20/3/15

Dear Diary,

Is there anything wrong with not leaving the flat for a whole day? Well, no. Not really. I am on holiday after all and the getting home ordeal from the M.C.G. after quarter final between India and Bangladesh left me wiped out (I don't know what it is about Melbourne but my sense of direction has completely gone. Every time I start walking down a road its always the wrong direction I’m heading off in. I’m constantly getting on trams and heading off into the suburban wilderness instead of the city center and no matter how I look at it the map is always the wrong way up.) I accidentally got of two stops before Flinders street station and then spent ages looking for, what is probably one of the biggest landmarks in the city, heading in the wrong direction every time until I just happened to randomly stumble on a stop for the tram to take me to North Melbourne, get on it only to discover I’m heading in the wrong direction .... ARRRGHHHHH !!!

So, quiet day in the house it is then. Besides, the 3rd quarter final between Australia and Pakistan is being broadcast of free to air TV and considering the winner of it goes through to the semi final in Sydney that I have tickets for it seems only right that I should be able to watch it in its entirety without leaving the couch in the name of research.

So that's what I did.

And it was bloody brilliant.

I’ve hardly seen any cricket broadcast on TV the entire trip so far. I thought it would be everywhere all the time like it was last world cup out here in ‘92 where free to air broadcaster channel 9 broadcast almost every match. But things have changed and now Australia thinks it’s is a mini America which means that everything interesting has moved to the pay TV channels leaving the terrestrials showing nothing but reality programs and adverts. So many adverts. They even schedule adverts in the TV guide; 9am-9:30am Infomercials. Watch as some guy tries to sell you a lawnmower for 30 minutes

So it was a relief to find something worthwhile to watch at last as channel 9 is only showing world cup games that feature Australia on free to air TV.

Well, if that's all there is I will take it.

What a brilliant day. I had the best seat in the house and I didn't even have to get changed out of my pajamas. I thought about going out to the shops during the innings break to get some more cola but decided to just drink the orange juice in the fridge instead. My Melbourne mate, Myles, was working all day and all night so I had the whole flat to myself and I had an all day breakfast fry up for my main evening meal. Watched cricket till my eyes turned square, enjoyed the commentary banter between Shane Warne and everyone else and Michael Atherton's astute analysis. Was surprised to see Mark Nicolas chairing the host seat and being even more plummy middle class than he is in Britain, almost like a poor mans Austin Powers. Golly, Gosh, and Golly again!

Australia went on to win and send Pakistan home in a game that had a few twist and turns in it along the way. Pakistan will rue some dropped catches and just not getting enough runs to truly pressure the Aussie batting as these two factors saw them bundled out for only 213 in their innings and allowed Australia to win with 6 wickets in hand with 15 overs to spare.
The next quarter final is between New Zealand and the West Indies. I have a pound on New Zealand to win the world cup so I clearly have a vested interest in how this game will turn out. Perhaps another day on the couch could be in order ... if only the cricket was on the TV.




"Look for the ridiculous in everything and you will find it." Jules Renard - (1864 - 1910)