We have won the Ashes!! I have spent all day listening to the radio and checking the laptop except for a few intervals when I switched off all communication because we needed wickets. Let me explain. This harks back to when my girls were young and we were watching the Test match and we needed to get our opponents out. 'Go and make a cup of tea Mum' I was told and every time I did there was a shriek from the front room and a wicket fell. Worked with footie as well when we wanted our team to score.
So the other day I went out for a walk and when I came back Stuart Broad had taken 4 wickets in 8 balls. Then when I felt we needed some more, I went and fed the ducks and when I came back another two had fallen. It was getting late and I did not fancy a walk so switched off - checked again ten minutes later to discover we had bowled the Aussies out for 160.
This afternoon, despite the fact the Aussies needed an unreachable score they were doing well and the crowd were getting tense. So off I go on my perambulations and ten minutes later came back to find that there had been TWO run outs, one of which was the Aussie Captain Ricky Ponting. I then sat glued to the radio all afternoon and we were wicketless and it was getting a tad tense and so, yes you have guessed it, I had a shower, made some tea, sang a song or two, made a telephone call and then switched the radio back on and we were off again, another three wickets had fallen.
Now this is all very well but I now have the worry for the future - will I ever be able to watch a full Test match because if I do we will never win!
Heaven knows what my neighbours were thinking as I stayed with it for the last half hour and the yelling and shouting that was going on from moi was probably a bit over the top. In the midst of this Kathryn called me from a pub in Leeds, where she had been all day watching SKY and as she spoke to me the last wicket fell and the roar down the phone was ear splitting.
And yes I know that to some of you watching cricket is about as exciting as watching paint dry but you will have to bear with me here. It is the greatest game in the world and Test Match cricket is the best.
So there.....
