Testing Times in Melbourne

Day One

We witnessed a poor England batting performance and sat in drizzle early on in the day's play. However, we did see Shane Warne take his 700th test wicket (See previous article: 'An Engaging Day in Melbourne')

Day Two
England performed poorly again! This time the weather was better behaved, as it did not rain, but it was still cold sitting up high in the stands. England took two wickets before we arrived to leave Australia on 80 something for 5. At that point, we felt hopeful, but Symonds and Hayden put a stop to that and ended a 'dragging' day by making batting look extremely easy.

View from the nose bleed seats

Day Three
We arrived late for the third day of the test, which meant we missed three wickets fall. By the time we had properly settled in our seats England was batting again and chasing a big score. We were hopeful of a good performance this time but, as you probably know, the win (or even a draw) did not materialise.

During the day we moved seats to be in the sun and warm up. The 'new' seats happened to be close to where the Barmy Army contingent was seated. Their singing, although repetitive, kept us entertained.

At the end of the game, Shane Warne was awarded Player of the Match. We hung around, in case he was going to do a lap of honour, but he did not. He probably wanted to get to the changing room for a beer and a fag! Anyway, an hour after the game had ended, the Barmy Army was still singing and clapping, but for us it was time to go.

All over in less than three days

We had arranged to meet Andy & Jenny at the 'Elephant & Wheelbarrow' pub, in St Kilda, for a bite to eat. The meals were fine, but we did not stay too long, as there were still many dessert type items to be eaten back at the apartment. From the pub, we caught a tram but got off after two stops because it was just too rude to pass the Espy without having a beer. So a couple more jugs were consumed. We did eventually make it home for pudding!