Anthem for the Oval 2009

The wall on which the prophets wrote
Is cracking at the seams.
Upon the instruments of death
The sunlight brightly gleams.
When every man is torn apart
With nightmares and with dreams,
Will no one lay the laurel wreath
As silence drowns the screams.

Between the iron gates of fate,
The seeds of time were sown,
And watered by the deeds of those
Who know and who are known;
Knowledge is a deadly friend
When no one sets the rules.
The fate of English Cricket I see
Is in the hands of fools.

Confusion will be my epitaph.
As I crawl a cracked and broken path
If we make it we can all sit back and laugh.
But I fear tomorrow I'll be crying,
Yes I fear tomorrow I'll be crying.

King Crimson - with one small revision. (If you don't know the song, track it down on Youtube they don't come much better).

I will be watching the next test match with the same trepidation as I used to watch Dr Who as a child in the early 1960s.

'This time, more than any other time, we'll get it right.' ?

At least it isn't "On The Road Again"

Twelve sturdy young Poms dressed in cream
walked onto the Oval - their dream?
To win back the Ashes,
shut up all the bashers
and make England proud of their team.

The Aussies were there for a reason
they'd bloody well cruel England's season
They'd hammer and plunder,
rip England asunder
and in their own land commit treason.

The Umpires were umming and aahing
They'd already taken a scarring
Those bloody replays
had f***ed up their days
while the crowds called for feathers and tarring.

Now Ponting was all in a flounce
So many decisions to bounce!
Should he drop Clark for spin?
Take four quickies in?
If wrong, his detractors would pounce.

The elegant Strauss spoke to Gower
of Captaincy, both sweet and sour.
He felt the noose tighten
He'd die in the fightin'
but KP would NOT take his power.

So out to the wicket they strode
Two Captains who carried the load
The coin was tossed - splat
Strauss smiled, said 'we'll bat'
and Ponting mouthed, 'F you, you toad.'

The legend of Ashes is rife
with heroics and ruin and strife
Suffice it to say
Lee was glorious that day
and they'll speak of his conquest, for life.