Ashes To Ashes a Testing Time

There have been two terrific Ashes games over the last few days, and as it stands the Aussies have their noses in front in both the men’s and women’s contests. The conclusion of the men’s game at Edgbaston was a nail biter, which was Test cricket at it’s best. 

For the final few days of that game, I was away in the Lake District, mostly just checking in periodically on the score, letting the glorious beauty of that part of the world distract me. It was though, a game of classic twists and turns leading to that frenetic last afternoon. We were staying in Bowness-on-Windermere, and on that day, had decided to take the short walk to Windermere itself for an early evening meal. 

Things were getting tighter and tighter, isn’t it great to go into the final session of a game with all outcomes still being possible. This was causing me to check my phone for updates with increasing regularity as we looked for somewhere to eat. After a little lap of the central area, we opted for the classic Cumbrian night out: Mexican food at Bandito Burrito. We ordered a couple of Margaritas to calm the nerves and waited for our Burrito’s to arrive. The target for Australia getting ever closer, England needed wickets. WhatsApp groups were buzzing with moans, groans, yelps and joy.

Soon my phone was permanently out of my pocket, flitting between various websites, Twitter and WhatsApp. Long gaps when nothing updated. Have I lost the internet? How long does it take to get back to the start of the bowlers run-up and deliver the next ball, especially if it’s Joe Root bowling! And yes, is it really Joe Root leading the bowling attack?

Then huge excitement as Khawaja falls to Ben Stokes. I’m trying to concentrate on my Burrito and join in with the conversation that my wife and a friend are having, whilst the chaos is unfolding. Then a message comes in from “C” a cricket loving pal in Scotland, asking if I’m watching? I explain my situation. He’s the first to advise me of the next breakthrough: “Another Wicket!” Carey smashed it straight back at Root but he held onto it this time!”

All I can say is “!!!” A brief discussion then about the way the Aussies seem to be using Root as target practise, howitzers hurtling towards him at terrifying speed. Miraculously he finally caught one. He goes onto to explain that he’s watching the game in a pub with no sound, so he may be missing out on some of the finer points. As his wife is from California, he also quicky checks in the quality of the burrito. Excellent, I happily confirm.

I see that 14 are taken from an over, Aussies getting close.

Message from Scotland: “It’s mayhem. Another chance down as well. Stokes at square leg. Again, a tough one, he was diving at full stretch but got his hand to it.”

I’m on to ordering desert now, with concentration failing desperately.

Disastrous update from “C”: “The sky box has gone off in the pub!!” 

What a time for that to happen! We pay the bill and walk back to our accommodation. By now, I am listening to the TMS commentary. “C” in Scotland is doing the same, having been robbed of the TV coverage.

As we step into our room at about 7:20, Cummins hits the boundary that clinches the 2 wicket victory. What a fantastic innings from him, played big shots with bravery and skill.  Great performance to win a great match.

It got me thinking of the other times that I’ve relied on TMS to see me to the end of a great game against Australia. Before that though some other memories.

In a previous post, I’ve written about listening to England getting a pasting in Australia when I was a kid. My first experience of this would have been the 74-75 tour. Waking up in the early hours of freezing cold winter mornings, my hand sneaking out from underneath the bedding to grab the transistor radio, on the wooden unit next to the bed. It was probably placed on top of one of the Alfred Hitchcock and The Three Investigators books, as I was completely enthralled with them at the time. I remember convincing a friend that we should set up a detective agency to solve crimes in the Fishponds area of Bristol. I also suggested that our “office” should be a wooden den, in a piece of local overgrown wild land. It was a brilliant plan, to this day, I’m shocked that we didn’t get any cases to solve!

Unknotting the white lead for the plastic earpiece, before switching the radio on. There would always be a lot of static on the line in those days, and the signal would gently come in and out. Then the period of trying to work out the state of the game, from who was bowling or batting. Finally when the overall picture of the game was given, inevitably England would have been torn apart by Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson, if they hadn’t done the damage, Max Walker or Ashley Mallett would have sent our batters packing. If the Aussies had been batting, Ian Redpath, Doug Walters and the Chappell brothers would dismantle the English bowling attack. The six-test series saw Australia win 4-1, the England victory coming in the last Test, maybe the Aussies had eased up by then? 

It was a cold and depressing start to the day, I would drift back to sleep with images of these invincible Australians flitting through my dreams, or were they nightmares?

Fast forward now to August 1975 with the Australian team touring England. The third Test of a 4 match series takes place at Headingly in August. I’m on holiday with my mum and dad, staying on a large working farm in Mid-Wales. During the day, Dad would drive us around to places of interest, TMS playing on the radio, broadening my knowledge of Forestry Commission land, huge and powerful looking dams that helped to supply water to people in England, and the finer intricacies of cricketing culture. By that time, I had moved on from the Alfred Hitchcock books, now throwing myself excitedly into the world of Agatha Christie, reading from the back seat as mum navigated, often with a pub featured in the CAMRA Pub Guide, as a destination for a lunch or early evening stop off.

England need to win the series to take The Ashes. The Aussies had won the first test, the second ended in a draw. So, England would need to win both the remaining games to take back The Ashes. The first inning saw England heading towards a large score, only to be pegged back by the left arm swing bowling of Gary Gilmour. A couple of years later, I was initially confused when punk band The Adverts had a hit with the excellent “Gary Gilmore’s Eyes”, the subtility of the different spelling passed me by on first hearing it.

Australia collapsed in their first innings,  when the England second innings after a decent score, meaning that Australia were chasing a large total of 445 to win. They had started well though, when play ended on day 4 they were 220-3, the next day was set to be a classic. 

It wasn’t to be. We awoke to the news that rather than Rick McCosker (95 not out) or Phil Edmonds (5-28 in the first innings on his debut) making the headlines, the news was full of the name George Davis. And he didn’t even play cricket. People protesting at what they saw to be his wrongful conviction as part of an armed robbery gang, had changed the agenda. When the covers were removed on the morning of the last day, it was discovered that the pitch had been vandalised, holes dug into it, and oil poured upon it. No further play was possible, so the draw ensured that Australia would retain The Ashes. I remember that the radio was full of frustrated cricket chat that day. I also remember in my naivety, wondering why they couldn’t just play on one of the adjacent wickets, cue a long lecture from my dad.

Next, we march forward to the famous 2005 series. My first TMS memory of the series, was the extraordinary morning of the fourth day of the second Test. The day started with Australia needing 107 to win, with just 2 wickets in hand. We had made plans to visit my mother that day, probably for lunch, so I was hopeful that England could take the required wickets early. It wasn’t to be though, the Aussie tailenders batted brilliantly, edging ever closer to the target. Eventually, I had to drag myself away from the TV and we made the journey across Bristol to my mum’s house with TMS taking us through the desperately close game. When we reached her house, the game was still in progress, I could have gone in and watched the game on her TV but couldn’t drag myself away from the radio.

We parked up, my wife went into the house, with me saying I’d follow shortly. The Australians continued to chase down the target. Into single figures, then less than 4, then just 3 runs needed. I stayed in the car, gripped by the game, unable to move. Finally, Harmison has Kasprowicz caught behind and England had won by 3 runs. I rushed inside to watch Flintoff consoling Lee, who had batted so well, the overriding memory of that brilliant series for me. 

A few weeks later the final test of the series took place at The Oval. A draw would be enough for England to secure The Ashes, but going into the last day the game was still finely balanced. This time we were in the lovely city of Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia. We had an attic apartment, right in the centre of town. It was from here that I listened to the final phase of the game (probably through the World Service). Once the draw was confirmed, we headed to the narrow streets of the old town for a celebratory meal. Sadly, though not unsurprisingly, I didn’t find anyone who wanted to run through series highlights with me.

I don’t have Sky TV, so once again this summer, I will be relying on radio commentary plus web/social media updates to keep me in the loop. Let’s hope that there are a few more memorable days ahead.

Whilst I was away, Glos were home against Hampshire in the T20 Blast. And of course, as I wasn’t there, they won. Of course, they did. Some cash incentives were offered for me to extend my stay in the Lake District, therefore missing the Thursday evening game against Sussex. Foolishly, I declined these and took the 200 mile journey back to Bristol, arriving in plenty of time for the game. A few regulars were in, “S” had also brought his wife “E” along this time, she has been a keen cricketer herself, and is looking to rekindle her playing time having returned to the West Country. They had been up to Edgbaston for the 4^th day of the Test and had obviously had a brilliant time. Also there was “J” who had made arrangements to hook up with a social media friend of ours “P”, that neither of us had met in the flesh before. After some texts and photo exchanges, we duly found each other, on another very warm evening.

Pretty soon, I was thinking that I should have taken the money. Glos lost wickets with the regularity of the Bank of England announcing the latest hike in interest rates. 15-3 after 3 overs was not the start we were looking for. Roelofsen and Ollie Price managed to form a run scoring partnership taking us up to 65 after 8 overs, then wickets started to fall regularly again and we were 8 wickets down having only just reached three figures on the board, looking that we may fall short of batting for the full 20 overs. Matt Taylor though played some decent shots, and when he was last man out, we had at least reached 140 after 19.2 overs. None of us thought that it would be enough.

During the break between innings, I nipped round to the front of the pavilion to catch up with a very old friend. “J2” was paying his first visit to the ground. He recently started a new job as a support worker, one of the chaps that he helps (D) is a big cricket fan, though has not been able to get to games previously. It was clear that “D” was thrilled to be there, rather optimistically he thought 140 could be a reasonable total. “J” was happy to admit that he had absolutely no idea what was going on! It’s quite an effort for folks like “D” to get to a game, so it was great to know that he was enjoying it, and that Glos had facilitated a good viewing position for him.

I sped back around the ground, not wishing to miss any of the action. Good job I did, as the Sussex batters were certainly not hanging around. Unlike the Glos innings, they scored quickly, without the distraction of losing wickets. When they did finally lose one in the 7^th over, they already had 83 on the board. It looked like they were hoping to catch last orders at the bar, back in Sussex somewhere. 

At one point “E” casually asked if the ball ever hits the flats behind us? Yes, sometimes, we said. To prove the point, Harrison Ward the Sussex opener, smashed one which flew directly over our heads, and into the window of one of the flats, with an almighty thump. The glass does get hit there from time to time but on this occasion the toughened glass was actually broken by the impact. Impressive hit by the batter.

Ward only faced 27 balls, of those 5 went for 6 and 2 more went for 4. When he was out for 51 in the 9^th over, Sussex already had 95 on the board and the game was as good as won. And it duly was, after just 13.2 overs. We all knew that the Glos social media pages would be a frenzy of hyperbolic activity that night.

The very next evening Glos were away against high flying Somerset. To say the fans were pessimistic, would be a huge understatement. Credit to Glos though, after another tricky start, they put in a very good effort, only to be beaten at the death. Pride was restored, even if it did come in another defeat. 

It’s confirmed though that we shall not be winning the Vitality T20 Blast trophy this year. Who knows though, maybe 2024 will be our year?