Thanks. I was with two very seasoned drinkers, and even though one is an MCC member and had to be on his best behaviour, we got through three bottles of champagne before lunch (I only had two glasses, I swear!), two bottle of rose during lunch and Pimms after that. After the game, I reverted to drinking tea, but the guys just carried on and on. I left them in a pub at 8pm. They looked completely sober, but I felt wrecked and can't remember much about the cricket, other than that Shane Warne was much shorter than I'd imagined.

Ah, the joys of an English summer!

Adele.



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Aruna, Gary Sobers is famous for scoring six sixes in an over. That's the beginning and end of my expertise!

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http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/specials/1157_cricket_history/page5.shtml could be useful

I have a small cricket-relate dilemma at the moment. In my novel, City of Dreams, my MC fantisises about garroting her boss with his MCC tie and thinks the letter stand for more derogatory things than Marylebone Cricket Club. I confessed this to my friend yesterday. He thought it was funny and said that she'd need two ties as they're not very strong. However, if this gets published, I'm worried that I'll be banned from Lords

Adele.

I'm sure they'd see it in the humourous light it was intended Adele. But I know the fear. I've already had to explain to my parents that the characters in my book are in no way indicitive of them, and any bad shit that happened won't be regurgitated for the world at large.

Somehow, I'm not sure my dad believes me, but what can you do? If you want to write from the heart, you have to draw on certain experiences, good and bad. If someone takes offence over that, then surely it's part of the territory?

JB

JB, I'm already resigned to getting my legs broken if my book is published, and not by the red and yellow stripey brigade at Lords. My novel isn't a comedy (although there are a few bits of light relief in there) and my heroine loathes her boss. However, it is a work of fiction. Honestly.

Adele.

Hmmm, I went a step further than drawing on reality, and gave permission for a short autobiography to be published after winning a magazine competition. I'm still dreading the day my mum finds out I lied when I told her it wasn't being published....

Hey congrats, Cath! Which mag? Tell your mum you were getting into character...

Adele.

Cheers, Adele. It was i-D Magazine - and it was actually 9 years ago!! But I still get the fear about Mum discovering it.....

Very cool! I wonder if Julie Burchill ever worried what her mum would think...

Adele.

Ahhh, stroking ones balls around the park in the jolly old English sunshine. The smack of leather on willow, the smell of, er, that stuff the Aussies cover their faces in. The gentle ripple of applause as one hits another six whilst chewing on a cucumber sandwich.

Ads, I'm impressed with your Gary Sobers knowledge, and if the MCC send around some of their white haired pasty legged goons in Panama hats, you know who to call (me, I'll get the zombies, baseball bats vs cricket bats, etc)

A day out to Lords is a fine thing, though haven't done it in a while. I like the way everyone starts off dead respectable and quiet as play opens, but by 5pm everyone is trollied, yelling abuse at he players, singing stupid songs and discussing who was better, Maradona or Pele, while oblivious to the game happening on the field.

Mind you, the last time I went to Lords, it was England vs West Indies, and I don't even wanna admit to what I did that day coz eveyone will think I'm sad, but it provided for a, um, VERY interesting day out. Also, it struck me and my friend as we shared a joint at lunchtime (he used to be schoolboy England wicket keeper too, how the mighty are fallen huh?) how much cooler the old West Indian guys wondering around were, compared to the thousands of said pasty white, Panama hatted Englishmen, scurrying about with their Pimms and looking like some late nineteenth century Imperialist on safari, all khaki shorts and white socks with sandals.

Sorry, I know its shallow, but true.

Look at me, blithering on about myself.

Skip, I think we all have that fear, coz who hasn't based a character even slightly on someone they know?

I say sod 'em, get everyone who's ever even slightly pissed you off, and make them into characters!

Dav, were you the streaker :O?

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Btw, I learnt a song: "He's round, he small, he bounces like a ball" - er that's enough, Ed.