by Ian Gason
No shortage of action around the traps at the moment. AFL entering the business end of the season, the Poms making a show of things in England, and locally the KCL finals are just around the corner. Stone the crows, cobbas, what more could a man want?
How about a beaut barbie? The Hardys Tokyo Ashes was a huge success. Ignoring Y20,000 worth of damage to the rentavan, the day went off without a hitch. Aussie honour was upheld and then we all got into the 20 kgs of imported Aussie snags, cases of Hardys and the odd beer. The match was reported in The Age, on the ICC’s East Asia Pacific website, and looks like it will be in Inside Cricket too!
Chuck Jones, sidelined by a goldfish, took full opportunity to man the eskis and thank the sponsors. By evening he was well cut, and ended up with a sausage up his bumcrack, and forced to abandon his snag stained skids in the 7-11 carpark. Dressed in just a Tshirt and shoes, he made a mad dash for Route One, but then SHE caught his eye. The Golden Thong favourite changed course mid-stride, mounted the object of his desire, and with a few quick thrusts, the job was done. She was a 10 tonne truck parked nearby…..
The other Ashes, the one in England, has certainly been interesting. As we speak, locked at 1-1 after 3, so the series is still alive, keeping Pete busy at The Clubhouse. Plenty of raucous action there for Day One as Oooh Aaaaaaah Glenn McGrath ripped through the poms like Edwards Scissorhands at an origami class. The good crowds are not just good news for Pete, but great for us Wommies too, cos thanks to Pete we have had raffles and sweeps running.
The run scorer/wicket taker double looks interesting. Warnie seems the safe bet to top the wickets, but there are 6 or more guys threating the top of the run table. A little bit of comic relief in our next sweep: Glenn McGrath’s run tally. Looking forward to seeing Smoker with the red pen putting a big ‘SALABAS’ through the names with every run The Pigeon scores!
Wombats were invited to put the final candidates for Japan selection through the ringer in a trial match at Fuji recently. A huge honour to be asked. The Japan XI ran out comfortable winners, but to use a cliche, (Japan) cricket was the winner that day. Boys from Kobe, Shizuoka, Fuji, Tokyo, Chiba all mixed it up for the day, and thanks to some Wombat encouragement, the organisers tried their hands at a cricketing fundamental: the BBQ fundraiser. Great snags, great cricket, great blokes….just needed some great cricketing sheilas! Hopefully the idea will catch on, and the BBQ will be more common after a such matches.
This weekend, The Yokohama Sixes take place, with a couple of Wombats representing the ANZACS. September sees the MCC (nah, the Pommie one) tour Japan. Details will follow, but there might be a few Wombats chosen to represent The KCL XI. Will our MCC boy get to go head to head with the lads from Marleybone?
Our reptilian brothers, The Goannas are off to Manila soon for the Aussie Rules version of Chiang Mai 6s, The Asian Championships. We wish them all the best, whatever may come.
Of course, the celebrity cricket wedding of the year is October 8th, when Etsuko final gets Jarrad cornered. Watch the Big Man cry! Listen to his voice crack! Should be a big day and night with not just the Wombats, but other members of Japan’s cricket community getting mightily hammered. Shizuoka play their semi the next day. Good luck McKenna!
KCL finals coming up. AFL finals too. Ashes still live. Come October the ICC Super Series (some Super Improvement neede from the Aussies!). 3 ODIs and 6 day Test. By then we will have The KCL Div ONE Cup up in the Clubhouse, be wreaking havoc with Shizuoka in The Pacific Cup. Then it’ll be time to re-live the whole season, warts and all at The Presentation Night. Will anyone challenge Courtney Jones for The Golden Thong??? Stay Tuned!