And now, the doyen speaks...

And on the mic with Mr Nicholas, I hear the voice of my favourite commentator - 

Now I’m not quite so ashamed after all...

That’s it! I am now officially off the wagon...

The Mumbai massacre has finally been quelled. The poor people of Mumbai are now starting to recover from the sixty-hour plus assault on their ancient city - their home. Just as with the second plane on September 11, 2001 - when it swerved into the Tower - when I heard that the 'designer' terrorists had hit on the Jewish centre called Hariman House in an apparently nondescript part of the city, I felt certain that no negotiation was possible with these individuals, no matter what was being said on the media.

I followed the ups and downs as best as I could. BBC News, Sky News, CNN IBN news on the web - not sleeping properly, grabbing whatever I could get my greedy little mitts on news-wise. Wanting in spirit to see off these crazed ƒ•¢%€®$ who have so cruelly violated a beautiful citadel that I am unlikely to ever see live and direct (so to speak), but am glad to know is there just the same. How glad that I am to be a KrstYan (albeit a very poor one).

Now in the early hours of the last of November, I can finally feel normal again. Or, more accurately, feed my addiction. I searched for cricket to listen to on the BlackCaps site, on some other site and then did a search for ‘Australia vs New Zealand’ amongst my old friends, the informal webcasting community. You can’t be watching cricket at a time like this, you heartless ßi+¢§!!! What are you made of? But then I struck gold.

And as soon as I heard Mark Nicholas’s voice, I felt a rush.

I am now once more a cricket anorak in shameless pursuit of the metaphysical game.

And I am - quite rightly - ashamed of myself.

This is great news...

Marcus Trescothick has been named as vice-captain of Somerset for the 2009 season.

That is great news.

here's the link.

Can't help thinking that it would have been so much better yet if he was v-C for England (to add a little class, maybe).

Not to be - but nonetheless he is well set on the road to complete recovery.

Good.

It's all over now

Don't care what happens.

I'm cricketed out.

The WIndies (sorry, Stanford Super Stars) took team England out for 99!! T'was as if they hardly tried.

Great to see Gayle and Fletcher win (and thanks to Ch•v*••r I saw it all - despite his forced relocation).

Hey Chris - can you stump up a few 'dólare$$$' for the cab fare home, 'mate' ?

England's hubris came back to haunt them. I don't think the match was thrown, the look of abject desolation shared by the entire team told me that. The E(W)CB hierarchy didn't protect or instruct the team, and they were basically hung out to dry in the sweltering heat at Coolidge. 

I feel real sympathy for James Anderson and Ryan Sidebottom, in particular. Easier for them to share 'nothing', and no-one in the world can blame them for England being humiliated on what turned out to be a world stage on Saturday night. Also kudos to Alistair Cook, who truthfully stated that the money was indeed a factor - an offence for which he got slapped down in very short order by Peter Moores. I wonder if the coach can now 'take any positives' out of this débâcle for poor England...

Cricket is alive, but a little less pristine than before.

And life goes on.

Post Script: - get me Sir Vivian Master-Blaster as a motivational life-coach. Pleeeeeeeeaaase!!!