Feels just like Christmas morning

 

Wednesday 2^nd July

Hampshire 293&248, NCCC 354 & 189-4 NCCC won by 6 wkts

Mid-afternoon

I am intensely bored, the dribble that is masquerading as play-stopping rain continues and I’ve exhausted all the usual distractions: newspapers, crosswords, music, book. I did hear of an interesting and, as far as I am aware, novel rain break activity – a banana speed eating competition. During a stoppage in the second team game last week, 3 of the guys lined up 3 bananas and on the whistle tried to see them off as quickly as possible. Alex Hales won in a time of 53 seconds. Brilliant.

Later

We won despite having to wait a couple of hours for the rain to clear. Samit played his way to a good 65 not out, taking the game away from Hampshire if there was any lingering doubt when he came to the wicket. I chipped in with 67 and played as well as I have for while. I was middling a lot of my defensive shots which tells me I was watching the ball for longer. The work I’ve done with Paul Johnson has definitely helped and I’m going to book in for some more sessions over the next few days.

The bowlers were excellent down here, and the middle order have fired as well. A very contented drive back for all.

Thursday 3^rd July

Recovery in the pool this morning was performed with a chorus of complaint. Why were we having this session when most people hadn’t done anything yesterday? I think it was a fair point but we did some swimming which I like so I wasn’t too peeved.

We’ve got the next few days off, back in on Tuesday. A few have taken this opportunity to take a mini-holiday; Charlie Shreck has returned to his roots in Cornwall; Darren Pattinson is in Ireland; and Chris Read is spending a couple of days in a spa!

In some ways I want to keep playing. But I’ll use this time for some gym and more Johnno bowling machine sessions. One of the autograph hunters took a picture of me and I was shocked at how much weight I’d put on. If I needed extra motivation, Jamil Qureshi, our psychologist, is getting married in October on a beach in the Seychelles. In my present state I’ll have conservation groups throwing water over me and trying to get me back into the sea.

Friday 4^th July

We are top of the table. It’s tight and there is a long way to go but at this stage, with 7 games gone, it’s a decent position to be in. I think Durham are a key side and we will need two solid results against them. I’m averaging 50 which I’m pretty happy about.

I spent this morning trawling the charity shops looking for a “cheap suit and shades” – the dress code for a team event at the races next Tuesday.

Wednesday 9^th July

It looks like we have been given a life line in the T20 – Yorkshire may have cocked up a registration of one the players who took the field against us in the crucial group game at TB a few weeks ago. Rob Ferley just kept repeating “gold dust, it’s absolute gold dust” as the drama unfolded on Monday. Mick seems to think that the most likely outcome of the hearing tomorrow is a replay of our game and the winners playing Durham. Name on the trophy?

Training this morning was pretty funny. Most of the guys sported Olympic hangovers from last night’s team event at the races and probably the last thing any of them wanted was a net followed by some circuits. It provided great entertainment especially when one of our fast bowlers, looking decidedly queasy, felt it was prudent to remain hovering by the door, just in case a dash to the loo was required.

Last night was a huge success. The guys love any opportunity to dress up in fancy dress and there were some superb outfits. Darren Pattinson had found a suit someone had died in, Mark Footitt looked like Micky from Only Fools and Horses, and Graeme Swann was straight from the set of Miami Vice. Unfortunately, Mark Ealham had a different sense of a “cheap suit” was, wearing one he paid £400 for about 10 years ago. It was pointed out that a) not only was that not cheap by today’s standards but, b) accounting for inflation over the intervening decade, it was probably worth several thousand pounds (maths at this time of night was not an exact science). He claimed to have had it “valued” at £18.50, an argument that fell on deaf ears.

Thursday 10^th July

After practice this morning I drove down to Edgbaston to commentate on the T20 quarter final against Kent for Radio 5 Live. I enjoyed it; I think given half a chance it’s something I’d like to do more of. After the game I did 10 minutes on Darren Gough’s show. It had just been announced that Yorkshire are disqualified from the competition. Apparently they were aware of problems with Azeem Rafiq’s registration last year but had done nothing about it. Yorkshire are planning to appeal, Durham aren’t happy and the whole situation is pretty messy with no one coming out with much credit. Goughy was irate and I sympathised. They had to come to TB and win to go through, something they did easily. Yet, through no fault of their own, they won’t be playing in the semis. And of course the turmoil in Azeem’s life now must be awful. I said that the only silver lining might be a discussion within the game about the nature of Kolpaks, overseas, locals, EU and the myriad routes to qualification within the game. It has been going on without any real resolution for a while now, so may be this debacle will catalyse the process.

I’m heading off to bed as I’ve got an early alarm call. I want to get a 3G iPhone tomorrow but it looks like I’m going to have to get to the shop first thing to have any chance. There’s a fair amount of rain around so I’m gambling that I’ll get some time for a bit of a kip during the day. Rational argument goes out the window though when it comes to Apple products – it’s all in the heart!

Friday 11^th July

4.30am: can’t sleep (feels just like Christmas morning), and hate the thought of wasting an hour in bed when the queues could be forming. Check the forecast – bugger, heavy showers have turned into light rain at best. Too late to change my mind though. Drive into town, completely deserted, just hope there isn’t a huge queue already. It’s 5.15 and I turn the corner to see….a tramp huddled under a blanket sitting on a piece of cardboard and a guy on a foldaway chair. Elation! The “tramp” turns out to be a lovely guy who got there at 4.30, pretty impressive we agree. None of us have queued for anything before, and we chat about the phone and our collective love for all things Apple. My initial elation, however, turns into uncertainty. Have we been duped by the pre launch publicity? Have we horribly misjudged demand? By 6am a few more have joined, although we are still getting strange looks from the passers-by. By 7.45, 15 minutes before the opening, there are about 50 people in the line and those of us at the front are feeling pretty smug and pleased with ourselves. A guy arrives expecting, I think, to be one of the first people and is clearly disappointed. He trudges off to the back but 5 minutes later comes back up.

“OK, I’m going to put this out there, I’ll buy your position off you.”

Fantastic, this is what queuing is all about. What’s he going to offer - £500, or more, perhaps 4 figures?

“£20. Cash.”

I’m too stunned to say anything and so are the other two. This guy clearly hasn’t a clue and definitely doesn’t deserve the coveted pole position. He’s rebuffed instantly and, despite an increase to £25, he has to retake his previous position

When the doors open there is a big cheer and the three of us nervously walk in. Will the system crash? Will everything go through? 10 minutes later I am the first to walk out of the store with my brand new 3G iPhone. I show it off like a trophy as I leave the store but then remember it’s Nottingham I’m in and so quickly shove it into another bag and hurry to the car.

The cricket today was curtailed due to rain. Seeing the Surrey line-up has made me think about the parallels between us and the Surrey team of the 90’s. They had 4 or 5 players in the England side who used to come in for the big one day games when there was no international cricket. The announcement a few days ago of the provisional 30 man squad for the Champions trophy contained 5 Notts players: Sidebottom, Broad, Swann, Pattinson and Patel. There is a decent chance that all 5 will make it into the main squad. It’s great for all those involved and it reflects well on the club, but it does pose a challenge to have a strong enough squad to cover their absences.

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