Coping With The Bounce In Perth
Bouncy, is Perth
By London Leprechaun
December 17 2010
We are most grateful to London Leprechaun for reporting in to us from sunny Perth. So, it's cold and miserable here in London, while it is hot and sunny out there. So, it's the cricket season over there, whereas we have to make do with TV and radio coverage through the night here. Envious, us? Many thanks to you, London Leprechaun, this is a darned good read.
Day 1 Only at Heathrow. . . .
It had all gone swimmingly so far: tubes and buses all working; check in swift; security efficient and painless; no queue for a coffee; boarding on time.
And then we sat at the gate in our shiny big A380 (yes it did have all its engines and other bit), and we sat and we sat. Some heard the delay was because of fog; others some sort of need to change crew – maybe connected. But anyway we lost our slot and we sat and we sat and we sat for an hour before we took off. Now if you only had an hour to start with to change at Singapore for the connection to Perth that is not good. Maybe it was all a dastardly Aussie plot to thwart England supporters. Or maybe not.
But eventually we took off and we sped along beautifully over Europe. And this plane has a really cool feature – a Skycam on its very tall tail so you can watch yourself take off – very neat and if you get really bored you can watch the clouds – very grey, and when it gets dark you can watch the plane’s red flashing light. And once we had made it through the turbulence over Afghanistan and Pakistan – very appropriate really - we could see ourselves gliding serenely towards the sunrise. Now that was very pretty.
And fortunately, there were a lot of people on the plane going to Perth, so although we were very late, with safety in numbers they had to wait for us at Singapore – didn’t they? And they did and we all scurried over to Gate 13 – no that is not an omen - and safely made it on board. Finally I thought I really could believe I am on the way to Australia and, with all the other travellers from London filtered out, suddenly the Perth flight became virtually an England supporters charter trip.
Middlesex people popped up all over the place, my Aussie neighbour thought we would win at Perth, Shane Warne has other things on his mind, Jimmy Anderson had already made it safely back to Aus, and it became very tempting to think the Ashes are already in the bag. Oh no they’re not.
At Perth I managed to negotiate the two most complicated part of the whole journey, - nearly stealing someone else’s luggage and then finding the bus transfer service to Perth hotels. Then it took a while for the bus company to work out to handle far more people than they were expecting, but eventually we had a nice trip into the City with the bus driver keen to point out the WACA and make bad jokes about the local trees – they are called dead dog trees because they have no bark. Obviously they have bad Australian Christmas cracker jokes as well, or else it was a distraction from talking about the cricket as the bus was by then entirely English! And was that Beefy in a bar opposite one of the hotels we stopped at? Middlesex Beefy that is not Sir Ian.
So to the hotel, a warm summer evening, sunset over the Swan River with beautiful pastel pink clouds, and Sky News Australia alternating between a state visit by Oprah to Sydney, (apparently it really had all the trappings of royalty), interviews with Philip Hughes - “Yes I know they will bowl short but I am ready for it”, Jimmy Anderson - “I stayed on Aussie time all the time I was in England and I feel fine, and Tony Greig - “Never heard of this Beer chappie but he must be good because the selectors have picked him.” And as I write this Australian sports commentators clutching at straws – Johnson is bowling well in the nets; England will miss Broad, Anderson is tired, Beer is very tall (are we going to have a bouncer bowling left arm spinner?).
Message to self – this is all looking too good for us – could it all go terribly wrong. Do I need to start getting nervous tomorrow?
Day 2 Impeccable timing and nearly major trauma
Now if the England cricket team display anything like my timing today all will be well. A leisurely breakfast, is followed by a stroll in the sun down to the ground, arriving just in time for an official tour of the ground, which just happens to coincide with the England practice. session. What more could you ask! So we stroll round the ground, get to sit in the Bradman Room (the equivalent of the Committee Room at Lord’s), see the WA team of the century including Justin Langer, and get close up to the practice session. England look focused, energetic and organised; in the nets Shazad bowls one ball with wicked pace, could that bowl him into the side? The wicket looks green and is being watered, but they have had no rain here for weeks so what might that mean? Do I want England to bat or bowl tomorrow.
Strauss Handles The Bounce In Perth
With that kind of indecision time to go and look for kangaroos on a nearby island. But real kangaroos are sensible and stay in the shade during the day so I am reduced to taking pictures of the pretend kangaroos outside the Supreme Court (add your own comments about kangaroos and law Courts!).
Bouncy in Perth
But then there is nearly a major incident. Perth is a windy city – especially in the afternoon – and walking back over a bridge over the very nice Swan River the wind takes my Middlesex cap and deposits it on the freeway just out of arm’s reach but in the way of buses, trucks and a line of cars that does not stop. Do I dare risk life and limb to retrieve it – probably not worth it – so I have to watch it being bulldozered by a bus, and trampled by a truck before I manage to find a branch that I can just reach it with, in between some fast moving traffic. A little flattened but still pink, the cap is retrieved and major trauma averted.
And this evening I finally got my tickets – and they are replaying the Brisbane test on TV and it is nearly time.
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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2010:12:25:08:49:16 by Ged.
Barmy Kev
I'm only here for the tele
Anyway, good report Leps.
I think the bouncy WACA pitch has just been a bit too much for England.
(and the photos....)
Poor cap though...
Kimmy