The Ashes and Me

I don't really care for cricket.  It's not my thing.

It is one of those sports that is just way to hard to explain, with at least three major formats now, each slightly different to the other.  And yet, and yet... there's something about The Ashes.

Maybe it's just that the Ashes in England falls on a non football tournament summer and there's sod all else going on but actually it's entirely possible that the Ashes grips me for other reasons.

Four years ago I was completely bitten by it.  The Giant was, ahem, between jobs and between us we started to take a major interest.  We returned from the Isle of Wight Festival and England were playing Australia in a 20/20 game at the Rose Bowl.  We got caught up in the traffic on our journey back to St Albans and watched England win the game once we got to his.  This was the start of a love affair with cricket that summer.  We won The Ashes of course which only added to the enjoyment.

This year there was no Giant at the festival, more's the pity, but The Ashes are in HD on Sky and you have to say it looks stunning.  And at time of writing we're doing ok.  I can't pretend to understand the intricacies of the game but cricket against the Aussies holds a strange fascination.  The rivalry between the two nations is all a bit 'public school nonsense' for my liking, particularly when it comes to egg chasing, but with cricket you can just sit back, relax and have a cup of tea.

I am a football nut as previously mentioned, however this summer I'm loving a bit of bat on ball.  And hating Ricky Ponting's lot.  C'mon England!