William was ill last week, and watched some DVDs of England’s win in the 2005 Ashes series repeatedly. He has become a bit of a cricket fanatic (and of course, as a fellow sufferer, I am proud of him!)

William decided we needed our own trophy, and so burnt a wooden stump in the fireplace, and put the ashes in a jam jar. (I could explain why he did this, but if you do not know already, then you are probably not interested in cricket history…)

Genius!

So far, it is one match each in a five match series. Played in poor light on dodgy monoblock with a hard plastic covered full size ball that hurts when it hits you.

I thought it worth mentioning as England play Australia in the first of five Ashes tests tonight. England are the current holders, but have not won in Australia since the early 1980’s and start this time as marginal favourites, with an Australian team in disarray.

To whet the appetite, I thought it appropriate to share a Freddy Flintoff story. In 2005 after an incredibly close match which was narrowly edged by England, Australian cricketer Brett Lee collapsed to the grass in tears. In what was hailed as a piece of great sportsmanship that could only be seen in the sport of cricket, Flintoff went up to him, put a supportive arm around his shoulder and whispered some words in his ear.

Here is Flintoff describing the incident, which tells a rather different side to the story-