This was to have been a different kind of day but early on the desk top computer went peculiar and the rest of the day has been spent setting up the laptop with the desktop display unit, the printer, extension sound speakers and the wireless mouse. Only the keyboard remains unattached. I have approached the potentially work record disaster this way rather than immediately send for help for the desk top because I hope the problem is temporary but if not it may be some time before it can be repaired or replaced and the data not transferred to disk can be saved. This will have implications for the work programme, but I had been planning to concentrate or weight reduction and fitness between now and winter.
The process of setting up the lap top as a desk top has not been without its problems. Surprisingly the mouse was the easiest to organise as has been the a better sound quality. The desktop display proved to be a problem when I discovered the possibilities of different displays on the two screen and for a top achieved a desktop screen on screen two and nothing else until I eventually found the way to get back to showing the same display on both screens. I will leave the optional approach until another day, if ever! I then made the mistake of asking the computer via windows to find software for the printer instead of locating the disk, then found the disk which interrupted the download and eventually reached a stalemate until I removed the disk and let the download take its course.
I also put the rubbish out and retrieved, washed up and washed me, completed the ironing, gave the kitchen surfaces a good clean and the over top and commenced on the bathroom with the washbasin which is still in process. I also started the washing washing and drying but forgot how to open the machine door at the end of the process unintentionally restarted so had to complete the cycle before transferring the load to the dryer. The consequence of all this is that I decided to postpone to outing by bus to Sunderland for the replacement glasses.
My original intention was to write about two subjects which are in stark contrast. It has been a joyous few days of sport with Durham’s win against Warwickshire almost making it impossible for another team to win the champions, England won the last Test against all expectations and all three northeast football clubs won their matches over the weekend with Sunderland also winning well against Norwich away from home in the League Cup competition second round. Neither British driver won the Formula 1 Grand Prix and I missed the Athletics World Championships.
Then when I was just about to watch a film, I happened to change through the channels to find Timothy Small in a drama about which I had no advance information. Timothy Small is one of finest British actors of this day and so I stayed and found a major two hour dramatic event which was painful to watch because of the reality it portrayed. The drama is about what happens to a family when one of their children in gunned down.
Timothy Small plays a driving instructor whose approach is to spread kindness, avoid confrontations and unpleasantness. Over their years of marriage his wife has become the one to react to life in a more aggressive way so when two hooded youths push in before them in the local Mini market against her husbands advice she intervenes and the most insecure and disturbed of the young men pulls out a gun and shoots the daughter intending to silence the mother. She dies and the police are unable to move towards finding the culprits with no one coming forward, no witnesses and no clues except the cartridge which can be matched to the gun if it is found.
It is also drama which attempts to explain rather than justify how two young men became involved in the killing. One is weak with ambitions and wanting respect. He sees the killing as an opportunity to become part of the local drug gang network but quickly messes up and is knife cut as a warning. He retaliates by attempting to shoot the person with the gang network who reported his misbehaviour, having retrieved the gun from the canal when his partner in crime was ordered to dispose the weapon.
His partner comes from a family where the father is trying to put the past behind him. He grew up on one of the estates mentioned in the film which have become over run by drugs and associated criminal activity and where knives and guns are available at a price, The father is now a lawyer/counsellor representing and helping his former community, or at least this is the impression I gained of the situation. The son becomes caught up in the situation by having the wrong kind of friend.
The death and the lack of an arrest separates the couple as the wife punishes herself knowing that her failure to keep quiet and move away precipitated the killing of her eldest daughter with whom she had been having problems just before the incident, while the husband knows it is constant avoidance of issues which helped create what happened. They are unable to cope when the police liaison officer intimates the lack of development and trying to be helpful leaves the father alone to take a personal call on her mobile when showing him the available exhibits. Father has removed the cartridge shell and refuses to return it when the loss is discovered saying he wants to try and find out by what happened by going onto the estates and making his own enquiries. He persuades the liaison officer to put him in touch with someone who can help, the lawyer counsellor who in turn puts him in touch with a crack head whose first act is to arrange a meeting with a local supplier of weapons, one of several we are told.
The climax of the film comes when the young partner is advised by the counsellor to give the gun to Small and persuade his friend to say that the killing was an accident and therefore reduce the time they spend in prison, However the young killer will have none of this and together they kidnap the second daughter after fighting with the wife in an attempt to get the gun back from the home of the driving instructor. The first reaction of Timothy on his way to the police to hand over the gun and cartridges is to advise them of the kidnapping when informed of his wife but she encourages to him to take the law in his own hands as he is in possession of the gun.
It is at this point the title of the film becomes more clear. The counsellor has explained the empowerment which the guns brings to weak and inadequate human beings and the film makes the point that in this respect Small as the victim’s father is no different from the perpetrator of the crime. He is tempted to use the gun on his daughter’s killer when given the opportunity but realises that would make him the same as the young killer. At the very point when he decides to use the weapon just to capture the grovelling young man, an immature child at heart, a member of the drug gang fed up with the trouble he has caused for their enterprise, kills him.
The film should have ended at this point but moves to the funeral and the ability of their second daughter to play the cello once more. She had been unable to touch the instrument because the case was stained with the blood of her sister. It is a signal that the family are able to move on however difficult and permanent wounded as beings. The film therefore highlights that the dividing line between good and bad between hero and coward is a narrow and changing one for most human being, but more so for some more than others. It reinforces the unpalatable view that there are no quick fix solutions. The role of government is to provide the policing, judicial and custodial system to punish offenders when they are caught and limit the harm, at least for a time. The problem is that the custodial system is limited in what it cab achieve in terms of reform and rehabilitation and more likely the individual will become more professional and gain a network of associates through the experience. It is important that governments, specialist voluntary organisations, local government authorities and communities in general devote resources and attention to undermining the situations in which these individuals tend to flourish. The problem is a daunting one made worse by the influx of the criminals scum of Europe into the capital city and other cities and towns in the UK because of opportunities provided by an unfettered capitalist culture and membership of the enlarge Europe. This makes policing and intelligence even more difficult than before. There are however three areas where governments and our society in generalise in danger of throwing baby out with the bath water, although there is need to work new arrangements for the new situation.
The first issue is the alleged breaking down of traditional controls and respect for the authority. It is true that the various changes has created a situation in which the respectable middle class is no longer willing to accept the authority of the politicians, churchmen, self appointed moral guides and others simply because of the position they hold, or their existing wealth and power. The behaviour of members of the Royal Family, the near collapse of capitalism through the greed of bankers and speculators, the acquiescence to this situation by politicians many of whom have been revealed to have exploited their expenses beyond anything which the majority considers reasonable, the knowledge of the criminal abusive behaviour of churchmen and others in positions of authority and the increasing availability of education and information through the interned and 24/7 media, the rapid development of large parts of the UK into a multi cultural and racial society which has swamped previous populations, the rapid increase in unemployment levels and loss of homes, has all contributed to a situation where people question and challenged than just accept. However there has always been a large criminal underclass which congregates and infights for individual supremacy. The removal of some individuals into custodial care means that either other members of the criminal community take over or they maintain activities on behalf of those incarcerated for a time. Once crime becomes embedded in an estate or large community the only way to end it is to break up the estate and control and monitor all the individuals who formed the cancerous components. You have to tackle the problem specifically and it has little to do with general changes in the approach to authority and discipline by the majority of our country.
The second myth is that because these individuals misuse the state welfare system we should severely restrict or change the system for everyone else. By all means bear down on those who persistently use the system and a supplementary income to help further their illegal activities. However one has to be aware that the doing will only result in more traditional crime affecting other people more than before. Having mentioned that the USA government is reported to have paid 100000 people in Iraq a monthly sum to prevent them from becoming enemies of the new state, the provision of similar monies to the criminal classes could be viewed in a similar light as the lesser of two evils.
The third area is the desire to monitor and thereby control by gaining access to all the means by which the criminal class can communicate with each other and pass information on a European and world wide basis. It is understandable that governments like the ability to cast the widest net and then discriminate, especially as they now have the technology to do so. However this only creates the types of society which have been the cause of much blood giving over decades and centuries. The threat of terrorism is a priority for governments but it must be placed in perspective, given the situation which occurred because of the abuse of power by the Protestant unionism in Ireland, until the last decade and that which I experienced as a child between 1939 and 1945. The measures have to be commensurate to the situation.
I therefore wish that I had not seen the film as it quickly destroyed the mood I had been in beforehand, arising from some excellent sporting experiences.
I begin with Durham’s victory over Warwickshire. Victory had appeared to be the outcome as soon as Warwickshire elected to bat after winning the toss and Durham dismissed the visitors for 135. The main cause of the collapse was the improvement in the bowling of Graham Thorp who took 5 for 49 in 20 overs. This will make team selection a difficult task when Harmison and Onions return to play for the County as Durham now have Plunket, Davies and Claydon as well as Thorp as front line pace bowlers together with spinners Blackwell and young Bothwick, Breese and part time Blenkenstein. It was Blenkenstein who came on in an attempt to break a mini stand who was the surprise of the innings and match because he took three wickets and appeared to cause the Warwickshire batsmen great trouble. Durham took their innings slowly with Di Venuto 40 followed by Blenkenstein with 73, Blackwell 63 and Mustard and Plunket also getting runs to bring the total to 273 and a lead of 138. There was a possibility of the game being over in two days similar to what happened at Nottingham. At first it looked as if I was right as three wickets fell for 34 runs but then Troughton son and grandson of two actors with the senior the original Dr Who made his intentions clear and continued with a brilliant 111 given the circumstances, taking the game into the third day. This time is was the turn of Mark Davies who has had a difficult time since returning from injury who was the star performer taking 3 wickets for 19 runs from under 15 overs. He was supported by Claydon and Blackwell who each took three wickets and the last five going cheaply for 37 runs. This left Durham to get 102 runs which were achieved by Di Venuto and Chanderpaul each with 41 and the victory was by eight wickets. The arrival of Chanderpaul for Gordon Muchall strengthens the batting further and only Stoneman is at risk of being replaced as his succession of law scores continues. As predicted the three other division one championship games ended in draws so that the table now has Durham on 186 points and 7 wins, Notts on 149 and Somerset on 146 with three wins as has Lancs on 138 but having played one more game, followed by Sussex or 120 and Warwickshire on 119, Yorks 117 and Hants 116 as the also rans and poor Worcestershire on 57.
For the last two days of the game my attention was divided as the last Test of the Ashes series had commenced. From the outset I thought that an English series victory was unlikely although I hoped they would do better than the humiliating whitewash which occurred in Australia two years ago. What happened then has to be put into perspective in that in 2005 England had been on a roll under Duncan Fletcher and Peterson, Flintoff and Harmison were at their peak. The problems was that while Australia immediately planned their revenge, England celebrated their new celebrity status and went on partying with the outcome disaster. There was a new concentrated purpose in the England camp and the emphasis and ongoing performance. For Graham Onions to break through in the side has been a notable achievement and Steve Harmison has worked hard the departure of Freddie Flintoff from Test Cricket has given him an opportunity to perform at international level for the next two years, assuming the selectors do not go for an immediate team rebuild. This is a possibility given that for the fifth test the decided to bring in Warwickshire’s Graham Trott a South African by birth who elected to play for England like Kevin Peterson.
At Cardiff Australia appeared determined to continue as they had left off and only and outstanding batting performance by Durham‘s Paul Collingwood supported by Monty Panesar and James Anderson over two days prevented defeat. Panesar’s lack of form has meant Graham Swann, who can also bat has taken over, he and Collingwood with Anderson means they are held in special regard and will continues to do so. Then came Lords and the outstanding win against Australia after several decades. Captain Strauss with 165 and opener Cook 95, set the scene with a stand of 196 and England finished with a total of 425. With Anderson 4 wickets and onions 3 Australia were reduced to 215 and then a solid all round second innings batting performance with Collingwood and Prior steadying the middle order with 54 and 41, England were able to declare setting Australia 500 hundred runs to win. They got 400 of them with Clark, Haddin and Johnson outstanding. It was Flintoff with 5, his first in a Test at Lords and Swann with 4 that did the damage and England were 1 up in the series instead of 1.1
Rain affected the chances of a result at Birmingham. Anderson and Onions with 5 and four wickets respectively did the damage as Australia were kept to 263 after winning the toss and electing to bat. England with Strauss Flintoff, Bell and Broad getting runs completed their innings over 100 runs ahead at 376. Given the weather stoppages only a collapse in their second innings gave England any chance of a result but stands involving Hussey, Clark and North, the latter making nearly 200 runs for the fifth wicket left a draw.
Headingley has always been a good hunting ground for England and I was there for Botham’s Ashes victory when he turned the game on its head. This time Australia humiliated England winning by an innings and 80 runs. England won the toss and then were skittled out for 100 runs. Australia then noticed 450 with North and Clark once more and pointing scoring highly. While Broad and Swann each got 60 in England’s second innings, the side was out for 263.
It is therefore understandable that hopes were not high for the fifth test. Flintoff made it, but just about as he prepared for surgery on his knee immediately the match was over. Harmison replaced Onions who was nevertheless invited to stay along with Peterson and Panesar. It is not clear if the invitation was extended to Bopara. England won the toss on a dodgy wicket prepared for a result and found scoring runs difficult. There was a good all round contribution to the score of 332 with Straus once more setting the standards with 55, Bell with 77 and new man Trott with 41 run out. Then an amazing thing happened Australia had a good start with over 70 on the board before the first wicket fell and then they were skittled out for 165 with Broad having a brilliant spell taking five wickets 5 for 37 from 12 and Swann 4 for 38 from 14. Then it looked as the wicket which kept some balls low while others exploded was go to be the victor as three wickets fell for 39. Strauss was there again but the outstanding performance was that of Trott with 119 also supported by Swann once more with 60. England declared when Trott was out for nine wickets setting Australia two and more days to get over 500 runs. This is a total which no side in test history anywhere in their world has achieved, although despite the wicket, there was a general nervousness that the lads from down under might do it.
This got off to an excellent start with Watson and Katich putting on 80 runs before they both fell for 40 and 43. Was this the breakthrough? Pointing 66 and Hussey 121 said not adding another 100 runs in their partnership. Nerves commenced show and Collingwood dropped to difficult and one easy chance. Then it was a combination of Australia taking difficult and dangerous runs which was their down fall coupled with a brilliant throw from Flintoff which uprooted a stump for Pointing to be out when going strongly at 66. Again the wickets fell in pairs. Then five balls later a throw from Strauss broke the stumps and the replays showed that although the back foot was on the line it was not over it as required and the batsman was correctly given out. A few rubs later North was brilliantly out stumped by the wicket keeper and it appeared to be only a matter of time before the match went to England, But in cricket nothing is ever certain and Cardiff has become the benchmark for modern day survival. There was another mini stand of close on 100 and the crowd began to think the match would continue into the fifth day. Petersen decided to make an early start for home but got as far as the Vauxhall Bridge Haddin was caught by Strauss off Swann and the Harmison got a wicket as Collingwood held a catch with the score still 327. Then it was boys own stuff as Harmison had the next man caught by Flintoff and the very next ball had Clark caught by Cook, could the match end with a hat trick. It was nearly and five runs later it was over as Hussey was out for his 121. England and won the match by 197 runs and with it the Ashes series 2009. The crowd went wild and celebrations were long with everyone staying for the presentations of medals and awards and brief speeches from the captains.
All three North East Clubs in their respective matches over the weekend. Sunderland went a goal down to Blackburn where previous matches had ended 0.0.I know I was there. This time it was Kenwyn Jones who scored the goals in a hard fought game. The Boo also won at home 2.0 and Newcastle continued to confound expectations by a 2.0 win at Crystal Palace. On Monday evening I enjoyed watching Sunderland have an impressive match at Norwich shown on Sky. Sunderland were ruthless in their finishing which fortunately was not the case for Norwich who as many chances to score during the match. Sunderland fielded only 2 of the those who ha played in the game on the Saturday, Kenwyn Jones and Nosworthy. Scottish goal keeper, Craig Gordon was excellent as was new signing from Hull Frazer Campbell who nearly scored what would have the goal of the season. While Norwich have been leaking goals, the performance confirmed that Sunderland should avoid a struggle to stay in the Premier ship this year and a mid table placement should be the outcome.
The process of setting up the lap top as a desk top has not been without its problems. Surprisingly the mouse was the easiest to organise as has been the a better sound quality. The desktop display proved to be a problem when I discovered the possibilities of different displays on the two screen and for a top achieved a desktop screen on screen two and nothing else until I eventually found the way to get back to showing the same display on both screens. I will leave the optional approach until another day, if ever! I then made the mistake of asking the computer via windows to find software for the printer instead of locating the disk, then found the disk which interrupted the download and eventually reached a stalemate until I removed the disk and let the download take its course.
I also put the rubbish out and retrieved, washed up and washed me, completed the ironing, gave the kitchen surfaces a good clean and the over top and commenced on the bathroom with the washbasin which is still in process. I also started the washing washing and drying but forgot how to open the machine door at the end of the process unintentionally restarted so had to complete the cycle before transferring the load to the dryer. The consequence of all this is that I decided to postpone to outing by bus to Sunderland for the replacement glasses.
My original intention was to write about two subjects which are in stark contrast. It has been a joyous few days of sport with Durham’s win against Warwickshire almost making it impossible for another team to win the champions, England won the last Test against all expectations and all three northeast football clubs won their matches over the weekend with Sunderland also winning well against Norwich away from home in the League Cup competition second round. Neither British driver won the Formula 1 Grand Prix and I missed the Athletics World Championships.
Then when I was just about to watch a film, I happened to change through the channels to find Timothy Small in a drama about which I had no advance information. Timothy Small is one of finest British actors of this day and so I stayed and found a major two hour dramatic event which was painful to watch because of the reality it portrayed. The drama is about what happens to a family when one of their children in gunned down.
Timothy Small plays a driving instructor whose approach is to spread kindness, avoid confrontations and unpleasantness. Over their years of marriage his wife has become the one to react to life in a more aggressive way so when two hooded youths push in before them in the local Mini market against her husbands advice she intervenes and the most insecure and disturbed of the young men pulls out a gun and shoots the daughter intending to silence the mother. She dies and the police are unable to move towards finding the culprits with no one coming forward, no witnesses and no clues except the cartridge which can be matched to the gun if it is found.
It is also drama which attempts to explain rather than justify how two young men became involved in the killing. One is weak with ambitions and wanting respect. He sees the killing as an opportunity to become part of the local drug gang network but quickly messes up and is knife cut as a warning. He retaliates by attempting to shoot the person with the gang network who reported his misbehaviour, having retrieved the gun from the canal when his partner in crime was ordered to dispose the weapon.
His partner comes from a family where the father is trying to put the past behind him. He grew up on one of the estates mentioned in the film which have become over run by drugs and associated criminal activity and where knives and guns are available at a price, The father is now a lawyer/counsellor representing and helping his former community, or at least this is the impression I gained of the situation. The son becomes caught up in the situation by having the wrong kind of friend.
The death and the lack of an arrest separates the couple as the wife punishes herself knowing that her failure to keep quiet and move away precipitated the killing of her eldest daughter with whom she had been having problems just before the incident, while the husband knows it is constant avoidance of issues which helped create what happened. They are unable to cope when the police liaison officer intimates the lack of development and trying to be helpful leaves the father alone to take a personal call on her mobile when showing him the available exhibits. Father has removed the cartridge shell and refuses to return it when the loss is discovered saying he wants to try and find out by what happened by going onto the estates and making his own enquiries. He persuades the liaison officer to put him in touch with someone who can help, the lawyer counsellor who in turn puts him in touch with a crack head whose first act is to arrange a meeting with a local supplier of weapons, one of several we are told.
The climax of the film comes when the young partner is advised by the counsellor to give the gun to Small and persuade his friend to say that the killing was an accident and therefore reduce the time they spend in prison, However the young killer will have none of this and together they kidnap the second daughter after fighting with the wife in an attempt to get the gun back from the home of the driving instructor. The first reaction of Timothy on his way to the police to hand over the gun and cartridges is to advise them of the kidnapping when informed of his wife but she encourages to him to take the law in his own hands as he is in possession of the gun.
It is at this point the title of the film becomes more clear. The counsellor has explained the empowerment which the guns brings to weak and inadequate human beings and the film makes the point that in this respect Small as the victim’s father is no different from the perpetrator of the crime. He is tempted to use the gun on his daughter’s killer when given the opportunity but realises that would make him the same as the young killer. At the very point when he decides to use the weapon just to capture the grovelling young man, an immature child at heart, a member of the drug gang fed up with the trouble he has caused for their enterprise, kills him.
The film should have ended at this point but moves to the funeral and the ability of their second daughter to play the cello once more. She had been unable to touch the instrument because the case was stained with the blood of her sister. It is a signal that the family are able to move on however difficult and permanent wounded as beings. The film therefore highlights that the dividing line between good and bad between hero and coward is a narrow and changing one for most human being, but more so for some more than others. It reinforces the unpalatable view that there are no quick fix solutions. The role of government is to provide the policing, judicial and custodial system to punish offenders when they are caught and limit the harm, at least for a time. The problem is that the custodial system is limited in what it cab achieve in terms of reform and rehabilitation and more likely the individual will become more professional and gain a network of associates through the experience. It is important that governments, specialist voluntary organisations, local government authorities and communities in general devote resources and attention to undermining the situations in which these individuals tend to flourish. The problem is a daunting one made worse by the influx of the criminals scum of Europe into the capital city and other cities and towns in the UK because of opportunities provided by an unfettered capitalist culture and membership of the enlarge Europe. This makes policing and intelligence even more difficult than before. There are however three areas where governments and our society in generalise in danger of throwing baby out with the bath water, although there is need to work new arrangements for the new situation.
The first issue is the alleged breaking down of traditional controls and respect for the authority. It is true that the various changes has created a situation in which the respectable middle class is no longer willing to accept the authority of the politicians, churchmen, self appointed moral guides and others simply because of the position they hold, or their existing wealth and power. The behaviour of members of the Royal Family, the near collapse of capitalism through the greed of bankers and speculators, the acquiescence to this situation by politicians many of whom have been revealed to have exploited their expenses beyond anything which the majority considers reasonable, the knowledge of the criminal abusive behaviour of churchmen and others in positions of authority and the increasing availability of education and information through the interned and 24/7 media, the rapid development of large parts of the UK into a multi cultural and racial society which has swamped previous populations, the rapid increase in unemployment levels and loss of homes, has all contributed to a situation where people question and challenged than just accept. However there has always been a large criminal underclass which congregates and infights for individual supremacy. The removal of some individuals into custodial care means that either other members of the criminal community take over or they maintain activities on behalf of those incarcerated for a time. Once crime becomes embedded in an estate or large community the only way to end it is to break up the estate and control and monitor all the individuals who formed the cancerous components. You have to tackle the problem specifically and it has little to do with general changes in the approach to authority and discipline by the majority of our country.
The second myth is that because these individuals misuse the state welfare system we should severely restrict or change the system for everyone else. By all means bear down on those who persistently use the system and a supplementary income to help further their illegal activities. However one has to be aware that the doing will only result in more traditional crime affecting other people more than before. Having mentioned that the USA government is reported to have paid 100000 people in Iraq a monthly sum to prevent them from becoming enemies of the new state, the provision of similar monies to the criminal classes could be viewed in a similar light as the lesser of two evils.
The third area is the desire to monitor and thereby control by gaining access to all the means by which the criminal class can communicate with each other and pass information on a European and world wide basis. It is understandable that governments like the ability to cast the widest net and then discriminate, especially as they now have the technology to do so. However this only creates the types of society which have been the cause of much blood giving over decades and centuries. The threat of terrorism is a priority for governments but it must be placed in perspective, given the situation which occurred because of the abuse of power by the Protestant unionism in Ireland, until the last decade and that which I experienced as a child between 1939 and 1945. The measures have to be commensurate to the situation.
I therefore wish that I had not seen the film as it quickly destroyed the mood I had been in beforehand, arising from some excellent sporting experiences.
I begin with Durham’s victory over Warwickshire. Victory had appeared to be the outcome as soon as Warwickshire elected to bat after winning the toss and Durham dismissed the visitors for 135. The main cause of the collapse was the improvement in the bowling of Graham Thorp who took 5 for 49 in 20 overs. This will make team selection a difficult task when Harmison and Onions return to play for the County as Durham now have Plunket, Davies and Claydon as well as Thorp as front line pace bowlers together with spinners Blackwell and young Bothwick, Breese and part time Blenkenstein. It was Blenkenstein who came on in an attempt to break a mini stand who was the surprise of the innings and match because he took three wickets and appeared to cause the Warwickshire batsmen great trouble. Durham took their innings slowly with Di Venuto 40 followed by Blenkenstein with 73, Blackwell 63 and Mustard and Plunket also getting runs to bring the total to 273 and a lead of 138. There was a possibility of the game being over in two days similar to what happened at Nottingham. At first it looked as if I was right as three wickets fell for 34 runs but then Troughton son and grandson of two actors with the senior the original Dr Who made his intentions clear and continued with a brilliant 111 given the circumstances, taking the game into the third day. This time is was the turn of Mark Davies who has had a difficult time since returning from injury who was the star performer taking 3 wickets for 19 runs from under 15 overs. He was supported by Claydon and Blackwell who each took three wickets and the last five going cheaply for 37 runs. This left Durham to get 102 runs which were achieved by Di Venuto and Chanderpaul each with 41 and the victory was by eight wickets. The arrival of Chanderpaul for Gordon Muchall strengthens the batting further and only Stoneman is at risk of being replaced as his succession of law scores continues. As predicted the three other division one championship games ended in draws so that the table now has Durham on 186 points and 7 wins, Notts on 149 and Somerset on 146 with three wins as has Lancs on 138 but having played one more game, followed by Sussex or 120 and Warwickshire on 119, Yorks 117 and Hants 116 as the also rans and poor Worcestershire on 57.
For the last two days of the game my attention was divided as the last Test of the Ashes series had commenced. From the outset I thought that an English series victory was unlikely although I hoped they would do better than the humiliating whitewash which occurred in Australia two years ago. What happened then has to be put into perspective in that in 2005 England had been on a roll under Duncan Fletcher and Peterson, Flintoff and Harmison were at their peak. The problems was that while Australia immediately planned their revenge, England celebrated their new celebrity status and went on partying with the outcome disaster. There was a new concentrated purpose in the England camp and the emphasis and ongoing performance. For Graham Onions to break through in the side has been a notable achievement and Steve Harmison has worked hard the departure of Freddie Flintoff from Test Cricket has given him an opportunity to perform at international level for the next two years, assuming the selectors do not go for an immediate team rebuild. This is a possibility given that for the fifth test the decided to bring in Warwickshire’s Graham Trott a South African by birth who elected to play for England like Kevin Peterson.
At Cardiff Australia appeared determined to continue as they had left off and only and outstanding batting performance by Durham‘s Paul Collingwood supported by Monty Panesar and James Anderson over two days prevented defeat. Panesar’s lack of form has meant Graham Swann, who can also bat has taken over, he and Collingwood with Anderson means they are held in special regard and will continues to do so. Then came Lords and the outstanding win against Australia after several decades. Captain Strauss with 165 and opener Cook 95, set the scene with a stand of 196 and England finished with a total of 425. With Anderson 4 wickets and onions 3 Australia were reduced to 215 and then a solid all round second innings batting performance with Collingwood and Prior steadying the middle order with 54 and 41, England were able to declare setting Australia 500 hundred runs to win. They got 400 of them with Clark, Haddin and Johnson outstanding. It was Flintoff with 5, his first in a Test at Lords and Swann with 4 that did the damage and England were 1 up in the series instead of 1.1
Rain affected the chances of a result at Birmingham. Anderson and Onions with 5 and four wickets respectively did the damage as Australia were kept to 263 after winning the toss and electing to bat. England with Strauss Flintoff, Bell and Broad getting runs completed their innings over 100 runs ahead at 376. Given the weather stoppages only a collapse in their second innings gave England any chance of a result but stands involving Hussey, Clark and North, the latter making nearly 200 runs for the fifth wicket left a draw.
Headingley has always been a good hunting ground for England and I was there for Botham’s Ashes victory when he turned the game on its head. This time Australia humiliated England winning by an innings and 80 runs. England won the toss and then were skittled out for 100 runs. Australia then noticed 450 with North and Clark once more and pointing scoring highly. While Broad and Swann each got 60 in England’s second innings, the side was out for 263.
It is therefore understandable that hopes were not high for the fifth test. Flintoff made it, but just about as he prepared for surgery on his knee immediately the match was over. Harmison replaced Onions who was nevertheless invited to stay along with Peterson and Panesar. It is not clear if the invitation was extended to Bopara. England won the toss on a dodgy wicket prepared for a result and found scoring runs difficult. There was a good all round contribution to the score of 332 with Straus once more setting the standards with 55, Bell with 77 and new man Trott with 41 run out. Then an amazing thing happened Australia had a good start with over 70 on the board before the first wicket fell and then they were skittled out for 165 with Broad having a brilliant spell taking five wickets 5 for 37 from 12 and Swann 4 for 38 from 14. Then it looked as the wicket which kept some balls low while others exploded was go to be the victor as three wickets fell for 39. Strauss was there again but the outstanding performance was that of Trott with 119 also supported by Swann once more with 60. England declared when Trott was out for nine wickets setting Australia two and more days to get over 500 runs. This is a total which no side in test history anywhere in their world has achieved, although despite the wicket, there was a general nervousness that the lads from down under might do it.
This got off to an excellent start with Watson and Katich putting on 80 runs before they both fell for 40 and 43. Was this the breakthrough? Pointing 66 and Hussey 121 said not adding another 100 runs in their partnership. Nerves commenced show and Collingwood dropped to difficult and one easy chance. Then it was a combination of Australia taking difficult and dangerous runs which was their down fall coupled with a brilliant throw from Flintoff which uprooted a stump for Pointing to be out when going strongly at 66. Again the wickets fell in pairs. Then five balls later a throw from Strauss broke the stumps and the replays showed that although the back foot was on the line it was not over it as required and the batsman was correctly given out. A few rubs later North was brilliantly out stumped by the wicket keeper and it appeared to be only a matter of time before the match went to England, But in cricket nothing is ever certain and Cardiff has become the benchmark for modern day survival. There was another mini stand of close on 100 and the crowd began to think the match would continue into the fifth day. Petersen decided to make an early start for home but got as far as the Vauxhall Bridge Haddin was caught by Strauss off Swann and the Harmison got a wicket as Collingwood held a catch with the score still 327. Then it was boys own stuff as Harmison had the next man caught by Flintoff and the very next ball had Clark caught by Cook, could the match end with a hat trick. It was nearly and five runs later it was over as Hussey was out for his 121. England and won the match by 197 runs and with it the Ashes series 2009. The crowd went wild and celebrations were long with everyone staying for the presentations of medals and awards and brief speeches from the captains.
All three North East Clubs in their respective matches over the weekend. Sunderland went a goal down to Blackburn where previous matches had ended 0.0.I know I was there. This time it was Kenwyn Jones who scored the goals in a hard fought game. The Boo also won at home 2.0 and Newcastle continued to confound expectations by a 2.0 win at Crystal Palace. On Monday evening I enjoyed watching Sunderland have an impressive match at Norwich shown on Sky. Sunderland were ruthless in their finishing which fortunately was not the case for Norwich who as many chances to score during the match. Sunderland fielded only 2 of the those who ha played in the game on the Saturday, Kenwyn Jones and Nosworthy. Scottish goal keeper, Craig Gordon was excellent as was new signing from Hull Frazer Campbell who nearly scored what would have the goal of the season. While Norwich have been leaking goals, the performance confirmed that Sunderland should avoid a struggle to stay in the Premier ship this year and a mid table placement should be the outcome.
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