1427 A Cricket Scandal

What started a good day became an increasingly frustrating day and is a classic example of how organisation take decisions with little or regard for the public which finances their continued existence.

These are the facts known to me and which are significantly at variance at what is being presented to the public, although statements now being made which are at a variance to which were made earlier.

The issue is when Durham Cricket Club which has a duty to care for its Membership, visiting Members and the public in general were first notified by visiting team Yorkshire and the English Cricket Board that the game should not take place until a decision was taken if Yorkshire was to be excluded from the rest of the competition. In an ideal world the Chief Executives or whoever was responsible for what happened to Members and supporters should offer their resignations and these should be accepted. Nothing less will undo the damage to the integrity of the Board and the two Clubs. I am particularly concerned that it is evident that Durham continued to take money at the turnstiles and allow ticket holders into the ground after they were aware that the game should not take place.

I arrived at the ground and was at the ticket car park ticket machine with others at precisely 4pm in order to qualify for the four hour payment period after which car parking was free. There was surface water in one car park and in the adjacent parkland so when a steward outside the ground said it had only just opened because there was a question mark over the game taking place, I assumed this concerned the weather conditions, and this may have been the case.

Because it looked as if it could start to rain again I made my way to the Member's lounge and the covered balcony where a vacant seat was found a short distance away from a Sky TV camera position. I settled down to read an evening paper after buying a non alcoholic drink at the bar wondering if I had made a mistake in bringing sandwiches instead of investing in a large plate of chips of £1.50. I was surprised that although the wicket was uncovered with the stumps ready for play, neither team was out as usual warming up and entertaining supporters. When a slight rain commenced the pitch was quickly covered and a announcement made that play would be delayed because of the weather and more information would be provided. However I quickly learnt that the prolonged but slight shower was not the cause of the delay as the Sky Cameraman while connected to his production staff told at least two Durham Members and one from Durham that Yorkshire had been played an ineligible player in a previous round of the competition and had been told they could be removed from the competition and were therefore refusing to play unless the threat was lifted and they were not even prepared to play an exhibition match. It was further disclosed that Yorkshire had been made aware of the problem last week and that they had expected fine because of the technicalities. However it was subsequently discovered that although the player had a work and stay permit he was not a British subject and Yorkshire already had their quota of overseas players so they would have to end the contract of one to acquire another.

I have great sympathy for the Yorkshire players who after losing in the Friend's Provident semi final last week were seeing their hopes of reaching another final dashed because of the administration failure, but I do not understand why having been advised of the position in the morning the match was immediately called off or postponed before people travelled, incurred parking charges and in some instances paid cash for admittance at the turnstiles. My accusation is that the decided that unless the threat of elimination was withdrawn they were not going to play. It is difficult to also understand why Durham did not stop further admission once they knew there was a major problem and why it was an hour before they announced the game would not take place yesterday or today when weather permitting it could also have been played.

What is also of concern is that the majority in the crowd were oblivious to the situation as they were officially told by club that the delay was due to weather conditions and when about an hour later we were official told the position the rain had stopped for some time and the sun had come out and that the announcer said the decision not to play has just been taken. What an amazing coincidence given that the players had not come out for their warm up either before the rain or as soon as it stopped. While the English board must share major responsibility with Yorkshire Durham Management cannot pretend they were in the hands of others. The could and should have informed their Members and supporters as soon as they became aware that play was unlikely.

I have previously mentioned that four of the five matches in the league part of the competition were delayed and had no result because of rain Those attending had incurred transport coasts and car parking. There were no complaints about the club or conduct of the players. Yesterday everyone was incensed about the situation and I have never experienced such a reaction at a cricket match as was witnessed in the Member's lounge and then on the way to vehicles. The integrity and reputation of both clubs has been severely dented. What then upset me more was the spin that both clubs put on the situation afterwards.

Today after reporting my experience to the clubs and the ECB I went to out to buy the regional daily paper but before calling at the nearest newsagents visited a new convenience store which is about the third attempt to make use of the former local post office an earlier casualty in the closure of such facilities. Although they had copies of daily newspapers they did not have the journal so I made my way out after having a quick look around what was on display but missed that there was a step and went crashing into a display unit hit my nose fiercely against a metal tray and splitting the skin on my nose so that blood flowed profusely. I did not think I had broken anything but agreed that an ambulance b called who first checked that I had not been knock insomnious on hit myself more severely but confirmed that I would need to have the wound glued, was an expression not previously encountered. The ambulance came quickly but the process of being booked in to the District General, seeing a nurse seeing a doctor and seeing a nurse again took over two hours, one suspects because having a head injury they wanted plenty of time to ensure there were other consequences. I was given a card which listed the symptoms which if felt I should return. I had gone out for the paper around 10.30 and it was half past two when I returned by taxi, enjoying telling the tale on the journey.

However I had wasted half a day but thankful that the injury had not be worse. It was washing day, the ordinary washing of clothes for the week, washing the jacket and handkerchiefs separately and then a third wash of a cover of the settee because it is white and required washing through normal usage. I also did a dusting and a tidy planned for the day leaving the vacuuming and floors tomorrow and the bathroom for Thursday morning and then settled down to watching cricket on Sky TV!

1426 Lulu in the Park British Grand Prix and Wimbledon Tennis

Having gone to bed at one am and risen several times, going back to sleep, but not feeling I had done so on waking, and then getting up before six full of asleep and unhappy with myself but without any obvious cause, I knew it was not going to be the good day I hoped for. And for a time this seemed to be so.

I had problems getting online. I messed up at chess and failed to win several games at Hearts. When I did get online I learnt of the death of Clive Normby who played Jack Sugden in Emmerdale for 28 years at the age of 63, six years younger than me. I was pleased that I had rejoiced at being alive despite the uncomfortable night and that I accepted that another day of strong showers meant that that I would miss the concert of Lulu in the park.

I continued to sort and scan photos coming the last few of phase one although the task of converting slides to photos would then be a long process. I turned my attention to the British Grand Prix and the news that in 2010 the contract had been signed for a move to Donnington Park near Derby a better location from the transport viewpoint although multi million expenditure was required in order to create the latest world class racing track and facilities. The weather conditions would make the penultimate Grand Prix at Silverstone an interesting race although I was grateful I was watching from the comfort from home without the long and slow drive here, the likelihood of watching in an open stand to the weather and then the long wait to get out of the car park and the crawl for hours to get away. The team 'mate' of Louis Hamilton was on the grid first and was also first away with a member of the Red Bull Team amazingly second and Louis fourth although in the first rush he passes these to take second place challenging his team mate who refused to give way, but then did so a little later. This was a race where drivers were spinning off as they hit surface laying water, some managing to get back on the track, but several finding themselves stuck in gravel and out of the race. The main question teams and drivers faced was which tyres to use with the intermediate wet which slowed lap times by about ten second or the full wets which cut the loss of time but if the track dried there were gains for the intermediate, and losses for the wet and reverse positions if it rained significantly.

There was one significant moment for Louis as both he and his closest rival entered the pits to change tyres and refuel, but amazingly the Ferrari did not change tyres and with Louis managing to exit half a second before he commenced to move away. He hit one patch of water later on which involved a minor spin but otherwise he drove according to the weather conditions and continued to win his first British Grand Prix, the first time there has been a British winner since 2000 and with his main rivals faltering he now leads the driving championship table with two others and with the second half the series to come. My day had changed.

Although it was still cloudy with the strong possibility of rain I considered going to the Lulu concert after a quick dash to the supermarket for batteries for the slide viewer, some onions for the stir fry and some pears. I had cooked a chicken for lunch with microwaved vegetables.

I could not park below the hill so returned the car to its garage and seizing my new £4 sports umbrella then walked down looking across to the Tynemouth priory and castle and the river piers before walking through North Marine Park and across South Marine still undergoing million pound renovations and into the concert park where there was one of the biggest crows I have experienced given the weather conditions.

Around 1964 I went to the cinema in Oxford and watched a short supporting feature called something like New Faces which featured new musical talent. It ended with a fifteen year old fiery Scottish lass wearing a shimmy dress with a strong accented voice sing Shout. This was Lulu with her backing group the Luvvers. The amazing aspect of her performance to-day at the age of sixty was that has lost none of that energy and was able to persuade the usually seated and sedate family audience to get on its feet and stomp to the beat. She was supported by a strong band and to young male dancers and backing singers. It did start to spit and then drizzle and for a time umbrellas were needed but unlike previous concerts the audience stayed and were attentive. Lulu was joined by local Jarrow singer song writer John Miles who once toured with Tina Turner, and his guitarist son, which was one high spot and then when she finished her hour long performance with Shout, followed by an encore, in sudden and temporary sunshine. She has had an amazing career with a joint winner of the European Song Contest Boom Bang a Bang! After working in America she had her own TV series which ran for seven years and then co hosted Oh Boy when it was revised in the 1980's. She also appeared on the West End Stage in the 1980's with Song and Dance Andrew Lloyd Webber and the National Theatre's production of Guys and Dolls. She sang the title song for the Man with the Golden Arm and continued to appear on radio and to record singles and albums. 23 or is 24 albums have been released and she has appeared in nine films including To Sir with Love I and II. Off stage there was her much publicised marriage to Maurice Gibbs, and they remained friends after it ended. She married again, in 1977 her hairdresser and they remained together until 1991 when they separated and then divorced in 1995. There is one son from the marriage. There was also the publicised romance with David Bowie. She was involved in a major car accident which threatened her singer career but recovered to be able to entertain those of all ages to this day. While never attaining the great heights of popularity and stardom she has remained a shinning example of the Scottish and British Entertainer putting to shame the one hit youngsters who continuously flat across our horizons. She has received the O.B.E and a Honorary Doctorate of Music.

When I returned the Spaniard Rafa Nadal, the humiliating conqueror of Andy Murray in the quarter finals, was two sets up on the five times in row Wimbledon Champion Roger Federer. Then with advantage to Nadal there was a long rain interruption in the third set which went to a tie break win to Roger and as did the fourth so the match was then all square at 2 sets each. There was a further break for rain which meant that there was the prospect of the game not finishing, especially as without a tie break it subsequently continued in the gloom to 7 games each, but then Nadal achieved the break in service to take the match. These brief words do nothing to convey the longest men's final of all time, the most exciting, the most concentrated quality performance in a final there has been. The physical and mental stamina was matched by courage and extraordinary skill which left former champion Boris Becker and would be champion Tim Henman were left speechless in awe. The gulf between the best of British tennis and the world's best is there for all to see.

It had therefore become a great day but with one disappointed. Having praised Catherine Tate for her acting in Dr Who she appeared on the Graham Norton Show, always a mistake suggesting desperation by an actor seeking publicity for their work. She revealed her lack of interest or understanding about the significance of the programme, but also the approach to her work in general which is to give herself wholehearted to her role of the day and then move on oblivious to its impact which was shown by the contrast in the reception she received to the equally well known and liked James Nesbitt of Cold Feet fame and subsequent series and individual performances. Her appearance underlined the myth that all publicity is good publicity but this was only a hiccup in what had become a great day.

1425 Christopher Eccleston is10th Dr Who and more cricket

It has been a poor night. I cannot say it has been a terrible night in that I was ill, I was not in pain, hungry or in distress, I just did not sleep well going to bed about 1 am rising three if not four times before getting up half asleep before five am and then getting myself awake with a cup of coffee and losing at Hearts and winning a few games of chess. I felt ready to finish my writing of last night, putting off making toast, and to further dissatisfaction, discovered I had wiped out the almost ready writing and saved the last few words without reversing the process to save to the point that I had reached, It had been that kind of day.

Although disappointed with the cricket, I still had hopes of going to Lords in mid August through Yorkshire who were playing in the second semi final at Essex anther team which has done well in the one day game and who Durham beat last year at this same stage. However I had forgotten that it is Essex that has Napier, he who scored 156 in the 20 20 game hitting six sixes. We have Mr Morkel who had performed so badly when it mattered most, but this was not to be the situation yesterday. Essex were clever concentrating on building up a solid total without losing early wickets and then allowing their middle order to achieve a good total, scoring 100 runs in the last ten overs with Mr Napier getting sixty of them. Sky would have liked him to have been put on earlier but wiser heads prevailed at Essex, knowing that Yorkshire's strength this year has been its bowling, but as at the Riverside, the way to approach a good playing surface on a warm and sunny day was to sue spin, good spin, which Durham lacked to control the flow of runs, and frustrate the batsman into making inappropriate and wicket losing strokes.

Although the weather was fine in Essex, at Chelmsford, a ground which I am yet to visit, here it changed and became dramatically, overcast for the morning when up to 2000 young people were descending on the beach for a sandcastle competition followed by a small parade to make the official start of the summer festival. It is not a crowd attracting parade other than Saturday shopper's and the families of the younger participants, which in this instances was just as well because it not only rained, but it was a hard rain. Usually at this time we have prolonged period of one form of weather, rain rain rain, or sun sun and more sun but this mixture makes planning days ahead difficult to impossible. Hopefully the weather would revert to that of Friday for the opening show by Lulu in the park on Sunday afternoon, but it did not feel that this would be so. The day had the feel of the two occasions of longer holidays in Scotland and one in Cornwall when it rained at some point almost every day, during the day time and remained overcast at other times and is why the two week holiday in Spain, Greece, the South of France, and Italy is so popular.

The absence of any incentive to go outside my home meant that I was able to work hard sorting and scanning photographs and should finish phase one of this project in terms of the subject matter later today, although creating DVD's may take a few days more.

There was also the second part of the Dr Who series finale which I hoped would prove as good as the first. I will go as far as saying that it should be regarded as the major TV event of the year and perhaps the best piece of non fiction broadcasting for sometime. I have yet to remember anything better constructed, engaging and satisfying in its conclusion.

Dr Who is a British phenomenon although it does has a good fan base in the USA through the science fiction channel and in Australia and Canada and is being shown in a number of other countries. It commenced in 1963 and ran until 1989 without a break, with audiences for new episodes varying between three and ten million, at times second only to the soaps. It was then briefly resurrected in 1996 and the developed of computerised special effects since the Millennium enabling the present series which commenced in 2005 and produced by BBC Wales to be planned as a more contemporary programme, but still aimed at an early evening family entertainment but after the youngest of children have been put to bed. Altogether there have been 751 episodes from the original low budget black and white, many of whose episodes have been wiped or lost without having been replaced such was the previous disregard for the history of the programme, to the present day cinema theatre quality with imaginative cleverly constructed scripts, great actors and expensive special effects.
However the format has remained the same although for the current runs each of the thirteen episodes is self contained with overall links, usually through the special companion or companions of the Doctor. As With the Doctor who has to change physical form from timer to time, the companions cone and go leaving him an essentially lone traveller, bearing the accumulative pain of all that he sees and feels. This does not mean he does not become very attached to his companions but he always as to do the right thing for them and their families as well as the future of the earth planet for which he has a special affection.

There have been ten Doctor Who's with those who watched every series having their favourites although those whose parents watch the series first with them, usually regarded that Doctor as special. My own are John Pertwee1970-1974 better known for his enactment pf the scarecrow Worzel Gummage and the softer performance of Peter Davidson, 1981-1984 but outshining them all is the present Doctor played by David Tennant who is showing a depth of performance even grater than Christopher Eccleston.

Throughout the forty five years of broadcasting the trade mark has remained Time Travelling with the TARDIS a police box on the outside but cavernous inside rather like my car and the outside appearance of my home. For many of not the majority of present day viewers the police box will be a curious concept whereas in my child hood it was a common feature on many a street corner alone with the AA and RAC boxes as dedicated phone line systems in addition to the red telephone boxes that were common on the streets of towns and where every village had at least one. The idea being that the time travel machine could land on any British Street and not provoke attention. A second consistency as been the major alien baddies, the Cybermen and worst of all the Daleks, preposterous as frightening or threatening creatures but always almost successful in enslaving the world. The third consistency has been the theme music devised Ron Grainer and realised by Delia Derbyshire of the BBC Radiophonic workshop.

Thirty five actors and actresses have played time travelling companions and one of the significant aspects of the 2008 finale is the bringing together of everyone who has been a companion or assistant together and devising a way in which Rose played by Billy Piper could have a one heart and therefore mortal Doctor look alike to live with in her parallel universe. I have previously commented that at first I thought that Catherine Tate was great in the one off 2007 Christmas special but found it difficult to become the girl next door character which has been a feature of the programme and enables audience identification. As this series progressed I thought Catherine Tate stopped being Catherine Tate and became a believable Donna Noble and last night he scriptwriters brought the two together in a performance which should win her awards, revealing her to be an extraordinary actress as well as a brilliant comedienne. So why the rave review and commendations. It was at this point I went to bed last night, from tiredness rather than lack of an answer the posed question. The story, although complex with its constant twist and turns was credible, fast moving and funny. It was also sad and realistic an where the special effects added to the overall effectives but were never the objective and because it tied everyone and everything thing into the last episode in a show of getting together faced with a common enemy which was also a message to the nation at large.

The previous day I had written about the timely showing of Fallout about the knife murder of a black school boy by at black gang member from the same school and neighbourhood. Yesterday the police announced that the government were requiring them to make the war against street crimes of this kind the number one priority.

1424 Fallout at Cricket

It has been a glorious warm and sunny day. Pity about the cricket. On Friday night as yet again relatives and friends of a murdered teenager took to the streets of London there was an excellent feature film called Fallout, not the fall out from atomic and nuclear weapons, the falling out between black friends attending a school in a deprived part of London. The plot was a brilliant examination of what happens when young people are overwhelmed by their undeveloped emotions in an uneducated straight jacket of a culture, and where parents are ill equipped to respond when their children commence to go off the rail, often because they were never on the rails themselves.

The victim of the film had created problems for himself when he refused to participate with the rest of the class in ignoring a newly appointed teacher. I am not for a moment suggesting he contributed in anyway to his own murder, but it is the way it is if you stand out from the norm whatever that norm is.
In my first year of school, because I had been held back at my previous school, and then failed the eleven plus examination I was placed in first year at the John Fisher school in the lowest stream of my chronological year which was full of aggressive misfits and bullies and where if you a became a witness to any misbehaviour in class you would speak out at your peril. I was fortunate in that I was able to move into a higher stream early on in the term and then into the A stream when C was amalgamated with B and by the time I was back in B I had physically developed through cycling and was part of a small group at school which meant I was not picked on. This contrasts with the situation where the school environment reflects that of the home and there is little opportunity, if any, to come under the influence of anyone who can tune in and offer you not just different experiences but the opportunity to make use of that that experience.

In the film this victim appears to have been asked to sit next to the girl friend of the most volatile member of the gang and when she makes a pass at him when doing evening work at the local café and he rejects her advances she alleges to her boyfriend that the victim has made a pass at her. She therefore provokes a situation out of revenge for being rejected and is as culpable of the murder as the young man who did the stabbing. She represented many a young woman in today's society who believe that all they have to offer is their bodies and their behaviour towards everyone is governed by this presumption which in many instances becomes the reality. They have had no responsible training for parenthood, being a partner in a long term relationship, or making any contribution to their wider society. The murderer has the emotions of a baby who is given a real knife to play with. The victim is not only stabbed but left to die by another gang member who wishes she looked and was desired in the same way as the girl friend of the murderer. She will do anything for her friend including stealing clothes for her and towards the end of the film expresses a willingness to tell the police what she has seen, not out of any sudden remorse and desire to bring justice to the family of the victim but because a substantial reward has been offered and this is the immediate way out of the situation enabling them to go on an extended holiday acting out the lives as footballer's wives. The It girls and there are countless magazines and TV programmes promoting the concept that young girls should want to be It girls. The girls who fall for this dangerous nonsense are not the scum of society, nor indeed those who work on the programmes and magazines just as those who work in the cigarette factories or make armaments, (someone has to make all those cluster bombs) are not social scum. The scum are those who know the harm their products do but continue with the production because of the profit. However we are all culpable when we know the connections and do nothing. Some are more culpable that others. Politicians, religious leaders, and media controllers being the leading ones.

The twist in the film is that a black detective, poster boy, is attached to the investigation team because in theory he should be more able to connect with the community, a community which he hates because it was where he originated. The film does not turn him into the hero, who in fact is the white sceptical partner who resents the tokenism and promotion irrespective of ability and then intervenes when poster boy starts to go off the rails in the way he behaves towards suspects. OK he has the talk jive and knows all the moves but he fails to unravel what actually happened, and why, because is over emotionally involved. We learn the truth, only because the girl works out she will remain imprisoned until she can exorcise the demon of what happened, and she does this by calling on the mother of the murdered victim and through this act both she and the parent achieve a resolution they can live with. The film is brilliant because it shows that the whole process of the justice system, the police, the prosecution process, the courts and custodial and punishments systems while essential to society are superfluous in terms of prevention and treatment and, in some aspects are counter productive. Those who draw the conclusion that this means there should be wholesale dismantling or changing of the justice system are as mistaken as those who went ahead in the seventies and created a revolution in the education, health and social services system. The systems needed to change but the idea that you improve quality by changing systems remains as ludicrous as the idea that handing out large dollops of cash produces desired change without identifying the effective change makers and giving them the authority and the power as well as ensuring they are controllable.

Admittedly I did not think about any of this as I sat in the sun at the Riverside for the greater part of yesterday. I and not expected the extent of the sunshine as the clouds were rain bearing when I set off around 10, deciding to do some major shopping, two chickens, two joints of pork and two packs of peppered steak along with some more bread, tins of tomato soup and baked beans, a large jar of large unstoned olives, a cucumber and some tomatoes and patched red pears together wither some frozen rugged roast potatoes and frozen vegetables.I forgot the onions and the decaffeinated coffee. Originally I was only going for weekend essentials but decided to do the shop and return home to place in fridge and freezer. This led to setting off for the ground with some dark rain looking clouds overhead until just before reaching the ground around 11am and parking close to the river wear.

The red sports umbrella looked as if it would necessary as I made my way to on an aisle seat by the bowler's arm, but at the wrong end of the ground to view the sky super screen scoreboard. It has been the situation than whenever Sky appeared as a North East sports events the regional team lost or played badly or both. The kiss of death this morning was to listen to early Sky commentary which drew attention that Durham had not lost a one day game at home for more than a year.

However the loss was mostly of our own making although not to take away from a magnificent performance by Kent who have made great strides wining the 20 20 last year and now look unstoppable. It also has to be said that some Durham bowlers performed exceptionally well especially my hero Liam Plunkett whose ten over cost less than forty runs as Kent smashed their way to over 300 for the loss of four wickets and with a partnership which led to two centuries and a score of 190 for one wicket at one point. The Durham failure mainly rests with rested with Mr Morkel who is a flash in the pan hitter who can turn matches but in this instance did so with a 7 over for 75 runs closing performance and then striking out for only nine runs. Durham had a horrendous start losing two wickets for two runs but then Captain Beckenstein and Will Smith commenced to score at he required rate with both reaching their 50's. What turned the game was a very tight spin bowler and a controlled medium paced bowler at the other end who quickly established a line and a length which made scoring strokes difficult without taking risks. Yesterday the risk had to be taken but did not come off.

However this match may have turned on one bad decision by the umpire who gave Di Venuto out LBW when the replays showed that the ball had got from bat to pad. It was not to be Durham's day. Pity because having missed going to Lord's last year to celebrate the Durham win, it began to look as a visit this year was likely. It still could be if Yorkshire win away into day's match as along with Surrey, they are teams with past associations which I can support. We shall see later to day and again on Monday when Durham face their next test.

1420 Tennis The reign of Andy Murray begins

Monday became a wonderful day. One of those day days when you hope an event will combine brilliant play with excitement and a nail biting finale which goes your way. They only happen occasionally in a lifetime when everything looks as if it is going in the opposite direction. I have mentioned recently that I have experienced watching Tim Henman in a last sixteen match on the number 1 court at Wimbledon. What struck me most was that because the tennis court is comparatively small compared to a football or cricket field or athletics track, you quickly become much more involved with the emotions of the players and vice versa. During the decade when Tim Henman interacted with the emotions of the crowd there were occasions when it appeared to become a single entity and there memorable occasions when he came back from a hopeless position to win and then with mounting hopes and expectations in which the whole nation focussed on his quarter final and semi final appearances, there was the great anti climax and let down. There is a different feel about yesterday a day when Andy Murray did what Gordon Brown hoped to do when he followed on from Tony Blair, however forgetting hat for most of us Tony Blair had already achieved the impossible and won three General Elections even when his personal popularity was at the lowest. If only he had put the welfare of the Labour Party before his personal ambition hr could have still be there as Chancellor seeing us through the present crisis with a new young leader preferable female, seeing the party gain a fourth and perhaps fifth and sixth term becoming he elder statesman within government and revered rather than ridiculed.
This evening Andy Murray ranked 11th in the tennis world, having reach 8th during the course of last year commenced his 4th round tie with a Frenchman who was known for being exceptionally skilful. Because of his hard work improving physical fitness, stamina as well as tennis skill and becoming more professional in Murray had already shown greater self discipline and emotional control when on court and he had won his first the matches only losing one set with crowd warming to him but lacking the emotions shown to Tim Henman despite all the disappointment he had caused us. This I suspect was the reason for holding back when you have given yourself fully to someone and it had not been reciprocated you are cautious about giving yourself to someone again especially so quickly. There was no expectation anyway that Murray would progress further given his world ranking and recent performances, although he said he was looking forward to reaching the final, if all went according to his plan.

This looked unlikely for the first two and half hours of what became a four hour game ending in darkness. He appeared not to be playing at his best with a less than standard first service success for this level of competition. There was one part of the first set where Murray showed all his determination and courage as well as skill to break back. You get the feel of a titanic struggle in the offing but somehow the Frenchman not only held his nerve but began to outwit Murray and take the set with brave and forceful play.

After giving his all and getting the crowd fully behind him, Murray seems deflated as did the crowd and the second set went to the Frenchman and with the hopes and dreams of everyone quickly vanishing. Having broken Murray's serve the Frenchman had only to win his service game to win the match but he double faulted to allow Murray to square the set 5.5. From there we move to tie break and Murray plays an extraordinary diving defensive shot in the far corner of the court almost into the crowd to make the winner to take the set. The crowd become hysterical and it is now the Frenchman who begins to weaken. Soon he looks blitzed. Murray breaks serve early on and two Australians fans for the earlier match of their hero Hewitt are now jumping up in salute for the Scotsman Britisher. Every play is now being cheered as Murray breaks service again to win the fourth set with some unbelievable tennis shots which has everyone mesmerised. Surely the impossible had not become possible? Too often in such situations after such a fight back there is a reaction in the fifth and final set.

The fifth did not go entirely Murray's way especially as the Frenchman gathered his thoughts and feelings during a toilet break and returns with great resolve, although appealing that the light had become impossible. In another match in different circumstances I am sure the officials would have listened to his plea but he had no alterative but to accept his fate with courage and dignity. He also showed his outstanding ability which will give him a special place in the affections of the crowd when he returns next year.

When Murray broke serve you felt it was going to be his day but you still felt anything could still happen. Murray nearly broke again but all he had to do was to old serve to take the match. The Frenchman would not give in and Murray needed to serve well to triumph. Whatever has happened before, giving the impression of being anti English pro Scots, was erased and he had become the new great hope for individual sporting success of the British people, especially after Lewis Hamilton has tarnished his crown by become domiciled abroad for tax purposes, attacking the media and failing to immediately deliver.

Murray demonstrated his determination and ambition early when he discovered that the Spanish player Nadal then 16 to his 15 years was training with the Spanish no 1 whereas he only had his younger brother to train with on a daily basis. His brother has now become our number 1 doubles player. Murray persuaded his parents to let him leave school and go to train in Spain, His quarter final opponent on Wednesday is Mr Nadal, who is just recovering from the celebrations of his national side winning the European Cup. It will be impossible for Murray to create another such match in a couple of days let alone in my lifetime, or can he become the super hero the nation has waited so long for?

I worked hard during the day on sorting the photographs and have nearly got to where I reached before in terms of scanning but have a clearer idea of what will happen to the completed work. I am tempted to put in a similar day of work tomorrow but I need to attend to attend to the in tray and also do some shopping.

While I worked I was able to listen and occasionally watch Glastonbury videos from the BBC site online.
Reverend and Makers were shown with what the BBC regarded as the highlights which included a guest rapper. I enjoyed He said he loved me repeated from last year. Yesterday I mentioned that I had been impressed by Newton Faulkner having watched his the place I go and then the Bohemian Rhapsody.. I was disappointed with the earlier part of his set available on line. I was also delighted to find the full James Blunt full set which included Goodbye my Lover, You are beautiful and ended with 1973. This was an outstanding performance and a great highlight. Similarly I can understand why The Gossip video was shown on all three nights . Ms Ditto has got that X factor wow I decided to also listen rather than watch the antics of Amy Winehouse. Her voice was distinctly slurred from alcohol/medication. It is sad.

Finally Listened to the Neil Diamond full set and the way he built up audience support and participation was truly professional, concluding with I'm a believer, America and Sweet Adelide
Durham also did exceptional well against Yorkshire at Headingley after dismissing the home side for 182 and losing wickets at regular intervals Phil Mustard and Liam Plunket the fast bowler had a partnership of over 125 runs with Mustard 92 and Liam not out in the end for 89 giving Durham a lead of 169 runs on the first innings. By the close of play Yorkshire had reduced the deficit by half for the loss of two wickets. However they will need to score a good 300 runs more runs to have a fighting chance.
I enjoyed my lunch of Chicken stir fry with two coffees and one slice of toast earlier. I then enjoyed the rest of he smoked salmon on three slices of toast around 5 and them eightish with a cup of tea and another coffee. Two juicy plums for lunch and a banana with custard for the evening meal with one and half glasses of red wine.

I must also mention 208 out of 900 games of Hearts won which is 23% reached a week ago and then slipped back to 22%. I decided to write a long e mail about the bridges of Newcastle and the transport infra structure and then crashed AOL so decided to make the writing into a Blog for tomorrow and stayed up until 3 am doing so.

1906 Easter 2010 TV and work Ashes to Ashes and Dr Who.

For the past weeks, when not on trips, I have woken full of enthusiasm for writing, resenting the basics of getting up, washing up and washing me, ignoring a house requiring use of the vacuum cleaner and kitchen and day room floors needing a good wash, ignoring emails and snail mail. The consequence has been some satisfying time researching and writing.

While I have also worked steadily on the ongoing project, progress has been average, reaching the minimum 100 completed new sets target only during the first couple of days of this month and allowing the number of volumes to be photographed to accumulate. Over the past few days the inclination has been the other way round, with two writings about Babylon 5 waiting and one for Lost, the continuation of the EastEnders story among the items outstanding. As a consequence I have upped the output to four new sets a day after discovering that I had not printed out the Google Blogs since mid April. I need to spend two or three days this month copying published summer 2008 MySpace Blogs, then reviewing, correcting an updating for publication on Google with the intention of completing the backlog before the new year.

This weekend is also one of TV watching, sport, some I player catch ups and some current programmes. First the sport. Towards the end of the week I enjoyed watching an Indian Premier League 20 20 cricket game, learning that Kevin Petersen was in the team and where he made a creditable half century. On Saturday morning I watched Abe Morkel participate in the second highest IPL partnership of 150 runs as their team made the highest total ever with a scorching blitz of sixes and fours in the intense heat of the city. Morkel made an excellent 50 with his partner an amazing 100 for the Chennai Super Kings. I hope Morkel is able to reproduce his current batting form for Durham’s 20 20 season and with the New Zealand Taylor I might revise my intention not to take a season ticket, given, being away, a TV showing and the likely indifferent weather conditions.

I was so engaged with work and other things that I forgot to listen to either the Sunderland or Newcastle games on the radio and where both teams had important wins. The Newcastle result had the greater significance when they won at Plymouth 3.2 and reached 86 points, Notts Forest with their draw can not also only reach 86 if they win all their remaining matches and Newcastle fail to take any points from theirs. Notts Forest play again on Monday early evening and anything less than a win means Newcastle are promoted back to the Premiership at their first attempt. Whatever they do all changes again if Newcastle then draw or win in their televised game in the evening. It will be a special party at St James Park and it will be interesting to see if the owner signals his intention to try and sell the club again or hopes the success will enable him to remain in control of the club. As Sunderland found winning the championship is hard but enjoyable, staying in the Premiership or having an impact is a different matter without a fortune, good management and luck.

Sunderland made themselves safe from relegation by an amazing home win against Spurs in a match which I then saw in its entirety in the evening on Sky. They won 3.1 but the amazing aspect in that they were awarded three penalties of which Marcus Bent was only able to score once with the other two stopped. This means he has taken four penalties this season against his former Club and only converted once. He scored one of the two other goals two goals in the opening 60 seconds and Zenden scored a brilliant volley to ensure the three points just when it looked that Spurs were making a comeback. There were two other good penalty claims turned down in a match which meant as much to Spurs as it did to Sunderland. Man City displacing them in the fourth European Championship place after a powerful 6.1 win away at Blackburn. Chelsea beat a poor Man United without Wayne Rooney, injured on crutches, to take the lead in the championship with Arsenal also in the hunt with a last second win against Wolves. The championship title is the most open for several years. Chelsea must be the favourites with so many Arsenal key players injured, Rooney is out for three weeks and his contribution to the team this season has been outstanding in terms of goals scored and general play. Fortunately he should recover to be available for England in the World Cup.

I also watched the boat race between Oxford and Cambridge on Saturday for the first time in several years, including the major the 90 minutes build up in which the sporting and academic lives of the rowers and coxes were examined together with a detailed look at the Thames riverside over its four and a half miles in length course to Mortlake. Cambridge won against the odds and for the first time in three years but as always the build up and interviews is more interesting than the actual race which tends to only have one defining moment in its 17 to 18 minutes endurance journey. The boats tends to be half filled with North Americans on post graduate sporting scholarships to Oxbridge.

I watched the practice sessions in the Malaysian Grand Prix as heavy rain resulted in the Ferrari’s and McClaren teams making major mistakes which saw their cars failing in the first session and ending up at the back of the starting grid. This led to some amazing driving on Sunday morning, especially from Lewis Hamilton who charged from the back to finish 6th with Jensen in eighth both securing points in the championships for drivers and constructors. They were helped by Alonso Ferrari blowing up in the last stages, but for the first time this season the two Red Bull Renaults did not, and Vettel claiming the race and his team mate Mark Webber second. Michael Schmacher also retired because of a wheel nut after 9 laps. The race was the most interesting of the three to-date and would have been even more so had it rained at some point. I mean torrential down power of course. As a result only nine points separate the first seven drivers in the championship and four points the first four. McLaren’s are now only ten points behind the Ferrari and Red Bull five points behind them.

The great surprise of the weekend was an email from someone on behalf of someone else who turns out to be a distant cousin. Between 1999 and 2006 I undertook a detailed family history search of the background of my birth and care mothers, since being alerted that her family originally came from the town of Calne in Wiltshire. I was then provided with significant information about the Smarts of Calne through a combination of private family history researches who were able to trace their and my maternal ancestors in the town back to the 1600’s.

In preparation for the 100th birthday of my birth mother, I undertook a more thorough study of the family discovering that her grandfather, and my great grandfathers had been the fourth of five sons born in succession after their mother had produced seven daughters in succession. Large families were common in Victorian timers as were the number of deaths in childhood. In the instance of Thomas and Sarah Smart of Calne only one of their twelve children died in childhood. All five sons married although one died soon afterwards and although I was able to find out something about the seven daughters I was only able to trace what happened to one who married into a family of Blacksmiths from a nearby village and where a member of this family was the only present day relative of all the 11 other brothers and sisters I was able to find. This was frustrating because of my maternal Great Grandfathers brothers and sisters and first cousins, I was able to find descendents in Canada, Australia, New Zealand. Scotland and South Africa. One branch had emigrated to Australia on the first iron clad steamer while another had travelled in a convict vessel. One who went to South Africa became the Mayor of Cape Town. As part of my studies I had visited the towns of villages where the family and spread through marriage, and checked the baptismal records as well as obtaining copies of birth, marriage and death certificates and tracing the origins of the Smarts of Calne back to the 15th century.

There were several highlights. Seeing the original army records of my maternal Great Grandfather, including his medical history, at the National Record’s centre at Kew and then seeing the giant register in which he was awarded a Royal Hospital Chelsea out pension. The other highlight was to look at the Calne Tithe Map before census records commenced in 1841. This map of every property in the town, more a village, was shown with a separate list of every owner and more importantly every family who lived in the properties at that time. From this I was able to find not just the house where my maternal Great Grandfather lived with his parents, but the properties of two uncles, and that of his grandfather and grandfather’s brother.

However there was also the most spooky of experiences. I had walked into the recently created Calne Heritage centre one morning to get out of the rain and was asked to sign the visitor book by volunteer who had left talking to a couple older than myself who had been showing then a large framed photograph. Her mouth opened wide when she saw my surname and introduced me to a Mr and Mrs Smart who had lived in Curzon Street for a number of years, same street where my maternal great grandfather had been raised. While I was not able to trace a connection between these Smarts and my own branch of the family the photograph was of another Mr and Mrs Smart from who had run a coffee house the town in Victorian days on Market Hill. A descendent of their branch had passed the photograph to the Town Council who in turn has passed it on to the Heritage centre. I was able to establish that the photograph was an ancestor for a branch of the family where another descendent had provided me with most of the original research in 1999 all the way from Canada.

In the four year since completing the research I was contacted three by those following up their branches of the same family with major links in the 18th and 19th centuries. One of the contact was the only descendent of the 11 brothers and sister of my maternal great grand father that has been identified and they were from the side of a family into which the youngest daughter had married.

It was therefore exciting on Saturday to received an email providing same information about the brothers and sisters and their parents from a relative of someone who was a descendent of a marriage between one of two daughters of the elder brother of my maternal great grandfather who had married two brothers. In 2006 I had been able to mention that in the 1901 census the daughter was living at home and working as a maid. I knew that one of elder sisters had married and I speculated that of the three possibility one I favoured was a signwriter living in Fulham. I was right in my hunch as his brother married the younger sister in 1902.

I have previously explained that apart from my birth certificate I have been able to find to record of existence during the first 10 years of my life as it is appears I had no medical record, nor has my birth mother with her record only commencing when the family doctor retired. I also failed to secure a copy of the medical record of her sister, my care mother where I suspect any medical attention may have been listed. Although my Catholic preparatory remains in existence it moved premises with changes in control and they have no record from before the move. I have also explained why my existence was kept secret from the authorities which adds to the limited record keeping and I will not live until the 1941 national census, assuming there was one taken in the midst of World War two, is published. Therefore I suspect what I have been able to find out about direct ancestors has greater meaning than for most people. It is also a joy to be able provide others with important information about their heritage although as I also stress it is better to make discoveries directly, viewing the original records first hand.

Saturday evening saw the first in the new series of Dr Who with the first production of the new Doctor the 11th played by Matt Smith. He is not as impressive and the previous two men, both exceptional young actors. However where I predict Matt will gain is in his appeal to the young people, for whom the programme is primarily intended Matt is also an established actor with appearances for the National Youth Theatre and the National Theatre. He also was contracted to appear in the film In Bruges, my favourite Black comedy, but his scenes only appear as out takes on the DVD. I immediately fell in love with Karen Gillan who plays his first new assistant. She is not only stunning to look at but played the character as someone with an erotically wicked personality. I have learnt she combines acting with the catwalk and I predict she could become as successful as another past heartthrob of mine and also predicted star when I first saw her in the Darling Buds of May, viz Ms Zeta Jones. Both have the X acting factor.

I also rated the first episode of the new series 9 out of 10 because it combined many of the usual features of self contained episodes with a momentum which left me saying WOW at the end and looking forward to the next episode. The new Doctor crashes his Tardis into the garden of young Amelia Pond who is alone in the house because the aunt who cares for her is away. The girl immediately engages our attention and sympathies and was also played exceptionally well by Caitlin Richmond, another who I predict will become a frontline actor if she chooses. She mentions a crack in her bedroom wall and the Dr investigates and discovers that it is a crack in time behind which a prisoner is being kept. He seals the room but has to leave to fix the Tardis promising to return in a few minutes. Ten years pass and he finds Amelia who likes to be called Amy dressed as a policewoman as part of her career as a Kissogram performer. Unfortunately she lets out the prisoner from the room behind the crack, much to horror of the Atraxi who warn that if the prisoner is not recaptured they will obliterate the human residence which the Dr comes to understand as the earth planet thus reminding of the Hitchhikers Guide and Babylon 5. The prisoner can also shape shift into more than one being, a man and a dog, a woman and two girls, the Dr and the Young girl. The Dr has to use all his ingenuity to save everyone. There is a horde if in jokes and references. He then has to depart to sort out the Tardis once more again for a few minutes, but two years then pass before he returns, and in fact it is the night before Amy is due to marry. Given his inability to accurately time travel so far that is appears unwise for her to agree to accompany him on his next trip after promising to get her back to the same moment. It has already been made evident that her life has been dominated by her first encounter with the Doctor, Amy appears to have two adult boyfriends, one works as nurse in the psychiatric hospital and the other appears to be the son of a neighbour played by the great Annette Crosby. All three have known Amy since childhood and her stories of the Doctor and what happened on that night when she was twelve. The significance of dressing up as a police woman and the Tardis Police box was duly noted.

Less successful, in my view, was the return of Ashes to Ashes. for its third and final series. A young police woman has been shot and lies in a coma and she regains consciousness nearly thirty years before as a Detective Inspector. In the first series she is concerned with what happened to her parents at the time of Lord Justice Scarman’s criticism of the way the metropolitan police were behaving. She is haunted by the Clown from the David Bowie Video from his successful song Ashes to Ashes,

The second series of eight episodes had as its background the Falklands War and dealt with a corrupt police force in which the death of a young police officer is covered up.

In this third series having been brought back to the present, the DI finds adjusting more difficult than she should, commenting that her alleged dream state seemed to her more real than the present. She cannot continue her former life with her husband and daughter until she has sorted out the urge to return to the past. The first case involves a fabricated kidnap of a young girl by the step mother partner having been asked for financial help from her criminal former lover who has faked being in a coma in hospital by switching bodies and getting the girl‘s mother to wrongly identify him. The continuing aspects of the series involves the DI being haunted by the ghost of a young policeman. The series also features Philip Glenister, as the latest in a long line of hard nosed, ignore the rules, think with their manhood Detective Inspectors, Regan and Rebus come first to mind. The twist is that he is under investigation having unintentionally shot the starring DI.

I also commenced to watch the series Tropic of Cancer with an intrepid investigator explorer called Simon Reeves who in a previous series which I failed to see travelled the Tropic of Capricorn. The series is so interesting that I will watch all the episodes to date and dedicated a future Blog to the programme which travels to parts of the world the media only covers briefly during major incidents, meanwhile the leaders and their politicians exploit the rest of the people who live in abject poverty and in fear of the them, the military, other people and will the international corporations waiting to pounce if they can find a way and ensure a stable trading position.

1415 Summer sports

It is that time of the year when there is a surfeit of sporting splendour. There has been Royal Ascot which is not so much an important event in the calendar of the racing of thoroughbred horses but the occasion when ladies wear the most bizarre and expensive of outfits to catch the eye of an camera, It is an absurd English event.


There is the continuation of Formula One motor racing every two weeks with the British Grand Prix over the first weekend of July at Silverstone. I have been twice. The first occasion when I was living at Oxford around 1967 and then at the early end of the last decade. I am presently too lazy and engrossed with tennis at Wimbledon to work out when. The location was on the far side of the course away from finishing line and the Pits but it was nevertheless interesting watching a procession of cars flash past. It occurred to me that it was much better watching on TV unless you were able to overlooking the start and finish and have the full hospitality package which could be purchased for around £2000. The drive there was not as bad as the drive back where you have to allow hours.

The immediate highlight is Wimbledon. Two weeks of day and evening viewing which commenced with listening games on the radio and then watching on the TV. Fortunately there have been a number of good British players to command patriotic support Christine Truman, Angela Mortimer, Anne Hayden Jones , Virginia Wade. For men the whole hope never making it at Wimbledon has been Tim Henman who I have seen play in a quarter final match on Court One after queue up in the early dawn, one advantage of the former home of mothers being on a railway line that ended at Wimbledon station via Sutton and where is also now a tram to Croydon.

I have also obtained tickets twice through the postal ballot, once on a final's day for Court one, where alas there were only other competitions going on but nevertheless it was a special occasion where one could nip out from time to time and watch what was happening on the centre court on the Big Screen. Today is rather a special day or British Tennis as in addition to Mr Murray appearing on the centre court in round two, a British born young woman to Asian parents who settled here, is now playing against Venus Williams and where after losing the first to games of the first set she has broken back, and is 4 games all at this point of writing. She has the surname of Keothavong so I will refer to her by Christian name of Anne. There is also a new British kid on the block who has caused a stir by the manner of his first round win and who is to appear later in the day. Anne, the British number one gave a could account of herself in the first set and could have caused an upset against the current women's champion Venus Williams but fell away on the second unable to cope with the power play. Chris Eaton entered Wimbledon through the preliminary competition, ranked over 600 in the world he made the front pages by winning his first game in a confident manner but meeting someone ranked just below the top 100 was going to be beyond his present abilities at the age of 20. His local club and community had raised £30000 to enable him to go on a international circuit playing in minor competitions where his records was not exceptional winning six matches against 13 loses. He out up a reasonable performance in the first set although he was always struggling prevent his opponent breaking his serve. He lost in three sets although he and the crowd appeared to enjoy themselves.

This should have also been a time for wall to wall watching of football with the European Championship taking place in Austria and Switzerland but England or the other countries making Britain failed to qualify which is a national disgrace and rightly led to the sacking of the hopeless at Manager, Steve MaClaren. I have watched bits and pieces of matches from time to time and celebrated Spain getting tot eh semi final. I have not been a fan Turkish Football given the aggressive nature of their home crowds. However they did not deserve to lose against Germany last night

And then of course there is cricket luvely cricket. This year one days and 20.20 games have proved of greater interest that Test Matches and the County Game. Ever since the glory days of Surrey of Peter May, the Bedser twins and Locke and Laker I have longer to watch a good team play and win. For a decade and a half Yorkshire as the nearest county was my adopted team although visits were occasional. Then I enjoyed becoming a member of the new Durham County and at one point nearly took out Life Membership. Now they have the makings of a great team on an attractive ground where the Members have been voted the best of all 18 first class counties by the Bible of Cricket Wisden's. This is because of their sporting good behaviour.

On Tuesday evening after a pleasant cay the clouds gathered and it looked like rain. Droplets commenced to fall as I set off towards Chester Le Street and continued until about the Washington Motorway Service area and my spirits were raised as the sky ahead looked brighter and less overcast. I had set off later than planned and arrived at the Member's veranda not expecting to find an unbooked seat, I was successful with one at the end of the front row nearest the management and player's veranda. I had brought with me soup and coffee and one sandwich. An announcement explained that Sky TV I assumed in association with Newsnight were making a film and supporters were asked to collect in one area near the players area so that a crowd seen could be filmed. Mainly children responded to the call and the film crew did their best to capture this faked moment. I understand this is because there are rules about taking photos for commercial purposes without prior permission of individuals. The Durham all stars were filmed doing their full routine and during the interval there was a display of martial arts by a display group who appeared on Britain's Got Talent. There were also the fireworks as the Durham opening batsmen took to the field of play but they were not in evidence after the interval as the clouds gathered again, and rain commenced to fall continuously. Given the forecast and the darkening skies as the game progressed it was something of a surprise that Yorkshire chose to bowl first. The Durham innings progressed satisfactorily with Mustard making 49 but Morkel disappointed and the final score of 162.8 was respectable and similar to that at Headingley, but not outstanding. There was drizzle very quickly after the start of the Yorkshire innings which Durham dominated with fine bowling and the scores were 9 for 2 then 29 for 4 and 39 for 5. The situation was such that Yorkshire had to continue playing because to have accepted the option of stopping for rain or bad light was likely to mean the end of the match. This is what happened at ten over although the game was not called as ended at that point although most of crowd in the open stadium went home. Those under shelter retreated tot eh lounge where an amazing event was taking place as Essex all rounder Graham Napier hit an amazing 152 off 68 balls with a record of 16 sixes and 10 fours.. This was the second highest such innings anywhere and the highest in England. The win was duly declared and made my way home to watch the end of the Essex game and the accolades flow for Mr Napier.

Lancashire won their game against Notts last night to close the game while the Durham game which started late was held up because of the late sun shinning in the eyes of players. However Durham who batted second and who had a shaky start with the openers both out for no score quickly took control especially after Morkel came tot eh wicket with Captain Blenkenstein and an 100 partnership saw the opponents total achieved with overs to spare in a reduced over match to 18 as sixes and four clattered around the ground from both players. This meant that Durham are the first qualifiers from the Northern Group and will continue to head the table even if they lose to Lancashire tomorrow. This should entitle them to a home draw and be one game away from the finals in Hampshire in July, I have never been to Hampshire's ground, the Rosebowl, near Southampton. Now there's a thought. The number of mini trips this summer commence to mount up

1413 Sunday lunch in Headingley with County CrickeH

I had a good night at Travel Lodge located at the former junction between the A1 and the M62. I say former junction because the A1 now continues directly to the M62 or A1 without needing to get off at the roundabout and to reach service station it is necessary to join the M62 towards Hull and then take a slip road to the service station and Travel Lodge. Travelling towards Leeds it was more straightforward. Booking in at the Travel Lodges is also much easier these day as having paid in advance it is only necessary to provide name and address and then the vehicle number and where it is parked without having to fill in or sign any forms. I had had to pay more for this night as there were no £9's available in the area for the Saturday. The price £19.

I did some writing up and attempted to log on to the Wifi internet but without success and creating problems logging on my return. I also had a good night as I do not remember having to get up during the night until the early morning after which I went back to bed and slept for another couple of hours. I felt good after a cup of coffee and did some writing until ten am before giving myself a good all over wash, shave and hair tidy. I then set off towards Leeds discovering winds gusting at over 50 miles an hour. It was a very uncomfortable drive and I was glad there had not been need to drive from Hull. I left the motorway at the first opportunity which was the Rothwell Wakefield junction. I lived in Rothwell 1970 1971 when working the year for the West Riding of Yorkshire Children's before the first of the great reorganisations. (According to the rules I have set myself, writing about why the stay was so short will be limited as well as commenting in public what I found when I commenced the appointment. It helps that the local authority has been abolished and key individuals are no longer alive but there are necessary restraints on what can and should be disclosed in public although I found a way of drawing to the attention of officialdom certain things at the time). I have visited the outside of the house where I lived. It was a detached house and surrounded on all sides by a rhubarb field. The double garage had a inspection pit! When I visited a few years ago, it had a modern make over and looked fabulous and I guess cost significantly more than the £5000 paid, £350000 and not a penny less I wager.

The drive therefore between Rothwell and Leeds was familiar although my weekday journey had been in the opposite direction towards Wakefield. The departure to Cheshire might not have taken placed had I not signed a contract with them on the day of my interview for my next position as within days of doing so I was short listed for the position of Director of Social Services at Dewsbury which I was told I was to have been appointed because the new Committee Chairman had got to know and like me through my role in child care although I did not know any of this until later. I was also short listed at South Shields. While I did think about these things on my journey into Leeds, it was fleetingly as the wind was still strong and I needed to join the cross city motorway. I came off too early and ended going close to the city station before going westwards along a road unknown to me where there were some interesting new buildings. Some offices had been created in stone designs which fitted into the Victorian character of the old Leeds city centre. There was also some very contemporary structures including a major tower building which I was only able to view in the distance. In the area of the direction of travel was the Leeds international standard swimming pool, yet another sprouting up in the north in an attempt to develop one of our Olympic strength sports still further.

I then saw a sign towards Headingley but became hopelessly lost in the area for a while as it is full of Victorian leafy middle class villas in large grounds although the properties close to the Kirkstall Lane End are very different. However I am getting ahead of myself. Coming off the motorway I had been hungry and regretted that I did not make a flask of coffee using the coffee, milk and sugar provided in the Travel Lodge rooms. I pulled into a parking areas and eat the prawn sandwich bought for such a situation, but left a banana, the last Eccles cake and opening a carton of dried figures until later. Arriving in Headingley I headed for where I parked the vehicle in the past when approached from the A1M into North Leeds and then across the northern part of the city using the ring road to the junction with Harrogate and then take a road passing through Meanwood and stopping just before the Leeds Skipton Road and the Headingley suburban shopping centre which as a local community village atmosphere. Here there are large properties in substantial grounds leaving plenty of room to park if one is early enough.

It is then a short walk to the main road and along past the Arndale Shopping precinct. This is just a long row of shops with a car park above and a major business House several stories in Height which is unusual for the neighbourhood and everywhere else is the normal two storey shops and businesses. The shops continue at a junction towards the cricket ground complex with the Rugby ground not just adjacent but the main Cricket Stand is back to back with a Rugby stand. In the immediate neighbourhood of the cricket ground and shopping area are back to back tenements three and four storey buildings which have become multioccupational units used by students at the two universities and by young professionals and officer workers. This is reflected in the mixture of inexpensive cafes and trendy bars intermingled with shopping facilities for the rest of the population. It was sometime before the ground opened at 12.30 with the game starting at 2.30, so I went to find somewhere for an early Sunday lunch and quickly found the ideal facility. A pub restaurant proudly offering a choice of main courses for £2.99. There was a small public access car park available during the day time but on the wrong side of the road for a quick get away but there were a few car parking spaces available on the main road opposite. I therefore decided to return to my vehicle and bring it to this location.

In order to park in the right direction I tool the first right turn and only after doing so realised it was one way so had to continue on, taking the first left and then the first right and bingo I was in a street with the cricket ground entrance immediately ahead and there were parking spaces available. Fortune favours the explorer. Taking a notebook and two pens but leaving everything else I set off for lunch. The establishment whose name I forgot to note appears to cater for students and their parents when visiting as was the instance in the tables around me. There were large video screens playing music and also silent Sky sports channel TV's. Although ordering at the bar, the tables were unnumbered so one had to indicate where one was sitting and handed eating utensils and a small bucket full of sauces and condiments. The menu was extensive and reasonably price with a roast Sunday lunch and an unspecified drink for less than £5. I fancied three sausages on a mound of mash potato and onion gravy for £2.99 and some orange juice where the standard offering was a reasonable 99p but a full pint with ice and a chunk of fresh orange just £1.50, making the whole meal also under £5.

In such a situation one cannot but help overhear surrounding conversations and a girl was telling a parent the virtues of a Travel Lodge where rooms were only £50. I resisted the temptation to mention about my £9 a night rooms! Given this self restraint I should have been rewarded by the pens working, but although one did, it stopped within a half a page of note making. I decided to change plans and after enjoying the food and drink set off back to the car but beforehand found a we are never closed have everything store, where I bought four pens in a pack for 99 pence. The weather at this time was unpromising, with rain bearing clouds constantly overhead but because of the wind they were being driven incessantly away revealing occasional bursts of sunshine.

I decided I needed the toilet and a coffee so made my way to the entrance where there are traditional turnstile entry points mainly for Members but one headed adults and the other concessions , which raised the question of which was used if buying a family ticket! I paid £10 and was delighted that unlike at Durham the ticket was open for the whole ground except for Members areas, although as a Durham member I could also use and Member facilities in general, although not appropriate for partisan one day games. I selected a seat midway between wickets on the side nearest to the wicket and half way up or down the stand so that there was some protection from continuing fierce wind. I was also able to get an end of aisle seat and parking my shoulder bag went off to the gents and then for a good cup of coffee at £1.50 the price I pay for a packet of Coffee at the supermarket!

The Headingley ground has changed considerably over the years. For Test Matches I would book tickets at the Winter shed top tier, a stand over looking the wicket. There was lower level seating and then some hospitality boxes and then the main area of stand under which there was an under cover refreshment area also useful if the weather was poor. At some point in the eighties corporate business took to cricket and the stand appeared to fill up with business parties with guests provided picnic hampers and what appeared to been continuous and unlimited wine and beer. The atmosphere became very lively as the day progressed and predominantly masculine and competitive. The visits to watch Durham play at the Yorkshire County Ground in the 1990's were much more enjoyable as there was room to spread and visitors to the ground were welcomed by the local members where we could chat about respective misfortunes. Yorkshire failed to get back to its former glory days when it competed for the top honours with Middlesex and Surrey, and rival Lancashire for the annual battles of the red and white roses. The reason for this was the commendable policy of only allowing players who were born in Yorkshire to play for the County.

There was then a great improvement with new banked stand the side length of one side of the ground and then an all singing and dancing electronic and now digital scoreboard. From this stand one could look over to the players' pavilion, a free standing two storey building opposite and then in the corner there was building outside ground with seats on a veranda with good views into the playing area. Sometimes on the other side of the scoreboard a tall temporary four storey structure would be created to provide hospitality boxes for the Test Match. Now the player's pavilion had made way for a new stand which obscures the view from outside the ground and there is a permanent structure of similar dimensions for hospitality. At one point there had been a plan to create a new ground on the outskirts of the city as there was for Leeds football with sites selected and planning permission obtained. In relation to the cricket the Membership were opposed so the plan was dropped and a new sponsor found hence the renaming as Headingley Carnegie.

There has not been great rivalry between Durham and Yorkshire Members until thee last couple of years when Martyn Moxon the Director of Cricket at Durham was able to return to Yorkshire as their Director mid season. There was no animosity as it was recognised he had been responsible for the great turn around in the performances of the team. Geoff Cook who had has been with Durham for sometime and was number two took over and immediately capitalised on the work undertaken by Martyn resulting in the first piece of major silverware, closely followed by the second. I was therefore surprised by the partisanship shown by the Yorkshire supporters during the afternoon and which was very one sided as there were only a handful of Durham supporters who decided discretion was the best approach, although one young lad close to me could not contain his enthusiasm much to the horror of his parents.

The game was an extraordinary one in that it was a closely fought contest between two well matched teams. Yorkshire has the English Captain Michael Vaughan, destined for a knighthood when he retires, the Yorkshire and cricket fanatic Darren Gough and fast bowler Matthew Hoggard while Durham had Shaun Pollock who was a major figure of interest for the crowd… he has 300 test wickets told one dad to his son and Steve Harmison received a mixed reaction because of erratic performances for England in the past. This was an important match because either team winning would head the table in a division where four of six teams were competing hard for the two definite places and the one of three likely place in the last eight knock out competition. Durham bowled well enough but there were too many extras and silly fielding mistakes. Steve got four wickets although his final figures were misleading because three of the wickets were in the last over and players went for big hits to increase the final tall which was a respectable 169 for 7.

This seemed inadequate as Durham raced to 50 for no wicket at 10 runs an over and then they fell apart to a mixture of excellent bowling especially from Malcolm Pryrah whose 4 for 20 was exceptional and some poor shot choices especially from Morkel, Blenkenstein and Pollock. The game swung decidedly in favour of Yorkshire with 14 runs required to win in the final over. A four and a two raised hopes but a single in the penultimate ball dashed spirits as a six was needed to tie the game. Breese whose six had won the quarter final in the Friends Provident did it again as his hit clattered the boundary board for six It was one point each and Durham remained at the top.

During the game I was distracted by a battle which developed between the crowd safety stewards, children autograph seekers and the players on both sides. The players wanted to cooperate and in fairness they told the children to stay below the safety boards during play and indicated they had time to sign one autograph if they were not involved in play such as when a four was hits in other parts of the ground or between overs, However the children realising that there were more of them than signing opportunity were anxious not to miss out and ignored the requests of Stewards and players and were told to move away roughly every two overs only to return, sometimes in greater number. I blame the club for not making clear the position over the public address system and the parents who could see what was happening and did nothing to discourage the children or assist them.

I left the ground and was in my car and away in twinkling and having decided to return home and not take up the booked place in the city centre. I made my way to the ring road but decided against the Harrogate route and continued to join the A1 at Wetherby which has been extended to three lanes. I decided to try for a sandwich and a drink at Scots Corner and came off the motor way but missed the turning went round again and took the wrong turning and ended back on the A1M again without making the stop. I therefore continued to Durham City Motorway services which is to one side of the road way enabling traffic in both directions to use and which now boasts free Wifi but a penalty if you stay for more than two hours. It was here I came face to face with the full cost of the rise in fuel and food. A pot of coffee was £2.25, a sandwich £3 and over. A fast food selection was similar at £5 for a burger, chips and drink. I held my breath and continued home. It had been a good day and mini break.