Sellsy's Sunday Supplement

Danny Briggs, you are a legend, what was what he said, the World T20 is more important than his wedding. Good for you, cricket is just far more important! Just wonder what his future mother-in-law would say. I did notice that he is getting married in Taunton, I wonder where?

Anyway, England got off to a flyer in defence of their crown, beating the mighty Afghanistan by 116 runs. It could have been a lot more especially at one stage the Afghans were 26-8 chasing a mammoth 197 to win. England are now in to the Super 8’s, and hopefully this is where the tournament will start to get going properly.

Congratulations to Nick Compton with his England call up for the tour of India. I do hope things go well for you Nick, fully deserved especially after the summer you had, eclipsed every batsman by a distance.

Ok, this is now hard for me to do, I was wrong last week when I said England would pick Kevin Pietersen, good job, as Compo would of not got his call up. Also I said Panesar would be picked, however Samit Patel has been picked instead, why?

There were a few things I did get correct, one wicketkeeper and Jonny Bairstow as back-up, pus Eoin Morgan being recalled. One thing I am over the moon about is the non inclusion of Ravi Bopara and he is not even in the England Performance Programme squad which goes to India. So have we seen Rave in an England shirt for the last time, I do hope so.

That Performance squad shows the exciting talent coming through the counties, the likes of Matthew Coles of Kent, Roland-Jones of Middlesex, the afford mentioned Briggs and Somerset’s Jos Buttler and Craig Kieswetter.

On the subject of Somerset, many congratulation must go to Peter Trego for picking up the MVP award for the 2012 season, plus 50 wickets for the season, many congratulations. I do know you are a great favourite with a few people I know. But why wasn’t you picked for the Hong Long Sixes?

Now, shall I book up my ticket now for the Lord’s final for the CB40? Am not wanting to count my chickens, but have you seen who is in Somerset’s group for next season? Well, let me tell you: Unicorns, Glamorgan, Leicestershire, Yorkshire, Gloucestershire and Middlesex. Surely Somerset should get through their group, surely???

A question for Mr Sortwell of Over Stowey CC. Has the square been re-laid / scarified yet? I was in a village called Avebury yesterday, and wow, was they doing some work on their square yesterday. It was in the process of being completely re-laid, and the amount of people working on it just goes to show what a good working party can do. So Mr Sortwell, my questions still stands.

Ok, 10.57, time for a Thatchers, could be a long afternoon, England on at 3.00pm don’t forget.

Sellsy's Sunday Supplement

So that’s it, the 2012 season is over. With the London 2012 Olympics going on, cricket seemed to play a second fiddle quite a bit this year, hardly surprising. But the season ended with a lot more questions than answers.

 

Off course the biggest question, locally anyway, is: Will Nick Compton get his chance for England in India this winter? Personally, along with the Somerset faithful, I think he should be in the squad, but we do not have any say over selection.

The next question is that did Marcus know that Compo was just six runs short of 1,500 First Class runs for 2012, plus in touching distance of an average of 100. I think not, but surely someone would have had a word in his ear before the declaration came.

Next, will Abdur Rehman be Somerset’s overseas player for 2013? Well, he has done more than enough to convince me. 27 wickets in four matches at an average of 14 should be convincing enough and hopefully convince Andy Nash.

Will Somerset go into the transfer market, or will they keep faith in their young squad. The likes of Rory Hamilton-Brown, James Harris and Jack Brooks are looking for new counties, will Somerset be tempted?

For how long and how much will both Jos Buttler and Craig Kieswetter be missing in 2013? Both now have the world at their feet, and with the T20 World Cup starting IPL contracts will surely be up for grabs. Somehow I recall Craig is looking to improve his chances in playing for England than going to the IPL, not sure about Jos, if he goes I wouldn’t blame him.

I think Craig will be included in an England touring party this winter, now whether it will be in the senior squad to India, along with Compo who knows.

All this talk about England selection, I do wonder how James Hildreth feels. He must have been on the selectors minds since he came on the scene, and with another fantastic season, coming second to Compo in First Class runs scored he surely has done his case more good than harm. I feel he will miss out, which will be a great disappointment to him, but we shall see.

 

 

      So who is going to get selected for England to tour India, well here are my thoughts:

Batsmen: Certainties are Alastair Cook, Jonathan Trott and Ian Bell. Jonny Bairstow will go as England have already identified him as Test potential by picking him earlier in the summer, and I am sure Eoin Morgan will be welcomed back to the Test match arena. Two batting spaces left, an opener to partner Cook and a middle order batsman.

These two places will be hotly discussed no doubt, as there are quite a few candidates as opener, plus we have the do we pick or do we leave out Pietersen factor. Ok, firstly the opening spot. Three candidates, Joe Root, Michael Carberry and Varun Chopra; where I would go for the latter of the three. Root has had a good season with Yorkshire, helping them gain promotion back to Division One of the County Championship, but he has scored his runs in Division Two. Carberry is just too inconsistent for me. As for Chopra, well he scored over 1,000 First Class runs this season, helped Warwickshire win Division One, plus he always scores runs against Somerset.

So, that middle order batsman. Somehow I think Pietersen will get another chance, England need his experience and I think Captain Cook is keen to get him back. That will come as a great disappointment to many, including myself, who think his head should be dangled somewhere near Traitors Gate! Also, there will be others who will feel disappointed, Compo, Hildy, James Taylor, Ben Stokes, but they will go on a Lions tour I am sure.

So two wicketkeepers: Matt Prior and Craig Kieswetter. Craig has now gone ahead of Steve Davis, plus he can hold a bat. There may even be a case to take one keeper, Prior and take an extra batsman as Bairstow can keep wicket, or could Craig go instead of Bairstow and then chose another batsman, now I am confused.

Bowlers, they seem to pick themselves also. Tim Bresnan, Stuart Broad, Graeme Swann, James Anderson, Monty Panesar, Steven Finn, Graham Onions. Yes, Monty, only as back up to Swann of course.

Well there you have it, the squad for India, not my squad, but the names which will be revealed on Tuesday.

The mighty Over Stowey finished their season in some style, with a great inter-club match, the Under 30’s v the Over 30’s for the Neil Sortwell memorial trophy. For once the youngsters came up trumps, as the trophy belonged to the older members of the club for some years. Is this a change in the guard for Stowey, does this means the Club’s youth policy is working? Who knows, just have to wait until 2013 to find out.

Ok, 10.57, time for a quick Thatchers or two in The Cottage Inn, and get ready for the World T20 which starts next week.

Sellsy's Sunday Supplement

 “Crimson-faced, scrumpy-pickled men in the bleachers”, Somerset fans as described in All Out Cricket magazine this month. The article was about the worst overs in cricket, and of course Scott Boswell feature highly in that list, only the eight wides in that over during the Lord’s final back in 2001, yes our chants of “Somerset! La-la-la” must still haunt him to this day. Oh happy days!

Well the 2012 season is nearly at a close, with Somerset due to play their last game this coming week, when they take on relegated Worcestershire at the County Ground, starting Tuesday. Guess where I will be this week?

A chapter in the history of Somerset will close after this game, as Brian Rose is stepping down as Director of Cricket at the end of the season. The end of an eight year stint and it has most certainly revived the fortunes of Somerset.

When Rosie took charge back in 2004, Somerset were a club going nowhere, playing Division Two cricket in the County Championship. Rose appointed Justin Langer as captain and that seemed to transform the team. They won the Division Two title in 2007, and they now compete strongly in all competitions.

Rosie has helped steer the side to countless finals during his spell in charge, with the T20 victory in 2005 being one of high points. I have happy memories of trips to finals at Lord’s, The Oval, Edgbaston, The Rose Bowl, The SWALEC, some great days out, how I remember is somewhat up for debate I expect, but some cracking days out, even though Somerset were runners-up in nearly all of the finals!

I would expect the County Championship in 2010 will haunt Rosie for a long time. As you may know Somerset have never won the Championship, and in 2010 they tied with Nottinghamshire. However Notts were awarded the crown as they won more games. Oh for that extra batting point somewhere during 2010.

The Somerset players are giving Rosie a bit of a send off already. In their recent match against Sussex they chased down nearly 400 runs to win, with wickets to spare. James Hildreth scoring an unbeaten ton, and Peter Trego smashing 90 seeing Somerset home with overs to spare. Yorkshire knows what it feels like, Somerset chased down two huge totals in 2009 and 2010 respectfully against the White Rose County, and I do believe Hildy scored a ton that day in 2010. Incidentally, Tres passed 20,000 first class runs during that match.

Victory against Worcestershire this week should hopefully see Somerset come runners-up (again) in the County Championship. A fitting finish for Rosie, somehow I think not.

Over Stowey have all but finished their 2012 campaign. The 1^st XI finished off in style beating neighbours Stogumber by five wickets. Jack Rich scoring 60 in just five overs to secure victory. The 2^nd’s have just one more fixture, Brompton Ralph, away, so why am I going to the Emirates to watch Arsenal I just don’t know.

On the subject of things coming to an end, surely Ravi Bopara has now had his “chips” playing for England. I must have been saying this for over a year now, but England kept on picking him, and Bopara keeps on failing, time to say goodbye to England Ravi.

Well, 10.57, time for a Thatchers and get ready for the Neil Sortwell Memorial Trophy, looks like it is going to be a nice day for it!

Sellsy's Sunday Supplement

With the news of Andres Strauss stepping down from not just the England captaincy, but retiring from all forms of cricket, the biggest cricketing story of the week was missed: the dismissal of Somerset’s Alex Barrow.

In the County Championship game between Somerset and Surrey Alex was run out by Murali (turncoat) Kartik while backing-up. Surrey skipper Gareth Barry declined the opportunity to call Alex back when umpire Peter Hartley offered it.

There were angry scenes amongst the supporters after, followed by a lot of rhetoric from both sides, for me, the phrase “Spirit of the Game” comes in to question. When doing my umpires course some three years ago now that phrase and the ethics behind it was one of the first things which we was brought to our attention. 'Mankading' is regarded within the English game as being a breach of etiquette and is an unpalatable act for many players, as well as fans.

With Alex being run out like that (incidentally Alex and myself share the same birthday, May 6^th, shame fore me it is not the same birth date!), it reminded me of little incident which happened when Over Stowey took part in a six-a-side tournament at Cannington some 20 years ago. I was playing for a Stowey side who was playing against a host side in a pool match. While fielding I notice a Cannington batsman backing up quite a long way, in fact good as attempting a run or trying to steel an unfair advantage (Spirit of the Game?). In the over before mine, that same batsman was still doing this, plus the fact after one delivery he went to pick the ball up to give back to us fielders, but claimed a run as well (obstructing the field?).

Anyway, this was noticed by yours truly, so in my over, in fact the second ball, that said Cannington batsman was half way down the track, so I whipped the bails off, and appealed (quite loudly) for a run out. The umpire (from Kilve) asked if I was sure, and I replied in an affirmative, saying “It’s in the rules and he is out,” and he gave the batsman out, a bit reluctantly.

It was a bit fractious after that, I was confronted on the boundary after by the batsman I ran out, plus we have not been on speaking terms since, which doesn’t really bother me. I only want to appologise to the Kilve umpire and buy him a pint for putting him that situation.

This incident is still talked about locally, oh how we reminisce, but where was the “Spirit of the Game” there?

On the subject of the “Spirit of the Game”, Over Stowey played Bishops Hull on Saturday. A little incident happened there regarding Law 34, hit the ball twice. Stowey’s finest, Mark Sortwell, played a shot (doubt if it was attacking), the ball threatened to roll back onto his stumps after rebounding of his pad and he hit it away. Hull appealed to say he hit the ball twice, and it was given not out – correctly so.

I believe Hull was incensed by this decision, but the Law is quite clear on this. Mark could have been out hitting the ball twice as he intentionally hit the ball for the second time. However, if he hit the ball away solely in order to guard his wicket (which I believe he did) and before the ball has been touched by a fielder, he may lawfully strike the ball more than once.

Right, enough about the laws of cricket, I can feel myself dropping off to sleep now! So who is going to open the innings for England with Alastair Cook now Strauss has retired? You know how some things naturally go together like cheese and pickled onions, Strauss and Cook have been stepping out together for ages as England’s opening pair and it has, somewhat, been taken for granted.

So who will England pick? Joe Root of Yorkshire; promote Jonathan Trott or Ian Bell; or will Somerset’s prolific run scorer Nick Compton get a chance? Do England bring pack Kevin Pietersen (not to open off course). Does Eoin Morgan get a recall? And will England, and Graham Gooch, finally realise that Ravi Bopara id just not good enough to play for England, Second Division for Essex yes (just), England no.

Anyway, interesting dilemmas for the English hierarchy, but somehow I think (reluctantly) KP will be back in the England Test side for India.

Ok, 10.57, time for a pint, it is my Mum’s birthday!

Sellsy's Sunday Supplement

To say the Finals day was disappointing is an understatement, something we, as Somerset supporters, should be used too, but it hurts even more than last year, the year before, the year before that and so on. I am pretty sure it must hurt just as bad for the team.

So my track record at finals is now getting worse, 12 finals and I have only seen Somerset win twice. I am sure I am not the only supporter who has a similar record to me, but it hurts. What also hurts is the County Championship. Again it is going to be in touching distance, but out of clutches yet again.

So no doubt the inquests have already started on yesterday and I would expect this season, another nearly season. I know, as I have already spoken to a few friends about this season, it seems difficult to put your finger on any one reason.

I am not going to dwell on it, as I have faith in Marcus and the team. What a wonderful brand of cricket they give us, exciting, promising, nail-biting, breath taking, I think you know what I mean. I will still be first in the queue for my season ticket renewal, I will anticipate the release of the 2013 fixtures, write them in my diary and start to plan away trips.

But hey, still a few weeks to go for 2012, and their prospect in making life difficult for Warwickshire and Sussex in their quest for the County Championship.

On one last note, what great support Somerset had yesterday at Cardiff, still the best supported county by far and on the evidence yesterday, it showed.

Sellsy's Olympic Supplement (SOS) - Part 3

Or a tour around the pubs of London looking for Gold!!! 

What an achievement for Team GB, 29 gold medals, wow, with 17 silver’s and 19 bronze medals a fantastic achievement, the best in my lifetime by far. I still remember the Atlanta games where GB won only one gold, where has it all gone right? I wonder if Charles van Commenee will resign though.

Now if anyone who deserves gold it must go to us volunteers. I remember going back to one of my first training sessions at Wembley on a snowy winter’s day, where the message was that we will make the difference between a good games and a fantastic one, well I hope we did make a difference, I am pretty sure we did. The reception we got from the crowd when Lord Coe made reference to volunteers in his speech at the closing ceremony brought a tear to my eye.

My one regret is that I couldn’t find a pub anywhere in London that serves Thatchers Cider, must of visited more that 20 during the time I was in the capital, but not one Thatchers to be seen. The closest was just outside the British Museum, where they had Westons, not bad, but at £4.20 a go you are having a laugh, but did have a couple. The guy behind the bar, after he gave me my change from a gold bar, mentioned that he did had Thatchers on, but sold the last pint some 45 minutes ago, if only I left the museum earlier!

Holloway, north London, near Arsenal FC, a great little cosmopolitan area of London and I found a great little Irish bar called The Quays. After my first visit and I went in after a long shift for the second time, they already knew what my tipple was and after making friends with the locals and staff were easy plus they made it easy, as they were so welcoming. I do hope (and expect) they celebrated the gold medal of Katie Taylor long into the night. Thanks all for making me so welcome and I hope you enjoyed your Olympic experience, what next Gaelic Football as a new Olympic sport?

So after pounding the streets of London and visiting almost every pub (and not finding a Thatchers anywhere), here are my top three ciders I found in the capital:

• Bronze: Strongbow (only because they sold it in The Quays)
• Silver: Aspall Cyder (not spelt correctly I know, but it does come from Suffolk!)
• Gold: Kingstone Press (but not as good as Thatchers).

Ok, enough about cider, except coming back to The Cottage at Keenthorne and having that pint was most pleasant indeed. I have been told that the cellar has a few barrels in there, where the levels of consumption had gone down since I have been away in the capital.

Now, in my short time as a volunteer in the Athletes Village I got to meet loads of different athletes, from various nations, competing in various sports. It was great to see them competing on TV knowing I met them earlier and hopefully making their Olympic experience one not to forget, with my influence of course. So here are some of the athletes I have met who competed in London 2012: 

• Martina Hrasnova – Slovakia – Hammer – Qualifying round
• Xing Han – Congo – Table Tennis – First round
• Sviatlana Khakhlova– Belarus – Swimming - Heats
• Rene Philippe Kouassi – Ivory Coast – Archer – Round of 64
• British Men’s Handball Team – Group stages
• Louise Jukes – Britain – Handball – Played five, won none
• Mohammed Rasheed – Maldives – Badminton – Group stages
• Vasiliki Arvanitu – Greece – Beach Volleyball – Won one match in Pool B
• LaVerne Jones-Ferrette – American Virgin Islands – Athletics – Semi-finals in 100 and 200 meters
• Nigerian Basketball Team – Won one out of five group games
• Armands Zvirbulis – Latvia – Wrestler – Quarter-final
• Belinda Stowell – Australia – Sailing – 6^th in Women’s 470
• Andrea St Bernard – Grenada – Taekwondo – Last 16
• Simic Mateja – Slovenia – Triathlon – 37th
• Lizanne Murphy – Canada – Basketball – 4^th in Group B, lost to USA in quarter-final
• Krystal Weir – Australia – Sailing – Women’s Laser Radial – Did not qualify for medal race
• Jessica Crisp – Australia – Sailing – Women’s RS-X - Did not qualify for medal race
• Edward Riner – France – Judo - +100KG – Gold medal winner
• Michael Phelps – USA – Swimming – Gold’s galore
• Asuka Teramoto – Japan – Gymnastics – Individual all round – 11^th, Team 8th
• Yuko Shintake – Japan – Gymnastics – Women’s Team 8th
• Al-Kubati – Yemen – Taekwondo – Quarter-final
• Ivet Lalova – Bulgaria – Athletics – 100 and 200 meters semi-final
• Paddy Barnes – Ireland – Boxer – Bronze
• Michael Conlan – Ireland – Boxer – Bronze
• John Joe Nevin - Ireland – Boxer – Silver
• Katie Taylor - Ireland – Boxer – Gold
• Sanya Richards-Ross – USA – Sprinter – Gold 400 meters, 5^th 200 meters, Gold 4 x 400 meters relay
• Deedee Trotter – USA – Sprinter – Bronze 400 meters, Gold 4 x 400 meters relay
• Patrick Tuara – Cook Islands – Athletics – Heats 100 meters
• Thailand Badminton Squad
• Juan Manual Cano – Argentina – Athletics – Men’s 20km walk – 22^nd
• Argentina Women’s Hockey Team  - Silver
• Stefanie Schwaiger and Doris Schwaiger – Austria – Women’s Beach Volleyball – Quarter-final
• Mihai Bobocica – Italy – Table Tennis – 2^nd Round

And not forgetting: Croatian Athletics, Paraguayan Athletics, Korean Volleyball, Mexican Weightlifters, Chilean Gymnast and Shooter, Belgian Cyclist, St Lucia Sprinter, Palestine Judo, Belgian Hockey, French Gymnastics, Turkmenistan Judo, Portuguese Gymnastics, Paraguayan Swimming, Burkina Faso Judo, Chinese Cycling, Serbian Shooters, German Badminton, Barbados Athletics, Madagascar Judo and Indonesian Badminton. Plus some very pleasant representatives from the USA (I told them it would not rain!), Marshall Islands and Jamaica. And finally, Dagmawit Berhane, a representative from the IOC. 

The top three athletes I met:

• Bronze: Lizanne Murphy, from Canada who played basketball. Gave us a question which none of us could answer, she only wanted to buy the posters from the basketball venue, I wonder if she succeeded.
• Silver: Teddy Riner, from France, who won gold for Judo. Pigeon French, meets pigeon English, very polite guy, full of muscle, do hope he found what he was looking for.
• Gold: Andrea St Bernard, from Grenada who competed in Taekwondo. The most polite athlete I met during my period in the Athlete’s Village, made the last 16. Now if I ever want a lawyer, I know who to call!!!!

In my eyes the performance of the Games was the men’s 800 meters where David Rudisha not only won gold, but done so in a world record, very difficult for a middle distance runner without a pacemaker, in fact Rudisha was the pacemaker as everyone who finished done a personal best or similar. Britain’s Andrew Osagie time would have been good enough to win gold in Beijing four years ago.  

The most heroic goes to the US runner Manteo Mitchell in the 4 x 400 meters relay semi-final, who broke his leg half way round and still finished his lap. The US went on to qualify for the final and got a silver. 

The most tearful was myself, as when I woke up in the middle of the night wanting the bathroom, thought I was at home rather than my friends flat, and as I was still sleepy I walked into the wall and I stubbed my toe, ouch! 

The biggest disgrace of the games was the food hall in the Olympic Village, when I saw it had toad-in-the-hole one day, great I thought, but with couscous, I ask you. I wonder if the athletes had the same menu. 

The funniest moment, apart from Eric Idle, was the Indian driver, who we thought he was saying he was a diver. Yes lost in translation a little, but it made us chuckle, especially as he was at the aquatics desk for some 30 minutes. The Jamaican whop wanted the AA came a close second. 

Lastly, the scariest moment was when I was propositioned by a lady of the night at Archway tube station at 5.15am in the morning, I wonder if she was doing overtime?  

Ok, short time as a volunteer, long memories, great people to work with and guess what, the Games have finished and it has started to rain, must still be cricket season!!! 

Ok, 5.27pm (nearly), time for a an Olympic size Thatchers, how apt it’s call Thatchers GOLD!!!!!

Sellsy's Olympic Supplement

Or when Michal Phelps met me!

Here is the next part of my Olympic diary, it just gets better and better and busier, but hey, am rubbing shoulders with the world’s best. I wonder what the athletes must think when meet me, Mark Sells, renowned for the love of cider!

July 26^th

How do you start a war / diplomatic incident between North and South Korea? Easy, just put the South Korean flag next to sportsmen representing North Korea. Can you believe it? I wonder what happened to the person who pressed that button. Oh well, great news to wake up too before I set off to the Olympic Park.

Busy waiting outside a tube station at 5.15am and do you know what happens next, well a lady of the night (or early morning) wanted to show me a good time before the station opened – only in London I suppose, must have been my uniform I that did it.

So when I eventually reach the safety of the Athletes Village it was straight down to work in Sports Information. What was install for me today? Well one thing it was very busy, not surprising as it was the day before the opening ceremony.

Turkish boxing turned up a day early for their technical meeting. An official from Iraq gave us (three of us) our first pin badges. Some Colombians wanted to know where they could get their haircut – they are asking me – so I made light of the situation and they laughed saying something Spanish which amused them even more. And next up was this sprinter from the Virgin Islands wanting to know where she could get a manicure / facial – is this wind up Sellsy day?

After all this hilarity, to others especially, decided to go and see a welcoming ceremony. Poland, Denmark, France and The Ivory Coast were the ones I watched; there is something about the French National Anthem which just stirs you a little (but not too much). The delegate from the Ivory Coast how a bit of trouble with security as she did not have her accreditation on her; which was interesting to watch indeed.

The last thing I dealt with that day was the Nigerian Basketball Team. The came in on mass, smallest person must have been 7’, they had some technical query, and I after they left my neck was a bit sore looking at them.

July 27^th

A bit of momentous day today, spoke to gold medallists from Beijing, Athens and Sydney, plus an IOC delegate, I hate to name drop, so I am not going to – will leave that for another time.

However the highlight was helping out multiple World and European Judo champion Teddy Riner – or Big Ted to his friends. Now this 6’8 giant just oozes strength and class, plus what a gentleman he is. Now I speak pigeon French, and he speaks even more pigeon English, so as you can imagine, we got on really well. I gave him the information that he wanted, said au revoir and off he went, knowing that I have influenced him even more in his quest to become Olympic champion.

Oh and I met Michael Phelps today as well.

July 28^th

The morning after the Opening Ceremony and what a fantastic ceremony it was. I picked out athletes who I have spoken to over the past week or so, Big Ted stood out off course, in fact he towered over the rest of the French team. But off course the cricket match was the highlight of the ceremony, how English is that?

This was quite a long day for me today, with an early start after the night before, but hey it was worth it.

Spent most of the day back office, mainly because I was tired, plus results started to come in thick and fast which had to be distributed to the appropriate sports desk. By the end of the day I was just knackered. When I reached my digs, I just crashed out for the night.

What is bizarre about that is the fact it is a Saturday and not one pint passed my lips. What are the Olympics doing for me and my reputation? Lord Coe, are you actually inspiring me?

July 29^th

Sad day today, found out that my Congolese Table Tennis friend had been knocked out in the first round, by a Belarusian. I wonder if she has the doubles however?

With a lot of sport taking place the Information Centre was a little quieter than usual, however the results still had to be distributed.

Two highlights of the day, a coach from a participating country asked me if there was an AA meeting place within the village and we are not talking about motor vehicles here. That threw me a little, but I got my mobile phone out and gave him the number from my most used numbers!

Secondly, two tiny Japanese girls walked in, I was about to tell them that the youth games are not this year. However, to my amusement, I realised they were Gymnasts, and after I looked them up on the information computer I found out that they are worthy of them being here, plus they were 16 years old, older than I thought.

Oh well, a couple of days rest back at my full-time job, the back I go for the long haul, until the games finish. So my next supplement will be on the 13^th August, an Olympic Special, with plenty of pictures.

17.27, time to try a Thatchers, hurrah!!!