but it was a great way to turn 34.

Thanks Nik!!

Ashes: England Chokes On Their Ineptitude.

What an ending… unbelievable!  But really, whilst Australia bowled very well yesterday the match was actually lost by England as opposed to being won by Australia.  The English bats simple froze and choked.  Really, the match was petering out to a draw and they threw it away.  They went ultra-defensive and were scoring at less than 1 run per over and allowed Australia to attack.  Very poor tactics and very poor execution.  Yes, Warne was turning it but it was the way the Poms played Brett Lee that was embarrassing.  That tool Geraint Jones played the worst looking shot I have seen and to think he’s in the team as a “batting wicket keeper” is a parody in itself.

And when it came to the run chase, it was hilarious to watch the English spread out and concede 3 singles an over.  Michael Clarke scored a 7 as well with a run 3 and 4 over throws (again the keepers fault) and Australia effectively cruised in as England pinned their forlorn hopes on nude-baller Ashley Giles.

England need to get rid of Giles, Jones, Anderson and possibly look at a new batsman as well - the England openers are not setting the world on fire.  I watched their series against Pakistan on FOX during our winter and Panesar and Mahmood looked pretty decent players.  They actually look like Superstars when compared to Ashley Giles.

To Australia, we do have our own problems and I hope the selectors don’t get caught up with the get out of jail win we just had.  Damien Martyn needs to make way for a new batsman.  I know that they will want to play Watson, so that should make room for Stuart MacGill.  The fact that England were like startled rabbits against Warne further highlights that they cannot play leg spin and MacGill comes in.  Who to drop in the bowling department?  Well I hate to say this, but has McGrath had his day?  Injury concerns, not that many wickets… Stuart Clark on fire with the ball… I think it may be time for McGrath to be put aside.  The fact that during yesterdays England collapse McGrath only got the ball after Lee and Clark had had spells is a tell tale sign that McGrath is not the bowler he once was.

So for Perth, my Aussie team would be Hayden, Langer, Ponting, Hussey, M Clarke, Watson, Gilchrist, Warne, Lee, S Clark, MacGill.  England:  Strauss, Cook (Vaughn??), Bell, Collingwood, Pieterson, Flintoff, Read, Mahmood, Hoggard, Harmison, Panesar.  That’s a long tail for England, but they need the bowlers… the crop they have now are shite.