The Greatest Day Since....Well....Ever

NWG is still in shock. Today was a day unlike any other.

What started out to be a bit of a moderate day of Test cricket turned in to the greatest session of English cricket NWG has ever seen.

It's official : Broad and Swann can bowl.

What's not official is how this game is going to go. Yes, England were amazing. But with the score hovering precariously with three wickets lost, tomorrow and Sunday will be just as nerve-wracking.

Can Broad repeat that performance? If not him, then who?

And on a lighter note, NWG bumped in to Jrod again. The Oval is a small world. And Peter Siddle is pretty good at taking everything the Barmy Army were yelling at him. Those that can take what the crowd throws are real men.

p.s. NWG made it on to Sky yesterday, apparently. So if you were watching, you would have seen her.

Proof Of NWG's Existence Found

NWG kept an eye on the Oval yesterday and has provided you with photographic evidence that it wasn't so bad.

Sort of.

And yes, that is NWG. Expertly disguised with the England flag.

Hmmmm

Not the start NWG was looking for.

Batting - poor. Some England player must stand up and get a century. Now down to Stuart Broad, Steve Harmison and James Anderson. Unlikely.

People meeting - excellent. NWG finally met Uncle JRod.

Overall - questionable.

It's Getting Serious Now

In 13 hours time. The toss will have been decided. The team announced. NWG seat will have been taken.

In 14 hours time. The first beer will have been drunk. The first jeers will have been shouted. The first ball will have been bowled. The first runs will have been scored.

In 15 hours time. NWG will be drunk and past caring.

Here's counting down the hours.

The Countdown Is Almost Over

Tomorrow.

It begins.

NWG can't bear it.

As long as Freddy can bowl.

As long as Strauss, Cook, Bell, Trott, Prior, Flintoff, Broad can bat.

As long as Ricky Ponting gets out cheaply.

As long as Shane Watson gets a duck.

As long as Mitchell Johnson forgets how to bowl.

As long as Brad Haddin breaks another finger.

As long as all those things happen.

England stand a chance.

England, The Weather And Just about Everything

It's Monday. Actually, it's basically Tuesday now, so that little bit closer to The Day Of Reckoning.

NWG has been studying the weather patterns (she's actually a weathergirl, you can see her on BBC Breakfast tomorrow morning), isobars, currents, climate change, precipitation levels, the Gulf Stream, what the weather was like this week last year, what the weather was like this week ten years ago, what the weather was like this week a hundred years ago. And....

She's no clearer on the weather.

The BBC is predicting that there will be a rain shower on Thursday (NWG will bring an umbrella), but good weather for Friday. What about Saturday, Sunday and Monday, huh BBC? What about those important days?

NWG remembers from her A-level history class that during the Cold War, Russia (the Soviet Union, whatever) had found that by pouring out a lot of powdered concrete from a plane on to clouds, you could make it rain. Will any such measures be used this week so the Oval Test match can be a complete game? If not, why?

It would be a crime against nature if this Test be a rain affected draw (well, a crime against something, anyway). Whatever the result, there must be a result.

Must. Must. Must.