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Monday, September 12, 2005

Home at last 

Nope, not posts to forums from people who ban their employees from posting to forums. Not vendors explaining that 'we never have this trouble with SQL server', not designers^H^H^H architects saying that integrity will be handled by the n-tier xml based client, nope pretty much nothing can prevent my joy tonight.

The Ashes are home.

16 years we've waited. 16 years of second - or to be honest more often than not 8th - best. Not Now.

At the end of any series though, there are champagne moments and reflections. Here are mine.

Champagne moments
  • 1st morning: Aus 190 all out at Lords - the moment we believed it could be done

  • Brett Lee in the second test -Please God not another McGrath
  • Ricky Ponting at Old Trafford - Yes we'd have had it won if it hadn't rained, but what defiance!

  • That Hoggard 4 at Trent Bridge - Who'd have known he had it in him

  • Pietersen today - Not so much grace as power under pressure


  • Dodgy decisions
  • Ian Bell ahead of Graham Thorpe. Why oh why?

  • Putting England in when McGrath has just stepped on a cricket ball - cheers Ricky

  • Putting Kevin Pietersen in any catching position anywhere - just say no

  • Trying to hit Warne out of the attack with 13 left to get and just the tail to come - take a bow Jones

  • Taking the light - twice - Hayden and Langer. I have no explanation

  • whingeing about substitutes - its whingeing poms Ricky, not whinge about the poms


  • Leading Lights
  • Freddie. England's man of the series. 14 overs on the reel for a quick. 400 runs at 40 24 wickets at 27.

  • Brett Lee. That man is seriously fast, seriously dangerous. To see him trying to kill Freddie in the fading light and then clapping arms around the opponent at the death. marvellous


  • Man of the Series.
    No question for me. 40 wickets at under 20, 250 runs at 27. That innings of 90 that should, should have been a century. The fact that no-one, except just possibly Pietersen, had any clue about what was happening next. The man who very, very nearly won two test matches on his own. Shane Warne. Come back in 4 years mate - we'll give you stick, but when you are gone we'll tell our kids about the blonde magician. Its been an utter privilege to watch.

    4 Comments
    4 Comments:
    I didn't like the cheering of the bad light - though as it happens there was a cricket match being played on the green outside our house (we live less than 50 miles from the Oval) and I had trouble seeing the ball in Village cricket.

    On the other hand Langer and Hayden took bad light in a match they had to win when they were set fair. Another decision I don't understand.

    leading lights wasn't a meaningless heading eitehr.
     
    That's what I don't understand...
    I was watching the game on tele and was wondering why don't they just put lights in the stadium? All this nonsense with light reading gadgets and the like are quite humorious.
     
    Its better than that Oracledoc, they have lights at the ground. They aren't used for test matches, but they can be used for the short version of the game.
     
    ASHES ASHES all fall down!
     
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