Tragedy!

I went to Lords – play abandoned without a ball bowled by the weather – end of post – shutup – go away!

---

Okay okay it wasn’t all that bad.

Rewind one day.

Stalbridge to Putney

We arrived in Putney Tuesday afternoon catching the Train from Templecombe (not Temple of Doom). Rendel accompanied us so the trip was straightforward and very pleasant. Two Gin and Tonics went down nicely as we watched the English countryside roll by.

We arrived in Putney about 4pm and made our way to out hosts Mandy’s cousins , Hugh and Colleen, They have a nice big house with 6 bedrooms and 1000 stairs. Gordon and were up on the top floor. Colleen made scones and we had tea and scones in a lovely English garden – it felt like we were in a movie. Later on tea and scones turned into Gin and Tonics.

Rendel, Gordon and I went out for dinner at the Rocket pub. We had the steak special with included a bottle of wine. Not bad (not great). We ordered beers as well but Gordon and I couldn’t finish them – they were too warm and flat. Rendel ordered a Guinness – I guess he knew better. Gordon and I brought the wine home and knocked it off in the back garden.

Test Day 1

I woke up early about 5am and joined Gordon for a walk over the Putney bridge to Starbucks in Fulham. I had to buy my customary “You are here” mug for London. The weather was cool but clear.

After breakfast we made our way to Lords, catching the train and tube to St John’s Wood. Rendel guided us the way, catching the train from Putney and changing to the tube at Waterloo. Just before we arrived at Waterloo Rendel discovered he’s left his cricket ticket back at the house. Generously he continued to escort us to St Johns Wood before heading home to retrieve his ticket. He got back to the ground before the “start of play”.

We were to meet Mike outside the ground to get our tickets. We got there too early so we went to a nearby cafe for a coffee and cake. It started to rain.

We got to the ground, met Mike, got our tickets and entered the ground. It was still raining.

We visited the Lords shop and bought some souvenirs. Then had a few beers. Still raining.

At about 1pm we decided to go out of the ground for lunch at the Eagle pub. Food was nice with a glass of red. As we were sitting having lunch the rain stopped. Reports from the ground said the covers were coming off and the umpires would do a pitch inspection. We got excited and quickly went back to the ground. By the time we got to the ground – yep the rain started again.

We sat in the rain and watched the covers for 15 minutes before calling stumps and went home. Disappointing, but I went to Lords and even though there was no cricket I actually did enjoy the day.

Meeting Mr Hansen

I caught up with an old mate, Chris for dinner. Chris and I worked together about 18 years ago. He moved to London with is Girlfriend in 2002 and have been living in England ever since. I catch up with him when he visits Perth. He caught the train in from Cholsey and asked where I was staying. I gave him the address and we were stunned to discover that he lived in the house across the street when he first came to London in 2002. What are the odds? But wait… when he arrived and met everyone we were even more stunned to find out Chris had actually played in the same village cricket team, Henstridge, as Rendel in Somerset. What are those odds?

Gordon and Rendel joined us for a curry dinner at Ma Goa. The curry was great and the reminiscing was fun. Chris joined us back at the house for a few wines after. It was great to see Chris again. Hopefully we can visit his home town one day.

Tomorrow Day 2 at the cricket. Hopefully the weather forecast is right.