I was sitting in Archies on the waterfront at Mandurah’s Dolphin Quay having a kolsch beer. On the tv was an old Ashes test match that they were showing. I was trying to mentally work out when the match was being played. I find it interesting that Fox Sports was playing old games, I would be a little annoyed if I was paying for this service and got served up old test matches.

Stuart McGill was getting some wickets, Glen McGrath was sending down some pace, but I could not really concentrate on the match as I was chatting with my mate who is a head chef a little further down the boardwalk. I am a big fan of Stuart McGill, he was a great bowler mostly kept out of the team by Shane Warne. So this gave me some time frames to work with, I don’t believe McGill and Warne played that many test matches together, that is why I am guessing this match replay was mid-2000s.

I am no fan of Warne, he was described as a larrikin, more of a yobbo to me. From what I observed, Stuart had better figures for the limited matches he played, he was viewed as a bit of a strange guy, as opposed to Warne who was very popular with teammates and the public. When they played together in the team, I knew McGill had not only more wickets than Warne, I was aware he had a better bowling average too.

When they showed the Australian second innings, Michael Slater came in with Mark Taylor and was out for two, Justin Langer came in at number three and was out for one run. The sponsor was Ansett, so I know at least the base dates here. Justin Langer was eventually dropped from the team during an Ashes campaign in England as number three before reinventing himself as an opener with Mathew Hayden. Mark Waugh was next in before Fox Sports flipped over to a rugby match, I am not a follower of NRL, so my interest waned and I was off.