It was somehow inevitable...

Sitting up for the Ashes with TMS as my connection to the Gabba.  There are lots of English accents in the commentary team which is a relief, familiar voices, Aggers and Mann, old friends in conversation again and Jim Maxwell is always welcome.  Its day one in Brisbane, you absolutely have to bat don’t you?  No choice, look what they said about Nasser in 2002…

But the sky is cloudy, the pitch is green and there are storms about, maybe a good day for Broad to rip through them?  But Broad isn’t playing…  That just feels wrong.

1130 GMT  Root wins the toss and elects to bat, half an hour until the start, anticipation mounts, my nerves start to tingle, bloody cricket!  I’m waiting to hear the start of England’s innings, why?  It's the Ashes! But what do I have to gain?  At best we’ll be about 20/0 by the time I switch off and turn in.  But somehow I just know that isn’t going to happen.  What I’m really thinking is ‘how bad will it be?’  I’m staying up to face my fears.

Here we go…  Ashes first day first ball, Burns bowled leg stump.  FFS  It was almost inevitable…

Keep the faith!  Malan and Hameed both pick up boundaries and I start to breathe again… but then Malan is out!  11-2.  Here we fucking go again…  By the time I’ve brushed my teeth Root has gone for a duck, fuck this I’m going to bed.

Awake before the alarm, I need a piss and there’s no point in going back to bed afterwards.  I switch on the radio…  147 all out when rain stopped play.  I expected worse.

I try to be fair on England, their preparation was non existent due to both schedule and weather and the latter may yet save them in this match.  We’ve been in worse positions in recent Ashes then come back to win but that really was a miracle.  And Australia are yet to bat, but we know they’ll make 350 and fucking Warner will score a ton.

But really given the lack of practice, the pitch and the weather surely pick Broad bowl first and ease into the game?  Was Root’s decision influenced by the ghost of Nasser and the choice he made twenty years ago?

Despite everything I’m tempted to stay up again tonight but on the other hand I’m knackered.  Ashes bloody cricket, it’s a love/hate affair on all levels.