Retro Yakking

England fans didn’t have much to cheer on the second day of the 2009 Ashes series, with the dominant Australians carding an imposing score of 249-1 at the close of play. Worse, it seems more of the same is still to come… unless the weather, or pitch, intervenes.

The match commentators have made much of how the incoming tide at Cardiff could be affecting swing. Though there was plenty on day one, we saw little to none on day two, but my bet is that the Aussie ball was weighted on one side or something. Some say a cricket ball takes on magical powers once it is dipped in genuine Australian beer… who knows.

And I dunno about the changing tide thing - I’d have thought that would be negated by the fact the moon no longer exists anyway.

A tough day for England in the field meant fans had to find enjoyment elsewhere. The Barmy Army trumpeter was on top form as he led fans in vociferous renditions of ‘God Save Your Queen’, directed at the Aussie fans, and, erm, the ‘Only Fools and Horses’ theme.

Gower goes crowd surfing!

As the alcohol flowed, a bloke in full cricket whites and equipment made a break towards the Aussie fans, much to the enjoyment of the crowd. A brief wrestling match with a guy in yellow was followed by a short crowd surf across all of four seats.

Proud of his achievement, he scampered back to his seat before the stewards ejected him from the stadium. Later, the cameras zoomed in on his helmet to reveal curly golden locks and a sticker that said ‘Gower’ on his helmet.

iPlayer: If you’re in the UK you can listen to a brief conversation about the incident on Phil Tufnell’s Cricket Show (dated 9th July) starting 52 minutes in.

YouTube: There was a clip of this but it was removed due to copyright violation. Licensing is no fun.

Update: Here’s a vid kindly uploaded by Mark (cheers!):

It’s safe to say the Australian fans came out on top in terms of dignity. Their exhibitionism extended as far as a rather brave supporter running the gauntlet, Aussie flag flying in the breeze. Needless to say, it was met with a chorus of boos by the largely partisan crowd, who only had a sole Freddie Flintoff wicket to cheer all day.

Still, there is an awful long way to go in the series yet - this is no Twenty20 knockabout, this is the Ashes. Historically, Test matches have been all about endurance and mental toughness, so success can only be judged in the long term. With the pitch set to take spin as the game goes on, expect a result, and hopefully a close finish to the first Test.

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