Back to School

Well I am desperate to get back into the indoor school and smash a few balls around. Watching the Ashes has led to delusions that I could have run out Shane Warne and scored more runs than half the England team. I know some of you have been getting some interesting cricket-style Christmas pressies and you are just desperate to try them out. So be there on Thursday 11th January 7-8pm for our first coaching session of 2007. Paula will be helping us ease back into the game with some drills and games – a fun session. So remember what she taught us about Pulling. (Didn’t work for me on New Year’s Eve sadly. I think it’s my timing.)

It’s £25 for the hall at Fenners so should cost about £2 each and if we chip in an extra £1 the coach gets to buy a round. What you call a win-win outcome. We are all welcome to stay on for the men’s session 8-10pm. Extra cost of course.

The Secret of a Whiter-than-White Whitewash!
If you’ve been following the Ashes (Lois you need some sleep possum) you will know that the England team has just been whitewashed 5-0 for the first time in 86 years. And I know why.

Geoffrey Boycott says it’s because England don’t bowl well enough to take 20 wickets, Jonathan Agnew TMS commentator on Five Live says their preparation was poor, too much time with the WAGs, and John Buchanan, Aussie coach, says it’s KPs fault for being a loner. But I discovered today the secret is actually Red Bull.

Shane Warne has been playing some of the best cricket of his career, ironically as he is now retiring from Test Cricket. On the penultimate day, he top-scored by blasting 71 runs off 65 balls including 9 fours and 2 sixes. How did he do it?

“I was pretty pumped up when I first went out there. I’m normally a terrible starter so I thought I’d try a few Red Bulls and I had a couple of them and I was buzzing!” So says Shane in an ECB report. But according to the Red Bull website, there was a Red Bull cooler and product in the England dressing room all through the 2005 Ashes at home. A quote from Fred Flintoff on the site says, "I use Red Bull when I am tired and need to be focused... Be that waiting to go into bat or needing a boost before I bowl another 10 overs." (And when getting hammered 5-0?)

Aha! So when away from home were Freddie and his men lost without their Red Bull cooler? While Shane Warne and the rest of the ageing Aussies were well tanked up?

This could be the answer for us girls. I have today sent an email to Red Bull offering them the opportunity to step into the spikes of our former sponsor Veuve Cliquot and place a cooler in the Hobbs Pavilion on Parkers Piece. That way we can have confidence in our whites without fear of being whitewashed! I think Frank would be impressed.

Sponsorship – How Low Will You Go Ladies?
We have had much talk at NCI committee meetings on raising sponsorship money for the club. Well the England Women are prepared to go down to their undies for a bit of sponsorship it seems. The ECB Women’s website page shows three of the team posing in black sports bras.
“England women have formed a partnership with upliftedlingerie.co.uk an online based lingerie company, to supply sports bras to the team and dedicated their full support to the England Team as they embark on the challenge of retaining the Ashes. Vice-captain Laura Newton, along with bowler Isa Guha and all-rounder Nicola Shaw accepted the bras and thanked upliftedlingerie.co.uk for their support. (Ho ho!) Newton said: “We’re delighted that they have decided to provide us with sports bras – they are an essential part of our equipment and so it’s a fantastic deal for us.”

Apparently there is no money in this so-called sponsorship deal but the team get free bras worth £30. They weren’t even paid for the photo shoot; they stripped off for free. This reflects just how the women’s game is so cash-strapped. Despite the fact the England men get paid upwards of £250,000 I don’t think Kevin Pieterson would be photographed in his pants for zero rand.

However, I have to say that Uplifted Lingerie is not the right company for me. They specialise in large cups and much like the men's England team, I don't have any; not even a little urn!

Looking forward to seeing you all on Thursday.

The Captain