Tasmania University Cricket Club

Latest News (26th. June 2004)

The Further Adventures of Kingo Jnr. and English cricket.

................. Right, well, I think I might bore you with cricket stories now. We have already played 6 league games (one washed out). I won't treat you to all the details but basically it hasn't been the best of starts. We had our first win last Saturday and are struggling to make the better half of the ladder. Chin up lads! I have been going really well bowling me leggies, but not so well with the bat. 50 runs in 5 games. The photo below pretty much sums up my luck so far. The old excuse about adapting to the conditions is starting to wear a bit thin!



Sunday is President's Day, which will be a laugh. To sum it up, everyone gets pissed on champagne and then try to play cricket. Sam Mendes, who used to play at the club, has been asked to play in the President's side. For those of you who don't know, he's a shit hot film director (American Beauty) and is married to some bird called Kate Winslet. The rumour is she might be gracing us with her presence.

A couple of weeks ago, I went to a Twenty-Twenty (twenty overs a side) game at the Parks in the city - Oxfordshire v Oxford University. One of the reasons why I went (other than to drink and perve) was to try and meet ex-uni (Tassie) overseas player Ben Thompson. He now plays for Oxfordshire and was playing in this game. I didn't think my chances of catching up with him were that good, but somehow I managed to, and what happened there after was a complete spin out. After a bit of a chat about life in Hobart and sutff, he introduced me to the Oxfordshire coach, Jack Potter. Jack set up the Australian cricket academy and looked after the likes of Shane Warne, Michael Bevan, Damien Martyn etc. He also captained Victoria to a Sheffield Shield flag, which I later found out. Oh, and he's met Bill Lawry's pidgeon, Wendy. ANYWAY, Jack and I got talking and at some point he casually mentioned that they were in desperate need of a 12th man for their next three day game. He posed that I did it if I could get the time of work. Seeing as my boss (Big Dave) was standing right next to me, it didn't take long to sort out. Great, I thought. A little holiday watching quality cricket. I can handle that.

To cut a long story short, it was a great experience, BUT, I wouldn't say it was a holiday. Thanks to one of the blokes on the side who tore his hamstring to bits on the first day, I ended up fielding for a grand total of 120 overs (that's about 6 hours in normal language). To make life even harder, it was hot - about 28 degrees every day! AND to top it off the ground was rock hard (very un-English) and I am now practically skinless.

To make up for it, the team had their annual photos done during the game and, of course, I got to sit in on them! I felt like that nobody that sneaked into the Man Utd. team snaps! I will send it thru for you all to see once I get it.

Take care and enjoy the aussie winter. ha ha!

Cheers,

Jimmy

You can follow the (on-field) exploits of Kingo at Shipton-under-Wychwood C.C.


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