Start of the Ashes

I watched a day, well some of a day, of Ashes cricket between England and Australia in 1989.

I went to the Oval with my brother and a friend. My brother wasn't in to cricket, not even sure why he came, so he spent the day wandering around the ground and mostly avoiding watching any of the game.

It was the third day of the sixth test. Unfortunately it was mostly washed out by rain so we only saw about 30 overs of cricket but it was still nice to have experienced it. I had spent many hours at Taunton watching Somerset play but it was the first, and currently only, time I have seen England play.

I remember in 2005 when everyone was glued to the screen watching the conclusion of that series. I was working in a bank at the time and it was on all the screens on the trading floor. People who had no prior interest or knowledge of cricket were suddenly armchair experts - it was great to see everyone getting involved in the excitement.

Today sees the start of the next Ashes battle. Given the way England have been playing it will be really interesting to see how they stack up against Australia, currently the number one test side in the world.

The added twist in our house is that my wife has an Australian passport ... should be fun!

(This is being published about 30 minutes before the start so maybe by the time you read this the direction of the match will be set)