Stapel
International Regular
They really do!
Yesterday, I returned to Holland from what should have been My Great Ashes Holiday Trip. Normally, me & mrs Stapel go camping in France or Italy. A couple of months ago, my loving wife, fully aware I love to watch cricket, suggested we could go camping in England and watch cricket. A big offer! Rather than filling the boot of the car with boxes of wine, she would watch me drinking ales & bitters in a cricket stadium. Happily and thankfulIy I took the offer.
And spent 600 euros on tickets for Test 3, Day 4 & Test 4, Day 4. You can see where this story goes........
We watched the last session of Day 2, Test 3 in a pub, a five minute walk from our camping site near Nottingham. Even mrs Stapel could see the Test wouldn't get into its fourth day. So the next morning we drove up to Birmingham and see if we would get lucky. We did: for 25 quid each, we got inside. We couldn't sit together though. Mrs Stapel ended up between well-behaving retired Australians. I ended up in The Hollies Stand.
At 10:20 am, Day1, Test 4, I was having coffee under the awning (very useful in Italy, but for completely different purposes quite useful too in England) of our tent, pitched up not too far from Nottingham. It was gloomy, just not raining. One of these instances one would actually be right to send ones rivals in, after winning the toss. When Alistair Cook did so, I got myself on a train to Nottingham. I had this gut feeling three day tests would be the norm....... When I got myself seated, at 11:08 am, I checked the score on my cell: 10/3 in 1.2 overs. As the train entered Nottingham, Australia were 6 down. When I crossed the actual Trent Bridge and approached the first shady black market ticket broker, cheers would come form the stadium. Despite having missed 7 wickets, the bastard wanted 250 pounds for a ticket. It told him to **** off, and decided to watch the proceedings in the pub. Shortly after lunch, I got in for 50 quid. I had missed 11 wickets.....
Now, I feel quite happy for that Edgbaston Hollies Stand experience! And the atmosphere in Nottingham, including a very nice after party at the pub accros the bridge was brilliant! Yet, this was not what my trip to England was for.
I had been looking forward to watch Jimmy bowl (bowling 20 outswingers and then the inswinger), to watch Ryan Harris bowl, and to watch Pub make an innings (and career) rescueing ton. But most of all, I was looking forward to gripping test cricket. And that means tests with the momentum, rather than the ball swinging! Apart form the first day in Cardiff, the only momentum swing was from test to test. Nice in itself, but not what test cricket makes test cricket.
And that's really why these series suck!
Yesterday, I returned to Holland from what should have been My Great Ashes Holiday Trip. Normally, me & mrs Stapel go camping in France or Italy. A couple of months ago, my loving wife, fully aware I love to watch cricket, suggested we could go camping in England and watch cricket. A big offer! Rather than filling the boot of the car with boxes of wine, she would watch me drinking ales & bitters in a cricket stadium. Happily and thankfulIy I took the offer.
And spent 600 euros on tickets for Test 3, Day 4 & Test 4, Day 4. You can see where this story goes........
We watched the last session of Day 2, Test 3 in a pub, a five minute walk from our camping site near Nottingham. Even mrs Stapel could see the Test wouldn't get into its fourth day. So the next morning we drove up to Birmingham and see if we would get lucky. We did: for 25 quid each, we got inside. We couldn't sit together though. Mrs Stapel ended up between well-behaving retired Australians. I ended up in The Hollies Stand.
At 10:20 am, Day1, Test 4, I was having coffee under the awning (very useful in Italy, but for completely different purposes quite useful too in England) of our tent, pitched up not too far from Nottingham. It was gloomy, just not raining. One of these instances one would actually be right to send ones rivals in, after winning the toss. When Alistair Cook did so, I got myself on a train to Nottingham. I had this gut feeling three day tests would be the norm....... When I got myself seated, at 11:08 am, I checked the score on my cell: 10/3 in 1.2 overs. As the train entered Nottingham, Australia were 6 down. When I crossed the actual Trent Bridge and approached the first shady black market ticket broker, cheers would come form the stadium. Despite having missed 7 wickets, the bastard wanted 250 pounds for a ticket. It told him to **** off, and decided to watch the proceedings in the pub. Shortly after lunch, I got in for 50 quid. I had missed 11 wickets.....
Now, I feel quite happy for that Edgbaston Hollies Stand experience! And the atmosphere in Nottingham, including a very nice after party at the pub accros the bridge was brilliant! Yet, this was not what my trip to England was for.
I had been looking forward to watch Jimmy bowl (bowling 20 outswingers and then the inswinger), to watch Ryan Harris bowl, and to watch Pub make an innings (and career) rescueing ton. But most of all, I was looking forward to gripping test cricket. And that means tests with the momentum, rather than the ball swinging! Apart form the first day in Cardiff, the only momentum swing was from test to test. Nice in itself, but not what test cricket makes test cricket.
And that's really why these series suck!
