Oh Dear part II

Need something  to cheer me up this morning!!

Well we all knew at this time yesterday the outcome of the 2nd Test, nothing short of a miracle or rain was going to help England. And  there was no miracle and although England managed 312 runs in their 2nd innings it was not enough.

Alistair Cook insists the team can fight back ( England have only ever won once in Perth). He says the team need to  ' look deep into our souls'. I am kind of thinking that if you take the last two words from his statement and say them very quickly it will sum up the team at the moment!!.

So the second test in all its glory, showed a new Australia fighting back. Michael Clarke has said that  the results are no fluke and are due to hard work from the Australian team. I think that it is amazing how they have improved since the summer and to say that England have been resting on their laurels is an understatement.

There is still an undercurrent of aggression on the field and to be honest some of the new test players need to take it in their stride, or as Joe Root does, just smile at the Aussies!

Nothing more to say on this except let the bandwagon roll onto Perth now.


Good news for Ireland as Phil Simmons remains in the coaching role until 2015. Nice man and done great things with the Ireland team.

It is well documented that when Dame Didi and I go home to La Belle France and to Chateau Didi, we spend lots of evenings getting squiffy   star gazing. As the Chateau is smack bang in the middle of nowhere and there is zero light pollution we have seen the night sky in all its glory.
Well now you can go and see the same thing here in Blighty, actually in the North of Blighty as the Northumbria national park and Kielder water and Forest Park have been awarded Dark Sky status.
This means that this area is now protected and lighting controls are in place to prevent light pollution.

In honour of the award the 1.500sq km area will be renamed  Northumberland Dark Sky Park, later today.


Well back to the office after the carnage that was  the Xmas Gut bash. Thank goodness only one more Monday after today until HOLIDAYS!!!!!!!

I cannot wait and hope that I get back into some sort of normal sleep pattern ready for the New Year!

Hope that you all have a wonderful Monday, although some of you will be reading this in bed and then probably going back to sleep!!!!!