Thursday 1 March 2012

Unexpected...

England’s cricketers have returned home, the second part of the UAE tour was far more successful than the first. Firstly the ODI series finished with England winning 4-0. Cook, KP and Finn were star performers, the latter has surely put himself forward for a test berth this summer? Lastly we won the T20 series 2-1. As nice as it was to save a bit of face on this tour, all genuine cricket fans would swap these two limited over series wins for a test series win, that one still hurts!

Next up, after a couple of weeks R&R, England will have another tough tour of Sri Lanka. As expected Eoin Morgan has lost his place, who takes it will depend on what kind of balance England want. Most likely is Ravi Bopara, who has scored hundreds at six in the past and can chip in with a few overs of medium pace. Other options are seam bowling all-rounder Tim Bresnan or spinning all-rounder Samit Patel. After watching England struggle against Pakistan’s spinners I’d expect a couple of turning pitches in SL. However I think England will have learnt a lot from this defeat, since Murali’s retirement, SL don’t have the same quality of bowler as Pakistan has. I think England will win the test series but the ODI’s could go any way!

As usual I have a book or two on the go. A while ago I read & liked “White tiger” by Arvind Adiga so bought the follow up “Between the Assassinations”. As a snap shot of India at a point in history, (the good, the bad and the ugly,) it’s an interesting and entertaining read. However it would have been a lot better with a thread to link it all together in my opinion. A decent read but not as good as his first book.

Now I like Stephen Fry. I like his TV programs, I like his humour and the way he uses language, ‘Moab is my wash pot’ is a really good read. I really dislike Stephen Fry’s football team but I forgive him for this weakness because I know he’s a passionate cricket fan. I received “Mrs Fry’s Diary” for Christmas and high expectations, it just had to be funny…didn’t it?

Well, the answer is no. By the time you’ve read through January, you’ve read the whole book. It’s not funny, it’s actually excruciatingly bad. I read through to the end because I’m stubborn and because surely Stephen Fry is better than this? Surely there has to be some saving grace to this book? There wasn’t. This book is so bad I find it difficult to believe Stephen Fry wrote it. I can’t remember the last book I read that was as disappointing as this one. Avoid at all costs.