Of
AUSTRALIAN CRICKET WHICH DIED AT THE OVAL
On
12th September, 2005
Deeply lamented by a large circle of sorrowing friends and acquaintances
R. I. P.
N.B.—The body will be cremated and the ashes kept in England.
Justine Larbalestier
The various writings of Justine Larbalestier
time for goodbyes too. i doubt that we’ll see mcgrath play test cricket in england again. probably not warne either. but most importantly it is time to say goodbye to richie. he’s been the voice of cricket for almost as long as i’ve been alive. the world won’t be the same without him.
it’s got to hurt.
Can’t type for crying.
Though as an oz friend of mine said: It’s okay to let the bastard poms have the ashes once every 16 years . . .
Yeah, goodbye Mr Benaud. You will be missed.
hmm, 341 off 11 over. go for it!
Very bloody funny.
well, you know, you’ll still lose whether you go for it or not. it is better to give it a try than take the light, right?
This, I fear, is the beginning of the end for a team that must be considered one of the greatest of all time. But rather than despair, all Australian cricket fans – indeed, all who love cricket – should feel privileged to have had the opportunity to watch these giants of the game. One day I will tell my grandchildren, ‘Yes, I saw them play: Mark Taylor, Steve & Mark Waugh, Ricky Ponting, Matthew Hayden, Justin Langer, Damien Martyn, Ian Healy, Adam Gilchrist, Glenn McGrath, Jason Gillespie, Brett Lee, Shane Warne. I saw them all. I’m a very lucky man.’
While I’m saddened by defeat, I congratulate the English team on some wonderful, aggressive, inventive cricket. Look after the Ashes; we want them back in 2007.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going home to drink heavily. . .
Cheryl: Absolutely. But it’s completely impossible. The light’s going. The asking’s 20 an over.
If only they’d sent out Gillie and Warne.
Darren: what a generous, good man you are! Enjoy the boozing—but don’t forget to hide the razor blades before indulging.
well, this is quite bizarre. we have no play, and no one seems to know how long we have to wait until the game can be officially called off. very, very strange.
well, it is all over now. seven weeks of pulsating, nail-biting entertainment. “the best test series i have ever taken part in” – ricky ponting. and at the end of it the medals, the champagne, the ticker tape, and a little tiny brown trophy that you can barely see when vaughan’s hand is wrapped around it. that’s cricket.
The series has made me a convert. I didn’t even know who Warne or Flintoff was a few months ago.
My sympathies, Justine. The right time to go off to mexico, methinks (so did you plan the date you were going away to coincide with the end of the test series or doesn’t cricket work that way?).
oh, and i’m pleased to report that i still don’t understand any of this, but thanks to your enthusiastic reports i’ve taken a sufficient interest to figure out that when the say ‘240/4’ it doesn’t mean that one team has 240 points and the other 4. which is what i would have thought mere weeks ago.
Cheryl: Yup, it was amazing. Now let’s sit back and see how many oz heads roll. I believe it’s sackin’ time.
Woofy: For me that’s the best thing about this series that it’s converted so many people to the glory that is test cricket. Woo hoo!
Marrije: Yes, indeed the Mexico writing holiday was planned around the test cricket. My whole life revolves around sport. We come to NYC in summer for the women’s basketball and go home for the summer to watch the cricket live.
Excellent news about the beginning of your conversion to cricket. You do know the Netherlands has its own cricket team, yes? You lot even compete in the world cup!
the country has gone crazy here. dancing in the street, messages of congratulations being issued by the queen and politicians. you would think they’d won the world cup or something. but no, they’ve done something much more spectacular. they’ve won a test series against australia.
marrije: not only did your boys qualify for the next world cup, they’ve been lucky enough to be drawn in the same pool as australia. so in two years time 11 lucky dutchmen will get to find out just how fast brett lee really is.
new zealanders are snickering too – and the only people I could find to watch the match with me over here were english ..oh sigh…..
Niki: Poor, baby! Just remember to use my friend’s line: “Only fair to let you have it once every 16 years . . . ” At least no one in NZ is dancing in the streets like Cheryl’s describing. Imagine if you were still in London!!
Cheryl: I hope you’re having a good old celebrate too!
I’d be ok to see england dancing in the streets – it’s a rare event to see happy english people ..especially in england 😉 – apparently they were going into walkabout pubs ( yes, frightning but true they have walkabout pubs in england) smoking cigars and asking for ash trays…hahaha
A sad day. Still, with more World Cup Soccer qualifiers only months away, there may soon be less rejoicing in the streets of England.
oh I dought it – I remeber when they won the rugby – not that I watch that crap – but no scocer loses stopped them from their joy for years – and most of the nation had never watch a game before they won…. much like the cricket 😉
good news – pointing says we’re still number 1 !
http://www.smh.com.au/news/cricket/um-were-still-no-1/2005/09/13/1126377287339.html
justine, i didn’t understand pretty much anything in the comments — it’s like a commercial for adult illiteracy where they run a bunch of “words” composed of roman letters but in combinations you can’t even pronounce — HOWEVER, i understand that something bad happened and you have my condolences.
hey justine, isn’t it once every eighteen years? and perk up! they won. that’s ok. the guys get to come home, whup the rest of the world’s collective asses, whup the west indies and south africa, and get in shape for the next big tilt of the windmill for the ashes. warnie will be there, and so will mcgrath. and a few months back on australian pitches will do wonders for the guys who survive the selectors knives. it’s gonna be fun. just wait and see
oh, and guess what? you, cheryl and i will all be in madison for the first test against the west indies. we’ll have to fire up the wifi on a laptop, and keep track. should be fun 🙂
Jonathan,
Madison! Wisconsin! When?
for world fantasy. november 3-6.
stop it, you guys! *paces Writing Room and tries not to think about madison, wisconsin*
still the top news story here. probably will be all day due to the big party they have planned for trafalgar square. am too tired to celebrate. also need to see someone about getting prosthetic fingers.
jonathan: i don’t get to madison until friday evening. having seen the windies play recently, and knowing how keen the aussie boys will be to restore some pride, i’m not sure there’ll be much of a game to follow by saturday.
hey justine – don’t know if this will catch you before you head off for mexico, but i wanted you to know that right behind the open top bus carrying the england men’s team around london today is an identical bus carrying the women’s team. ashes winners both.