I am not sure I can contain my excitement: the current Ashes series start in less than two hours. Sad I know. For the uninitiated amongst you, the Ashes is a cricket contest between England and Australia, so called when a mock obituary was written when England were first defeated by Australia on home turf, and a little urn with some ashes (thought to be a burnt bail) was presented.
In 2005, there was perhaps the greatest series played between the two sides. I was on tenterhooks the whole summer, gripped by the drama and tension. I also have vivid memories of the 1981 series when I was 12 years old, the so called “Botham Ashes”, which probably rivals the 2005 series. Both of these series were played in England, and both on terrestrial television, with commentary on the radio with Test Match Special. Both summers I spent a fair amount of time glued to the television or listening to the radio.
Following the ashes in Australia is much harder. There is no terrestrial TV coverage (and we don’t have Sky) and the games start at anything between 11.30pm GMT and 2.30am GMT (lasting for 7 hours or so) depending on which city in Australia they are playing. I have vivid memories of listening to radio when I was a young boy at some ridiculously early hour of the morning, have set my alarm to wake up to listen to the commentary.
However, in the wonders of the modern world, there are various ways to be kept abreast of the score, catch up with what has happened, and see the highlights …
- Podcast by BBC.
- Highlights on BBC Interactive at 10pm every night and on BBC2 sometime after 11pm.
- Blogs - I am subscribed to 2: The Test Match Special one, and one from the Daily Telegraph.
- You can even get a text sent to you mobile as an alarm call, with the latest score.
- And if you are up in the middle of the night, you can also listen to commentary from TMS on radio 4, 5 live sports extra or online (if you are living in the UK).
So bring it on …
BTW, obviously I would love to see England win, but I predict Aussies to run out winners 3-1.
Greetings!
Do you plan on posting about cricket throughout the entire tournament?
Given the way England have fared in the first test, probably not!!