Super cricket and super heat!!

Well yesterday dawned jolly hot, and turned 'majorly scorchio'. I took up my seat on the boundary and got ready for another great day. I had arrived nearly before the teams in my excitement to be there!

I listened to Yorks CCC President ( and my lunch partner a couple of weeks ago) giving an interview and have taken what he said to heart.
'What did he say?'

I will reveal when this match is over.

And so it began, with My Tykes finishing off Durham before lunch

His Royal Rynness did not take any wickets, but flipping heck!!!! 'Little' Timmy Bresnan  took 3-40 including 'The Duke' John Hastings for a duck!.
They forced the follow on and then we all settled down  for lunch.

Met up with one of my Twitter pals and had a very cheery chat, before getting back to the job in hand,  down to cheer on Yorks.

By this point I was alternating between  being jolly hot because of the sun and burning up due to the remainder of the 'lurgy' which had been making me feel less than 'Ladylike' over the last few days  and had me nearly coughing a lung up on the boundary every 20 minutes or so.
I have to say that today ( touch wood) I am feeling better than I have in the last 4 days, which is chuffing typical as I am due in Super Swanky Lady Lainey office in less than an hour!.


Anyhooooooo, I digress,  Durham came out after lunch and decided that they would 'dig in' It took 117 runs to get the first scalp, but then my boys managed to get another 3 before close of play.
Mark Stoneman hit a century and was still at the crease at stumps.

So today it is all to play for.

Will I be there this afternoon............................well that depends on whether 'my boys' do amazing things before lunch and I am hoping that the opening bowler works his magic in the first innings. No pressure on him!

Now I had made 'the boys' a cake the other day, this went down very well, although it was thought in the Yorkshire camp that I was joking, well you only have to look at the size of me to realise that where food is concerned I never joke!.
I received lots of thanks for the cake and am working on a secret recipe that will mean that everyone can have a slice.

As for that cheeky former Lancashire  player Joe Scuderi, he commented  about my efforts ( he prefers bananas to cherries),  and being a Lady,I will not repeat what he put on my Facebook timeline regarding the possible shape of the cake.
Naughty scamp that he is!

Oh well talking about 'scamps' time to speed off and immerse myself  in the joy of spending possibly 7, (hopefully 4) hours shouting at boys, drinking copious amounts of coffee and looking semi pretty due to illness

Will I get to watch some cricket this afternoon................................only time will tell.

I have seen some cricket in my time......

but I think that yesterday will forever be etched in my memory.

After Jonny Bairstow  and Tim Bresnan digging in on Sunday evening, they continued yesterday where they had left off.................................and some. We saw Tim get his century, Jonny make 150, Tim make 150, Jonny make 200, the pair put on 366 runs, breaking the seventh wicket county championship partnership record of 344 set in 1902, and both hit career bests.

Jonny on 219 not out and Timmy on 169 not out.

My Tykes declared on 557-6.

In reply Durham had a wobble as they fell to 81-5 before steadying to close on 140-5.

Not before His Royal Ryanness took a wicket! and corrected me!!! as somewhere along the line I had lost two of his wickets and his First class wicket haul is now 673.

All correct now!I have the figures logged on my abacus and will continue adding to them.

I am off to the match again today and I am hoping that it is equally as excellent as the last two days.

Has anything else happened in the world?

Not sure as I have been cocooned in my little cricket bubble and loving every minute of it.

I did however speak to Dame Didi last night  ( and somehow managed to burn my lunch for today!). We are organising our big get away this weekend, when we head off to Oxford.
Not matter how hard we try to make this a normal weekend, you just know that is going to be anything but!


Well time is marching on and I have curls to twirl and food to pack and coffee to make and cricket to watch.

Could it get any better...........................of course it can!!!!

Yorkshire, Yorkshire, Yorkshire!!!!!


P.S the weather is reported to be scorchio today but due to the nasty 'thing' that I have had since the weekend, which has now landed on my chest, I will be fairly well wrapped up!

Yorkshire, Yorkshire, Yorkshire

To say that I was struggling yesterday morning was an understatement, I still am not sure how I made it out of the door and onto the 'Funky bus' in time to get to the cricket but I did!!!! What a flipping trooper.
I was,however, burning up, sitting with a tissue under my nose and trying unsuccessfully to stop the mascara  ( or massacre as it looked like afterwards) that I stupidly applied, from spreading down my face, did not make for a great start to the day for me.

That said.................I am super glad that I made the effort because  I got to see my Tykes in action.

So this is how it went,

Mr Funky the Chauffeur picked me up in the 'Funky bus', we then picked up Pauly Paul and Dynamo Dom who was gracing us with another visit, and off we went. Mr Funky decided to take us to Chester le Street via 'Aberdeen' as there were road works at Croxdale, we did however make it with time to spare.(just)

I dished out the coffee and biscuits  ( green tea for Dynamo) and we settled down..........................well talk about my raging temperature, it must have shot through the roof when His Royal Ryanness wandered past and spoke to me........................I could have gone home then as my day was complete, but I didn't.

Durham won the toss and decided to field, and were soon feeling smug as they dismissed Lees,Rhodes Leaning and Gale who all made double figures but failed to make a  mark. then in came Jonny, I was not putting all my eggs in one basket but by the time that he had hit 50 I was getting a little excited,  and just before 'hometime' he hit 100.

Yorkshire finished 329-6 overnight.

It was a lovely day the sun shone and Dynamo kept myself and Jane entertained although he did tell some tales about Pauly Paul which we ladies had probably never wanted to know.

I 'popped' my pills throughout the day and went home feeling better than I had when I left earlier.

however bed was calling and this morning I am feeling much refreshed after a near undisturbed night. I am still coughing and  a 'bit hot', but I actually look a darn sight better than this time yesterday.

so what about today.................................................more cricket please!

I think I am ready for the scrap heap

Oh my goodness me, I am sitting here looking anything but pretty I can tell you.
I ache in every part of my body and my nose is running like a tap, I fear bending down for a deluge  may occur!

You see yesterday my hayfever actually manifested itself into  a full blown summer cold which is hideous. I have alternated all night between , burning up and freezing cold, I have shakey legs and  feel very light headed. I know that this is nothing worse ( e.g the temperature spiking, heart palpitating lurgy) , but most certainly do not want it to turn into it, so I am dosing myself up with cold and flu meds ( which just mask the symptoms but make you feel better)


I personally think that I am running myself into the ground but there looks to be no chance of it letting up at work or at cricket so I will just have to go with it.

I am sitting here typing thinking where did yesterday go? well apart from trying to get the food ready for today at cricket ( more of that later), doing washing, and going to the town, I  then  slept for 2.5 hours and woke up feeling worse than ever. It was a wash out and it was also one of the most glorious days we have had in a long time.

So today which at the moment is cold, grey and overcast  it is a cricket day and I have packed up lots of food including a vegan selection for 'Dynamo Dom'. I am hoping that we have no rain although I will be taking clothes for every eventuality. And an extra large pack of hankies!

And cricket today??????

Well it is a 'biggy' and I cannot afford to be ill for this one at all,  Yes it is my Tykes against former besty home county of Durham.

His Royal Ryanness is in the squad and I am super flipping excited about this , even if I can hardly speak and look like poo ( technical term used in beauty circles), I will be there cheering him on from my seat on the boundary.

However if I don't get a wriggle on I won't even be going as I will miss the 'Funky Bus'

Until tomorrow!

Supercharged Saturday!

Today is going to be a super busy one as I have a million things that I need to do and not much time to do it in! I have already take my painkillers for my elbow and my 'one a day' tablet for hay fever which is making no impression at all!

Firstly I have to go to the tip, then visit Countess Christine of McNally and the Royal Hounds ( including the 'monster' 3 legged lurcher).

Then I have washing to do, a trip to Homebase to squeeze in, sort out the 'cric nic' for tomorrow ( including a vegan choice!) and then get my hair 'tamed down'. OMG it will be bedtime before I know it. I am exhausted now just writing it down!

I would also like to watch a spot of T20 cricket but not sure if I can squeeze that in. however we can only see as the day goes on.

Anyhow back to yesterday, it was mad busy in the office as I tried to sort out as much for the boys for next week as I could, I know I am only away for two days but it might as well be two years with that lot!

However just after lunch, my phone started to beep and  when I looked I saw that it was messages ( plural) from my old London work colleague Hendy Boy.
I checked the messages and nearly fainted. Hendy Boy was only having lunch with the 'Lashings XI'. Yes my Hendy Boy football lover, cricket hater was sitting chatting to Blowers and Devon Malcolm to name only two.

Well I was super jealous as you can imagine and he kept sending more and more pictures which were making me turn a not very pleasant shade of green.

Then he sent me a message saying that he had got me Devon Malcolms autograph!!!! Well you all know that I am a real cricket badger, this  made my day and will go in pride of place with my Angus Fraser, Ronnie Irani and the England team of 1994 autographs.

It does not, however ( and will not ever) trump the autograph of His Royal Ryanness!

Oh I am going into a little swoon now.................best give myself a slap,

Right that's better.

Time to start to tick things off my 'To Do' list.

It's finally F(ryan)day

Yes it is F(ryan)day and I was up with the larks this morning...................or the Blackbirds if the truth be known. yes 3.45am this morning, someone had managed to get out of the wrong side of the nest and was giving their partner a right old telling off outside my bedroom window. Yes for 20 minutes they were having a right old ding dong.................and then they either went back to the nest or flew off in opposite directions.

I have been out in to the extensive grounds of the chateau  ( about 5.15am) and they were happily pulling worms out of the lawn. So all things back to normal at Chez blackie.

I feel pretty rough this morning which is probably a combination of painkillers for my tennis elbow and, anti histamines for my hay fever and a glass of wine whilst watching the cricket last night.  this does not bode well for the office boys, as I have a super busy day getting them organised for the fact that I will not be in the office for 2 days next week, yes you can see that my phone will be ringing off the hook whilst I am trying to concentrate on all things Yorkshire.

So back to the cricket last night, well Durham were taking on Lancashire at The Riverside  and rain fell prior to the start but they manages to get under way on time. I spotted Chester the Lion ( the best reason to go to the cricket).

Durham went into bat after winning the toss and wickets fell early, they soldiered on to 141 all out in 19.5 overs.
Chris Rushworth took a nasty blow to the chest and will probably have a wonderful bruise today!

Lancs went into bat, with Rushworth taking 1st blood, bruise or no bruise. However there seemed to be no stopping Prince ( no not the little purple popster!!), he hit 63 no out to steer the red roses home.

Not a great result for former besty home county.

Tonight my Tykey Vikings are in action against Leicester,I am less bothered about the T20 ( unless I am there watching) for my boys and more interested in the county championship. After my time at Headingley with both the President of Middx and President of Yorks, the insight that they gave me, is making me really sit up and take notice of what is going on!
Will their pearls of wisdom really be true, well only time will tell because I'm not!!!

OK, I have to head off to Super Swanky Lady lainey office now, but at 4.30pm I will be free.................................well until middle of next week!

Now that makes F(ryan)day even better!!!!

A brilliant result if you are a Tyke!

Yesterday dawned grey and I got rained on as I walked to work......................but hey by the time I was at home things were considerably brighter!

And why???? you might be asking??????

OH COME ON!!!! my Tykes wrapped up their match with Nottinghamshire in 3 days and managed maximum points . AND.........................................*drumroll*  His Royal Ryanness took 6 wickets in the two innings bringing his first class wicket haul to 672.

now I had been get my tiara in a twizzle over the fact that HRR had been out of the game with  his calf in a sling for such a long time. I had pre-ordered 700 FC wickets at the end of last season and I some how felt that I had jinxed him...................... well he came back with a vengeance!

Jack Brookes has now taken 100 wickets since the start of the 2014 season and looks good too.

With both bat and ball the Yorkshire boys were on top form,

I  am super proud of my boys and told Gillespie the gallant that too.

You see it doesn't take much to make I, Lady Lainey happy.

Mr Funky took me over to Sedgefield last night to pick up a unit which is to become my next 'upcycling' project. I am sure that this will keep me out of mischief when I get round to getting it started.

Tonight I was expecting to get myself onto Sky once again, trundling off to The Riverside to see Durham in T20 action, however Mr Funky the Chauffeur has decided that he is going to do overtime in his other job ( how very dare he?), and I cannot be bothered to drive myself there after work, so I will come home prepare dinner,  and sit down to watch on TV.

I would have  tried to dig another 6ft of borders but my elbow is swollen and painful and looks as if tennis elbow might be occurring again so I will rest it up!

If it is tennis elbow it can 'do one', I cannot spend the next few days with that pain, thank you very much!

I have also sorted out to have my hair de-oranged on Saturday so that I am not quite as 'visable' at the Durham v Yorks match, the worrying thing is I am not too sure what colour my hair will end up.

Also on Saturday ( and probably wearing a hat after the above)  I am tiling the surround of the wicket of my 'little men' The Gentlemen of Tykeshire. I have super tiles to use and also some quick drying cement........................................................do you think that this is going to go to plan?

I flipping hope so.

What is going to plan though is the fact that I now have to head off to Super swanky Lady lainey office and shout a lot, drink copious amounts of GREEN TEA!!! ( get me, on a health kick!) and look pretty for 7 hours.

There has to be an easier way to earn pennies!

The excitement just continues!

Just when you think that your cricket life could not get any more exciting.......................Captain Galey Lad only goes and makes 144 not out along with Jack Leaning who finished overnight on 107.................its all happening at Headingley.

I would have been bouncing  up and down on the boundary if I had bunked work..................which I might have considered if two of my draughtsmen hadn't gone on a course to learn to draw!!!!!

However today my Tykes resume in a  good position leading by 78 runs and need to wrack up that score before lunch.
No pressure boys.

I got back from Super Swanky Lady Lainey office and decided to  start to dig out the borders in the garden ( which I was supposed to do over the winter). well I now have dug out 6ft of border, only about another 100ft to go. I hope to have that finished before I retire from work!

I settled down to watch the last match in the England v New Zealia series.

it was a T20 so I would be able to be in bed super early too.

England were wearing their luminous orange shirts, which got brighter as the light faded!I am not sure if I like these although they didn't clash with the hair of some of the players, so that was a bonus.

There were a lot of 'crayonings' on display  on the arms of players. some did look as if they had been done by a two year old. Although I have a couple of tattoos myself, I do still think to myself,

' They are fine now when I am 21, but what will they be like when I am 40?'

Some off these 'sleeves'  are not pretty now and will look worse when faded and on not so muscular arms!

Anyhoo less of the fashion and body art.

England won...........yes they did, by 58 runs.
And that is the end of the New Zealia tour.

next stop, the Ashes!
Although for me next stop is any Yorkshire match I can get to!

So now I am off to get showered and head off to the 'orifice' for another fun packed say with my other boys.........................and I fibbing about it being a fun packed day!

I will however be glued to Twitter!

#COYT

Its an early F(ryan)day

Well  his Royal Ryanness is back and I for one am glad to see him back where he should be, however I am a tad concerned that if they play him now, they won't be bringing him to Chester le Street....................hmmm I might not be as happy a lapin as I thought I would be this weekend!


However back he came yesterday in the match against Nottinghamshire  and started to take wickets, that is until rain stopped play.................don't you just hate it when that happens!

He took 2-41( matching Patterson) but had bowled 4 maidens (no crude comments there please this is His Royal Ryanness I  am talking about).

I am hoping that today they finish Notts off early and that he gets to rest up whilst waiting to bat.

and talking Nottinghamshire, they have loaned out their 'big fella' again to Surrey, who played him in their county championship side yesterday, and guess what????....................well he took 4-58...................I am sort of thinking that Mike Newell may not have made a good decision there.

Luke fletcher is a man mountain and can take wickets!


Tonight sees England and New Zealia face each other in a T20. Any bets on how this is going to go?


Over in Super swanky Lady Lainey office it is  hopefully going to be a quiet day. Trill Boy has a lot of work to do and judging by the  puzzled look on his face yesterday, he has no idea how to do it. Thats what comes of 15 years in a huge drawing office, other people help you out!

The pressure is on him now and the question is, can he cope?

I spent last evening running around trying to sort out Tzarina Katerinas car which she left with me. The garage where supposed to collect it last night, I waited  and they called to say, could I drop the keys this morning on my way to work.

Sister or not.................she is sorting  her own stuff out in future.

Hark, I hear the sound of the dishwasher on rinse, best go and empty that before I head off down the A1, I tell you it's all go here and that's before I start to shout at 'boy', drink copious amounts of coffee and look pretty for 7 hours!.

never mind it's cricket tonight.

Where did the weekend go?

It's Monday and it's time to get back to the grind, but where did the weekend go? Well we all know where I was on Saturday and yesterday after a quick bit of housework and  shopping, it was time to settle down in  front of the TV and watch 'My Tykes' in action against Birmingham Bears.

Well I saw 2 wickets fall very quickly and then I saw nothing else until the game had finished....................yes Tykes or not, I had fallen into a very deep sleep. I think that the exploits of the day before had finally caught up with me.

I sort of wish I had stayed asleep though as Yorkshire lost!!!!


The Australians arrived in England towards the end of last week and on Saturday were reported to be training in Middlesex, my old stomping ground. Well it got better than that, they were only training at Merchant Taylors School, Northwood.............................my old place of work and home.

Seeing the pictures of the Aussies training in front of the pavilion reminded me of all the fun we had, the evenings when we ran the  'La Mumba' cricket challenge trophy. Sitting on the benches after 'Trumper's matches with the ( now) President of Middlesex CCC, drinking over proof rum and diet coke.
Watching the 1st XI most weeks after work , and of course doing cricket lunches and teas!


Ahhh yes many happy memories, I hope that the Australians enjoyed it.

It won't be long until the start of the Ashes, however there is the matter of one T20 game against New Zealia which is tomorrow evening and will involve me racing home very very quickly to get dinner sorted before sitting down.


My Tykes are starting the week with a County Championship game against Nottinghamshire at Headingley, before heading up the A1 to Chester le Street at the weekend...............now I am super excited about that!

What I am not super excited about this week is the prospect of  2 days in the office with Trill Boy whilst Job the Jolly and Pony Paul go off to be trained to draw in 3D ( we are still trying to find a course that will teach Trill Boy to draw!).

Oh well best head off and get the week off to a flying start.

Winners are grinners

Well unless you were on another planet or had stopped following me on Twitter and unfriended me on Facebook, I think that you know what this picture is all about.

But lets start at the beginning,

I got up at stupid o'clock and packed up all the food and necessaries for the match, Mr Funky the chauffeur tipped up just before 9am and off we toddled to The Riverside ground. Toddle was the operative word just after Croxdale. Traffic ground to a halt and we sat and sat, and why???? because a roundabout is being put in. Work started in March and is showing little sign of being finished soon.



Anyhooo after that we got to the car park in record time and were in our seats before we knew it, well we were in someone else's seats, but we just moved along a few seats to where we should have been. A little mistake, but the man involved was very close to having a knuckle sandwich for his breakfast.!!!!!

The weather was grey and overcast and with some precipitation prior to the start bell, meaning that we were a bit delayed.

New Zealia went into bat and Captain Baz was in and out before I had a chance to eat a 'party ring'!!!

They settled down after that and it was not until  Kane Williamson had  hit his half century that his wicket fell.
We had some light rain but nothing to make them come off the field.

They batted through their 50 overs and finished 283-9. With last minute call in Jonny Bairstow showing that he was a good choice with the gloves.

I had a special delivery of sushi from Alan and we all had a chat before he raced back to his seat on the other side of the ground with Janey. ( who also came over to see us during rain breaks)

They came off for 'lunch/break' and the heavens opened and continued to do so on and off for over two hours.

Mr Funky the chauffeur and I amused ourselves by taking selfies some of which were a tad 'risqué' due to the angle of the phone and the cut of my top!!!

Eventually the sun came out, the sky turned blue and everyone was basking in late afternoon heat.
So England came out to take their reduced innings. they were set a target of 192 from 26 overs according to Jack and Vera Duckworth ( Duckworth/ Lewis).

And OMG, it all went horribly wrong  Roy, Hales Root and Morgan ( yes the top order) were all out in the blink of an eye.
I turned to MR Funky and said
' OK Stokes and Bairstow have to do this. Stokes will either wrack up a great total or be out cheaply which will leave it to Bairstow'

And yes indeedy doody, Stokes was out for 17 and Jonny took over.

We had a bit of hilarity as David Willey came in, when some gentlemen behind me took to singing
'If you like a bit of Willey clap your hands'......................well I never............................

He hit 7 and then Adil Rashid came in .

By this point Jonny was putting on the  runs and really just needed to avoid being out.
With an unbeaten 83, he did it. And as I always say no one man is a team, but 48 hours previous he had no idea that he would be hitting the winning shot for England and steering them to an ODI series win.

Yes he is a Tyke and as such one of 'my boys', however he proved to be a top keeper and batsman.

Well done England and well done Jonny Bairstow.

And now I am going to do some washing, go to Homebase, and then settle down to watch my Tykes doing T20 stuff this afternoon.

Have a great Sunday

It's ODI day!

Well it's Saturday, it's ODI  day and I have been up over an hour already.

Firstly putting food into various  insulated bags, well it wouldn't be cricket without a good old gut bash would it?
The coffee is starting to be percolated and I am about to throw my bulk in the shower and then sort out the orange curls.

I have to  be ready for Mr Funky the chauffeur tipping up at 9am, which will be 10 minutes after he fell out of bed ate breakfast that his secretary made for him and had a shower.

:last night in between sorting out food I was watching Glamorgan V Somerset as well as keeping an eye on Yorks V Notts.

OK so the Somerset V Glamorgan was  a good  match  but not really what you call thrilling. Strange though that after listening to Mark Butcher commentate two nights running I wonder why I have never noticed before that he sounds as if he  has something in his mouth. Very strange to listen to.

Anyhow Somerset won, although WASP ( winning and score predictor) was all over the show!

Over at Headingley  Yorkshire who have been playing very poorly in T20, only flipping well got a mental wriggle on and charged in to bat. Glenn Maxwell hitting 92  n.o, and Andrew Hodd who was brought in at the last minute, due to Jonny Bairstow being called up to England, hit an amazing 70.
My Tykey Vikings finished their innings on 209-4.

Captain Gale ( big unit) lost his wicket to another 'big unit', yes the man mountain that is Luke fletcher was playing for Notts last night too. Sadly it was his only wicket.

Notts played a great innings with Samit Patel hitting 90 n.o  but sadly they fell short by  40runs.

Good game.

Well done my boys.

And now....................well  I have no time for hanging around chattering on here, as I have  things to do and slap to put on and believe me that takes more time that I care to think about.

Well off to get my trowel!


see you tomorrow when we will know if England really are on the road to recovery.

F(ryan)day WOOOOOHOOOO!!!!!!

Yes indeedy doody, it is F(ryan)day and I am super flipping happy clappy glad. I even have my super favourite His Royal Ryanness picture up today too to make the day even better.

It is the last working day of the week and after what I can only describe as a 'strange old week' I will be glad to see the back of it.

Only 7 hours of looking pretty to get through and then I can don my 'weekend' tiara and get ready for the ODI tomorrow.


Yesterday saw the Pre-Ashes squad announced. which includes quite a few Tykes and means that my boys will be short again over the summer. Luckily HRR is on his way back and I for one am jolly chuffing glad about that. He has been gone too long. Hopefully now his calf is fully better we will see his first class wicket haul start creeping up again. No pressure on you there Ryan!!

I sat and watched the Kent v Essex T20 match last night, and have to admit I really like the Kent T20 shirts, very snazzy ( as they say in some parts). it was a great game, which saw Kent win by 6 wickets.

I am trying to get this done very quickly this morning as Pony Paul is picking me up to take me to the office......................'why am I being chauffeured?'  I hear you asked.
Well if you remember a couple of weeks ago, eldest sister Tzarina Katerina  informed me that a lorry had parked in her 'blind spot' and she had reversed into said lorry.

So as Pony Paul lives in the same village as the Tzarina he is dropping me on the way home to collect the car and deliver it to 'Tim'll Fix it/ Tim's Classics'.

And why do I have to do it???????

Well that would be because 'Kiki Kar Killer' is off on another cruise this time to the Baltic!


Hope they don't let her have a go at 'driving' the ship!!!!!
' What iceberg???????? it was in my blind spot!!!!!!!!'

Until tomorrow, happy F(ryan)day

Thursday already? I need the weekend

Well it's Thursday which means one day closer to the weekend and believe me it cannot come quickly enough it has been a strange week.

Tiredness creeping in constantly and a desperate need to get things done in the Chateau, inevitably mean that I have done very little in the evenings apart from knit,eat and sleep.

However there was some flipping brilliant news yesterday about His Royal Ryanness, well I found the link to the 2nd's scores and he had taken 3-30 in the first innings and scored 22 runs!!!. Now I can't find the  fluffing link!!!

 England were in action yesterday afternoon/evening and they won........................yes, really, no fibbing this time...................they won.

Captain Morgan ( I loves his spiced rum) scored  113 before getting out, but Little Joey Root  was on an unbeaten 106 and believe me his smile lit up Trent Bridge when they won.
It was a thrilling and high scoring match which resulted in England having the highest ever ODI run chase to take the game.

For once the England team really stepped up to the mark and showed that they can do it.

So we are heading to Chester le Street with a feeling of hope ( and we all know that we will be coming home with a feeling of woe). Should make for a very nice day.

Hampshire  ( aka South Durham) have been fined £4,000 for misconduct............................... to do with disciplinary standards in their players. Well all I, Lady Lainey am going to say is that it is a long running problem!!!!!


Apparently cricketers face 'critical risk' of, lightening, terrorism, mental illness and being hit by a ball as part of their  career according to a report by FICA ( Federation of international Cricketers Association).
Well hell they want to try and spend a day in Super swanky Lady Lainey office, every day I face a critical risk of being electrocuted ( due to landlord not sorting out the wiring), terror of what the boys are going to do next, mental torment about what they are doing and fear of being hit with what ever they find to hand to throw at each other!

Not to make light of what FICA highlighted  but in reality apart from being hit by a cricket ball, we all face those  risks on a day to day basis!.

Right off to see what is occurring in said office and not in the mood for any of their high jinx this morning!!!!!

So how did my 'big man do'?

well to be honest I have no idea because Yorkshire were not giving updates on twitter or anywhere else yesterday or this morning. I cannot find a feed to second XI results and so I now am a tad cross!!!!

I even polluted my browsing history by going onto the Derbyshire CCC website!!!!! and still no joy!

I wanted to know what was occurring at my favourite cricket ground in the whole world.

However talking about the hallowed turf of Scarbella, it really is looking as if I will be taking ' The Gentlemen of Tykeshire' on a little journey in August. There is going to be a huge beach cricket tournament again and the wonderful people at ' Flicx Pitches' are ( obviously) bringing their roll out wickets.

We are currently in discussion as to whether the 'boys' are going to be donning knotted hankies and socks and sandals and heading down to the beach.

I can see me developing some muscles over the course of 4 days humping those lumps of concrete about.

They are just getting too famous

Today we have England in action against New Zealia at Trent Bridge, another ground that I like very much after having a fun day there last season with Middex President and First lady.
I am all ready with t'wireless and hope that Trill Boy and Pony Paul manage to refrain from doing ( what they think  are brilliant ) impersonations of 'Robson and Jerome, which were torture enough in their time without these two tuneless morons trying to revive the act!!!

Best friend Francesca called round last night and we have managed to organise a 'Father Ted' evening in between all my cricket activities and her 'treatment room ' renovations.
Her lovely and very funny OH, Paul  had helped me out on a tiny DIY project which can now be finished off, ( maybe on Sunday). It will be unveiled at a later date.


Rightio not a true cricket catch up this morning, but  got a desk full of 'stuff to sort out' and would like to get it done before the next millennium, which at the rate that I am going may not happen.

I am also going to ring Yorkshire on the hour every hour after 11am to find out the scores, they will soon put it on Twitter!!!

Good news!

I know it's not F(ryan)day but it's good news in that he is back in action with the 2ndX1 this week. Along with Adam Lyth and Glenn Maxwell..............I tell you that is some line up at a 2nd's match. I am assuming that the crowd will be made up of more than two men and a whippet!

Great to see that His Royal Ryanness is getting back to where he should be. This is perfect news for a dull and overcast Tuesday.

I tell you I was sorely tempted to put in some holiday and toddle off to watch the match.........but I have a lot of work to do at the moment in Super Swanky Lady Lainey office and so will just have to bide my time.
At least I am hoping to see him take some more wickets, only 34 to go to the 700 wicket haul.


Surrey duo  Henriques and Burns continue to make good progress after there awful accident on Sunday, but of course, I was wondering how long it would take for 'he who must not be named in the blog' to poke his oar in!

Oh yes sure as eggs is eggs, he was chirping about how he was badly affected by the incident. Yes there is no denying that he would have been as would the rest of the team out on the field, but they seem to have remained tight lipped.

Oh dear it is too early in the morning to be off on a KP rant.

It does nothing for my blood pressure.

Best friend Francesca is calling round tonight after having a weeks holiday. she didn't go any where but was working on getting her treatment room into some sort of order. Which means that I will soon be able to have more massages...................cannot wait.

I meanwhile have a backlog of things to get on with here at the Chateau, and as is the norm I keep putting off.

However I am now more determined that ever that I am going to get at least one room sorted top to bottom by the time I go to bed tonight.................... and in the real world.................

starting all over again

well it's Monday and the working week is starting all over again. And a busy one it is going to be that's for sure.
Lots to do in Super swanky Lady Lainey office and then even more to do when I get back to the Chateau.

However lets get to the crickety things.

Well England were playing New Zealia in the  2nd ODI.

And they won................................................OK that is a flipping fib, they didn't win they came 2nd.
Kane Williamson ( adopted Tyke) scored a brilliant 118 and Ross Taylor hit 110 to help the Kiwis over the line.England had scored 302 in their innings so they were not doing too badly, they were just out played.

however worse news filtered through yesterday afternoon, about a horrific accident on the field during the Sussex v Surrey T20.
Moises Henriques and Rory Burns collided in an attempt to take a catch, and both were hospitalised.
The game was abandoned and the players were taken to hospital. Henriques is said to have a broken jaw in three places and will require dental surgery. Burns has stitches to his head and facial injuries.

Surrey reported that both players were responding well in hospital.

News that Liam Plunkett will play no further part in the ODI series is not good to hear after he managed to turn his career around after joining yorkshire.
Liam had suffered a thigh injury, which has dented his England chances but also means that he will be out  of action for Yorkshire too!

I am also looking ahead to the  ODI at Chester le street next Saturday. I hear on the grapevine that in some parts of the ground people will be tucking into sushi!

Well no chance of that with the very fussy Mr funky,
I can hear him now


'Raw fish.......you want me to eat raw fish!!!!!, put some batter on it and fry it and I might consider it edible!!!'

There was nearly a mutiny when he found celery in his salad, and after a trip to Waitrose  produced a salad with Wheatberry....................................well lets just say that I will never hear the end of that one!!!!

Boys ehhh!!!

Well suppose I had better get off to the office boys and see what that brings about.

Sunday with friends

This will be the shortest blog ever!!!!
I woke up at 9.30am yes!!!!! 9.30

Turned over and went back to sleep until now!!!
Unheard of and worse still as I am in Pontefract with friends.

Haaaa some friend lazing in bed all morning!!!!

So best get up tidy the orange birdsnest and make my self look nearly human which after wine, champers (and one bottle being 'The Dom'  is going to be some feat!)

A wonderful afternoon and evening. Roll on July.

Just to say if you are in Yorkshire Captain Gale has written an interesting article in't Yorkshire Post about Jonny Bairstow being overlooked by England.

Hmmmmm I still think his Royal Ryanness should come back!!

It would make my viewing much more interesting.

Ok off to show my face!

Well thats summer over and done with!

OK so it was flipping scorchio yesterday and today it is p***ing downio!!!! well not right at this moment but it was earlier and now it has dried up but is grey and overcast

What the Donald Duck is going on!

This is not boding too well for my trip to Pontefract for a BBQ............looks like either we will be having rain sodden burgers or  Mince and dumplings whilst wrapped up in blankys listening to the rain outside.

I think I know which it will be.

I wandered out into the garden this morning to check on how much water had come down. Well not enough to really give the tubs a good soaking. So if it is going to rain all weekend as predicted, then hopefully everything will look green and my water butt will be looking a bit fuller!

So last night due to still not feeling as if I am firing on all cylinders I decided against a late evening in Chester le Street watching Durham play Worcestershire. Yes I must have been feeling unwell to have missed out on the chance to ogle observe the bowling of Jack Shantry!

That aside, Durham lost and there were a lot of 'WTF!! tweets going around.

England were in one day action against New Zealia. This  was the highest ever run scoring match in England in ODI history with 763 runs scored by both teams.

However the 'gods' had other ideas as they unleashed rain at the worst possible time for England. The Duckworth /Lewis  system came into play and England fell 13 runs short.

I think that we are all aware by now how this system is calculated.

How many pints Jack Duckworth could drink in The Rovers in an afternoon multiplied by how many arguments he had with Vera during their married life, divided by how many knickers Vera made in her career at Mike Baldwins knicker factory.

Well its something like that!!!!!

All said and done, it leads to an exciting Saturday next week when Mr Funky and I head off in the big blue tank thing with our red dangly car park pass in the window, to  cheer on our boys.

Ok I am now off for an early morning walk to collect some elderflowers.....................yes it is that time of the year again, when I produce a million bottles of 'champers' which if they all 'went off' in my garage would take the fluffing roof off!!!!

This year it will be named

'Chateau de Champions Champers'

previous names have been
 'Tykes Towers Tipple'
' LT Towers Tonic'
&
LT Towers II Tincture.


I think this year should be a good 'vintage'

It's my favourite day F(ryan)day!

Oh thank goodness it is F(ryan)day, I am pretty worn out after my days of 'hobnobbing' at Headingley, and also mad dash to Londinium and back on Wednesday.

Yesterday I was back in the office and noted that Trill Boy had drifted back into his 'lad like' ways whilst I had been away. A quick whack with a metal ruler brought him back in line and I was then able to spend the rest of my day, drinking copious amounts of coffee and looking pretty.

Very very sad news drifted through yesterday morning, that the world had lost one the most wonderful actors and the best Bond villain ever. Sir Christopher Lee  had passed away on Sunday. He was 93 years young, and an instantly recognisable personality.
He was and always will be the most favourite actor of I, Lady Lainey ( yes he even outshines Sir Sean of Bean).

I have to admit to shedding a tear. A real loss to the world of British actors.

In the cricket world, the news filtered through that Matt Prior had decided to retire, he has not played any cricket since 2014 due to a recurring achilles problem. This news did not however make me shed a tear.

I am hoping that after having a little outing at York with Yorkshire 2nd's His Royal Ryanness will soon be back in the Yorkshire first team, especially at the end of the month! If he isn't I will be shedding a bucket load of tears!!!! 34!!!!! that's what I want to see!!!! ( you have to be a real badger to know what that is all about).

So now I am off to perform my last 7 hours of this week, drinking copious amounts of coffee, shouting at boys and looking pretty, then I can come home and go straight to bed. Yes I know it it's F(ryan)day but I am totally exhausted.

See you tomorrow.