Eat your heart out Bill Lawry!!

During the last Ashes Tour in Australia in 2005, the legendary Bill Lawry made my blood boil. The scene was the very well known pre-test breakfast in Melbourne, attended by 1,500 people, carried live television and was hosted by an Australian MP. Bill Lawry was on a cricket panel and was mocking the 400 – 500 Brits who were in the audience. He was ramming the poor performances of the English Team down the Brits throats and saying “if the Aussies had performed as badly as the Brits, you would not see any Aussies here today” and said “I don’t know how you can support this lot.”

When the Aussies gloat it sometimes even embarrasses the more conservative Australians – it sure angered me. I went up to the stage and asked the MC for the microphone. Looking at Bill and the Aussies, I reminded them of the ‘winds of change’ and said “I have played in test series against another very strong cricketing nation, The West Indies, with the results having gone full circle!! I had played in a series that we won, one that we drew, and one that we lost, completing the circle. It is easy to follow a team when you are knocking sides over and winning, but, I want to see how many of you lot are will still be around when your team needs you, when the pendulum turns – because it will!! As one, the Brits stood up and cheered and clapped and, surprisingly, the Aussies shouted “Good on yer mate.”

The series still has along way to go, and still time for anything to happen, but England could hardly have asked for a better start to the first two tests. Australia have lost tests before, but, I cannot remember when they were we so disjointed. Their situation has not been helped with Ricky Ponting, one of the all time greats and their talisman, having such a run drought.

Shame…………nobody likes to see the Aussies struggle!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!