Ah the silly season ...

[blamebrampton]

It is our habit to be complete slugabeds on Boxing Day*. Which is why Mr Brammers staggered from bed and into the shower at 3pm. On coming out of the shower, with something approaching a compis mentis, he looked at the cricket on the television and asked, 'How's it going?'

'Good,' I replied. 'For me.'

He peered at the score across the bottom of the screen. His jaw dropped. 'Oh what?! Holy Mother of God!' Yep. 9 wickets had fallen for 92 runs.

In a bid to cheer themselves up, the Australian commentary team showed the score cards from the Centenary test back in 1977, where Australia also suffered a first innings batting collapse, but England suffered a worse one. Of course, I was busy laughing at Mr B through this period, so when we turned back to the telly, we were momentarily baffled as we read down the order. 'Who? What?' we said.

'Oh, it's 1977,' I said as the England card came up and I recognised names. 'I remember that era -- was there ever a more pernicious phrase in the English language than caught Marsh, bowled Lillee?'

'I'll let you know in a few days,' moped Mr B.**


* And sundry other days throughout the year when we think we can get away with it.
** A minute later Australia were dismissed for 98. The commentary team are cheering themselves up with the possibility that this is just another fabbo bowling wicket, which I would scoff at, but given how this series has been going so far ...

Comments

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

Mr B walked through the living room once or twice an hour, muttering more despairingly each time ;-)

[shiv5468.livejournal.com]

Ah, lovely.

I find the Australian attitude to a losing test match team rather puzzling. If the English went home early every time we did badly, we'd never see anything.

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

To be fair, it was running late, and trying to fit on a tram when the crowds are coming home from a Boxing Day out at the sales and cinema can be hell ...

That and after that many hours in that sun you are dying of heat exhaustion anyway. How people can do it outside of a corporate box I'll never understand.

[shiv5468.livejournal.com]

Doesn't being fair get in the way of gloating?

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

I find they're actually more annoyed if you can pause in endless renditions of the Hallelujah Chorus long enough to say 'Oh, of course, it's a dreadful shame for Ponting ... I do feel for you ...'

[shiv5468.livejournal.com]

Snerfles.

~takes notes~

I do need to ring the changes with my gloating at the Australian flist.

I did find that Siddle was saying that sledging was fine and all in fun. Sooooo, we'll see how he feels about that tonight.

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

That was it! And that the English were soft for not approving of it. He deserves to have that head of his.

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

PS My LJ friend 17catherines has a brilliant Australian response to the day at her LJ (and, as a side note, she also has listings of unbelievably gorgeous advent music if you go back two days).