Bumble blogs on bouncy bowling, Andrew Flintoff and the latest additions to his CD collection.
Bumble blogs on bouncy bowling and his latest CDs
Where did that come from?!
I had a feeling that something was going to happen on that final day in Cardiff because the pitch was perfect for England's bowlers but the manner of the victory was scarcely believable.
Sri Lanka gave the impression that they didn't want to be there and folded alarmingly. It was cold, it was miserable, it was dank but you've just get to get on with it.
There have been times when England have played on the subcontinent when it is so humid and sticky and oppressive when the same applies: you've just got to get on with it.
I could tell the Sri Lanka lads were suffering, given all of the sweaters, the hands in the pockets and hand-warmers; they were freezing cold but you've just got to do the job.
Stuart Law, their coach, is a straight-as-they-come Aussie and he'll be the first to say they choked; they didn't have the mettle to see the job through.
Worse still, from a coach's point of view, they didn't give the impression that they could see the job through.
Terrific
Chris Tremlett showed exactly what he can do with the new ball. He's been absolutely terrific since he's come into the side.
He may be a big unit but he's an ultra-quiet man; he's very softly spoken and his success just goes to show that you don't have to rant and rave or resort to bottom-line sledging to get results.
Tremlett has been labelled as a bit of a softie in the past; he didn't look bloody soft in Cardiff!
I can't wait to see him bowl in tandem with Steven Finn at Lord's. The one thing that gets people out, that disconcerts them is bounce. We saw it in the late 1970s/early 1980s with the West Indies and England have plenty of it at their disposal now.
Perfect
While England provided the perfect finish in Cardiff, the Zombies got my stay off to the perfect start.
The band were good enough to give me an iconic CD called 'Odessey and Oracle', which I'm playing all of the time in my car.
It's actually been a great week for gifts because my boss at Sky has given me a CD called 'Before the Fall', which is an album of the original versions of the songs covered by The Fall. There's some weird stuff on there!
All-in-all I won't be home in over a fortnight due to these back-to-back Test matches so I need some decent listening material.
Emotional
I had a good night at Lord's for the ECB Men's and Women's Cricketer of the Year awards, won by Jonathan Trott and Lydia Greenway respectively. It was the first time I've been and everyone was on good form.
I said a few words about Andrew Flintoff who received an achievement award. The big lad got very emotional at one point - I've not seen him like that before, but I know he is really, really missing playing cricket.
He gave a little speech himself and he didn't have to say very much because there was one telling line. He said 'Enjoy everything that you are doing because you are a long time retired'.
I sat next to Katherine Brunt, who is a grand girl, an absolute sweetheart. She came down from Barnsley for the do and was heading back that very night!
I thought Umesh Valjee, a stone deaf lad who won the England Disability Cricketer of the Year award, stole the show though.
He spoke to Nasser through an 'interpreter', for want of a better word, who asked him if he'd always been interested in cricket and how he first got into it.
Umesh's reply was "Your dad!" It turns out that he used to be trained by Nasser's dad, who they both agreed was very strict!
I also got permission from the boss to do a stint on Radio Five Live with Eleanor Oldroyd; it was terrific to see her again - I haven't seen her for years! It was myself, Eleanor, Simon Hughes and Andrew and it was a really good night.
Statement
It's great to have Twenty20 cricket back but once again I must stress that I'm not happy about day-night T20 cricket.
I've said it before but I'll say it again, way back in 2003 the mission statement was that this was a game for the families, for mums and dads to take the kiddies. Well, not with a 7.40pm start it isn't!
There's nothing wrong with 5.30-8.30pm. Lovely. Any later and you don't get home until damn near midnight in some cases.
I tell everybody at the ECB whenever I bump into them that they are doing a fabulous job except your mission statement about Twenty20 was that it is a family day; too often it isn't and there is far too much drunken behaviour.
That said, this is quite a critical year for Twenty20 crowd-wise because of the number of games to be played. Will teams, when they are out of contention for the quarter-finals, just play a non-descript team? Everybody will be holding their breath as to what the crowds are.
Last year's finalists, Somerset and Hampshire, should be a force again this summer but a lot of it depends on how the imports perform; there will be some fly-by-nights coming in and often it comes down to who plays well on the day. It's that much of a lottery.
But if somebody pushed me in a corner I'd always say that Somerset will be a tough outfit to beat, although Craig Kieswetter is now injured...
Saturday
I went down Soho and I bought myself a hoody, a nice colourful t-shirt and a pair of jeans because my others have ripped. I thought they were too tight but the lady in the shop said they looked ok.
While I was doing my rounds I saw a member of the England management wandering into a Speedo shop...
I'll be back down Soho on Saturday night; the Brigadier, the Group Captain and 34 Regular are all on board so what could possibly go wrong?
If you are in the area then take my advice: stay in!
