Day 37 : I Don 't Like Cricket, I Love It (31/7/09)

Day 2 at the cricket was anticipated with great expectations with the Aussies starting at 1/126. Today we were just a little bit late after enjoying the now customery little frisk by a security guard before coming into the ground. This meant we missed the first ball of the day, unbeknown to us we thought the 15,000 POMS who were waving and singing Cheerio,Cheerio, Cheerioooooo were not welcoming us, however they were saying goodbye to Shane Watson, out LBW first ball of the day!!! More Chererios were given to Mike Hussey the very next ball. Chris and Dave looked at each other, then the crowd, who to put it mildly ,were going off their scones. The travelling four all thought this will be a long day if Australia doesn't improve. Well a first session of 7/77 made for a lot of Cheerios a lot of chants for Jimma Jimma Jimma Andersuuun and set the scene for a tense day of cricket for Aussie followers and a wonderful day for the Pommies. As was alluded to yesterday, the Pom supporters have a great nationalistic fervor and use their mass numbers and songs to intimidate all foreign visitors. We have learnt many new chants which outside of the ground make you laugh but inside the ground with 15,000 supporters mainly blokes (old and early twenties) and a few old women does eventually get to you . Though we were warned on the previous day by the locals that the Eric Hollies (this is the bloke who got Bradman out in his last innings of Test cricket) Stand is not the place to be if you are an Aussie, it really is the place for the Pommy lads. I am certain of one thing, and that is that for the five days of this Test match that every Village in Britain is missing it's idiot and i know exactly where they all are.

Mind you I would not have missed this day of cricket for anything in the world, it makes you realise that it is time for Australia to become a republic, our Test team needs to improve and the Poms love their cricket and love to beat the Aussie more than anything else in the world. It was comical that even when on another double decker bus that a group of Pommie supports after the days play they could start up an anti Aussie chant when they saw Dave in his Aussie cricket top in another bus. A miming of 5/0 referring to the previous test series won by Australia may not have been fully understood but made the travelling four fell better. A quick tea in a pub in Birmingham had us talking some Poms who had been to cricket and seemed like mormal cricket loving blokes, so maybe they are not all whackers.

Finally great day, great to be leaving Birmingham but also great memories.