Your Humble Blogger enjoyed the First Test of the 2010/11 Ashes very much, despite not being able to follow much of it in real time, what with it happening halfway around the world and all. When it started on Thursday morning in Brisbane, it was Wednesday evening here, which meant that I generally went to bed by lunchtime the next day and when I woke up the morning after I had missed the afternoon. By the time the sun went down on Monday and play was stopped, it was too late for me to stay up Sunday night, but I was able to read about it it excruciating detail the next morning.
This meant, however, that I was mostly experiencing each day in retrospect, missing several gradations of hope and despair. For instance, on that first day, England began with disaster, and had shifted to a glimmer of possibility when I went to bed, which was followed first by utter humiliation and then by a seed of respectability. The headlines the next day were about Ian Bell rescuing an otherwise disgusting innings, so YHB immediately knew that things had got much worse before getting not-quite-as-bad. I mean, still pretty bad. The next four days went (from the point of view of a supporter of the Lions, of course; those who prefer the baggy greens presumably had the inverse) something like this: despair, utter despair, hopelessness, woe, hope against hope, plain old ordinary hope, pride, complacency. Something like that, anyway. I mean, the match ended in a draw, so we didn’t get as far as jubilation, but because England were the victors last time, a draw helps their cause more than Australia’s, and when you are down by a jillion runs after the first innings with a few overs left on the third day, avoiding a loss is cause enough for pride.
And now I have a few days off before the next Test. Or do I? Adelaide appears to be an additional half-hour ahead of Brisbane, or do I mean behind? If it’s already tomorrow, when does the sun come out?
Tolerabimus quod tolerare debemus,
-Vardibidian.