Jubilationists,
Walked into a betting shop soon after the Disaster in the Ol' Dart, and checked the odds for the return bout in the Colonies, and they were offering 12/1 about five-nil in Straya's favour.
Did the fool take it?
Of course not, much to my chagrin.
'06-'07, which included the very famous "Never in Doubt" test match in Adelbrain, which was graced with my presence, has been imprinted onto my brain matrix forever.
Pup says he recalls '06-'07 under Ponting "like it was yesterday" but admits he's too young to remember Warwick Armstrong.
This five-nil rates right up there with that.
Did like the team on the dias doing a rendition of the tune we all know and love "five-nil! Five-nil! five-nil!" etc et al.
Brilliant.
In all the hype, the contribution of the Baby Faced Killer is all but overlooked, but his knock won the test match, no doubt, and you'd reckon SPD Smith is looking at a stellar career, now that he's finally, obviously the goods.
Tons is what it is all about son.
Just one example of MJ Clarke's brilliant captaincy - absolutely loved his quasi-Bodyline field for the gentleman of colour, Carberry.
You could see it coming a mile off, he had Johnno working him over good and proper to get him to a brilliant unsighted catch at an unusually-placed leg gully.
Clarkey is thinking all the time, unlike Captain Cook, who spends a lot of time in the field scratching his head.
No matter that Pup had a double failure, and got out both times to nothing shots; he could have put out the sheet anchor, but there wasn't much point under the circumstances, with the match rattling along like a freight train.
A couple of miracle catches is normally contribution enough.
Was toying with the idea of attending the cricket ground for Day Four for the denoument, but it passed me, and everyone else, by - it would have been a very lonely day out.
Fancy doing the hapless tourists over by 281 runs in well less than three days?
They didn't even get close to batting out 50 overs in the 4th innings.
As Boycott said "they were humiliated by a good Australian side, not a great one, and should be ashamed of themselves"
In truth, England were shot birds the moment Trott absented himself ill and went home, and were fully cooked and ready for carving when Swann retired.
Never mind that Straya waged a perfect example of sporting "pysch war".
The Poms are currently banged up in the Rozelle Mental Hospital, which is right next door to the NSW State Home for the Bewildered, to which they will be transferred in due course.
The Stats Guru delighted in pointing out that every single one of the available 100 English wickets were taken, and is still trying to work out if that's a first in Ashes history.
A bit off topic here, but nice of the SCG Trust to spend how many (?) millions of dollars on a very spacious new stand for the exclusive use of the Members, as it's always been?
In the meantime, the old Members Pavilion could use a lick of paint!
My spy at the ground was admitted to the new pile and visited a few bars, which he found very much to his liking..."will be good for the football".
Interesting that The Trust have declined to the change the name of the thing; it's still the MA Noble Stand closest to the Members pav, and the Bradman Stand on the other side, with Dally Messenger getting a plaque on the concourse.
Thought it was the perfect opportunity to rename it the Waugh Twins Stands, given their exploits at the ground.
You could ring people up and say you were sitting in either the "Steve end" or the "Mark end".
But no, you have to be long dead to have a stand named after you.
Just ask Pat Hills or Doug Walters, who had a stand in his honour in his own lifetime that stood for a while on the ruins of The Hill, only to have it shamefully thieved off him by that rude bastard Rodney Cavalier for the re-build to be re-branded the Trumper Stand, in an act of sheer bastardry and shabby treatment.
That's going to really piss off for all me born days; even wrote a protest letter to the The Trust in those terms at the time, and of course received no reply.
What did Trumper ever do?
Walters, lad from Dungog who didn't mind a drink and a smoke, thought the test match in Sydney was a field day, and played accordingly, to much wild applause and universal acclaim.
The record speaks for itself.
The ultimate crowd-pleaser.
There's a reason why KD Walters is among the only 30 people who have been made Life Members of the SCG, most of whom are now dead.
But we digress.
There is no doubting that MJ Clarke's captaincy throughout - in the grand scheme of things - won it for them in the end.
Haven't seen anthing like it since Chappelli.
When Pup got them into order in Brisbane and {scored a ton} and said to the dressing room "we can do this rabble five-nil", they took him at his word.
They were on a mission from God & Boof, and achieved it in a most marvellous fashion.
Even though the skipper said Seth Efreaker would be the last thing on his mind on Sunday night as he had the graciousness to treat the vanquished team to silver trays of middies of VB in the Strayan rooms served by bow-tied waiters from the adjacent Members Bar, he knows full well that a brace of test matches on the Veldt will be a very different kettle of fish altogether.
He won't be taking no triumphalism to the RSA.
Go you good thing, all power to your oars.
