Here we go again! Time to pack the bags, travel to the airport and fly into the great unknown of the world that is CRICKET!!
This time I’m going back to South Africa for the Pakistan series but I’m going via Nairobi in Kenya as the ground inspection I did last year needs a final sign off and I’m hoping it will be a sign off because they’ve had so much rain in those parts that finishing the outfield has been tricky.
The flight to Dubai was fairly uneventful. I left on the 8.20 Emirates flight from Birmingham which was only introduced last August and already is proving very popular, so much so that the flight was full! We ate the normal high standard of meal, the entertainment was excellent and I slept for a good 4 hours. The Dubai airport is nearing the end of a large building job to introduce a new terminal and it can’t come a day too soon, when I get past the security checks the terminal was full to bursting point. Even the lounge was jammed and I struggled to find a seat, no sooner had I managed that part when Ian Howell, the SA umpire noticed me and came over and said hello, he’s going to Australia to officiate in the One Day series there. So I told him with my tongue firmly in my cheek to favour the England side because they needed all the help they could get!!!!
I had 3 hours in Dubai before boarding my flight to Nairobi and the time flew by thanks to my meeting with Ian. The trip to Kenya’s capital was 5 and a half hours and even though I’d had some sleep on the flight from Birmingham I was still very tired so we were served a meal and then I settled down for another sleep. I thought it worthwhile because when I get to Nairobi it’ll be the middle of the day and I won’t be sleeping again until night falls.
It worked well, we arrived a little bit late at 2.35pm local time and I was met at the airport by the Chairman of Cricket Kenya, Samir Inamdar, who drove me straight to the grounds where I had to make the inspections. All was well, the rains had stopped long enough for work to be done and the inspection was a formality so then it was to the hotel for a shower and change, a few minutes rest then off to have something to eat before turning in for the night. It had to be an early one ‘cause my flight to Jo’burg was leaving at 7.35am so I had to up and about by 4.30!
I am a morning person but even 4.30am is too early, anyway all was well and I got to the airport and the plane left almost on time. It’s a 3 and three quarter hour flight from Kenya’s capital to South Africa’s but again it was a very good flight. Just minutes after getting in the air I saw the most glorious sight of Mount Kilimanjaro pocking its ice-capped peak through the higher level of cloud and when I went to my bag to capture the image on film I discovered the batteries were dead so that picture is only in my mind!
Jo’burg airport was also very busy when I arrived, I think a few planes had all touched down almost at the same time because it was a real scramble for my luggage but I was met at the airport, Billy Doctrove had flown in just before me so he was waiting in the car and we were then taken to the first of the many hotels on this trip to unpack our bags.
Tuesday was spent acclimatizing myself with the suburb of Sandton where we are staying. It's a lovely place not very far away from the centre of Jo’burg and with plenty of shops and restaurants to fill in those soulless hours when you’re waiting for matches to start. There was some talk when I was last in South Africa that for this match we might move hotels nearer to the ground in Pretoria but that hasn’t materialized and it’s not a disappointment as the hotel at Grayston is a good one. Wednesday is the day before the match and as always a visit to the SuperSport ground is on the agenda. There is a slight change to the itinerary as Steve Bucknor has to get a British visa from the High Commission so we diverted to the centre of Pretoria but then we were sent on a bit of a goose chase as we went from building to building to find the right one, which we did eventually.
When we arrived at the ground it was in immaculate condition! The sun was beating down, the pitch looked a bit strange and a bit damp but the sun is so strong in these parts that they have to put a fair amount of moisture in to make the pitch last 5 days. We watched the South Africans practice lightly in the nets, checked the facilities were all in order and then left. On our way back to the hotel both umpires Doctrove and Bucknor wanted to go to the shops so we diverted to a large Mall on the outskirts of Sandton and spent some Rand. I looked at a video camera and might go back and buy it but I need to think about it.
Our last duty of the day was the Captains meeting held at the players’ hotel the Sandton Sun. These meetings are designed to raise any points that officials, captains and managers want to before the games gets underway. They are generally fairly short affairs because there is not normally too much to discuss that hasn’t been discussed at previous meetings and the players don’t want to hear the same rhetoric time after time. There was nothing new to discuss so after about 15 minutes we adjourned to the bar for a pre-match drink before hostilities get underway tomorrow.
This time I’m going back to South Africa for the Pakistan series but I’m going via Nairobi in Kenya as the ground inspection I did last year needs a final sign off and I’m hoping it will be a sign off because they’ve had so much rain in those parts that finishing the outfield has been tricky.
The flight to Dubai was fairly uneventful. I left on the 8.20 Emirates flight from Birmingham which was only introduced last August and already is proving very popular, so much so that the flight was full! We ate the normal high standard of meal, the entertainment was excellent and I slept for a good 4 hours. The Dubai airport is nearing the end of a large building job to introduce a new terminal and it can’t come a day too soon, when I get past the security checks the terminal was full to bursting point. Even the lounge was jammed and I struggled to find a seat, no sooner had I managed that part when Ian Howell, the SA umpire noticed me and came over and said hello, he’s going to Australia to officiate in the One Day series there. So I told him with my tongue firmly in my cheek to favour the England side because they needed all the help they could get!!!!
I had 3 hours in Dubai before boarding my flight to Nairobi and the time flew by thanks to my meeting with Ian. The trip to Kenya’s capital was 5 and a half hours and even though I’d had some sleep on the flight from Birmingham I was still very tired so we were served a meal and then I settled down for another sleep. I thought it worthwhile because when I get to Nairobi it’ll be the middle of the day and I won’t be sleeping again until night falls.
It worked well, we arrived a little bit late at 2.35pm local time and I was met at the airport by the Chairman of Cricket Kenya, Samir Inamdar, who drove me straight to the grounds where I had to make the inspections. All was well, the rains had stopped long enough for work to be done and the inspection was a formality so then it was to the hotel for a shower and change, a few minutes rest then off to have something to eat before turning in for the night. It had to be an early one ‘cause my flight to Jo’burg was leaving at 7.35am so I had to up and about by 4.30!
I am a morning person but even 4.30am is too early, anyway all was well and I got to the airport and the plane left almost on time. It’s a 3 and three quarter hour flight from Kenya’s capital to South Africa’s but again it was a very good flight. Just minutes after getting in the air I saw the most glorious sight of Mount Kilimanjaro pocking its ice-capped peak through the higher level of cloud and when I went to my bag to capture the image on film I discovered the batteries were dead so that picture is only in my mind!
Jo’burg airport was also very busy when I arrived, I think a few planes had all touched down almost at the same time because it was a real scramble for my luggage but I was met at the airport, Billy Doctrove had flown in just before me so he was waiting in the car and we were then taken to the first of the many hotels on this trip to unpack our bags.
Tuesday was spent acclimatizing myself with the suburb of Sandton where we are staying. It's a lovely place not very far away from the centre of Jo’burg and with plenty of shops and restaurants to fill in those soulless hours when you’re waiting for matches to start. There was some talk when I was last in South Africa that for this match we might move hotels nearer to the ground in Pretoria but that hasn’t materialized and it’s not a disappointment as the hotel at Grayston is a good one. Wednesday is the day before the match and as always a visit to the SuperSport ground is on the agenda. There is a slight change to the itinerary as Steve Bucknor has to get a British visa from the High Commission so we diverted to the centre of Pretoria but then we were sent on a bit of a goose chase as we went from building to building to find the right one, which we did eventually.
When we arrived at the ground it was in immaculate condition! The sun was beating down, the pitch looked a bit strange and a bit damp but the sun is so strong in these parts that they have to put a fair amount of moisture in to make the pitch last 5 days. We watched the South Africans practice lightly in the nets, checked the facilities were all in order and then left. On our way back to the hotel both umpires Doctrove and Bucknor wanted to go to the shops so we diverted to a large Mall on the outskirts of Sandton and spent some Rand. I looked at a video camera and might go back and buy it but I need to think about it.
Our last duty of the day was the Captains meeting held at the players’ hotel the Sandton Sun. These meetings are designed to raise any points that officials, captains and managers want to before the games gets underway. They are generally fairly short affairs because there is not normally too much to discuss that hasn’t been discussed at previous meetings and the players don’t want to hear the same rhetoric time after time. There was nothing new to discuss so after about 15 minutes we adjourned to the bar for a pre-match drink before hostilities get underway tomorrow.
4 comments:
Glad to hear you had a good flight to South Africa....sounds like you beat Shoaib here.
Well said.
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