Mum's cricket tales

Thank goodness Eddie and I popped in to the ticket booth yesterday. We were going to leave it until later today but when we got there, the lovely lady said there were only a few tickets left! She is expecting another sellout for the BIG game tonight between England and the Windies. Armed with our golden tickets, we celebrated with a Piton beer at Grady's Bar. No sign of our groundsman - he would be stressing at the ground no doubt, as there had been some pretty heavy showers throughout the day. We had to wait a little while for our second beer because the lady in the rollers had fallen asleep behind the counter. Imagine that happening at the Corbridge Co-op, but here its just fine. She was tired, needed a nap and we didn't want to wake her. In fact, Eddie tip-toed back to his seat. The Ireland v New Zealand game was on and it was great to see 2 stalwarts of Irish cricket, Ciara Metcalfe and Clare Shillington playing their last ever game before being given a guard of hon...

Yet more history made at the Daren Sammy stadium last night as the 1 millionth ball in international women's cricket was bowled in the West Indies v Sri Lanka game. And what a night for this historic occasion! Another fantastic display of cricket with England completely outplaying the South Africans, and the Windies girls wreaking havoc in an exhilarating batting and fielding performance against the Sri Lankans. Meanwhile, the England fans were in good spirits... The England women's team remind me of our nemesis footballing nation, Germany. Well drilled, confident and clinical. The Windies, meanwhile, are the Brazil of the tournament, playing with flair and wow-ing the hungry crowd with dazzling displays of cricketing brilliance. They will certainly be the neutral's favourite and are SO exciting to watch. One of England's 'adopted' players is 21 year old Kirstie Gordon, who has impressed with her left arm spin. Until recently, she played for Sc...

I think I set some kind of personal best yesterday. I have taken 'relaxing' to a new level. I have finished reading a book (miracle), I've tapped away on the keyboard, and we lounged around watching the Ireland v India match over lunch. So by 3pm, I had only completed 568 steps. "I think I need a few more steps in, Eddie." So we packed the water and headed for the hills - the ones near the stadium. As we approached the stadium, we made a right turn instead of the usual left. There are some super swanky houses set into the hillside, but turning right took us along a road with more humble abodes. The people on this island are wonderful - without fail they will make eye contact, exchange a smile and say hello. We got a lot of this as we sweated our way along the road feeling thirstier by the minute. My step counter was now over 7,000, I was hot and my toes were sore. Like a mirage, a little shack shop appeared at the top of a hill. It was painted bright ...

Wow! What a night! 2 games for us to watch last night - Sri Lanka v Bangladesh, followed by the blockbuster West Indies v South Africa. We couldn't have had a more contrasting experience. The cricket in the first game was nothing to write home about - pretty tame, and a poor standard if I'm honest. The odd display of excellence, but nothing that enticed me to blow the little shell hooter I had been given on entry. As that first game limped to the end, the stand began to fill up in anticipation of the home side game. Watching the Windies in the warm up, they looked strong, confident, athletic, intimidating. The South Africans are a good team - this would be a tasty contest! The Windies batted first, and the tiny Shabnim Ismail from South Africa ripped through their top order with an incredible spell of fast bowling. It was a proper David v Goliath display that silenced the crowd, and a lesson to all us 'small' players that you can take on anyone! Game on. Th...

There was no cricket scheduled in St. Lucia yesterday, so Eddie and I decided to have a little look at the capital of the island - Castries. With a population of just over 4,000 and a bustling little market, we thought we'd spend a few hours soaking up the atmosphere. It only took 20 minutes and I was relieved that the journey didn't involve any excursions into the mountains like last time. I am still recovering from my 'Hoppings' experience on Friday. As we approached the town, I spotted an absolutely enormous cruise ship. "Wow - Eddie, look at that massive ship!" I exclaimed, pointing to the huge French cruise liner in the harbour. If anyone is familiar with the card game 'Top Trumps,' you will know that the object of the game is to 'trump' your opponent with something bigger, faster, heavier, more expensive... "That's nowt," said Eddie, smugly, "Look at THAT one." I looked to where he was pointing, and...

Finally! Normal service has just about resumed with the Caribbean sunshine blazing, and gentle warm winds helping to dry the soggy ground. A 4pm start v Bangladesh looked promising, so Eddie and I set off withOUT the brolly - this time hard earned sweat in the searing heat was to blame for us both arriving at the stadium like wet rags. Blue skies, nothing but blue skies... At the ticket office, we asked if we could swap Saturday's washout tickets for tickets today. "Sorry no sir," the nice lady explained, "They will release a date to refund your ticket." She smiled, anticipating our next question -  "But you will probably be home by then." Ah well, it was only a few quid, and the sun was shining so we didn't care too much. We grabbed a cold beer and sat in the stand watching England warm up. Other England fans trickled in - mainly friends and family of the players. Dani Wyatt's dad managed to sell me the last of his 'England...

With no games scheduled in St Lucia yesterday, Sunday for us was going to be all about learning how to relax again. I'm loving my 6am starts in the morning. I simply CANNOT do this at home however much I try. But here it is easy. I am in heaven sitting on our little balcony - tapping away on the Chrome book, reading my book, and chatting to folks back home. Interestingly, in my quest to relax, 3 little birds have started visiting me on the balcony in the morning - a little boy and girl bullfinch, plus a very handsome Zeniada dove. They aren't shy - especially the 2 little ones, who like to share my banana with me. I was reminded of the late great Bob Marley - Rise up this morning Smiled with the rising sun Three little birds Pitch by my doorstep Singing sweet songs Of melodies pure and true saying, "This is my message to you" Singing: "Don't worry about a thing Cause every little thing is gonna be alright How wonderful, as the rain plonks d...

I'm usually a very 'glass half full' kinda girl, so when I tentatively looked out from our balcony this morning and saw that it WASN'T actually raining, I thought, 'YES, GET IN, the game will be ON!' There was an occasional shower, and I didn't dare look too many times at the sky which was grey. Misty. Threatening. Ahhh it'll clear, it'll be fine. The game was due to start at 4pm, so Eddie and I strolled off into town to find breakfast and coffee. We sat for ages watching the world go by with our ham and cheese croissant and coffee. Lots of hustle and bustle with people getting from A to B including Nasser Hussein strangely enough. Captain of the England men's team from 1999-2003. "Eeh there's Nasser," I said, slurping the last of my iced coffee. Back to the ranch, and time to do a little bit of artwork with the new Sharpie pen I'd bought at the supermarket. Usually, the 'crowd' of supporters at any England w...

For anyone who doesn't know, the Hoppings is an annual funfair that takes place at Newcastle's Town Moor every summer. It has horrific rides and nearly always hoys down with rain. When Eddie and I arrived at the airport (disappointingly no Mark Robinson to meet us to ask if I would replace Katherine Brunt) we found a nice taxi man who offered to take us the 90 minute drive to our hotel. It was absolutely hoying it down as we sprinted off to find his minibus. "You might want to sit in the front," he advised, "The roads are a bit windy." (Not windy as in blowing a hoolie - but windy as in twisty...) "We'll be fine," we said in that bravo way that you do in front of locals. For the first 45 mins, I was fine. Marvelling at the way the little bus would scale vertical ascents then turn sharply up another one, before hurtling down roads that had turned to waterfalls with the torrential rain. Beautiful rain forest flashed past as we hurtle...

The day has finally come for Eddie and I to make our great escape. We have achieved 20 years of marriage, and I have made it to 50 years alive - so this is our 20/50 tour. We have 11 nights away from home. Irresponsibly jetting away from any work, home and family responsibilities. Thanks to Grandma and other friends and family, everyone will cope. Everyone will have a great time and hopefully enjoy stepping out of the norm. We are heading to St. Lucia. Thank you England women’s cricket team as you are the focus of our grand tour. We are leaving the Autumn colours of England behind and we are heading to the bright Caribbean sunshine to watch you in the World T20 competition. This is the first time ever that the competition will run on its own- ie not alongside the men’s competition. So this is a historic occasion for women’s cricket and for women’s sport. We’ll be there to support you in person - hopefully thousands/millions will be watching from home. The journey started ...