The Ashes - 2013 part one

clee984

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Ooo yeah, although there is that usual pre-ashes mixture of hubris and sweaty palms. Hopefully I'll get to watch some of it rather than having to follow it all online.
 

mirandashell

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I shall be listening to TMS all day, as usual. I refuse to give my money to that skank Murdoch so unfortunately I'm stuck.

Although to be fair, I do love TMS and I have bought a personal DAB radio so I can hear it on the way home from work.
 

clee984

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There's nothing not to love about TMS, I recall once collapsing in a fit of laughter when Blowers described Brett Lee as "having hands on hips, like a disgruntled teapot."
 

mirandashell

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Dear Old Blowers! LOL! He does make me laugh. I miss CMJ terribly, he was so very English in his humour. And Bill Frindle as well.
 

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I'll definitely be watching, with the TV muted and TMS on the radio. The only thing I don't like about TMS is Aggers.
 

mirandashell

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Really? I love Aggers. The only one I don't like out of the home commentators is Simon Mann. I'm hoping Alison Nicholas will be there. And I expect Tuffers and Vaughny will be punditing. But not Alec Stewart, please. He's dull.
 

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Do you mean Alison Mitchell? I like her a lot. I was going to say that I particularly like Simon Mann! :D If they replaced Aggers with Alison Mitchell, I'd be very happy.

Edit: I only realised today that the person I've thought of as "Simon Mann" all this time is actually Ed Smith! Now I have to work out who Simon Mann is... :D
 
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clee984

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I miss CMJ terribly, he was so very English in his humour.

Agreed, a big loss, I always regard Richie Benaud as being the "voice" of cricket, and CMJ as being the "pen" (his name was invariably on the byline of any cricket article I read as a kid).

I like Aggers too, and nothing against Glenn McGrath, at all, but I really enjoyed Matthew Hayden's commentary - he may have been humourless on the field, but he's hilarious off it ("At Headingley, if you listen carefully, you can actually hear the blades of grass asking Geoffrey Boycott's permission to grow").
 

mirandashell

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Do you mean Alison Mitchell? I like her a lot. I was going to say that I particularly like Simon Mann! :D If they replaced Aggers with Alison Mitchell, I'd be very happy.

D'oh! Of course it's Alison Mitchell. My apologies. Lor knows where I got Nicholas.
 

ajaye

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I shall be listening to TMS all day, as usual. I refuse to give my money to that skank Murdoch so unfortunately I'm stuck.

Although to be fair, I do love TMS and I have bought a personal DAB radio so I can hear it on the way home from work.

Does this mean you don't get the Ashes on free to air telly? Boo hiss. We didn't get the Champions Trophy on free coverage, but the Ashes will be, starting here from about 8.30pm. Only one more sleep. Then I shall have to juggle with le tour. Wheeeeeee.
 

ajaye

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There's nothing not to love about TMS, I recall once collapsing in a fit of laughter when Blowers described Brett Lee as "having hands on hips, like a disgruntled teapot."

How utterly marvellous. I want him. I'll swap you for Ian Healey. And I'll throw in Tubby Taylor.
 

clee984

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Does this mean you don't get the Ashes on free to air telly? Boo hiss. We didn't get the Champions Trophy on free coverage, but the Ashes will be, starting here from about 8.30pm. Only one more sleep. Then I shall have to juggle with le tour. Wheeeeeee.

In Britain, test cricket used to be on free to air telly - first with the bbc, then in 1999 it went to Channel 4, who revolutionised it, bringing in things like Hawk-eye, the tactics truck etc. Then after 2005 it went to the evil empire. There was some controversy as to why home test matches (the ashes in particular) aren't considered to be one of the 'crown jewel' sporting events that legally have to be on free-to-air tv (along with FA Cup soccer, the world cup, Olympics, Wimbledon etc). It used to irritate me slightly when I lived in England, because test cricket is literally the only thing I would have watched on sky tv, but I'm not paying for it on principle.
 

waylander

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Should be a fascinating series. I'm sure the Australians will make it much closer than many people are expecting. The opportunity is there for some Aussie cricketer to make his name.
 

ajaye

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Let's hope you're right Waylander :)
 

Torgo

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Should be a fascinating series. I'm sure the Australians will make it much closer than many people are expecting. The opportunity is there for some Aussie cricketer to make his name.

And of course there's Michael Clarke to reckon with. I can see him putting some proper Aussie captain runs together this series.
 

waylander

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Weather forecast looks good for Trent Bridge
 

waylander

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First Test starts tomorrow at Trent Bridge, Nottingham and the forecast is dry for the duration of the match. Possibly cloudy for the first day.