Ivo Francis Walter Bligh, the 8th Earl of Darnley.

With almost 24 hours to reflect on the First Test result, I had a chance to converse with fans of cricket and novices who heard the result on the news and their first comment was pretty much unanimous - "Look at your eyes! Did you sleep last night?" But the next thing was "How good was that?" The answer is Ten goods!!! The same amount of good as this picture I found on SM. I was going to leave Bracelet alone, particularly as he got hit for the winning runs, but this was too good. The Pro also had a reasonable comeback for him on Day 5 -  Some other nuggets of gold in the wash up of the First Test included: - Usman "The Pro" Khawaja batted across all five days of the test. Over 500 ball, more than 200 runs. Impressive, most impressive. - Merv Hughes abused a guy in the bathroom at the ground. - And lastly before we take a week to recover: Isn't cricket wonderful. As far as statistics and numerology go, it's 87% as impressive as Baseball.   Rest up ...

E is for excitement, edge of seat, Edgbaston, exorcism, elation, and Economics (sorry, the last one is me thinking what I need to teach Year 12 this morning). Let's start with excitement. Many bleary eyed people will be waking up to the exciting news that they've been waiting for since 2019... That's right! Swifty is touring Straya again early next year. The buzz has been tantamount to watching a chimney in the Vatican looking for white smoke! While I encourage entertainment of all forms to enter our shores, the only benefit I see from this is the tourist dollars that Australia will receive from New Zealander Tay-Tay fans coming to Melbourne and Sydney after she has SNUBBED the Land of the Long White Cloud. Readers, let's see if we can get the hashtag #taylorhatesNZ trending. In all serious though, I only stumbled upon this because I was trying to download the commentary highlights of Mr. Fujitsu himself. I have been ribbed regularly and well for my love of the great m...

So many things rolling through my head for this one. Let's start with Dukes. How often do these balls need to be changed per inning? I believe the Office of Fair Trading UK is the equivalent to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission and if they're anything like the ACCC, when you purchase an item, say a cricket ball, that is reported to last for 480 deliveries (80 overs of 6 balls) and it doesn't, you can ask for your money back. You may also ask for a replacement, but that action seems futile under the circumstances. D could also stand for double-hit. My friend, keeper and inspiration for this blog, the author of Stanford Lap, agreed with the thought that Stokes' was definitely a bump ball. But we also agreed that the bat comes through and hits the ball again to which a catch was taken and should have been adjudged OUT. How was this missed? As I watch the Channel 9 coverage and see the wide array of fare that have to offer in the way of upcoming shows, a nu...

C is for classic. Aussies love a good prank  (hit the link for article) and considering all the mind games that surrounded the start of this Ashes series, the Bison (Mitch Marsh - because his head is as big as a bison's) got journalists a beauty! An as far as a group of people to get - well played young man. C is also for catches and Cam Green. Another gem taken by the world's tallest gully fielder. If he fielded in a closer position on the offside, opposition batters would find it difficult to score on that whole half of the ground. I honestly don't understand the allegations of cheating that are circling on social media. If you catch the ball with more than one finger on the underside of the ball, and the back of your hand touches the ground - even if the ball touches blades of grass through your fingers - it's a catch. And if anyone that has played cricket above village level wants to disagree, please leave a comment, your name, address and what job your dad does. W...

 B is for Bazball. Brendan McCullum is being touted the saviour of English Cricket. While Baz has definitely made English Cricket more interesting to watch, I would prefer to remember him as a puppet within the show we got to witness of the King's life . Please click and enjoy. I've never heard a series hyped so much for a style of play. Usually the mind games began with McGrath pointing out how he was going to own Strauss (the sensible South African import) before the 2005 Ashes series, or Warne targeting Cullinan, even when he wasn't playing South Africa - working in a school, I'm led to believe that you can't do that anymore...  Stuart Broad  (the last time he will be referred to by name - he is now Draco Malfoy) even came out and said he'd been working on a out swinger, just for the Aussie right handers like The Guitarist and The Conductor - he doesn't need any magic tricks for the left handers, or at least one in particular - he owns Warner, The Pool Cl...

A is obviously for Ashes. While this series has been highly anticipated, what has taken me by surprise is how much I am into it. Just little things like an 8pm start, which has conveniently become the kid's bedtime. Also the fact that the coverage is back on Channel 9 - I don't know, it just feels like home, like my favourite pair of Ugg boots that have been repaired in numerous spots with strapping tape.  A is for A38 Bristol Road, which seems to be a harvesting patch for Edgbaston pitches. Early on there is very little in this deck for the bowlers. We've been told that Baz and Ben (who I really want to call the Flower Pot Men) have requested pitches of the like for the series.  But A is also for Ali. I don't mean to start this blog with any reference to the greatest of all time - possibly the original G.O.A.T. - A reference that is bandied around all too often for my liking. Whether it be Tom Brady for NFL, Wayne Gretzky for NHL, Nathan Lyon for Australian off-spinner...