oh my chaps, those pesky colonials are going to steal the Ashes again!

[I, Cosh]

There isn't a 'director's box' at Lords

Give me a break, it was fifteen years and - being Scottish - this was the first time I'd ever done anything but sweat at cricket. His uncle was on the board of the MCC or something and they'd all get into some posh enclosure.

[paulvonscott]

"that makes it sound as though the English (British?) team has a choice"

Floyd, honestly, I couldn't give a fuck about the cricket, if Papua New Guinea won the ashes I wouldn't care.  What I was trying to say, badly, is that if we lose and the Australians win, that's fine.  Perfectly normal as far as I can tell.

I'm genuinely sickened by the english media's ridiculous hyping of sporting events and the hysterical behaviour of fans.  It's a farce and has nothing to do with sportsmanship as far as I can see.  If just once an England team would be allowed to face up to the fact that they aren't as good as everyone else, they lost, but that's fine, they did their best... I'm sure we'd be a healthier country for it.  More healthy than portraying managers as different types of vegetables, saying we was robbed and demonising officials.

On the whole I see Australians behaving with good natured banter, and only a fraction of the bitterness we recieve from other nations when it comes to sport.

Obviously the Australians like to win and they like to beat us, who wouldn't like to stuff it to the ex-colonial power (much tarnished).  The English I suspect just want to win out of desperation to show they can win something, and there's something they aren't fucking useless at.

What I am trying to say is that it's fine if the Australians win, they'll most likely deserve to, enjoy it more and spend less time rubbing our faces in it than we would crowing about winning and looking for someone we could annoint as the chosen one who has delivered unto us some sort of sporting victory.  

If we lost we could put away our fucking voodoo tabloid charms, prayer mats and talismans, our sports day 'come on Tim' attitude and cancel the ridiculous victory parades, celebrations and knighthoods that inevitably follow a victory in everything from the world bottle top spinning cup to the Mr Myagi fly catching champiosnhips.  Celebrations that would look over the top if we had just stopped Emperor Ming from taking over the universe armed only with a conker on a bit of string and a stiff upper lip.

Anyway, good luck to Australia in the ashes, I have no idea how you are doing, but I hope everyone enjoys it.

Oh and I hate golf too.

[W. R. Logan]

>"English (British?)"
>Definitely English. Scotland hold their own in the non-test fraternity, except when they drop it.

in fact isnt the Englishe crich teal england & wales?

Link: http://www.ecb.co.uk" target="_blank">England and Wales Cricket Board

p://static.ecb.co.uk/images/width140/england-and-wales-cricket-t-14716.gif">

[W. R. Logan]

far too many magners to try spelling

[paulvonscott]

Well, at least you kept it short and incoherant.  

I always start to build up to a rant during major national sporting events after being bombarded with an overload of information I don't care about.  I'm probably safe for the rest of the ashes now and will only kick off on one during the next football/ wimbledon thing.  Rugby was a one off so that's unlikely to count again. Though I may have to get a passport and leave the country during the 2012 olympics.

So apologies for the thread invasion, at least I didn't do it nude and I hope you get on with enjoying your sport.

[Richmond Clements]

No apologies needed, Paul- that post was one of the funniest and most coherent things I've read for a long time.