Monday 6 June 2011

What Happened to this "Heatwave"?

On Friday, as I was awaiting for CC to stop being lazy and getting ready for our epic trip to the BBC, I was watching TV. Seeing as it was around 11am, I had a choice between The Jeremy Kyle Show, shopping channels and the news, so opted for the latter. Upon switching to channel 80, I saw the weather forecast, and seeing as it was the day before another full weekend of cricket, I was intrigued to find out whether I would need to go out and buy suncream or an umbrella. I figured in fact, I may need to go out and become an Australian, because the forecast for the whole weekend was set for, "ridiculous". And these days, "ridiculous" means, "outstanding". In case you didn't know..

So I was looking forward to a long, glorious weekend in the sun, ending up on the wrong side of crimson, and hitting some much needed runs! Saturday morning was quite cold though, as me and Saggers went to The Honeycrust for a bite or 9 of breakfast, (on Kettle's recommendation), before preparing the teas for the afternoon's cricket. Me? Volunteering? Who'd have thought it! Anyway, the afternoon got much better and the temperatures promised were arriving. We chased down 191 aswell, with a fantastic solo effort from our, "Former Kenya International" ... *ahem*... 88 not out from him, and a measly 26 from me, where I really should of scored more, on a pitch that resembled a road. As flat as anything, otherwise known as a "batsman's paradise"... Ok, I'll shut up now.

After this resounding victory, I rushed off to Kettle's parents anniversary do, hoping to get there in time for the "SURPRISE!" part, but missed out by about 10 minutes. It was good to speak to the few people there I knew, including Mother Beddoe, who's own fantastic opinionated views on everything kept me entertained for a while! The speeches from the Family Kettle were especially poignant, even bringing a tear to my eye, and the evening was enjoyable, (apart from the ridiculous Irish music!). This time, "ridiculous" stands for exactly that... However, I couldn't stick around for long as a) I was knackered and b) Mother Mitten was complaining that no one was dancing, despite wanting to herself... Too much wine, bless her!

Despite me being superbly tired though, I managed to get into a couple of those meaningful conversations that end up going on for hours, and you can't possibly walk away from. You all know what I mean. The conversations that can only happen after 11pm on a Saturday night.... Yeah...

I managed to escape at about 1am and slept like a baby on sleeping pills. I woke up at 1pm, and an hour later I was back out batting, but the heatwave-like temperatures that had been promised on Friday never materialised. Today was cloudy, cold, and despite the pitch being as much of a beauty as the day before, the ball swang more because of the cloud and it was a bit more difficult.. Again, I got 26, in a grand total of 232, (Master Collins gaining a solid 63 and Mr.Kenya International, another solid innings of 45), but after 15 overs of their innings, it started to rain pretty solidly, and no result was found. Some would say it was a waste of a day, but I don't think so. Me being captain gave me a bit more experience in the art of being a cricket captain, and I enjoyed the "laff"!

Tonight, we made a rather abysmal attempt at trying to win the pub quiz, gaining a not wholly respectable 18 out of 70, but if you're going to ask questions like, "Who invented concrete?", what else can you expect?! However, we brought back the old tradition of the after-quiz trip to McDonalds with Magic Man and Mason, and again, a laugh was had! And it's the taking part that counts, right?

A good weekend overall then, but I would of been disappointed if it was anything but. At least I don't feel as bad as I did last week, where I was lying here dreading the next day... I only have to wait another 8 days for that moment again...

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