All i remember Dave is having to hand in the pole to my flag before leaving the bus. Plus I had to bring my girlfriends sister with me (only girl on the bus) because she'd queued 5 hrs for the tickets.

Ah Arthur, you stir memories with your reference to Bert Trautman - bloody poetry in motion that guy. I can remember little else about UK soccer with the exception of Bill Short in goal for Argyle, but Trautman was one of my pre-teen heroes as I flung myself headlong about the patch of grass at the back of the house, trying to emulate his aerial grace.



As to Aussie sport, we're just damned bored. So the media (which as you know owns Aussie Sport Inc), worried about falling viewers/readership, is trying to re-kindle a bit of interest with a carefully crafted campaign. It has a number of components - skillfully losing the world cup in extra time, sneakily sending the seconds to the Rugby League tests, quietly telling the best cricket captain we've had "you're too old", sending our number one and two quickies off for surgery, dreaming up a cock and bull story that our number one leggie has "a water pill" problem, slipping in the odd loss in the cricket tests. But wait, there's more. I believe that we're currently indoctrinating the Zimbabwean cricket team into thinking they've got a chance in the one day series (who'd watch it otherwise) by letting them beat Australia A (or was it "K" or "M" I can't remember) even after Zimbabwe made a hash of their innings.



Giving the Indians a 705 head start was a bit over the top I'll admit, but the campaign team was feeling 10 pint confident on 31 December when the idea was discussed in the pub. And the campaign is working. It's creating a bit of unaccustomed excitement in blighty where those very same Aussie sporting entrepreneurs have their big-ticket investments.

By the way how is it that a third world country like India can score over 700 runs against what I am told is the premier (until they lost the Rugby World Cup) sporting (sic) nation in the world!! Is Waugh wanting to go out on a whimper?

Sheer weight of numbers, Arthur, just like Brazil in football; a country of a billion people which is single-minded about a particular sport is at an advantage compared with a country of 20 million which spreads itself more thinly over a number of sports. Also, as I said above, India numbers among its ranks players such as Tendulkar, Dravid, Laxman, Kumble (eight wickets in an innings eh?), all at or near the peak of their powers at around the same time and Sourav Ganguly, their captain, seems to know what he's about.







As for the Test match, which is not yet over at the time I am writing, I think that Steve Waugh and co. are going to put up the fight of their lives tomorrow and the match will end in a draw.

Arthur would I be right in assuming that the Bert Trautman who you are remembering fondly was old broken neck Bert former member of the "Wehrmacht"!!

I never was much of a 'gyles fan, perhaps because I lived for many years in Blackstock Road, Highbury Vale and was "forced" (I still have the bruises) to do duty just across the road.

Cricket: It has to be said that India has the best batting line-up in the World just at the moment.

It is with interest that I note Graham's comment about a draw. I suppose that epitomises the general attitude toward the prowess of English sporting sides (Jonny Whatsisname {is} aside).

It has to be remembered that Aus. has already scored 400 in a day this series. It may be unlikely, but it could happen again, given the circumstances. I guarantee the Aus. team will be positive about it and give it a go for a while. I suggest Gilchrist will play at #3. That's if required, of course!

Be positive!!

By the way, still don't know from where Graham writes!

On the subject of our own Test series with Sri Lanka, I get a bit fed up with Muralitharan being described as a chucker. Very unsporting IMO. Murali is a superb bowler who is able to put more spin on the ball than anyone else in Test cricket.

Of course he can get more on the ball, go look at the photo here:-

news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/sri_v_eng_2003/3342891.stm

I've seen him bowl, looked like he chucked to me. His arm seemed to straighten. (Of course, if I chucked, when I went to the academy to be checked out, I'd bowl properly!) Just because someone has a deformity shouldn't be an excuse. If someone had 10 foot arms, the BDO wouldn't let him play darts, would they? Or if a guy had huge flipper feet they wouldn't let him swim for Australia. Err.....



Cheers, Symsx.

I have fond memories of both the '84 FA cup run and the Wembley playoff! I was at University in Bath at the time of the cup run and managed to get to The Hawthorns for the 1-0 win over WBA. Remember Gordon Staniforth hitting both posts (with one shot) against Derby at Home Park? The ground was so full for that game I ended up in the Barn Park End!

The best part about the Wembley game was bumping into people you hadn't seen for ages. (..and then dancing around like a nutter with them after the final whistle!)

cheers, Syms.

p.s. I used to work at the same place as the bloke that Ronnie Mauge had a pop at in Asda carpark!! There's a claim to fame!

Has Phase Two now been started, by the way? I take it that this is a redevelopment of the Mayflower Stand?

Phase 2 is the redevlopment of the Mayflower Stand, the various offices in and around it, and the concourse behind it. At the moment, there is no confirmed start date for the work, although there are rumours that it will be this summer. The last official comment from the Chairman (himself an OB) was that PAFC were set to talk with the Council about funding.



But, if we do get promoted, would they want to have the Mayflower out of use for the start of our first season in Division 1? After all, that's 7-8.0000 paying customers they would have to turn away, as the ground capacity is likely to be less than 13.000 whilst the work is in progress.

Hi Dave,

Please don't mention the 'P' word! There's still 21 games to go! On the other hand, best finish the stadium this summer, don't want to delay a year and affect the capacity for our first year in the Premiership!!

Seriously, I think if they get the funding they should build it ASAP. During the rebuilding of the Lyndhurst etc. I rememeber the excitement of seeing the progress every week, kept people coming back for more!

Green Army!

Cheers Syms.

Pretty sure that's right Steve. Broke his neck in a cup final or something similar and played on regardless.