BTW

There is only one word I can use for this weekend. Immense. Immense in many senses of the word. Full of immense goodness, immensely drunken people, and immensely frightful sights. The perfect recipe for a weekend.

First off though, the weekend started in a bit of a dull vain, as I was asked to work from 10pm-2am on the Friday night shift. I was asked to work all night, but I did have to be awake by 7am, so offered as much as I could! It was sort of strange, being back at BP. Things have changed. So much so, that BP now closes at 1am which, I imagine, would make the rushing around completely needless! Somehow I managed to enjoy working those 4 hours. I picked things up immediately from where I left off 4 months ago, and worked with Medinat, who was nice enough, but I didn't really feel guilty leaving her alone for a few hours when I went home! Besides, despite being in a strangely fantastic mood, I did have to be awake in a few hours for the 2nd instalment of the weekend.

Which was, refereeing! It had been a couple of months since I had donned the black of the football referee, but the BPR tournament came-a-calling and seeing as the bank balance is struggling, the £25 for a few hours jogging came in handy! Unfortunately, I was stuck on the Under 11s, which was extremely dull, with absolutely no incident of any sort, (unlike the Under 16s where Elliot sent off 2 players in his very first game!), and I was pleased to be going home at 12:45, many pounds better off, (financially and weight-wise seeing as the burgers were free for referees!), I was driving home for the next, and arguably most successful, stage of the day. Cricket!

My own club, Bedford, didn't have a game, so I offered my services for Riseley, who are a team my uncle and cousin used to play for, and also the team my Sunday captain plays for on Saturdays! I only knew a few of the players, who I had played with before, but by the end everyone knew my name and most probably thought I was the next best thing, after the innings I played! My fellow opening batting partner got out in the very first over followed by our Number 3 who whacked a few decent boundaries before being bowled, leaving us 30-odd for 2 after 6 overs. I had a very slow start, just blocking and hitting away the odd bad ball for a couple. I felt good though, and after my recent frustration at getting out in the 20s, I had a feeling that today I could at least go on to get my first half-century of the season. I reached my 50 in 56 balls, (somehow), and from then on, there was only one place I was going to go, and that was The Land of Tons. Everything was coming off the middle of the bat, but I refused to lose my head and try and hit everything out the park. I hit away the bad balls with ease and respected the good balls, and slowly but surely, (with an acceleration at the end), I made my way to my 2nd career century! I only played and missed at one ball, (when I was in the 90s), and only edged, (or "Mitten Cutted"), 2 balls including the boundary that took me to my 100! 21 boundaries, and after only getting a few hours sleep and then refereeing the whole morning, my legs were like jelly. But I was very, very pleased with my performance. A final score of 119 is now the benchmark that I would like to beat come the end of the season. That is my new target. I think this innings, (apart from the amount of runs), beat my first century, because the bowling had a bit about it. Last time, they just put it up there to hit, but yesterday, there were slower balls, bouncers, a bit of pace and a decent enough spinner, and I was pleased to negotiate them all with a good technique! Even when fielding, I took a decent slip catch and we won by 90 runs in the end, so a very good day's work!

We were playing at Bedford Park, of which there are 2 cricket pitches. On the other pitch, the most extraordinary and frightful fight broke out between 2 Asian teams. Apparently, the bowler had punched the umpire who had refused an LBW shout, and all hell had broken loose. Our game stopped momentarily as a full scale war broke out, with players wielding bats and stumps and attempting to kill each other with them. Absolute craziness over a game of what is essentially, village cricket.

Anyway! After our comprehensive win, in which I gave myself the hypothetical man of the match award, I made my way home, incredibly tired but with a smile on my face, to get ready for the final instalment of what had already been a fantastic Saturday. I was almost on the floor, but my philosophy for the weekend was to keep going and going and going, and enjoy everything it had to offer. I was not going to give up because of tiredness. I had an hour to get ready and drink a few cans of .... 'Kick', before the kids came round to kick off what was going to be a very good night!

Honestly, for the first time in recent memory, I can't be bothered to tell this blog about the ins and outs of the whole night. All you need to know, is that we stole some Indian dude's glasses, Marriott was the drunkest I've ever seen him, Beddoe ended up half-naked under the traditional laws of Bedford-based nights out, and Saggers couldn't remember where he lived. Otherwise, it was a very good night, but I was very happy to reach my bed at 3am, and collapse.

I woke up at 4.30pm... So I imagine it's going to be a rather long night. But this weekend.... Definitely a BTW. Big Time Weekend!