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Published: February 10th 2007
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We didn’t get up the next day until 10am - our longest lay in yet! We made our way into Melbourne about midday in time for the cricket which started at 2.15pm. We thought we had to get a couple of things to wear just to prove who we were supporting so Stu bought an England cap and a flag and Kerry bought a Barmy Army t-shirt. The MCG is huge and there was a crowd of over 38,000. Although this was apparently quite empty compared to previous matches as there is a capacity of nearly 80,000! (see pics). It was so easy to just walk in and find a seat, we made sure we were fairly close to a few English fans and the majority of the Barmy Army! The weather was perfect, full sun but with a light haze of cloud cover so we didn’t get toasted and a refreshing breeze, we got the beers in and sat down just in time for it to start. This was the 1st final (best of 3) of the ODI (One Day International) triangular series. England had managed to join Australia in the final after seeing off New Zealand 2 days prior.
Australia had won the toss and chose to bat 1st and managed to get to a convincing 170 for 1 - we though that the Aussies might be on their way to a huge total at the end of their 50 overs. That was until a break through came for England when batsman Matthew Haydn got caught on the boundary going for a big six whilst on 82 and the Aussie Captain, Ricky Ponting was caught spectacularly whilst on 75 from a diving catch by Paul Collingwood. The fun and games didn’t stop there either, Paul Collingwood managed to run out 2 more Aussies with pinpoint direct hits and the tail end of the Aussie batting order didn’t put much more of a fight, especially fast bowling legend Glen McGrath who was ‘celebrating’ his 37th birthday today and taking part in his final international at the MCG, who got bowled clean out for a duck (0) by a thunderous Yorker from our captain, Andrew ‘Freddie’ Flintoff. The Aussies were all out for 252 with an over and half remaining.
HALF TIME in the proceedings saw a live band come out and do a few numbers on the back of
a wheeled trailer whilst loads of little kiddies played a few different games of Kwik Cricket to keep the fans entertained! The Aussies came out to field and the English openers Joyce and Loye took their places. Then disaster struck with only one run on the board - Loye was out LBW to the bowling of Aussie top fast bowler Brett Lee. Lee then managed to see off Joyce who fumbled a big shot straight to birthday boy McGrath - 14 for 2. This saw the next batsman come in, the usually solid Andrew Strauss - 2 balls later he was on his way back - LBW from the Beckham of Aussie cricket, Nathan Brachen, 15 - 3. OH DEAR. By this time all the Aussies were cheering and most of the Barmy Army, including Stu had their heads in their hands and wondered how bad the drubbing and humiliation would get. Next man up for us Poms was star fielder Paul Collingwood who joined Ian Bell our in the middle with a huge, seemingly impossible task a head of them. They had to get another 238 runs in the remaining 44 overs. It was really difficult for us to
watch for about an hour as Bell and Collingwood felt their way into their innings, sneaking the odd run here and there. Then (on 33-3) a mistimed pull shot from Bell sailed up and over towards a waiting Glen McGrath, the birthday boy saw a relatively simple catch coming towards him. Stu was about to get up and leave, when the ball flew through McGrath’s fingers and smacked him in the fact and plopped harmlessly to the floor. The Barmy Army went wild an started laughing - McGraths body language showed he was not a happy bunny. That moment seemed to be the let off that sparked some life into the England boys. They picked up the pace and made a partnership of 113 runs until Bell got bowled clean by a ripper from Brett Lee. 148 - 4. Next up for England was the captain ‘Freddie’ Flintoff, the guy who can ‘tonk it’ with the very best of them! Freddie found his stride fairly early on and hit the only six of the English Innings - there was a scare or two when both Freddie and Collingwood nearly got ran out. Thanks to guess who, Glen McGraths for fumbling
a sure fire stumping to compound his miserable birthday. Things were really going along well until Freddie tried to slog it again, only to get a fine edge and get caught behind for 35. We were back in it now at 222 - 5! The atmosphere in the ground was amazing. You could feel the tension, it was so thick you could cut it with a cricket bat! Next in was Jamie Dalrymple who got himself ran out cheaply for 3. The upper hand then fell back to the Aussies. We were 225 - 6 with only a few overs remaining. Wicket Keeper, Paul Nixon, was up next (Stu still reckons his mate Chris Read - the Notts wicked keeper is far far better and should be England’s No.1 choice) and joined Man of the Match Collingwood who had already managed to reach his Century. The remaining target was now down to 33 runs from 31 balls. The England pair managed to keep the runs trickling through until we needed just 4 more runs to win from the last 6 balls. It only took three - (see video). Paul Collingwood hit the winning runs (finishing unbeaten on 120) to see
us come back from the brink of despair to win an amazing match, as you can understand the Barmy Army went mental!!!!! It is amazing how quickly the stadium emptied - hee hee. We had plenty of smiles on our faces due to the win and maybe from the plonk we had put away too! We left the stadium at about 10.30pm, after having a great day and what a game to see for Kerry’s first ever cricket match! We had to laugh though throughout the day as rowdy supporters, drunken spectators and the worst of all, Mexican Wave Starters were forcibly ejected from the arena. Yes folks, the Mexican wave has been banned for Health and Safety reasons, what’s the world coming to? The Aussie answer to the Barmy Army ‘The Fanatics’ managed to cheat the system by doing a mass Mexican wave start by doing a countdown from 5, then about 300 of them started simultaneously, therefore avoiding being ejected. Another alternative they came up with was the ‘Aussie Wave’. This was similar to the Mexican wave but what you do is stand up, turn to the right and wave at the people to your right with both
hands as if to say “G’day”. They then wave back at you and pass the wave to their right etc etc.
We jumped on the tram back to our campsite, which was a 15 minute walk from the tramstop and got chatting to a nice older couple from England who were also travelling and had already done 3 months in NZ so they gave us a few hints and tips on where to go. We got to bed at around midnight and slept through till 10.30am again!
ENG-UR-LAND! ENG-UR-LAND! ENG-UR-LAND!
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