Well, this morning The Ashes got off to an interesting start (England: 106 – 2 at lunch), The Lions are 1 – 0 up in the three match Series (with somewhere near 12,000 supporters in tow) down your way and there’s at least the possibility of Henman meeting Rafter on Sunday in the Final at Wimbers. I can’t even avoid the yellow (sorry, ‘gold’) and green down the local cos half the bloody staff hail from Sydney.
Got to say, the general banter, quality and sporting endeavour of all meetings with the Assie’s is something I always look forward to but this summer seems even more enjoyable than usual.
Without drifting too far into sledging (as if…), what’s everyone else’s view on how things are going to unfold ?
(FTR, I think The Lions are just too good for your boys, as are your cricketers for ours (but I live in hope) and Henman vs. Rafter would be too close to call).
Def. a solid start for you poms after the first session. I expect the English to put up a good show for a lot of this first test. As for the Lions - I’m not even a stone’s throw from the Gabba and boy did they play well!! We were even lucky to get those last few tries to bring the score back. But, as you say, the cricket team will probably make up for it by the end of the (your) summer.
As for Pat, while it would be fantastic I can’t see him getting past Agassi.
As for Warnie, he chucks after drinking and chucks tanties all the time mate. But he knows a thing or two about bowling the fat (*&$$&.
Wuzzup with that shit? This only goes to prove that we are different countries divided by a common language. I doubt if there’s an American that understands 10% of that spew.
Interesting at Tea. We rarely have two bad sessions in a row. The ball is turning a mile out of the footmarks for a first day pitch. Young Afzaal won’t waft at the ball so far away from his pads in a hurry. I think a lot of teams have forgotten that Test cricket requires a bit grinding. England have scored at over-300 a day pace. If you’re not really on top of the bowling, you’re going to lose if you do that.
China Guy and others, we’re talking the Ashes test cricket series between Australia and England, a competition that has been close to the pinnacle of the game since 1877. See http://www-aus.cricket.org/ to see what’s going on.
Great to see Umpire Steve Bucknor officiating. Shakes the head very quickly if it’s not out, takes about ten minutes if it is. Best umpire since Dickie Bird.
And the Lions look a class above the Wallabies. MAybe two.
Well, I was going to post that today looks interesting as the cloud cover is low, it’s humid and ideal for Gougie’s swingers – if only he can find his rhythm, line and length. But…he’s just got Slater in the second over of the day.
Should be a good day (or morning, at least) for England’s bowlers – everything in their favour. Lets see how she goes…
Yesterday was a hell of a start, wasn’t it ? It looked like England thought they were playing a one-day-er…phew… !
I agree, it’s good to see Steve Bucknor out there. Made a couple of errors yesterday but he’s as straight as the day is long. Good bloke.
Just goes to show how much Americans know about the rest of the world. I thought it was something that Douglas Adams made up for the ‘Hitchhiker’s Guide’!
Damn straight it’s real! And considered one of the biggest sporting events there is in England at any rate (quite whether Oz still see us as being worth getting bothered about is another matter entirely).
And Rafter’s made it too. C’mon Timmie - keep your end up (fnar).
This has all made me think actually - it must be rather stale for you Merkins, not really having international team sport rivalries to get all hot and bothered about. Between the rugby, football and cricket world cups and test matches, we in Blighty are always biting the nails over something or other as either some johnny foreigner cheats his way to a narrow victory or our Plucky Boys ROMP home.
It’s great fun. But what do you have? Athletics? Pah. Ice hockey? Well, I suppose there are a few countries willing to take you on. Ditto basketball - though it must be rather tedious to reign supreme. None of these are in the same league in terms of coverage as football, say. Do you ever wish you had more of a rivalry with other nations? Do you look at the UK/Australia banter and wish you had some of that? Or do you never notice what you never had?
It’s hard at times looking at all the so-called ‘world class’ athletes that the US has wrought, who never really get to compete outside of a few large metro areas in the US. Hell, the >ahem< ‘World Series’ of baseball doesn’t extend (in theory) more than 10 miles or so beyond the US border (counting Lake Ontario as a REAL thick border).
I’ll take a shot at the q for us Merkins. No, we tend not to worry about rivalries with other countries, because that would mean admitting there was another country on our level. Occasionally, we’re willing to indulge Canada’s delusions in that regard, but only up to the point where they start to actually believe it.
Also, the US is effectively a continent, more than a nation. Most states are at least the size of most countries, and the US overall has the same level of diversity as most continents. The levels of rivalry that we find natural are not all that different from those in Europe, they just happen under the same flag. It’s just as natural, and satisfying, for New York Knicks basketball fans to detest the Los Angeles Lakers as it is for, I dunno, Arsenal fans to detest Inter Milan (I don’t know if they do, just picking names).
Yes, soccer is becoming more popular here, and the US is finally starting to at least qualify for the World Cup regularly. But it’s more interesting to see US-invented sports catch on elsewhere - basketball, baseball, volleyball, even American football. We smugly take that as further evidence of American superiority in all matters.
Well, well, well, look how the tables have turned.
*Australia’s first innings total of 576 will be enough to win the first test, as long as it doesn’t rain.
*The Wallabies cleaned up the Northern Hemisphere Lions in the second match, in front of a capacity crowd at Colonial Stadium, Melbourne.
*Rafter is sitting back eating strawberries and cream while waiting for Henman and Ivanisevic to finish their three day semi-final. Hey maybe it will last longer than the first test.
Well, I wouldn’t get too carried away chaps. Fact is; The Wallabies have had one good half out of the four. The way The Lions lost their discipline in the second half yesterday was disappointing but Martin Johnson has shown he can lose it in the past – not what you want from the captain at this level. Sometimes you have to question his leadership qualities, especially under pressure.
I don’t blame him entirely because the Aussie’s took great advantage – excellent stuff from them in the second half. Next week will be a corker, I’m just hoping Jonny Wilkinson recovers in time and is back to form.
As for the cricket, well, we need to bat all day and (presumably) at least half of tomorrow. You have to think that the Aussie’s are stronger in both batting and bowling at this point. Looking a little worrying – almost time for a rain dance.
If Henman does make it to the Final, I think it should be one hell of a game.
Rafter must be pleased he found the answer to his cramping problem, a haircut was obviously the way to go…Perhaps shaving the beard might help him with his half-volleying…
The Aussie’s are on the up but don’t write us off yet…
Well it WAS an exciting weekend wasn’t it? Pat did himself (and us I suppose) proud and got through and I’m hoping Tim can complete his part of the bargain tonight (hopefully).
ANd the Wallabies were ruthless in the second half just as I was about to give up on them too. I went and surfed the boards at halftime, missed the first 15 minutes of the second half and came back to discover we were well on top!! Next week’s will indeed be a cracker London_Calling.
Airman: I’m actually putting the final touches on a Cricket for Dummies file for an American friend. If you’d like a copy just let me know.
Well that was ugly. Australia by an innings and 118 runs. Hussain’s got another broken digit and will presumably miss the next test. Gilchrist 'kept poorly and McGrath was ordinary. I think it’s going to be another long summer for the English. Is Thorpe going to be fit any time soon?
Elvis - but they key is that I’m not talking about Arsenal vs Inter Milan - I’m talking about England vs Italy. The difference in feel between those two games is huge.
State rivalries are, I can imagine, rather good fun. But you’re all still of the same nation and, in the final analysis, American. On the other hand when England play Germany or France there are hundreds if not thousands of years of history, not to mention extreme national pride at stake. How can it be the same?
You may or may not realise that rivalry between football teams in this country is extremely intense. Arsenal and Tottenham, for instance, are so much at eachother’s throats that when Tottenham’s star defender Sol Campbell moved to Arsenal this summer, there was talk of him receiving death threats. Sunderland fans would rather beat Newcastle twice and lose every other game in the season than vice versa. Old, old hatreds. Old, old rivalries too - the two Liverpool sides have an exceedingly intense but friendly rivalry. These rivalries are actually all the more intense for the fact that the teams are very close together. But still - I can imagine a similar level of inter-state rivalry.
But international tournaments have a very different feel to them. Not the same thing at all. When it’s your country the stakes are simply different. Not necessarily higher - for instance I’d prefer to see my team (Chelsea) win the league than England win the European cup (World cup would have to be worth the double). Just different. It’s the fact that everybody in the country is together hoping for a win against another country.
And so we have the Ashes and the world cup and the Lion’s tour and the cricket 1-day series and so on. And kabbes saw them and said they were good.
Wow that was rambling. Good thing this isn’t a debate, or I’d be creamed.
If anyone’s wondering why the men’s Final is untraditionally noisy (and it’s difficult to get a pint in a pub this lunchtime) it’s because whenever play at Wimbledon is held over to a day when there normally isn’t any play, a lot of the tickets are sold on a first-come-first-served basis.
Thus, once Henman went out yesterday afternoon many Brits left the queue (for today’s tickets) leaving the Aussies to queue overnight.- and they did in their thousands (and some people are looking a little tired).
I like the atmosphere on days when the regular crowd isn’t at Centre Court, just hope the support doesn’t put Rafter off his game. And the bloody staff get back to the pub tonight.
Also, I didn’t know there were so may Croats in London – where’d they come from !!
Who’ll win ? No idea – Rafter’s a good bloke and more of an all-rounder. Ivanisevic seems to think he’s got God and destiny on his side. I think it’s down to mental toughness (i.e. if and when Ivaisevic starts talking to himself and losing the plot).
Currently: Ivanisevic just won the first set (Rafter’s playing nervously).
Hi Twisty - how was the Canaries (I hear the birds are flighty) ?
Was disappointed with the cricket. I thought the Aussies were only average by their own standards. What you need is Mark Ramprakash to come in and do a VVS Laxman. When was the last time two Poms batted through a day?
The Lions are a different matter. The Wallabies are squeezing out the last cpuple of wins from a very successful unit, especially in the forwards. Presuming injuries aren’t too debilitating to the tourists, I’d still think the Lions can take the series.
Tennis, fully expect Pat to win regardless of how many personalities and dead ants Goran performs.
Occasionally, we’re willing to indulge Canada’s delusions in that regard, but only up to the point where they start to actually believe it.