2261 Sport and weather catch up as April 2012 begins

I have been in rebellion against myself since the sun commenced to shine. It is a week since I commenced to write a bog and although the weather changed dramatically on Monday and it is now Wednesday again. The sun is shining but there is a fierce wind and it is cold. In the patio my broad bean plants need individual attention which they receive later afternoon after I went to B and Q for some plant string and ties, I bought 24 Petunia plants and 6 Geraniums with £1 off discount card.

And one of the six Valouris pottery wine goblets is broken having been blown onto the concrete. I have about ten films to review, lots of television and some sport. I have been preoccupied with other things.

Last week was all about making the most of the weather and after the two hour effort on Tuesday the walk last Wednesday was something of an effort. Again there were not as many people doing likewise as I had anticipated, three separate small parties of young boys with school teachers, the majority senior citizens and some grandparents and few others. Aware that I might not be up to the walk uphill at the end of the outing I took the car to the bottom of the hill beside the park and then crossed over alongside South Marine into the almost deserted Amusement Park and through to the walk by the all weather sports area onto the sands which were spacious and clean. I was not in the mood for sand walking so returned passed the pub restaurant along the new promenade now weathered since it was laid down last summer.

There is further work this year to build up the dunes. For the first decade on arrival in South Tyneside there was an inherited contract with the Council for removing sand from the beach which continued until its conclusion was negotiated.

The Marsden Rattler, two converted railway carriages plus additional space and outside beach terrace has become an expensive Italian restaurant where a steak main course or a whole Lobster will set you back £20. If you attend nine Sunday lunches or buy nine bottles of wine the 10th meal or 10th bottle is free.

I continued walking on the sand side of the walkway but decided against going further than the Sand Dancer, a former beachside chain restaurant now specialising as a venue attracting the younger surfer style clientele. I came back along pavement noting that the flower beds across the way are still awaiting planting. The double extension to the Minchella ice cream kiosk and coffee morning tea time snackerie is completed and was doing a good trade since it became a friendly venue for the older bikes as well as those walking the promenade.

The way visitors walk up and down on warm sunny Sundays reminds of Mediterranean life and that described by my care mother and her brothers and sisters in Gibraltar. I returned home satisfied with myself.

I repeated the walk on Thursday in part taking the car to the bottom of the hill but crossing through the park and going to the Sand Dancer before returning.

On Friday morning it was time to join the queue for petrol at Morrison’s Seaburn. The government had caused panic buying through its Minister Francis Maude advising people to fill their car and also store in jerry cans. This is bad advice with the consequence that one woman in Wakefield storing fuel for one of her daughters set herself on fire and is now fighting for life with 40% burns. The bastard ought to resign but I doubt there will be a legal case for damages against the Minister, unfortunately. This has been a bad few weeks for Cameron as Parliament is in recess for Easter and I assume the May Elections, Queen Speech and all that. Miliband has done well in the political sparing without delivering any knock blows the improved performance should have been reflected at the ballot Box.

There was a by-election on Thursday where the controversial former Labour Member George Galloway and now of the Respect Party contested having previously held a seat in East London. There is a strong Muslim community in Bradford which George could expect support given his opposition to the War in Iraq as well as disaffected traditional Labour who had previously shown support for the extreme right. George achieved one of the most important election shocks in past century, especially for Labour, overturning a 5000 majority where the candidate was Asian into a 10000 majority for himself. It is evident that the public are saying a plague on all your houses. The Liberal Democrats are going to be crushed into oblivion at the next General Election at this rate.

The government quickly reacted to what happened in Wakefield and the Trades Union said there was no intention to arrange call a strike before Easter and that negotiations with Management were continuing.

On Sunday I visited the Durham County Cricket Ground for the new Season. The club opened its doors with the Members lounge opened and available arranged for throughout the two days. Having not visited part of the existing stadium and anxious to see if the upper tier of the extension was now open I signed up and participated in the first available commencing at 11 am and which lasted an hour.

Understandably the emphasise was on showing the facilities available for people to hire or spend money but those on the first tour, apart from one young man did not appear the kind to spend a lot of money. There was no regular food provision in the Member’s lounge with an emphasis on Austin’s the separate and open to the public all year restaurant. They do a main course roast for just under £9 and a three course meal for around £15 although the menu is interesting and compared favourably with that experienced at the Theatre Royal Nottingham recently.

We then visited the Board room and the Vice President’s lounge which caters for VIP visitors, and an individual sponsor’s room table seating for 12 with balcony outside. There was opportunity to view the two lounge hire facilities. On the ground floor there is to be a public bar reminding of the Shed in Yorkshire but at a very different level of ambience and facilities. It was set out for a Christmas party as was the upstairs where there is also seating and suggesting hospitality packages for internationals and special matches with the lower area available for non members on rainy days.

On one hand compared to football the hospitality packages are better value in terms of the hours of play offered for County Cricket including the pro 40 competition held on Sundays. That offered for 20 20 games is more questionable. For the county games and the 40 overs the options are a private room for 12 with the cost is around £75 plus VAT per head and for this there is Tea Coffee, ground entry, hot Breakfast Roll on arrival, scorecard 2 course lunch and after noon tea or no breakfast roll and 3 course meal with afternoon tea for the 40 over Sundays. The individual price for lounge hospitality is £10 more.

With ground entry at £15, the breakfast roll and coffee at £3.50. Scorecard £1 and a three course meal at Austin’s £15, one is paying double for a balcony view which can be distant and out of the sunshine depending on the pitch and time of day. The cost of the 20 20 game is exorbitant at £137.50 plus VAT per head for 12 for this only a two course meal and tea or coffee on arrival. The individual pays £120 plus VAT. There is no mention of parking.

What proved the most interesting was the visit to the education centre where schools can send pupils struggling with their spelling and arithmetic? Upstairs the Sky studio is also used by young people around the year for media work. The best view in the ground belongs to the handful of cricket reporters. There is a huge two story window the width of the whole playing surface the is needed because the commentators are able to sit directly above and over the wicket whichever pitch is used. There is a separate room for the scorer who controls both electronic boards as well making a written record and an announcer who is a volunteer.

On the walkabout I we were shown the completed transformer unit for the floodlighting system which remains to be installed and the bushes on the banking by the fencing before the riverside have been cleared to make way for the hotel which will have parking on the ground floor and have two floors for the rooms with sixty on each floor.

As for the cricket Durham won the toss and had a good day at the wicket because of another great century by opener Di Venuto with 143 out of the total of 337. Stokes, Borthwick, Collingwood, Mustard and Plunkett all had good little knocks in the 20’s and 30’s, Smith 4 Stoneman 12 and Muchall did less well. With Braithwaite and Breeze playing I assume Steve Harmison did not... His brother has moved to Kent. Rain interrupted the play on the cold Monday and I wonder how many spectators braved the conditions. Durham remain coy about the details of the play with York’s scoring some runs and Durham bowlers getting a limited number of wickets. I did see that all rounder Ian Blackwell got a century for the MCC out in Dubai against the championship winner Lancashire. It will have been galling for Yorkshire fans that this was the year which saw them relegated to Division 2 especially as Middlesex and Surrey have moved back up.

Having secured the title as the World number one Test side England lost all five Test Matches against Pakistan and the first of two against Sri Lanka. At present things look brighter in the second Test with home side out for 275 and England 154 for 1 with Cook going strong on 77 as day 2 ended Captain Strauss did make 50 which may silence sum of his critics. They will need to win the game to hold on to their number one spot.

In contrast to the Test match Performances the male and female teams have done well in their respective one day tours. The ladies beat New Zealand by 5 wickets out in Lincoln New Zealand in February with the home side dismissed for 233 and Edwards leading the Brits home with an opening knock of 88, They improved to a six wicket win in the first 20 20 game with Shrubsole taking 5 wickets for 11 as the home team struggled to 80 for 9 Taylor not out with 37 saw the team win in this low scoring game. Edwards 33, Taylor 45 and March 48 led the team to 166 for 7 in their innings in the second 20 20 game while four of the English bowlers took 2 wickets to remove the New Zealanders for 118 to win the second. The third game was more closely contested with Gunn the lead scorer at 30 not out setting a total of 108. New Zealand Openers made a good start but collapsed to 90 for 7 and 10 short of the revised Duckworth Lewis total as the game was interrupted by a violent rain storm. Both sides struggled to make runs in the fourth game with the highest individual score 29 but New Zealand had the star Bowler as Nielsen took 4 wickets for 10. However this was not good enough as England managed to get the required runs with 5 wickets in hand and 7 balls left.

The men had an excellent start in their first 50 over game because of Cook with 137 and Bopara’s 50. Ajmal took 5 of the 7 wickets as England made 260 and then Finn with 4 for 34 and Patel 3 for 29 destroyed Pakistan for 130 in 35 overs. Cook scored a second century in the second and closer game with England 250 and Finn 4 for 34 and Patel 2 for 51 as the official home team playing in Abu Dhabi were all out for 230 at the end of the 49th. The third game was extraordinary with Andersen 2 Finn 3 and Broad 3 wickets as Pakistan made 222. Cook 80 and Petersen 11 achieved a 9 wicket win with 16 balls to spare. It was an outstanding performance. Petersen who had failed miserably against spin rescued his place in the team. He then dismissed all the doubters like me with a second century 130 as England achieve the required 237 runs with 4 balls to spare. Dernbach 4 for 45 did the damage.

There was a short three match 20 20 series with Pakistan winning the first as batsmen failed to progress individual good starts so that there was a loss 8 by runs after Pakistan made 144. Swann 3 for 13 was the best of the bowlers.

England won the second game impressively with Bairstow not out at 60 and 150 in total; Finn 3 for 30 headed a team effort which had Pakistan all out for 112.

England then won the series because of a fine 67 run effort by Petersen and Pakistan only failing to make the required 129 by 5.

I decided to record the visit of Liverpool to St James Park on Sunday despite the game being in 3D. I was horrified on return to find I had not set up the recording as I believed and had to settle for the extended highlights in game which Newcastle won 2.0. I then watched the whole game again in 3D on Monday and most enjoyable it was. Although Chelsea and Arsenal had wins Newcastle are still in with a shout of a European place, especially if Chelsea go on to win the League. They play tonight. The new star at Newcastle is Ba’s compatriot Cisse. The comparison between him and Carroll was evident with Carroll sold for over three times as much and failing to impress. Newcastle have become a much better team with out him. Good riddance Carroll I say.

I waited until the evening’s extended highlights to watch Sunderland away at Man City. It was an extraordinary game with Sunderland 3.1 up until the last five minutes of official play and then losing to goals in seconds. Although the one point from the draw was welcome they should have won and even with the single point City are now 5 points behind United and their championship hope which appeared certain at one point may have vanished. Looks like Alec is going to do it again!

2248 End of Feb 2012 Sports report 1 The kicking game

My consumption of sport is changing because with age I tolerate failure less but equally abhor ultra professionalism. My loyalties and interests built up over decades remain and in some instances are just as strong as they have always been but as discussed when marking the arrival of 3D Cinema and 3D TV in the home, the development enables the ability to become a more active observer in comfort and at considerably less expense, for me and anyone or a fixed or limited income.

The best development since my last report is that Sunderland beat Arsenal at the Stadium of Light to reach the quarterfinals of the Football Association Cup and in the subsequent draw were the last club out of the bag, so to speak, and therefore playing away to Everton. This immediately brought back a cold Winter‘s evening when I journeyed over the snow covered Pennines by coach to watch Sunderland lose at Everton in the FA Cup and then found the coach, among a convoy of 100 or so vehicles, being stoned as we slowly moved out of Liverpool northward towards the M6 up to Carlisle and across to Newcastle along the Northern route to arrive back in the early hours disappointed and also shaken by the experience. The stones were small or clumps of earth thrown by small groups of children and some adolescents from behind garden walls or street corners, but in some number, disabling some coaches whom had to stop in order to attend to the damaged window and presumably report the matter to the local police who were not immediately evidence. Since then the operation has become professional with police escorts and organisation of brief road closure and traffic light switching to enable the fast movement of away support coaches away from venue grounds.

I was able to watch the game against Arsenal live in the home comfort before large screen HD, and it was evident that a large number of other supporters had followed suit as there were only 26000 out of 50000 seats occupied. There are various reasons for this change which was evident in several other televised matches at the weekend and in other matches recently. The most obvious being that Sunderland had lost to Arsenal the previous weekend in the Premier League and with Arsenal being thrashed out of the European Cup the worst was feared. The match was being televised on one of the main home terrestrial channel/freeview digital channels and the weather was forecast cold although not as cold as it has been and cold has not in the past prevented North East Young males from appearing bare-chested at such events. I believe that financial restrictions and job insecurity may have been the dominant factor for many here in the North East.

It is also possible that support for the game in general is diminishing and the failure of North East Clubs to win trophies or show any likelihood of winning the top league is also having its effect. Given that the social behaviour of players at North East clubs have hit the media over the past decade or two recent events with accusations of racism between players has probably had less impact in the North East than elsewhere, while the salaries, bonus and life style of bankers has been declared open season for attack, the way Footballers, Managers, the agents and clubs manipulate payments to attract and keep players, avoid taxation has not really affected the paying public although I suspect the campaign for Harry Rednap of Tottenham to become the next England Manager may have been derailed, or perhaps the FA do not want to make the connection between the finding of not guilty and the departure of Capello too obvious. Meanwhile Stuart Pearce will care take as before and I would like to see him given the opportunity to manage the first team one day. I am not a cockney Harry fan or of Tottenham for that matter. It is noteworthy that the FA are reported not have officially spoken to anyone about the vacant position yet.
This therefore is the longest preamble to a short play notice ever. I thought the two teams were well matched and that the game turned a defensive mistake which allowed Kieran Richardson time to take a long range shot at a severe angle across the goal keeper inside the far side netting. He is famed for his long range fast and accurate strikes and this was one of his best, intended and impossible to stop by the goal keeper.

I have been impressed by Sunderland’s front man Stephane Sessagnon because of his exciting skill on the ball and 90 minutes exertions on behalf of the team. He is not a prima donna player and it was his work with the ball which enabled a close quarter goal mouth scramble strike by Larsson to secure the win by two goals to none. Well done the lads.

Unfortunately they went and destroyed the glow of success on Wearside by a terrible performance away at the Midland Club West Bromwich Albion who had not won at home since November whereas Sunderland’s rise up the table away from the relegation zone has been built by five wins in the previous six away games. This match stood form on its head. West Brom scored their first of four goals within minutes (3) of the start and a second and third either side of half time with the fourth coming as the game ended. It was not good preparation for Sundays 12 noon start away at Newcastle. O’Neill knows that he will become a legend if he can secure a win although I fancy a draw at best.

Newcastle it has to be said have faltered for after good wins 2.0 away at Blackburn and 2.1 at home to Aston Villa they were humbled 5.0 at a rampant Tottenham and then could only manage a 2.2 draw at home against Wolves after going two up in the first half. There is now a 3 point gap between them and the teams in 4th and 5th places and while they are ahead still of Liverpool they have a game in hand and are looking more consistent in their Premier League form. Sunday’s game is therefore important for short and longer term reasons for both clubs and is available on television to watch live

Yesterday evening, Wednesday the 29th February there were two friendly internationals which merited watching and therefore I keep an eyen on both switching between digital freeview for the game between England and Holland and the game between Wales and Costa Rica which was arranged to mark the death of the former Manager Garry Speed. It was indeed a moving occasion in which the football would inevitably become second best.

Bryn Terfel with a Welsh male voice choir sang Bread of Heaven and then Speed’s two boys led out the team with Craig Bellamy. Craig is another of the footballers who found North East night life such that he became of interest to the tabloid personality pages in addition to his temperamental footballing skills although since then his play and his behaviour off the pitch has become exemplary and along with Robert Savage, Alan Sharer and Shane Given have been along those who have held the name of Speed up high and given support to his parents and sons.

Chris Coleman who has also had his off playing field moments was clearly emotional as he stood with the parents of Garry. I was watching England during the half time at Cardiff and therefore missed the role of honour as a number of former Welsh Internationals took to the pitch to show their solidarity with the occasion.

The game was inevitably going to be of less consequence although after having won their three previous internationals Wales had more than one incentive to win the game. It was some fifty years since they had won four internationals back to back. In the event from what I saw of the game their performance was good but affected by the emotions of the situations and it was Costa Rica who won the game 1.0 despite several near successful attempts to gain a draw which would have reflected the overall play of the two teams. It has to be said that Costa Rica has proved consistently one of the better South American teams so defeat was no disgrace rather a major disappointment for the 23000 fans hat were present and the hundreds of thousands of other’s watching at home and in the pubs and clubs. Wales has a young side of relatively unknowns to me with only Rickets and Gabbidon on the bench familiar to me in addition to Bellamy.

There was similar off field attention surrounding England’s friendly against Holland at Wembley.The football media and most managers and footballers have placed their weight behind the the proposed apppointment of Harry Rednap as England’s manager to replace Capello. The story so far is that after the failure of the team in the World Cup Capella had wanted to resign but was persuaded to remain until the outcome of the criminal proceedings against Rednap and his financial advisers for failing to pay appropriate income tax were completed. Both men were acquitted and from what I read in the paper it appears that rough diamond geezer as Rednap likes to portray himself suffers from ahd eye coordination problems which make his handwriting indecipherable and an aversion and ability to keep records, write letters or use technology.

It is rightly argued that such disabilities should not prevent someone from heading their chosen occupation. I share the anxiety of others in the Football Assoication who have their doubts. After all has Harry won the English Premier League NO! Has he won any form of International competition NO. So why should we think he will do better for England that think whose records at least indicate they have the experience?

If I was in the position to chose I would give serious consideration to Stuart Pearce who like Harry is not the most articulate of front men but has now amassed a substantial record of achievement with the under 21 squad many of whom were on show at Wembley on Wednesday eveing. It was my hope that the team would do well against a side the national teams has always struggle.

The other off field problem surrounding this match is the decision fo the FA to insist that Frank Lampard should be removed from the captaincy and possibly his place in the England team until the outcome of the prosecution against him for alleging having made racist remarks against a player in an opposing team. Frank’s lawyers had succesfuly got the trial delayed until after the end of the Football season so he could continue with his lucrative occupation, something which your average fan if prosecuted would not be able to do. The Football Association was right and should have been fully supported in their decision to remove the captaincy from Lampard and Capello was an idiot, something which I would not have said of him before, for criticiscing the decision, albeit in the Italian Press. One suspects that he wanted a get out before the European Championship which the national team is unlikely to win, although could reach the finals in the Queen’s 60th reign year celebrations and the holding of the Olympic games in London.

The interesting decision was that instead of appointing Gerrard as Captain Pearce chose in inform Scott Parker from Tottenham, which in turn could indicate who would be Harry’s choice.

I thought the the team played with great skill and promise matching that of the Dutch. For once there was excellent passing and clever movement especially from your wide man forward Danny Welbeck whose performances on loan at Sunderland from Manchester United brought him to national attention and where his undoubted abilities have also now been shown as a regular in the United first team.

It has to be said that while Stephen Gerrard had proved to be the most consistent quality player for Liverpool, and without him Liverpool have always faltered, his skills have not always come to the fore when playing for England and the long running saga of the inability of Gerrard to accept the leadership of Lampard when they both played together, or as it seemed to us outsiders is well documented.

There is also the bad taste lingering over the decision of Gerrard and his team, together with Dalgliesh over their support for the disgraced Suarez who was give an eight match ban for his racist comments against a Manchester United player. Frankly this was a disgrace. Dalgleish has said that he and the rest off the management were unaware that Suarez was not going to shake the hand of his victim when they met in the recent FA Cup game and I share those of the opinion that the sooner the young man is traded out of the UK the better. Meanwhile Gerard, Dalgliesh and the rest of the team have significantly damaged the reputation of the club which is extraordinary after the goodwill which had remerged when consideration of the behaviour of the Sun and other Murdoch papers in Parliamnent recently.

And the game? Well Holland scored two great goals in a matter of seconds and looked well in control after that but Engand were convincing in their fight back to level the game 2.2 and which again would have been a fair outcome. Unfortunately Holland scored a third in extra time to win the match and the result could be said to have dented the chance of Pearce being offered the job permanently, something which he says he is not ready for. Gerrard who looked out of salts was substituted at 33 mins walking off straight to the dressing rooms, I am not clear if his fitness was suspect why he was played.

I watched the League Cup Final on Sunday (3D) with mixed feelings as although I wanted Cardiff to beat Liverpool for reasons just explained but Cardiff is not one of my favourite teams given their appalling record for violence by spectators in the ground where their record in the worst in UK with 125 banning orders imposed in one recent year and outside ground behaviour equally notorious.

I have to admit it was good match with Cardiff taking a good first half lead at 1.0 and then 1.1 at full time, Liverpool appearing to take the game with a goal in extra time but then Cardiff equalised taking the game to penalties and this was just as exciting with Gerrard first and then Adam for Liverpool missing and then after a first miss Cardiff took the lead 1.0 Cardiff then missed the third but both teams getting the 4th so that they went into the 5th round each with 2 goals. Liverpool scored theirs and Gerrard’s cousin Anthony, missing his to give Liverpool their first trophy in years. Bah!

I will leave cricket where there is so much to report until after doing my first Module 2 Leveson update but mention here the disaster of relegation facing the Newcastle Falcons Rugby Union game as they are now 6 pints adrift at the bottom of the league with only 3 wins from their 16 games of 22 in the season and a position from which I cannot see them retrieve. As the games are shown on ESPN rather than Sky I am yet to see a performance. They appear tonight at home against Harlequins.

The end of the Rugby League season was a disaster for the best Premiership Team Warrington. They failed to make the final of the challenge cup at Wembley which they had won for two years in succession and then although finishing the league table top they failed to make the championship final at Manchester, the first time the top team has failed to do this

This season they appeared to stutter with a draw at bottom of the league Hull (I cannot remember if it was Hull KR or Hull) with both teams in the bottom places and with one of the Hull teams having removed from Gateshead on Tyneside a few years ago. However three good wins since, one which I did see on TV and they head the table once more by a point with Wigan, Huddersfield and the Catalan Dragons the one point behind. Leeds the eventual champions in in 6th position but with a game in hand after one defeat.

2091 Lancashire cricket at Liverpool Day one

It is 21 44 Monday 27th June and I have been in the city of Liverpool for 24 hours. It has been a weird period of time.

I am going to work backwards.

18.25 The cricket game ends early because of bad light. I make my way from the entrance of the ground along the road for some fifty yards to the crossing over the dual carriage to the Travel Lodge where I am staying. Before doing so I visit the all day small we sell everything store for a can of cold Pepsi and a bottle of cold Volvic still water for £1.20. This is price paid for just one item in Bar of Toby Carvery or within the ground of Liverpool cricket club.

The crossing is pedestrian controlled in that the more regular pressings of the button the quicker the crossing light changes from red to green. I go first to the car and collect the packet soups, a tin of baked beans, pain au chocolate for the morning, indigestion tablets and liquorice sticks.

In the room I enjoy the can of Pepsi after changing from trousers to track suit bottoms and removing the sandals. I also drink about a third of the water. I prepare the soup using both cups and the have the beans and a pastry followed by some of the black grapes already in the cool bag.

I watch the local news which confirms that although the wicket has a green surface, and which someone sitting next to me, an umpire said is worse that the usual club pitch, it has been passed fit for play despite 20 wickets falling in in the day. The argument being the conditions were special which made the ball swing fiercely. More on the cricket later.

I turn on the computer after leaving it with the plus switched off at the socket so the battery ran out while I was away. I am tempted to watch Spartacus on the ITV player but I have indulged watching the first episode of Mildred Pierce with Kate Winslett. The book was published in 1941 and made into a success film in 1945 with six academy nominations with one win for the leading actress Joan Crawford and Mildred. This film which I remember but cannot recall had a changed story from the book. The present five part mini series is said to be more faithful to the book. I will write about the mini series another time.

9.30 am I leave the Travel Lodge having prepared three salami with olive rolls. These I eat at 11. Noon and 3pm. I do not eat the pastry. I buy a can of Pepsi soon after arriving at the ground for 75 pence and then a bottle of Pepsi for £1.20. Other expenditure is a score Card for 70 pence.

The ground reminds me of that at Hartlepool except the facilities for members are worse. There is an ancient pavilion on three floors with the players on the top floor When I asked if there was anywhere where I could get a drink I was told to go up the stairs by an steward and confronted a sign which just said players and officials. There appear to be an area with drinks in pouring jugs but no one serving. Others that had followed worked out that the bar was across from where we were. It was closed and the stairs to this also appeared closed. Because of the location of the wicket only half the outside seating was available and have been taken up by Lancs regulars who had got there where the ground opened borne of experience earlier in the season.

In front of the Pavilion at pitch side there was a media tent and then a sponsors tented pavilion. Most of the seating was in hard seats and benches located around the boundary fencing. There were three small erected stands. One side on to the wicket and the other two either side of the site screen. I elected to sit on the top row aisle seat of the second. To reach this one had to go through the tennis court behind the site screen. The ground has a pleasant aspect and there are plenty of trees with car parking. In one corner adjacent to the main pavilion there is a similar designed building but smaller which looks like a former players pavilion but the building is now a day nursery with a separate on street entrance. The ground filled as the morning progressed with no spare seats visible by the end of the day. There were good side temporary toilets. There was only one refreshment tent selling beer but with a small area of sandwiches, tea coffee and a chill drinks cabinet. In this respect facilities at grounds such as Stockton, Darlington, Gateshead Fell, Chester Le Street Cricket Club and Hartlepool were better. Only that at the University ground Durham City were as limited. The facilities are inadequate for playing all county games for one season.

I made two outings during the day. Immediately across from the Travel Lodge there is a vehicle MOT centre. There are four eating place . The first is a Chinese take away which offer fish and chips. This was doing a great trade at lunch time and was busy the night before when I arrived. The are two restaurants serving Indian/Asian food. The first is described as basic similar to those in Ocean Road but not offering any special deals. The second is a large up market building and up market prices. However in the midst there is a small British Restaurant with perhaps a dozen simple plain wooded tables and chairs. The starters are around £5 as I assume the puddings with the main courses from around £12 to £25. With drinks I would expect two people to pay £75 to eat a three course meal here. There is also a betting shop, pharmacy and female hairdressing.

At 9.30 as it had been earlier it was scorching hot so after putting on plenty of sun protection I wore just a short sleeved shirt and trousers taking the light summer jacket my had a small carry bag with the food and little else. At 2 the sea fret had arrived with a cold wind and I put on the jacket. At 4.15 during the yea interval I returned my room at the Travel Lodge and made a cup of tea to warm myself. I then replaced the summer jacket with my green lined coat. It remained in the 80’s everywhere else. To morrow it should be cooler and less humid everywhere but sunny after some over night showers.

I had left the Emirates Durham International around 17.30 on Sunday afternoon when the weather continued to scorching hot and sunny. I had travelled no more than a couple of miles when the skies darkened and on coming vehicle showed lights and traces of a rain storm. There was then heavy rain over the next 20 miles during which time I stopped to eat my sandwiches in the car at the Durham service area without going into the facilities. It then brightened up to the same weather conditions of the day. I stopped again for a comfort break at Wet herby and because I was feeling tired. I was not at best alertness for the rest of the journey but OK. The weather over the Pennines was glorious although the incoming low sun was blinding at times and added to driving difficulties. I was OK until reaching the service area above Manchester where I have stayed on previous visits to the city.

I was aware from previous experience that after this service area one has to concentrate even more than usual because of the filers and junctions off the motorway on either side of the carriage way. These go south to Chester and North Wales, to Warrington and Widnes or north to the Lancashire mill towns, to the county town of Preston or to the sandy beaches of Southport. I was OK until seeing signs for the 5080 to places which were not on my list so I kept going to the end of the motorway and sure enough the sign to 5080 was the first on list of three junctions. All was OK until I saw but did not register sufficiently the turning I had to take off the third and final roundabout and end along a road which appeared to be taking into central Liverpool and not the more countrified residential housing I had expected from the guide map. I should have stopped at a service area for a local map book.

I retraced by steps and took what I thought was the correct turning but the road was Aigburth Drive not Road and took along an area of Parkland which I assume borders the river. It seemed to go on for ages and eventually I found someone who correctly guided to Aigburth road from its end in the other direction which I had first intended. This was fine because it meant that the Travel Lodge was on my side of the dual carriage way. The accommodation is basic with not even a cold drinks machine. There is however plenty of free parking and I had passed the entrance to the cricket ground less that 50 yards on the other side of the road. There were some restaurants and a few other outlets across the road. After unpacking I went to the Toby for a cold Pepsi around 22.30. The TV has most of the free digital channels and I commenced to watch Beyonce before going for the drink who put on an hour and three quarters top pf the bill set from 22.00. She is the first female to head the bill on the Pyramid set for a quarter of a decade. I was impressed with her energy and clearly she regarded the event as one of the most important in her life, never having appeared to so many people in one go. I liked the message of her music.

Now to the main event and purpose of the visit, The cricket. On the Sunday afternoon Durham played second in the 20 20 League table Leicestershire. Durham battered first and made 187 runs which was 10-20 short of what I thought would be needed and should have been achieved given the great stated. Gordon Muchall made a solid 65 to anchor the innings. Leicestershire set a cracking pace and appeared to be cruising at 12 an over adding 95 runs for the third wicket after a shaky start. Then as three wickets fell at 113 and two at 125 they batting became more cautious and bowling and fielding tighter and it was evident we were heading for a photo finish with 22 runs required for the last two overs. With 3 runs required off the last ball I thought the radio commentator said that the Durham bowler had caught and bowled the player however this as not borne out by the scorecard.. However Durham bowled well enough to win the game in that last over just. An important result because this puts Durham firmly in the top four although it is still anyone one result except perhaps for Notts at the top with four points clear and 3 wins more than anyone else with 6 games left to play and for Northants at the bottom with only 4 points but with two games in hand and 16 points to play for even they cannot be ruled out from a place.

There were rumblings of discontent about the state of the proposed wicket before the game against Lancashire commenced yesterday morning. There was also surprise when Durham invited Lancashire to bass first after winning the toss. I explained that Durham had been successful by allowing opponents to bat first score up to 250 runs and then batting for the greater part of two days with totals in excess of 400 to gain maximum batting points and then either wining by an innings or having a good draw with having achieved more bonus points which all added up to the end of the season.

However while in fact the scenario worked no one anticipated that 20 wickets would fall during the day and the wicket would be declared a good one which a combination of heat and cloud causing the ball to swing violently on the green pitch. For a time it looked as the conditions would cancel out the dramatic closing of the Lancashire first innings for 84 with 20 of these runs from Harmison who had three of his wides go to the boundary. Thorp 6 for 20 and Onions 2 for 19 did the damage. However at one point Durham were also 60 for 6 and it was former championship winning Benkenstein who was 80 odd not out with support from Onions who took the visitors into a lead of 100 runs. Lancs were into bat again with 9 overs to play and in the day and 20 minutes but bad light led to only one over of more play. Lancashire need a total of 350 plus to give Durham a challenge and void the visitors taking a 25 point lead but with Lancs having a game in hand to play. It still would mean Durham had the championship to lose. Benkenstein with over 1000 runs this season is now the player who has scored the most runs for Durham in the history of first class cricket. The match was nicely poised despite the Durham lead of 100 runs

2072 Men behaving badly with women, cricket and superheroes

I do not like to feel the pressure of things I want to do but have not done and a seizing up computer does not help. Still if everyday was perfect then perfection would quickly become commonplace and lose its meaningfulness.

Today I enjoyed a good swim and then did a quick shop at Asda decided on a chicken breast dinner for Sunday lunch with a chicken curry to day, with salads for the other meal of the day although I enjoyed a hearty breakfast again of a small inexpensive breakfast platter with a cereal bowl and coffee, plus a prolonged read of the Telegraph weekend newspaper courtesy of the Marriot Hotel Sunderland Leisure facility.

The main news item is that the USA has provided confirmation that those arrested in the UK over a proposed Terrorist bombing plot to blow up Manchester City Landmarks at Easter 2009 were indeed working for Osama bin Laden’s Al Qaeda although there was insufficient evidence to bring about convictions at the time and there was considerable concern expressed on the part of some groups about the decision to arrest and hold without charges. The information is part of the goodwill build up to the visit of the USA President next. Amazingly as with several recent USA Presidents he has very distant relations in Ireland with the consequence of the Presidential visit to Eire, no doubt with one eye on the Irish vote in the elections next year.

The Liberal Democrat Coalition continues to suffer media displeasure no doubt orchestrated by Tory hardliners with news that the party leader has been told he can have a private meeting with the Vice President while the President will have a private meeting with the Official Leader of the opposition. The private lives of public figures continues to dominate with Minister Huhne into the double firing line with allegation of having had another extra marital affair as well as the issue of driving penalty points, The main story concerns the use of High Court Confidentiality Orders. A member of the House of Commons, a Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament used Parliamentary Privilege to disclose that the former Chief Executive of the Royal Bank of Scotland had obtained an order and this has led to accusations that that his lover within the organisation was promoted twice which led for various politicians to call for a formal inquiry only to be told that such an inquiry was already under discussion between the bank and the regulating authority. The other story is that of a footballer who is alleged to have had a relationship with a Big Brother contestant whose picture is all over the papers and who is being prevented from telling her story by an injunction with the footballer being named in Twitter. This has led the footballer getting an injunction against Twitter to provide information about those who had disclosed his name. However as Twitter is USA registered it will be necessary for legal action to be taken in the USA where this is less than likely, Meanwhile one woman has come to defence of former IMF chief Strauss Kahn while Tristane Banon 31, Aurelie Filioetti 37 and Piroska Nagy 50 have gone to press about their involvements and references to a general predatory sexuality continue.

These stories tend to be given prominence over the negative reaction of Israel’s Prime Minister to the President Obama‘s call for a two state Middle East settlement based on the pre 1967 borders. I thought the call was unrealistic and hiding the failure of the USA to exert meaningful influence over Israel because of the Jewish constituency among Presidential voters. Among other news I noted the death of the singer Kathy Kirby who was my age. The Queen returned from Eire and her son Andrew returned from his official visit to China and the Far East on behalf of British Trade while Prince Charles was in Bucharest and the Duke of Gloucester for Greece, Athens and then Crete.

The main interest from other sections of newspapers is the opening of a Barbara Hepworth Gallery at Wakefield where I have lived for several months before moving to a home between the city and Leeds to continue working for the West Riding County Council with its offices in the City 1969-1971. There Is also an article about Barbara Hepworth in the weekend review section?

I must also visit the Yorkshire Sculpture Park which is also in the Wakefield area and I break off to check the continuing availability of £19 Travel Lodge Rooms and find that I will have no problem in planning a two day visit with an overnight stop over.

I then turned to the arts and TV review where there is reference to Bob Dylan turning 70 this year. There is a full two feature on Lady Gaga, you may well say who. She is an exhibitionist with no talent other than as an exhibitionist. The best way to view her work is a creative contemporary artist. I would like to see Anita Dobson and Greta Cache in a play about the lives of Bette Davis and Joan Crawford, presently in a limited season until 25th June. I am not sure I could cope with the 20 young naked dancers who are to perform at Sadler’s Wells in new work for 18’s and labelled explicit adult material. The bonus with the paper is a full 7 day TV and Radio Listing and I must see How to Train Your Dragon which has a Sky premier next Friday and I might take a peek at Iron Man 2 this afternoon. However there is a surfeit of sport dominating the weekend on Television and the Internet. There was also an idle look over the sections on holidays with cruises to the Greek Islands and a full mastered sailing ship cruise to the West Indies added to the list things to do if I win a major lottery prize. The same applied to the property section with London and Gibraltar Flats and a Tyneside area Mansion to convert


Durham is performing significantly better than anticipated. Last Sunday I braved a very cold and overcast day to sit in the open air to watch the 40 over innings game against struggling Hampshire. I went to the Member’s room and on to the balcony on arrival as until reaching the Riverside I had driven with continuous rain spots on the car windscreen. The wicket had been prepared in the far distance so there was no alternative but brave the weather and I took the seat booked for the 20 20 innings series which begins next month. This has the advantage of an under cover tier just behind.

Hampshire won the toss and decided to bat a mistake in these games and with the total 59 for four wickets my initial reaction was proved right. Rushworth, Onions and Claydon did the damage with Claydon having his best match of the season taking three wickets for 16 runs in in 6.2 overs. The inconsistent Ben Stokes also had a good match taking 4 wickets for 29 from 7. There was a temporary stay of execution when Howell was joined by Dawson but when Dawson went at 127 one knew the Hampshire side were not going to last 40 overs and wickets then fell at 145,152,159 and 161, twice. Durham did not start their innings well because of the return of Dimitri Mascarenhas who had Mustard, Stokes and Coetzer out by 37. But that was that and Muchall 67 and Benkenstein saw the home side win with overs to spare.

Durham then played on the Monday against Scotland in Edinburgh. Unfortunately there was no live commentary so I had to rely on ESPN cricket information. This is a brilliant service with ball by ball information on one of three screen with the first covering all the matches being played on the day, the second a summary of the favoured match ands their the full scorecard which is updated. In addition to showing the current batsmen and bowlers, the summary shows every ball of the last half dozen overs which together with information on the overall run rate and that of the last ten overs provides a very effective way of keeping in touch with what is happening A fourth screen provides statistics on all the players in the game for the current season todate. It is therefore possible to listen to the a commentary while also showing the favoured scoreboard in domestic comfort, either giving full attention or working on other things or even have the TV on showing sport in silence as I am doing now writing this on the desk top, keeping one eye on the scoreboard of the game between Yorkshire and Lancashire at Liverpool and also the other eye on the TV showing that Wakefield and Castleford are 6.6 in a fifth round Rugby League Cup game on BBC 1.

In a delayed reaction I remembered I had not watched This Week and turned to the I player and was rewarded first with the appearance of Kate Hoey on the sofa with Michael Portillo, someone who should be there every week and then the gorgeous Kay Burley although I often disagree with the interview approach. The programme dealt with several of the subjects already covered including the visit of Queen Elizabeth where Fergal Keane plus Andrew, Kate and Michael shared in the view that this marked a remarkable historical event in relations between the Republic and UK but also marked a significant development in the role of the Queen Elizabeth who demonstrated with remarkable sensitivity the value of a head of stated without a party political affiliation. It confirmed my support for her but did not reduce concerns about the situation upon her death or decision to retire.

Kay Burley was present in part to publicise a fiction work about a Prime Minister and his two lovers but also to talk about the interaction between powerful men and women. I was impressed with what she had to say and with the level of discussion as should be said for the full programme.

This is a long detour from the 40 40 game on Monday in which Scotland wisely chose to field after winning the toss. It looked a good move when Mustard went for 5 with the total 9 but then Coetzer got his head down and carried his bat to end the innings 110 runs not out. He was supported by Stokes with 35 and then Muchall again with 63. There was also a dramatic slog at the end by Breese with 4 sixes and 3 fours who took the game beyond Scotland’s reach as Durham ends on 278 for 4. Scotland never looked as if they had a chance of reaching this total with wickets falling at 28 45 60 61 129 145 161 188 197 and 198. All Durham’s bowlers got between 1 and 2 wickets. The consequence of this is that Durham are now second in the table with 8 points as has Surrey above and Northants below but these two have played a game less. Durham at Warwick to morrow and it is essential that they win this game before break for the 20 20 series and they host Surrey in a Sky televised game on July 17th. I visited Worcester for the last game of the season at that club in a sub lit September staying at a Travel Lodge South of Birmingham. The game was a draw after Durham scored a mountain of runs

Durham then moved to Worcester for the County Championship game. I attended the game at the end of the 2009 season where Durham were declared championship winners during the game and Worcestershire went on to be relegated. Durham scored a mountain of runs with Chanderpaul scoring one of the slowest hundreds of all times. During several emails with the commentators I mentioned this and the explanation came back that the Durham players had been out celebrating and were in no mood field so they advised Chanderpaul to stay out there for as long as possible.

Durham won the toss and decided to bat in a first day rain affected day. They scored a massive 587 before declaring the innings on the second day with 3 wickets left. Gordon Muchall continued his exceptional form making a total of 175 supported by Ian Blackwell with 134 and captain Mustard who has had a torrid time especially in the one day games but added 101 to the innings. Borthwick added 67 in a stand of over 150 with Mustard. Faced with the total no one expected the comparatively new Worcestershire team to do well and this was so with no one reaching 50 they were all out for 217 over 200 runs short of avoiding the follow on. They put up a better fight the second time around with Solanki 58, temporary captain Ali 63, Andrew 50 and Scott 73, respectable scores in most circumstances with a team total of 345 but still 20 runs short of Durham needing to bat again. The match saw the return of Steve Harmison who only bowled 2 balls before injury in the first match of the season. His total figures of 7 for 151 are an excellent start. Graham Onions was recalled to the England A team playing the tourists at Derby, He is not having a good match out for 1 in the mammoth England first innings in which Owen Morgan made 193 and struggling to take wickets in a Sri collapse to 263 to the 493 with 3 for 138 as the touring team reached 392 for 6 at the end of the third day.

Durham should have ended the day equal top with Warwickshire on 91 points as the Roses game between Lancs and Yorks was set for a draw, Yorks collapsed after tea this afternoon leaving Lancs to get 121 in 20 or so overs. They got them in 14 with the loss of 4. As a consequence they now head the table by 5 points and a game in hand on the other two. Notts with two defeats in succession have fallen away. It makes next’s weeks game against Warwickshire at Edgbaston interesting!

For a break I watched Iron Man 2. As with Superman and Spider man, Iron Man the superhero has adversaries who prove challenging rivals and as with other in the genre the superhero suddenly finds his powers lost, taken or in abeyance and loses confidence and self respect. In this instance Iron Man was told that each time he used the power generation within his body he was slowly killing himself. Because there is no alternative source of energy he makes plans to hand over his technology to the Government and his company to his faithful assistant while he gets drunk and awaits his fate.

In this instance there are two adversaries, the alternative super villain and an alternative arms manufacturer with political ambitions. The arms manufacturer does a deal with the government to provide robotic soldiers wearing iron man type suits however they are programmed and armed in such a way to enable the super villain to take control. He has assumed that Iron Man was out of action or inferior in abilities to his creations. In the meantime Iron man is approached by the super organisation headed by Samuel L Jackson who provides him with a video which demonstrates that Iron Man’s father cared about his son and believed that he would find a way to solve the problem of the defective power source and defend the world against all comers. Of course he does this in full firework finale.

Robert Downey Junior plays Iron Man. Gwyneth Paltrow who is his assistant and who he makes company CEO and where the relationship became romantic at the very end- wow who would have guessed that. Scarlett Johansson plays a superwoman who works for Samuel Jackson but who is placed with Iron Man and his assistant to assess his potential for further work. Mickey Rourke plays the super villain and Sam Rockwell and Don Cheadle are other members of the all star cast. Great fun for early Saturday evening and immediately forgettable.

1991 Smashing Auzzi's

For almost all my life Britain has been in awe of Australian sports men and women. As a school boy the Australians had stars with Tennis players Lew Hoad and Ken Rosewall. In Rugby Union while the Australians were regarded as second to the New Zealand All Blacks, they both dominated Internationally along with South Africa. In the associated game of Rugby League with 10 wins against the UK 3, all prior tom 1975. In swimming there was Dawn Frazer, Ian Thorpe and Shane Gould. This dominance in international sports, especially in contests involving the UK has been no better expressed than in Cricket where the Ashes commenced 100 years ago and where out of the first dozen series of contest commencing in 1882, Australian won once, at home, in 1892 and did not win in England until 1899.

Over the past 25 years The English cricket team lost 8 successive series and then after winning narrowly by 2 games to 1 out of a 5 match series in England in 2005 there were immediately thrashed 5.0 the following Winter. Thus although they won by another 2.1 with 2 games drawn margin this Summer, everyone waited to see what happened this time in Australia before over enthusiastic celebrations.

As with much in life our view of things changes in retrospect from how the experience is viewed at the time. Before the series of five matches commenced the general view among cricket commentators was that the series would be closely fought but with England having the edge because of their preparation and mixture of experienced and inexperience players whereas the Australians are yet to adjust to the retirement of some of their world class players such as Shane Warne and Glen McGragh.

England won the first toss at the Gabba and decided to bat, potentially a mistake which was not repeated. A feature of the series was the way the playing surface was prepared to nullify the likely impact of the English spin bowler Graham Swan by leaving a little grass on the surface and making the first morning of play challenging for the batsmen. England were all out for 260 with Peter Siddle taking 6 wickets for 54 including hat trick, Australia appeared to have similar problems with the score reaching only 143/5 when Michael Hussey was joined by Brad Haddin and they added 307 runs before the next wicket making an innings total of 481. England was therefore required to get over 200 runs before making Australia bat again. Captain Andrew Straus made 110 and Alistair Cook 235 breaking Don Bradman’s highest score at this ground and the first time in his career he scored a double century. The opening partnership if 188 was also the best at this ground for England. Then Jonathan Trott also scored a century and participating in a 329 run partnership before the team declared at 517/1. This offered Australia the opportunity to get the required 297 from 41 overs, unlikely, and at 107/1 the game was drawn with the Australian Captain making 51. A feature of this game was the size of the British support attending as well as the noise made from those crammed into one area known affectionately as the Barmy Army for their singing and shouting as well as consumption of alcohol. Steven Finn, the England bowler took 6 wickets for 125.

The opening day of the second Test proved one of the wondrous of what was to come as Australia electing to bat lost three wickets for 2 runs. Captain Ricky Ponting was out first ball without scoring. Only 93 from Michael Hussey prevented an embarrassing low score as the home side were all out in one day for 265. James Anderson took four wickets for 65 runs.

England then went on to score over 500 runs for the second innings succession and to declare at 620/5. Kevin Petersen who had not had a great summer applied himself to the team cause making another double century with 235 runs and Mr Cook continued as he had in the previous innings with 148 runs before getting out. Over his first two innings he was at the wicket for 1022 minutes making 371. His official average at that point. Australia needed a massive 375 to bat again. Australia looked as if they were capable of defending their position but when Michael Clark was dismissed for 80 from the bowling of Kevin Petersen on the last ball of the fourth day there was a sense that England was heading for victory. They were all out for 301 runs before the end of the morning’s play on the fifth day. Graham Swann achieved 5 wickets for the first time in a Test against Australia.

With England ascendant there was great expectation for the Third Test at Perth in Western Australia which involved 2.30 am starts here in the UK time but also meant the game was still being played until 10 am the following mornings. England won the toss and put Australia into bat and Chris Tremlett who is 6ft 8ins in height replaced the injured Nott’s player Chris Broad who returned home. He immediately justified his inclusion by taking 3 early wickets as Australia’s openers again collapsed to 69 for 5. Once again there was a late rally with this time a partnership between Michael Hussey who scored his second century while wicket keeper Bard Haddin and bowler Mitchell Johnson making half centuries. Mitchell had been rested for the first second test after his disappointing first Test performance in which he appeared unable to direct the ball close to the wicket, provoking the Barmy Army to coin a song about his tendency to spray the ball either side. Australia concluded their innings at a respectable 268 runs after their unpromising start.

Could England continue with another large score and with over 75 runs on the board without a loss? It appeared this would be so. There was then a collapse as Mitchell Johnson found his form and only a half century from Strauss and the Bell prevented a worse total for England all out at 187. It was game on for Australia who made 309 runs in their second innings with Hussey 11 and Chris Tremlett five wickets for 87. England needed 391 for victory and had all the time in the world with over two days to get them. By the end of the third day England were 81 for 5 and all out the following morning for 123. Mitchell having taken 6 for 38 in the first innings could not repeat his performance in second. His colleague Ryan Harris did with 6 for 47.

The series was squared with one win each side and the Australian Pres commenced to crow that the visitors would lose the next two tests and Australia regain the Ashes as they had done the previous cycle of away and home Tests. The Australian media which is now turned on its team saying the worst ever should be made to recite their previous words decrying England and praising their men.

Captain Strauss won the toss and unlike the decision in the first Test asked Australia to bat. This proved to be the great decision of the series because Australia collapsed, all out for only 98 runs before tea. All ten wickets were taken from catches behind the stumps with the wicket keeper taking 6. England were showing that after years of criticism about their fielding with dropped catches and failed run outs, the hours of practice and fitness preparation was paying dividends. Anderson and Tremlett took four wickets each with Yorkshire‘s Tim Bresnan brought in for the rest Finn.

Strauss and Cook then demonstrated that it had been effective bowling and poor batting rather than the wicket which caused Australia’s humiliation as they achieved 157 runs before close of play without loss. The prospect of an England win was therefore good. The following morning Australia took advantage of the green tinge to the wicket and both openers were dismissed early on and then came the controversy which showed what bad losers Australians had become.

Ricky Ponting who had injured a finger in the previous Test but declared himself fit for play disgraced his fine record as a batsman and as a Captain by losing his temper when the fourth umpire overturned the decision to dismiss Kevin Petersen caught behind. The ability to challenge the umpire’s decision has been introduced into Test Cricket by the International Cricket Board with a fourth umpire able to use some of the latest technology. This will show what is described as a hot spot, a white spot appears on the bat or glove where the ball has hit. This alone is not the only consideration although there is no use of a sound wave device. In this instance although there was a white spot it was at different height and side to where the ball had travelled between bat and pad.

A captain has the right to seek explanation from the on field umpires about such a reversal of a decision made, but Ponting went onto argue and argue, then approached Petersen and then spoke to the other umpire. Had he not been the Captain with such a fine record I suspect he would have been fined more than 40% of his match fee and perhaps barred from the rest of the game. I doubt if he will ever captain a Test side again. He did not play in the fifth Test with official reason that he needed an operation on his damaged finger. This proved a good way to end his Test Captaincy although Australia now has a problem to find a replacement. Petersen was out for 51.

The England batsman who helped his side to again score over 500 runs in an innings was Jonathan Trott with 168. Peter Siddle had another 6 wicket haul and brought in fast bowler Ryan Harris fractured his ankle and took no further part in the match. Australia needed 415 runs to avoid an innings defeats therefore ensure that England would retain the Ashes because even if they won the final Test in the series, a drawn series 2.2 meant the Ashes remained with the previous winning Team. England.

During the England innings Matt Prior the wicket keeper was caught behind the wicket but the umpire did not immediately give him out asking the fourth umpire to check if the bowler had over stepped the batting crease and therefore the ball was invalid, a no ball. The rule is that one part of the front foot has to be on or behind the batting crease line. The video replay clearly showed that this was not so and therefore the batsman was not out. It is interesting that the umpire called for the review in this instance and while no link with the Ponting protest will be admitted, I believe the umpires would continue to demonstrate that challenging their rulings as Ponting did will not be tolerated.

It was a hopeless cause for Australia and amidst growing abuse from the home media they were only able to make 258 and for the first time Australia lost two games in a home Test series by an innings.

The Melbourne Cricket ground is the largest in the world able to accommodate over 90000 spectators and on the first day just under 85000 were present with those supporting England between a third and half according to what I was able to assess from the TV pictures, but making great noise. Even on the second and third days 67000 and 68000 people attended but on the fourth Australians stayed away, even those with tickets and just under 20000, overwhelmingly England supports were present. This demonstrates a weakness in the nation character of Australians, a lack of genuine sportsmanship something which I accept can become a substitute for genuine competitive drive and ambition.

The Fifth Test was therefore approached with the England camp knowing the Ashes had been secured and that with a draw would give them the series 2.1, and a win 3.1.
Australia won the toss and elected to bat, a questionable decision. The Sydney Cricket ground was close to capacity with the crows divided between home and away supporting. The Australian first innings total of 260 was respectable but 100 runs short of what could have been anticipated on a flat wicket after coping with the early innings conditions. None of the opening Australian batsmen was able to get over 50 runs including the first Pakistani to play for Australia, It was left to unpredictable bowler Mitchell Johnson to get 53 and bowler Ben Hilfenhouse 34 for Australia to pass 200 runs. England then commenced an innings which was to reach 644 their highest total ever in Australia.

Alistair Cook again commenced well with Captain Strauss, who made 60 from 58 balls received before getting out while Cook scores another 150 and was approaching his second double century when he was out for 189. Cook broke a number of records including the second highest number of runs in a series in Australia, second to Wally Hammond. When Cook was 99 he appeared to have been caught however Cook stayed his ground appealing the exit. TV replays immediately revealed that the ball had cleared bounced before the player before going into his hands. The player and the wicket keep, Vice Captain Haddin must have realised what happen and should have immediately alerted their captain and other players as well as the umpire of the position or at least referred what happened to the 4th umpire for a determination. In the commentary box Ian Botham was quite clear and described the incident as cheating, a charge apparently denied by the deputising Australian Captain.

Ian Bell had also continued his excellent form to reach another century although there was a situation when he was 67 and appeared to be caught behind the wicket that he successfully appealed although the ball appeared to deviate and the sound device not part of the appeal process indicated a touch. In normal circumstances when doubt remains, the original on field umpire’s decision remains and this should have happened with Bell given out. That he was not confirms my belief that Australian paid a price for Ponting’s shameful behaviour in the previous game and the dishonest and equally shameful attempt to get Cook out. For Australia worse was to come with wicket keeper Prior also reaching 100 runs in 109 and his first against Australia, Apart from Paul Collingwood all six other batsmen scored centuries during the series.

The game was effectively over because there was no way Australia could score the run required in the time available to bowl England out for a win. All they could do was to bat well over the remaining days and end the series with creditable draw. They did their best but this fell a long way short of what was necessary. Given the easy nature of the wicket the opening pair scored quickly and then one batsman ran out the other in an amusing act of self destruction, something he has been guilty several times in his career which one suspects as a Test batsman will be limited until a replacement can be found

It looked as if the game was going into the final day with five wickets left when Tremlett produced am amazing and series clinching over. His third ball was a bouncers and because of his natural height the ball zipped up higher than the batsman anticipated and was well caught from skier. Mitchell Johnston was next in was bowled first ball thus giving Tremlett the opportunity for a hat trick. His third ball was just as perfect, an in swinging Yorker which the new batsman somehow managed to keep out. Understandably England claimed the extra half hour but good defensive play saw the day end with Australia doomed on 213 for 7. With rain forecast for the fifth and final day all was not certain however.

With entrance free spectators commenced to queue long before gates were to open and over 19000 took the opportunity to celebrate what almost everyone anticipated would be a victory. Steve Smith a newcomer in the series made a respectable quick fire 51 not out before Tremlett bowled the last man and the innings closed at 281, one more run than their first innings. The three times innings defeat because of the huge scores by the visitors compounded the Australian humiliation. We all remember Kevin Keegan’s ill fated outburst that he would love to stuff Manchester United when Newcastle held a 12 point lead at the top of the Premiership. He failed. On Friday January 7th after decades of failure and hurt England stuffed the Australians good and proper and most of the UK were thrilled and delighted as the subsequent media attention during the rest of the day demonstrated.

Alistair Cook, perhaps once day Captain Cook, hee hee was made the Man if the Match, Man of series and winner of the Miller Compton medal. The official series ceremony was another example of the Australians inability to take defeat. They forgot to make one award, provided no champagne and appeared poor sports. Ian Botham summed it up by suggesting we ought to consider all playing three match series with the Australia in the immediate future, a comment made by Australian media on the last tour. However it will be important to get back to serious preparation after a day of celebrations. We need to try and win both 20 20 games the most difficult to preplan although as World Champion Collingwood will be able to reinforce his end of tour popularity by continuing the good feeling.

He had a poor tour with the bat and limited success with the bowl although he was not required to perform frequently. He fielding remained consistently brilliant and he is one of those characters who help glue a team together. He was right to announce his retirement from the Test side, the oldest player which enables someone younger to reinforce the strength of the remaining team, He him himself no harm by his demeanour in interviews and rightly was given the honour of leading out the team on the final morning. It is also short period between the last of the 7 one day series and the world one day competition, again something which the team would like to win as they seek to progress to become the best side in the cricket world presently held by India and with South Africa following. Australia now are fifth below Sri Lanka. England will play Sri Lanka and India later this year in England and then next Christmas and New Year.

Alistair Cook scored 766 in his 7 innings at an average of 127.66 which included 1 double century and two singles. Trott’s average is 89 with 445 runs and 2 centuries. Bell’s average is 65.8 Pietersen 60 with Prior 50.4 and Captain Strauss 43.85 with everyone scoring at one century.

Mike Hussey was the only Australian to average over 50 at 63.33 with two centuries. Shane Watson averaged 48 and Haddin 45 and was the only other Australian to score a century.

In bowing while Anderson achieved 24 wickets his average of 26.04 was inferior to Tremlett’s’ 23.35 for his 17 wickets with Bresnen’s 11 at 19.54. Finn was more expensive with his 14 costing an average of 33.14 and Swann’s 15 at 39,8. Only Australian’s Harris before his injury had respectable 11 wickets for 25,54 while Siddle’s 14 cost over 34 runs each and Johnson’s 36,95, These figures explain the areas of Australian inadequacy and that Team England will need to improve if that number one spot is to be obtained.

1631 Cricket in the West Indies 2009

Here is the plan for the rest of the day, Finish project work from overnight and if there is time commence work on the photos getting ready to create disks, About 10am get ready and go into town centre for fruit, free newspaper and then enjoy bacon roll and coffee at the Ship and Royal. Return home and continuing working on photo disks but watch start of first Test in West Indies from early afternoon with sound turned down and then listen to Sunderland at Blackburn in fourth round of FA cup replay this evening. Begin the Joan Baez and Bob Dylan fest.

The morning went very well. It was colder out than usual because of a sharper wind. The temperature registered at Newcastle was minus 1. The pavements were dry and although overcast the umbrella was not needed. After collecting the free morning paper from the bus station, I purchased 3 pounds weight of cherries and seven large bananas for £4.50 and then made my way to the Ship and Royal where there were only two others enjoying a late breakfast or mid morning snack. I requested coffee with cold milk this time and it came immediately, hot and enjoyable and within what seemed only a few seconds more a large bap with the bacon. I read the paper from cover to cover forgetting to leave it for other customers. There was no one in the premises when I left. It was going as planned and my spirits remained good as I tackled the hill homeward.

On return, disaster, I discovered that I had not made a copy of all the work on photos undertaken during the course of last year. Fortunately I had had made two disks as presents, one comprehensive and one partial although not of the whole revised file. I now have to wait for copies of these to made and sent back to me before I can assess the extent of the loss and how much I will need to do again. This changed my mood completely, unsettling, lowering spirits and leaving the rest if the day without focus.

I also experienced one moment of terror and pain, not I hasten to add because of my own experience, but the news before bedtime that a teenage school girl had been killed when the large makeshift toboggan had gained such speed that it had crashed through a fencing catapulting one of the girls, although this was the one killed was not said. I experienced the reported excitement as the girls enjoyed the snow and adventure similar to that on the fair and theme park rides and then the horror and terrors as the vehicle gained speed because of the sharpness and length of the slope and force because of the size and numbers on board. Just as someone always drowns swimming in inland waters during the heights of summer there is inevitability about such news, except the shock for the individual and their families and that the lives of the other girls will also be changed. There is also a brilliant advertisement showing a child in a womb asking about the life it will lead in the world, will there be enough food, will it avoid sickness, will it celebrate its birth day at five years. Thousands will not. I give thanks for my own life and feel ashamed at my own concerns about death, and physical and mental disability, It does not help.

I watched the start of the cricket after an episode of Pie in the Sky which I had seen before. Sabina Park, Kingston Jamaica had the reputation of being blisteringly fast with pace men sending balls flying towards the head as much the wicket. There also used to be huge noisy crowds. Change one the ground has been developed with a new stand cutting out some of the view The ground appears about only a third full or two thirds empty. This reflects the failure of the national team over the past decade which in turn reflects the switch of interest of the better paying sports of football and basket ball.

It was the third change which shocked. Apparently the wicket area has been re-laid with new earth and the combination of this and new management has led to a transformation, Instead of the fast surface with its glassy sheen it now resembles thee wickets of the Indian sub continent, flat and designed for spin, and which are difficult of the English team as we do no create world class spinners, relying on pace and medium face. Now we know why two spinners were picked for the squad and why the West Indies played two in the first team with both bowling for long sessions on the first day of the first test because they were able to get the ball to turn, all unheard of before. England , who won the toss and chose to bat struggled losing early wickets.

I have not commented before that Kevin Petersen has lost his position as Team Captain following his demand that there be a change in Team Coach/manager when it was refused to have Michael Vaughn the previous Captain as part of the squad for the tour.. It has now emerged that the Test and County cricket Board through its Coach manager had shifted the emphasis away from individual players having responsibility for their game into the creation of a team approach with lots of back up staff advising on all aspects of the training, match preparation and play. This has changed during the period that the national team as been without manager coach. One commentator and former player mentioned that the players had carried their own cricket bags off the coach into the ground this morning.

Andrew Strauss, the new captain, immediately suffered the Captain’s curse, nervous, surviving a dropped catch and then out scoring les than ten. Graham Bell who regularly plays himself in getting thirty or forty runs and then is out without ever making the kind of score which justified his continued inclusion, and thus it was so again. Graham Cook was out for four and England went into lunch 3 down for seventy odd runs. Everything now rested on former Captain Kevin Petersen who was partnered with former one day captain Durham’s Paul Collingwood. The one irritating thing about my large screen TV is that I am unable to read the cricket scores at the bottom edge so I resorted to the a live broadcast of the scoreboard on the BBC internet. I would listen to the commentary except it is out of synchronization with the TV picture. The live screen also failed later.

When I am upset because of some failure or set back, or when I am tired when I want to work, I over eat, usually the wrong things. Breakfast was a cup of soup and a defrosted brown finger roll. Lunch the bacon roll with coffee, and with a portion of the cherries on return. Mid afternoon I should have settled just for dry crackers covered with pickle and a cup of tea, but I could not resist a quarter of the toffee cheese. Azda has a selection of these medium size proving four good portions at only £1 include summer fruits, strawberry, mandarins and lemon. I have resisted until my visit and then kept in the freezer for several days without touching. The problem with this size is that one then has to eat the other three portions once defrosted. However I do have the freezer saw so in future will divide into four portions before defrosting. It is time for some fish with vegetables which I did not enjoy as much as I should. I opened a tin of corn and baby carrots which will provide two portions to go with a chicken Kiev tomorrow. This was followed by the remaining portion of grapes. I also felt like a beer. I have kept to the no alcohol regime since celebrating the new Year, except for one whisky for medicinal purpose after returning from a match in cold weather Last night I had a Peroni, reducing by stock to eight. I did not enjoy as I should because I knew I should not.

The omens were not good for Sunderland this evening as before the game it was announced that Cisse who did not travel and Kenwyn Jones, who was on the bench would be rested. To give time for them to recover from knocks received during the Derby. Talking of Derby, Nigel Clough celebrated their fist win at the weekend and went to Notts Forest last night in the fourth round replay of the FA Cup where he had played for his father and scored the scored which won the League Cup. His team were two goals down within a matter of minutes but somehow managed to fight back, playing good football to win by three goals to two,

Clearly management policy at Sunderland is to concentrate on staying in the Premiership. However it looked as if a miracle was going to happen as Sunderland scored early on against the run of play and then survive attack after attack until an equaliser just before half time. There was no further scoring in the second half and the game went into extra time and looked as if would go to penalties despite Sunderland having the better of this part of the match. Until with a couple of minutes of the final whistle, Blackburn scored and dreams crashed for another year.

I did consider watching again The Children and interesting film. Seen in theatre and now on DVD but I was not just in the mood A DVD of a rare Antonioni film arrived this morning but too late to view over lunch, perhaps after the football and the cricket. Collingwood was out clearly leg before and the heavens have opened and a tropical cloudburst driven the players into their respective dressing rooms. Durham promised to send the membership books out late January but has not arrived. I have been successful in getting one of the reduced price annual edition of Wisden’s celebrating Durham‘s winning the county championship. It should arrive in March.

I will also mention having achieved a continuing 100 record at Hearts with over 404 successive wins. At Spider I am playing on after reaching 101 and now making another major effort to achieve a run of 101 games as level one chess. The rain has stopped as quick as it arrived in Caribbean. . Play was to start in thirteen minutes but the covers were then relayed as more rain was forecast. Peterson was out three short of 100 but Flint off commenced to make a solid innings when bad light stopped play He was then 43 not out and the team 236 for 5.

I did listen to some Joan Baez but not as much as originally intended. Her voice never ceases to amaze.

From the essential Joan Baez, The night they drove; Amazing Grace; Boulder to Birmingham; Swing Low Sweet Chariot; Oh Happy Day; Love is just a four letter word; Forever Young; Diamonds and Rust; Lily Rosemary ; Please come to Boston; Suzanne, I shall be Released; Blowing in the Wind; The Ballad of Sacco; Love song to a stranger.

From Diamonds : Prison Trilogy; Rainbow Road, Love is a stranger; Myths; In the Quiet morning; To Bobby; Song of Bangladesh; Tumbleweed; Imagine; Diamond and Rust; Fountain of Sorrow; Never Dreamed you’d Leave; Children and all that Jazz;

1972 Freezing Tyneside, the installation of HD and sporting weekend

As forecast there has been a break in the weather this morning with the sun shining and a warmer feel when I went outside at the back, briefly. However On Monday morning when I moved the car to enable the Sky HD installers to gain access to the rear of the property the back lane was frozen ice, as were the street pavements. Fortunately the roadways down the hill had been gritted and remained clear. There had been not further snow but moisture could have made the roads treacherous.

The bathroom wash basin can be used again. The waste pipe goes outside the house and around to the side with a gentle camber before reaching the down pipe and I assume will freeze and block if the water remains in the upper section when temperatures are exceptionally below freezing. This is the likely explanation after having to bring down stuff to use at the kitchen sink with a small mirror hanging on a hook strategically placed suggesting it had been used for the same purpose before. There is relief that there has been no damage and the inconvenience only lasted a couple of days.

I still have not been out and about since Thursday morning because of the start of the second Test in the evening and staying up to watch the morning’s play of the first three days and taking the radio with me on going to bed so I could catch up on the score when waking. The consequence is that I have been zombie like for the day although this morning I slept long some six hours from around 4 m until just before the Archers weekly catch up at 10.15.

I had quiet hopes that the English cricket team would do well against Australia this time around. Four years they were thrashed 5.0 after winning the Ashes at home in 2006. The first game was potentially a disaster until the remarkable second innings ending when Cook 235 not out Trott took the total to 517 for the loss of only Strauss110 and thus saved the match and gained the ascendancy. They had scored more than the Australians first innings of 481 and their record breaking partnership between Hussey and Haddin of 307 by 22 runs. A number of other records had been broken.

Could England repeat their success in the second game? They had been all out of for only 260 in their first innings at Brisbane on a batting wicket and the pitch at Adelaide was reputed to be as good, except on the first morning and then on the final day when its dryness could lead to break up from the bowler’s footmarks and turn greatly for the spinners. Australia won the too and decided to bad, a decision they were to rue, although given the situation any Captain winning the toss would have done likewise.

What happened has already become cricket legend. Katich was run out on the second ball of the first over without facing a ball. Then Australian Captain Ricky Pointing was out first ball as Anderson was able to find some ball swing and worse was to follow when out of salts Clarke went for 2, also caught Swann of the bowling of Anderson. Any late comers did not believe a scoreboard which showed 2 runs and three wickets. There was nearly a 4th wicket before Watson and Hussey settled down, and the total was in the 90.s before the next wicket. However Australia could only reach 245 as their tail struggled with the last four managing only 9 between them. What would England in reply, given that the first three had each achieved over 100 runs?

Another legend was to be created after Strauss went for his second 0 in three innings Cook with already 67 and 195 not out in his first innings continued making a total of 148 before dismissal a total of 420 runs and an average of 210. Trott supported him well for 78 but it was previously out of form Kevin Peterson who demonstrated that his career has not ended in failure after the removal of the captaincy. He made a magnificent double century, the highest score of his career. There has been great optimism in the British camp and in the media generally about the possible win. I am more cautious because what the English team achieved in the last match the Australians are also capable. I did not stay up long on Sunday night having been notified of the arrival of the Sky installers, but did take the radio with me to the bedroom as well as an alarm clock. It was not a great night, restless with several wakings but I slept more than I appreciated at the time, Australia had progressed to within 150 of the total required to make England bat again for the lost of four wickets. Hussey is again on form with 44 not out and is yet to be joined by Haddin. Breaking this partnership and getting both these wickets early on will be essential as the weather forecast for the day is not a good one.

Sunday had been a day of mixed fortunes for the Tyne Wear football clubs who unusually followed each other on Sky TV. Newcastle were first away to Wolves who had followed them from the Championship into the Premiership lasts season. Wolves have not had a victory over Newcastle in recent years and given the recent roller coaster of performances I suspected they would find this game difficult. In the event they put up a poor performance missing Nolan and Barton in the middle and lost 3.1. Today the manager was sacked something which has been on the card for sometime prevented by the 5.1 Derby defeat of Sunderland. It is evident the shameful management have a successor in mind.

Sunderland on the other hand dared to play their three forwards for the home tie with struggling West Ham, although the Hammers have had major success in the last week beating Manchester United in the League Cup Quarter final. Both teams played well but overall Sunderland were worth their 1.0 victory and go to 7th in the table. They have lost at least half a dozen points in the closing minutes of games and this could have been a similar situation. Without these losses they could have been contesting a top place. They have the making of a very good side.

Although there has been no overnight snow it was very cold this morning and has remained so during the day as evening approaches. The Sky installers had considerable problems and the two young men were here for a good 90 minutes moving the three section ladder around the block three times and using a full kettle of hot water to unfreeze the existing cable which had been slung over the roof from the west facing dish to the east facing rear. There was a momentary hesitation working out which was the sky cable and which the terrestrial aerial as the right one only had to be cut in order to remove and replace by the new. In much publicised previous installations the existing dish and cable was used with the new Sky box to cut costs with the consequence there was little change to the picture. Even with the proper work the difference is not striking, given recent improvements in the general picture transmission. However it was to me in terms of the detailed background and an overall sharpness and clarity. Immediately on installation the Wizard of Oz was being reshow the difference was significant. As there was also a showing of White Christmas I turned to that and only missed the opening section concluding the film is better than the musical and a better film that previously remembered. I am not a Danny Kaye fan but this was one of his better performances.

I also had a good shop at the supermarket having planned what was needed in advance with washing stuff , tablets, stain remover, softeners, with other household items such as washing up sponges, kitchen rolls, storage bags for us in the freezer and toilet rolls. I had made notes for such items as apple sauce, custard powder, curry sauce(balti) and sugar which I was out of stock. I managed to get some puff pastry mince pies for the first time and could not resist a bread and butter pudding which had been reduced in price by 20%. For Christmas New Year storage there were little sausages wrapped in bacon which I adore and one can of Pringle crisps, plus speciality cheeses and a carton of dates. There was salad (lettuce, coleslaw, tomatoes but not sweet peppers) and meats (pressed pork slices and bits) but no salami together with a pieces of quiche which I enjoyed at lunchtime after a cuppa soup and followed by the bread and butter pudding. I enjoyed three lamp chops yesterday and a mixture of scampi and Indian starters with beans and peas Saturday, I will use up some existing pork and lamb chops this week getting in chickens and lamb shank next week with the annual chunk of gammon, hopefully for New Year rather than Christmas. I need a trip to Asda for salami, liquorice, chocolate, paper and perhaps long socks leaving just before six to avoid the hassle of the £1 coin fee. I forgot the lemon and the ice cream to go with the pancakes. I will await until I go to Morrison Seaburn Weds

1603 New Year Sport 2009

It has not been a day of achievement. The day was governed by staying up late, the cold, going to football, eating too well in the evening and moments of panic. I was better organised for going to the match than pm Boxing Day having worked out in advance the time needed for preparations and to arrive and get the desired parking space. I was in place long enough to slowly drink a thermos of onion soup. I had first put hot water to warm the metal contained so even though the journey took half an hour the soup was kettle boiling hot. I waited half an hour before walking to the ground noting the lack of fitness as the cold bit into the bare skin of my face.

Yesterday afternoon as I had made my way to buy the ticket, I listened to an interview with an Antarctic explorer who recounted how on the two earlier missions to reach the South Pole by a route not accomplished before he had nearly lost his life. In the first instance because the special boots had not arrived he had worn footwear providing less protection with the consequence that an organism had entered his leg of a flesh eating kind and fortunate he had been able to visit a local doctor who had recently been on a course about recognising and treating his very condition. In the second, although tired and knowing he should not have continued, he did so for a short distance but sufficiently to fall into ice solidifying water and where he had only seconds to psychologically motivate himself sufficiently to get himself out before in effect he became frozen in. Married with a family and twenty five years of experience he did not regard himself as an adrenalin risk taking junkie but as with any aspect of day to day life however good the planning, the preparations, the equipment, the knowledge and the experience it is still likely that the unexpected will occur and the difference between surviving to tell the take and not, can be a matter of luck, seconds, motivation and mentality or combinations of such things. He answered questions including from one young man who said he liked the cold and wanted to know how to get the kind of sponsorship or grants which would enable such adventuring. It was this statement about liking the cold which came to mind as I walked. I do not.

I arrived in the stadium with half an hour announced before the kick of and the number of people congregating around the food and drink outlets. The television screens or go to the toilets suggested that despite the special ticket offer of £5 compared to £17.50 for seniors and children the ground was likely to be less than half full. The Maximum capacity is 48000 and I estimated 15000 to 175000 as the match progress. There as just over 20000 with significant areas of emptiness, especially behind the goal mouth where I had sat on Boxing Day. This time my seat was in the East stand upper tier even more central than when I had the season ticket and also not as far up. It was an ideal position providing an excellent view of both goalmouths, higher enough to see the movement and the organisation of the teams but also close enough to feel part of the action. I had no difficulty in buying myself a coffee before entering the seating area and at half time I had no difficulty in buying a packet of crisps as well as going to the toilet and finding a place to rest against a wall before returning to the seat.

The main reason for the poor attendance is that only a couple of weeks ago the same team being played in this third round of the Football Association Cup had beaten Sunderland 4.0. A disgraceful result given the standing of the visiting team who had not had a good time since the departure of their manager to Newcastle, and more recently appointed to Blackburn, Sam Alladyce, who through his agent had indicated an interest in the Sunderland Manager’s job, vacated on a voluntary basis by Roy Keane following this defeat in question. Sunderland supporters feared another thrashing and even those who braved the cold like me feared the worst, according to comments from those sitting around during the opening third of the game. In truth Bolton looked the better organised and more skilful team during this period. They had good movement with accurate passing. However as the game went on I was very impressed with the work and defensive qualities of Carlos Edwards who usually plays on a wing but this time was a tour de force in central midfield. Gabriel Cisse is a colourful character with a Mohican hair strip which he colours brightly, changing from game to game. He has great speed but at Liverpool promised much but failed to deliver and returned to France. What has impressed me and more so on this occasion was his tireless running always to good purpose. Kenwyn Jones on the other hand had no touch at all and several times put his own side in difficulty. However as is sometimes the case he scored a brilliantly headed goal to give Sunderland the lead and Cisse appeared to make the contest safe later. However Bolton rallied and scored what has to be described as a soft goal and the excitement commenced especially as the referee awarded four minutes of extra time.

It was a day of few great Cup surprises although Hartlepool did beat Stoke and Chelsea were held to a home draw by Southend. Newcastle were nil nil at Hull where the main interest is the growing speculation that the best UK keeper, Shay Given, wants out along with Michael Owen. My hunch is that they are both on their way to Manchester City where is would not surprise me that the bad run leads to the end of Mark Hughes and his replacement, Kevin Keegan, ho ho!

I had a little whisky on return before cooking a medium size chicken, enjoying poacher’s relish on oatmeal biscuit crackers as a starter, then having a portion of mircowaved vegetables, then, the four medium size roast potatoes and then half the chicken breast with the rest chopped up later for stir fries. For lunch I had eaten three large slices of cold ham cut from the joint with remaining salami and pickles followed by the last of the ice cream, while this evening I had the penultimate portion of the Christmas cake slab with a glass of Beaujolais.

That finished me off for the night without energy, dozing in front of the telly and no inclination to work, tread or even play games against the computer. After successfully completing the first 101 games of Free Cell after the great computer crash, I had set the game aside to concentrate on the other four being played with the intention of not returning to this game until the 101 wins was achieved in these other games. I came close with Spider, another form of patience winning 93 games in succession before encountering a game which I do not believe could be won despite going back to the original allocation of cards, time, and time, and time, and time again. The present streak is 30, having reached 67 on a previous occasion and then making an unintentional and avoidable error so that 314 of 324 games played have been won. I also had a disaster with chess having made a mistake after a successful run of 87 games, but unlike Spider one had complete control of every aspect of the play as White with a reverse move button and therefore while later night draws are excusable the two defeats are not so the tally is 350 games played 350 won and a long long way to get back to the 87th game. This contrasts with Hearts where it is impossible to control the outcome of a full game because you are but one of four players with the computer playing the three other hands. This was the game where I originally only won 11% and gradually increased to over 40% by playing a restricted game in which the outcome was loaded in my favour about 9 to 1. By loading the game even more so, but not completely I am running at 92% winning 85 of 92 games and a continuous in run of 33. There is no point is playing the same cards the same way. Having said I would not continue with Free Cell Hearts until I achieved a second 101 over Christmas I could not resist seeing if I could still work out how to complete a game from a spatial examination rather than repeated use of the back button and to date I have complete 123 games in succession at 100% win. However this is only a satisfactory achievement if everything else is excluded. My mind was much given to what is happening in the Hamas controlled part of Palestine which I continue to suspect has become the first Test of what can only be described as the Oil, Arab, Middle East, Muslim, Terrorism Israel Palestine problem for the new President Obama Administration. It is indeed a dangerous situation but who actually means what they are saying or appearing to do is impossible for the likes pf you are me know,

Being in a state of not wanting to do anything but feeling not ready for sleep I got myself into quite a state by the time I went up to bed about midnight. It was not a good decision.