Nothing to report as the Teams have been kept secret till the last minute.

Here is something to ponder about in the mean time :

Quote:Tiger Woods won the Open Championship recently. He received the trophy from a man in a dark suit and shook hands with another half-dozen or so men in dark suits. Meanwhile, behind Woods, in front of the clubhouse of the Royal and Ancient in St Andrews, Scotland, stood hundreds more men in dark suits.

The R&A bears many similarities to the Marylebone Cricket Club though the R&A has yet to take the quantum-leap out of the 19th century and admit women members. So the much-lampooned MCC can claim that it is the more progressive institution on at least one count.

Lord's, according to pretty much everyone except perhaps Jagmohan Dalmiya, remains the home of cricket and since it's in England it must therefore be the home of English cricket. Playing on your home ground is supposed to be an advantage. Is that why England haven't beaten Australia there since 1934?

Even when they have ended up dominating the series (1981 and 1985 for example), they did badly at Lord's. England have won or drawn their last three home series against South Africa yet been trounced at Lord's each time.

Nasser Hussain says Lord's is a "tricky place until you learn to understand the place". He refers to the seven-feet slope from Grandstand to Tavern side rather than the rarified atmosphere but his comments have a double meaning. Darren Gough wrote in his autobiography: "Believe it or not, this Barnsley lad loves making his way through the egg-and-bacon ties and toffs in the Long Room." The fact that he had to offer that disclaimer tells you a lot about players' attitudes to the ground.

Only at Lord's could Ian Botham have left the field to complete silence, as he did in 1981 after making a pair against Australia. This was the England captain, bowled round his legs first ball as he tried to sweep Ray Bright. And no-one clapped or said a word. It was like watching an actor dry up on stage. No-one could bear to look. But anywhere else, the general buzz of the atmosphere would have sustained the crowd. There would have been groans from England supporters, cheers from Australia. But at Lord's - nothing.

Botham recounted a story about an MCC member addressing him as "Botham" in the Long Room to which Beefy's not unreasonable response was that he's happy to be called either "Ian" or "Mr Botham" but not just "Botham". Only at Lord"s.

Lord's has the capacity to inspire players, and not necessarily the most gifted ones. Take Bob Massie, the Western Australian swing bowler, who took 16 wickets for 137 on his Test debut in the 1972 Ashes Test. In 1984 England, having lost 5-0 to West Indies, were hoping for some light relief against Sri Lanka, who were playing their first Test in England. They put Sri Lanka in and were ground down by Sidath Wettimuny, the opener whose 190 was the longest Test innings at Lord's.

Almost without exception, overseas players are nourished by Lord's. They are inspired by the traditions, including the modern one of the dressing-room honours boards. If there is any aversion to the suits or the stuffiness it becomes an incentive rather than a burden. Perhaps for England players, that walk through the Long Room intimidates rather than inspires.

The atmosphere of Lord's is more social than anything. There is a constant buzz of chatter and the chink of glasses. You won't find any Barmy Army chanting here. Of course the crowd is partisan but not overtly so, as they are in Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds.

England's recent record at Lord's is vastly improved and they have achieved good victories over India, New Zealand and West Indies. But the feeling remains that England would still to prefer to be playing somewhere else. Headingley, for example - except they missed that option off the schedule.

I have decided to take my juicer out again...... the recipe I have is carrots, an apple, celery (which I dislike, but it is not so bad in the juice) a tiny piece of ginger and raw beetroot.

Anyone in to juicing veggies?

:daisy:

And the things they say!!!

I have just had to walk away before i collapsed into shocked giggles.

I'm allergic to cats and this is the reason why we don't have one in the house (also because I'm not a big fan of them...but mostly because they make me ill!).

So tonight, Connor comes to me and says

Him: "when you've gone away.... "

Me: "sweetie, I'm not going anywhere"

Him (hesitantly)"no when you've gone away.... like under the ground and to Heaven..."

Me: "Oh Connor.."

and I'm about to explain that I hope that's not something I'm thinking of doing and he mustn't worry when he says ....

Him: "can I then have a cat?" :eek: :haha:

so much for the little tyke missing me ever!!!

Not sure if I should be proud he's not fretting about me 'going away' or put out because he wants a cat!!!

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=f...my_gillett :bigcry: :rip:

I remembered this series recently and how much I enjoyed it as a teenager, so thought to look it up on Amazon to order for my daughter. But unfortunately they do not stock it.
Also our County Library doesn't have the first book of the series either.

Who else remembers the books, and could advise me where I could go to now?

Is it the 7th ?

Does anybody follow the great bike builders "Orange County Choppers" ?

The Teal's build a bike for Lance and just before delivery they had to change medallions to 6th time winner ... well could it be 7 times ?

Quote:Jan Ullrich has all but given up on his challenge to Lance Armstrong on this year's Tour de France and admitted he is now fighting Michael Rasmussen for a place on the podium.

Germany's 1997 winner and five-time runner-up is nearly six minutes behind his Texan rival in the general classification ahead of next Sunday's race finale on the Champs Elysees - in Tour terms a mammoth deficit which is all but insurmountable.

No :mrg: searchers allowed here please ...

Does anybody know the full story behind the Ashes ? Origination / traditions etc ?

SABC just reported : "Up to 10 changes ! "

Quote:F THEIR final training session of the week was anything to go by, the Springbok side to face Australia in the return match of the Mandela Challenge Plate could feature as many as seven changes to the team that lost comprehensively in Sydney last weekend.

Springbok coach Jake White ran a variety of combinations at the St John’s College rugby fields on Friday, but he kept coming back to an ensemble featuring four changes among the backs (one positional), and three changes in the pack.

The backline had André Pretorius at flyhalf, Jean de Villiers and Jaque Fourie as the new centre pairing, and Breyton Paulse at right wing.

Changes in the pack had Gurthro Steenkamp at loose-head prop and CJ van der Linde on the right side of the scrum, with Joe van Niekerk slotting into Danie Rossouw’s position at blindside flank.

Asked at an earlier press conference if there would be radical changes to the starting line-up, White said: “There won’t be too many, we’ve got to strike a balance between consistency in
selection and giving other players an opportunity.”

But the Ellis Park match on Saturday represents White’s last chance to experiment with his line-up before the Springboks get to the business-end of their season, the Tri-Nations opener against the Wallabies in Pretoria on July 30.

White said he saw the final Mandela Challenge Cup game as an opportunity to see what other players had to offer. “From a combinations point of view it’s not going to be a trial, we know what we’ve got. We want to see whether we can do better.”

The rugby public will be looking for an improved performance from a possible new-look team after the Boks looked bereft of ideas during their 30-12 defeat by the Wallabies.

White said he was disappointed the team had not met with his expectations. “I thought the team we put on the field would do a lot better than we did, I think we let ourselves down.”

He said the plan had been to kick for field position before launching attacks off the line-outs, but the Wallabies had been smart in kicking the ball down the middle of the field instead of out.

The defensive frailties, which saw an incredible 44 tackles missed, were to blame on both individuals and the system.

“There were times when we slipped into the wrong running lines, but defence is an attitude thing. What can you say when guys miss that many tackles?”

The Bok coach was particularly disheartened at how easily the players slipped into bad habits like forcing 50/50 passes and unnecessary kicks. “It just shows that when the pressure is on you go back to your habits.”

White said the Boks would be concentrating on the areas in which they were poor in Sydney, like holding on to the ball, keeping their structure and being patient with ball in hand.

Possible Starting XV

Percy Montgomery; Breyton Paulse; Jaque Fourie; Jean de
Villiers; Bryan Habana; André
Pretorius; Enrico Januarie; Jacques Cronjé; Joe van Niekerk; Schalk Burger; Victor Matfield; Bakkies Botha; CJ van der Linde; John Smit (captain); Gurthro Steenkamp.

I see Ponting says it might only be announced on Thursday morning but in the mean time the press makes the most of it ..

Quote:Brett Lee could take the new ball

Western Australia batsman Chris Rogers is convinced Australia will name Brett Lee alongside Glenn McGrath to take the new ball against England in the first Test at Lord's on Thursday.

The left-handed opener, after his maiden double-hundred against the Australians in Leicestershire colours on Sunday, said Lee's "scary" bowling was nearing its full ferocity as the start of the Ashes approaches.

"Brett Lee was the pick. He bowled seriously quick that first spell, probably as quick as anything I have faced," Rogers said after his 209 had dominated a record first-wicket stand of 247 with Darren Robinson (81) and carried Leicestershire to the safety of 363 for five as they earned an unlikely draw against the tourists.

"Brett Lee is something special - his first spell was quite scary at times."

Rogers had a little advice too for English batsmen needing to cope with Lee, McGrath, the leg-spin of Shane Warne and which ever back-up pace bowlers Ponting and Co pick.

"It is a matter of not giving anything away to the Australians, because if you do they will make you pay. You have to be very focused and have self-belief," he said.

Ponting would not disclose what the selectors were thinking about Lee's Test return after 18 months.

"He has done everything in his power (to earn a recall)," said the captain.

"In this game he bowled beautifully, really fast on a very lifeless wicket. He still managed to get something out of it, and I don't think you could ask any more.

"He has certainly put his name in front of the selectors."

GlobalBuzz Book Club will soon be developing a new service where users are able to swap books.

This is a service which is offered for free, you swap books with other folks and only pay for postage.

Who would be interested?