Today, I'm not feeling angry.

I'm feeling sad. Ipswich have now lost five league games in a row, and I'm trying to rack my brains thinking of when this last happened in the time I've supported this club. I listened to the match today, and we sounded like we played alright. Yes, it wasn't the Swansea style of play with the fluent passing, but we had chances and could have drawn it had it not been for Andy D'Urso. Again. (Having said this, I haven't actually seen the incident, but I still dislike Andy D'Urso.)

Terrible defending as well cost us today. Like it did against Norwich. And for most of last season. McAuley's injured, Delaney got sent off against Norwich and is clearly not in Keane's good books. So what does that leave us? A 20 year old World Cup international, a guy on loan, a 20 year old who played 90 minutes on Tuesday and Darren O'Dea, another guy on loan, who pretty much handed Norwich their opening goal on a plate.

Today we had 5 loanees in the side. Norris was ill, apparently and Peters continues to be a bench warmer for reasons I do not understand. In our defence, we had two loanees and two 20 year olds. Hardly instills confidence. I'm all for giving the youth a go, they are the future of this club and our academy's pretty good. But we don't have that senior player at the moment and boy do I miss McAuley. Rather than raiding the lower leagues for midfielders, can we please get someone to cover McAuley for however long he's out for? Or at least have someone decent in front of the defence in a diamond?

I'm off to Preston next week. It's only 30 minutes down the road, so it'd be stupid not to go. I'm not really sure what I'm going to see. We're slipping down the table and are really showing relegation form. Preston are bottom. We like giving wins to people who are desperate for wins. It's only December, but August and September are distant memories. The Carling Cup run is a nice bonus, we did win on Wednesday, so we know how it feels to win, but the league form is just grim. I miss the draws. Why can't we draw? If we go into a match with a drawing mentality, we lose, because we panic and forget that there's a set of goalposts down the other end of the pitch.

"Hi Footballaritans, me again. Yeah, it's 5 losses now. I don't think a hug can cut it any more."

At least there's always the cricket.

Something that will never be seen again as long as I live...

I should stop being so pessimistic. I'm severely shattered, but still in awe of Strauss, Trott and especially Alastair Cook. They fought and they fought back well. More than well. I stayed up all night on Saturday and lasted until tea yesterday, for fear that should I leave, we would crumple in a heap. I couldn't even listen to TMS. I followed it on Cricinfo text updates and Hawkeye. I must've made a right picture. 

Absolutely brilliant. And just the tonic to losing to those folk from north of the border. I'm glad I'm not in East Anglia for a while. Bloody Ipswich Town. 

The East Anglian derby.

A Sheffield United fan once said to me, "It's not really a derby. To be a derby, you have to be in the same place. Not 40 miles from one another." 

It's not the Suffolk derby, is it? It's not the Norfolk derby either. This is the East Anglian derby. The two biggest clubs in our pokey, lovely region, fighting it out not just for bragging rights for the supporters, but for the county. It makes kids hate the sight of yellow and green (or blue and white, but why would they, when these two colours clearly stand for all the beautiful things in the world. Sorry, I'll try and be this thing called 'unbiased'...), hate Norwich/Ipswich, get stared at whilst wearing the colours of either Ipswich/Norwich in Norwich/Ipswich, makes people pronounce the names of these places wrong, makes half decent players become loathed because they played for the wrong team. 

I read this article on the BBC Sport website and the comments section highlights just how much this derby means to the inhabitants of Norfolk and Suffolk. It's the city of Norwich vs the town of Ipswich. People outside of East Anglia seem to dismiss it, they don't understand what all the fuss is about and just think it's the locals getting restless. But a neutral sitting in Portman Road or Carrow Road would see just how passionate this derby is, how much of an atmosphere envelopes the ground. The Portman Road fixture, despite, weirdly, being on a Thursday evening will probably attract over 25,000. It's Good Friday next day. The kids are off school (probably, I haven't really checked dates), I'm home from university and will be itching to get a ticket in the lower deck of the North Stand. 

Heroes have been made in East Anglian derbies, Danny Haynes for his last minute winner, that we all maintain went in off his head. Honest. Probably incredibly insignificant to most, but also David Wright, for scoring the equaliser in my first ever away derby. That's the over-riding reason I was gutted he left during the summer. Sad, yes, but it shows just how much the East Anglian derby means to me. 

The uproar (well, there was uproar in this university room, I shouted, "WHAT!" quite loudly at the laptop and went into a huff) that Jake Humphrey, a Norwich fan, is presenting the coverage of the East Anglian derby is something people can't understand. Ipswich fans think the BBC is biased towards Norwich. ITV Anglia definitely is, in this paranoid mind. You know how it annoys you that they have ex-Liverpool players as summarisers on MOTD? Yeah, this is 10 times worse. I only hope Matt Holland is in the studio, but then he plays neutral very well. 

Humphrey, if you so much as smile about anything to do with your side, you are going down. 

Being outside of East Anglia for it is difficult. I know no other true Ipswich fans, and when I see people wearing yellow and green scarves, they're Manchester United fans. So I shall be watching the derby somewhere, preferably in the comfort of my own flat, because I don't think my colourful language will be suitable for a bar at that time of day. Or I will listen to it online and hope that the BBC put it up afterwards.

As a kid, being an Ipswich fan made me dislike one of the faces of my childhood, Blue Peter presenter, Simon Thomas. Because he's a budgie. As a teenager, it makes me sad that a man as intelligent as Stephen Fry would support them. I've tailed off the point here, so I think all that's left to say is, come on Ipswich. We may be in a slump, but if you can't get up for this, then there's no point in you being here. We've got local, young lads in the squad now, who surely must understand the passions involved in this Anglian pride. Play well, and you're a hero to thousands.


With the inevitable likely to happen in Brisbane, bring it on, budgies. Bring it on.

My nerves are jangling.

Blimey, what a first session. Apparently Strauss was so surprised by the fact Hilfenhaus' first ball didn't go to second slip that he decided to cut the third to gully. Brilliant.

I'm feeling quite awake but I think that's because my synapses have been in overdrive. I've drank enough tea to fill a swimming pool and have got my window open, meaning I have my woollen socks on. 86-2 at lunch though, after that start? I'm happy to take that. It could've gone all Headingley, but so far it's alright.

Still, the Aussies have a left arm spinner. KP is in. Cook has a strike rate of less than 50 and has been dropped by the new boy. Shane Watson has an economy of 2.50. And a wicket. Well done, Trott. Geoffrey Boycott has already said "uncovered pitches" and "corridor of uncertainty" and it's only lunch.

There's still a long old way to go, but if the next two sessions are as exciting as the first, I don't think I'll be needing my two bottles of Lucozade...

Mandatory blog about Ashes Fever.

Symptoms include:

• Frantically pressing 'F5' on the keyboard whenever on Cricinfo for news of injuries.
• Dreaming about Simon Katich's steely gaze of determination.
• Stocking up on energy drinks as plans to become nocturnal come into full force.
• Waking up in a sweat due to remembering that Adelaide game in 2006/07.
• Dreaming that Ravi Bopara made it into the England squad.
• Waking up in a sweat realising that Tim Bresnan is in the England squad.
• Having nightmares about Kevin Pietersen's moustache.
• Being sad enough to type in "Has anyone called Xavier ever played Test cricket before?" then slapping your head as Xavier Marshall comes up.
• Trying to dig out the voodoo doll of Mike Hussey from the 2006/07 series, and then realising you might not need it.
• Trying not to get your hopes up about England's chances.
• Hoping that the first ball of the Ashes series in Australia isn't as shit as the last one. 

 I've got it.

I hope you have too.

That is all.

Ipswich Town in the dictionary.

This time last week, I was buzzing from witnessing my second (!) away win of the season. Today, I am confused and angry, because yesterday we lost 3-1 to Barnsley. At home.

Had I been there to witness it, I probably wouldn't be so annoyed, as then I'd have been able to form my own opinion. This blog is based on what I've read on various social networking sites and from match reports.

Apart from the fact it's £26 to get into Portman Road, and that's if the ticket is in advance, the football doesn't sound as though it's much quality. A quote from the Observer Championship Verdict page says, "Keane has produced a team that's capable of some of the dullest football we've ever seen at Portman Road." And I thought last season was grim.

However, I guess it's not all doom and gloom. We are only 3 points off the play-offs places in November. This time last season mass suicide was the only answer. But then, how can we compare to last season? We have a new keeper, new strikeforce, new defence and new captain. Tamas Priskin is a new person as someone in the Ipswich Town community seems to have given him a hug. He nearly scored a beauty against Sheffield United last weekend and was apparently our best player yesterday. Yet Keane took him off. Odd.

As a crowd, Portman Road is extremely fickle. Play crap, you get jeered or are greeted with moans of frustration. Play well, you get silence and the ocassional clap/an incredibly satisfied crowd. I know I'm extremely fickle. It's probably for the best I'm not around anymore.

So I'm not off to Hull. Not for football reasons, even if they got smashed 10-0 yesterday, I'd have gone if it wasn't for trains being expensive. £13 for a student ticket? Brilliant. Sadly, I went to Sheffield on four hours sleep and I'm still feeling it. Never good.

So I will continue to shout at my laptop, await text updates from my mum and dad as I refuse to pay for Ipswich Town player. If I can listen to Notts County vs Colchester online, why can't I listen to Radio Suffolk? I'm too bitter. And then in two weeks today, I make my way to a bar on campus hoping that it will be showing the biggest derby of the season and not Newcastle vs Chelsea.

Form counts for sod all in East Anglian derbies. We can only live in hope Ipswich fans.

That dragged on a bit, didn't it?

The last international match of the summer finished a few hours ago, with England clinching the ODI against Pakistan 3-2. A much deserved victory and one which must be a massive relief to captain Andrew Strauss, who in the past couple of days has had to defend his team's honour after the ridiculous accusations of Ijaz Butt. Strauss has rightly been incredibly angered by the statement from Butt, and has been working tirelessly with the ECB to make sure the press releases are correctly worded and throughout all this the team spirit seems to have been high.

When Vaughan resigned as captain, I always thought Strauss should've been captain. I was absolutely distraught when Flintoff was made captain for the Ashes in 2006/07. But I guess had he been made captain, the result wouldn't have been different, because behind the scenes wasn't right and basically the squad selection was dire. Anyway, that was four years ago and completely off the point of this long old 2010 summer.

It seems a long time ago since April and I was sat freezing down at Chelmsford watching Ryan ten Doeschate destroy Hampshire's lower order to hand Essex their first win in the Division One of the County Championship. Five months later, we finished bottom and were losing sem-finalists in both the Twenty20 Cup and CB40. Brilliant. Hello Division Two. Injuries didn't help Essex's season. Had RtD not got injured in the middle of his superb run of form, he may well have performed better at the Rose Bowl. But the major news that came out of Chelmsford over the course of the summer was that allegation of spot-fixing, something that the world of cricket would soon find out about and has now put the integrity of the sport in danger.

During the Essex vs Hampshire game, the news broke that two Essex players were being interviewed by police about a televised Pro40 game in September 2009. For the first time of the summer, spot-fixing was mentioned and rumours began to circulate as to who the two players were. There were some high profile names on offer during the Durham vs Essex match, but in the end it turned out to be Pakistani leg-spinner, Danish Kaneria and the youngster, Mervyn Westfield. They were released on bail until 15th September, and it was revealed a couple of days before that Kaneria was not going to be charged. Westfield, however, was charged with conspiracy to defraud. With these allegations hanging over the county's head, it was no surprise that Mark Pettini resigned as captain. The amount of pressure he must have been under is huge. His form dipped and during the Twenty20 season, he was given leave for 10 days. He came back refreshed and the captaincy was handed over to James Foster.

To put it bluntly, it was a fairly disappointing season both on and off the pitch for Essex. After so much hope and expectation, it ended in a whimper at the Rose Bowl, horrific collapses in the County Championship and another terrible collapse in the CB40. Never mind, at least I met Scott Styris, eh?

Still, putting the disappointment of county cricket behind me (it could've been worse, I could've adopted Somerset as a second team and seen them finish runners up in everything. Oh, wait...), England's international summer has been a rather fruitful one. Whilst Bangladesh and Pakistan weren't the strongest opposition (I say this, but Pakistan's bowling attack did destroy us), we still found out some things during the 6 Tests England played. Not entirely useful, but some.

• Steven Finn falls over. A lot.
• Stuart Broad can break a man's thumb with his throw. Don't make him angry.
• England suck against a swinging ball.
• Alastair Cook can score a hundred with his eyes closed. Only if the bowler hurls the ball for four though. 
• James Anderson is quite good when it's cloudy.
• Bangladesh were more challenging than Pakistan were in the first two Tests.
• Eoin Morgan will probably play Test cricket again for England.
• The England batting line up isn't all that spineless.
• Lord's does booing. 
• Australia can be bowled out for less than 100. 
• Graeme Swann is actually a fantastic spinner.
• Matt Prior can bat. And wicketkeep.
• Kamran Akmal can't. 
• Kevin Pietersen's head is messed up and he needs a hug. Preferably off Lalit Modi. 
• Neutral Tests don't attract crowds. 
• Neutral Tests shouldn't be sponsored by the 'Spirit of Cricket'.
• Neutral Tests involving Pakistan probably won't be hosted here again. 
• Nasser Hussain, Ian Botham and Ramiz Raja are still bloody awful commentators.
• And for all the terrible rumours surrounding the Pakistan team, it's refreshing to know that there's someone like Zulqarnain Haider in the side.

On a more serious note, it is only a matter of hours until the public find out who's on that plane to Australia in November. It will be an extremely gruelling tour for England, but this time, they're actually spending time warming up to get used to the conditions. This, hopefully, will be beneficial to England. Graeme Swann will prove crucial in the Test series, as he always does and it's good that he's on the shortlist for ICC Cricketer of the Year, despite being initially overlooked for reasons we cannot understand. I blame Bob Willis. He probably sent everyone to sleep.

The Test series against Bangladesh was fairly routine for England. Bangladesh weren't used to the English conditions, so they couldn't put England under pressure, like they did in Bangladesh. The one highlight for Bangladesh was the superb Tamim Iqbal, who routinely gave England's bowlers a headache as he thwacked them all over the place. Luckily for England, the rest of the Bangladesh batting line up weren't tigers, but instead kittens, as they limply got out to James Anderson, or Steven Finn bowling a loosener and hitting it to mid on. Good one, Rahim.

May seems a long, long time ago now. I miss Bangladesh. I really loved their positive outlook and the fact that they played cricket for the love of it. Yeah, they weren't very good, but everyone has to start somewhere. They play with a smile on their face, they're a young squad and exactly what cricket needs. Even if Geoffrey "corridor of uncertainty" Boycott doesn't think so. To quote Tamim Iqbal, "If you start a chocolate company you can't compete with Cadbury in the first 10 years because they are a big company." With gems like that, I won't begrudge Bangladesh Test status.

Then you come to Pakistan. At the start of the summer, I was drooling at the prospect of seeing Amir in action again. I remember him playing for Pakistan Under-19s as a 15 year old and the fact that someone my age (I'm repeating myself) was playing international cricket was fantastic. After drawing the 'neutral Test' series with Australia 1-1 and giving everyone a huge laugh after Australia were bundled out for 88, we began at Trent Bridge for what everyone hoped was going to be a hugely exciting, keenly contested series. Sadly, it ended up as who could collapse the least against the swinging ball and that honour went to England.

The Test series saw Stuart Broad's maiden hundred. First-class and Test. Jonathan Trott nearly scored two double hundreds at Lord's. Eoin Morgan scored a hundred at Trent Bridge. Andrew Strauss was out of touch, Collingwood wasn't great at bolstering the middle order and Pietersen. Well, Pietersen's demise has been well documented in the press. His confidence is shot, which was unthinkable five years ago. Perhaps Test cricket isn't where his heart lies, perhaps the passion isn't there. Perhaps I should stop speculating and just let him get on with it down in South Africa to make me shut up about his mental state, technique and general life things.

I, like many other cricket fans, was enjoying the Test series until BOOM! No, Afridi hadn't come out of Test retirement, but the News of the World published an article about the mysteriously large Pakistan no-balls. The news broke on Saturday night, as England had enforced the follow on on a completely shell-shocked Pakistan, after a world record partnership between Broad and Trott (which was still awesome and despite the allegations surrounding the Test, should not be tainted, because it was superb batting). On Sunday morning, MCC members could be seen reading the News of the World, something I never thought I'd see! Even on the Pakistani dressing room balcony, there was the paper in the hands of the tour manager with the team locked in the changing room behind. England carried on as normal, warming up on the outfield and focusing on the job in hand. When the wickets tumbled and the accused Pakistani players finally ventured out to the middle, a smattering of boos were heard. Boos! At Lord's! It was definitely serious.

Within a few days, the PCB still hadn't taken control of the situation. I'm not going to go on a massive rant about the PCB at the moment, as that warrants its own blog, but I'm just going to say I'm pleased the ICC took a hold of the situation. Even if the three players are found not guilty, for the sake of cricket, it is better to provisionally suspend them whilst the invesigation is on going. Why Kaneria and Westfield were not suspended is beyond me, but Westfield didn't play for the Essex first team at all during the season, so perhaps the club knew something that we didn't. Or they didn't want to lose Danish. The other fast bowler, Riaz was interviewed by the police and on Monday, found himself in the grasp of Jonathan Trott as emotions finally boiled over after Ijaz Butt's VERY WELL TIMED statement.

I can understand why Mr Butt is annoyed. The ICC are investigating British media claims about the Pakistan team. What Mr Butt does not understand is that match fixing and spot fixing are very different. Spot fixing focuses on a specific part of the game. Match fixing is throwing it. And, having watched England play for over 5 years, you just know that a collapse is never far away. Just because Pakistan won the third ODI doesn't mean they can't be guilty of spot fixing. Mervyn Westfield apparently is. Another thing Mr Butt needs to remember is that Pakistan could easily be at home not even playing Test cricket, had England not extended an olive branch to them and allowed them to play a Test series on 'neutral' soil. To the ECB, it must feel like a giant slap in the face. Instead of accusing the team of the country that has allowed them to use their facilities (at a loss), Mr Butt should take a look at the politics of the PCB. Then he can talk to us about corruption.
 
I'm pleased the summer is over. I love cricket, but in the last month, it's been a hard slog. England have beaten Bangladesh and Pakistan in their two Test series and beaten Bangladesh, Pakistan and Australia in ODIs. I'd like to say congratulations to Bangaldesh as well for their win in the second ODI in their series against us. It was a superb performance and thoroughly deserved and the celebrations at the end showed how much it meant to them. And that warms the cockles. However, the over-riding feeling is of anger towards Pakistan. I hope for the sake of Pakistan cricket that the allegations are not true, but then a part of me doesn't. A part of me wants them to be true so that corruption can be looked at and can begin to be dealt with instead of being swept under the carpet. Cricketing boards around the world need to get their heads out of the sand. Corruption is present in our beloved game and it needs to be harshly dealt with. If the fans don't know that what they're watching is real, then they're not going to go. Even if Amir is only 18, should he be found guilty, will fans want him to come back? He is a fantastic talent, but the trust would be broken. It has been for years with Asif and it angers me that someone who has failed so many drugs tests is still allowed to play.

I'm also pleased that the summer is over because it brings us closer to the winter. And the winter means the Ashes. Pundits are already bigging up England as having a chance to win Down Under. I think it'll be a close series. Some of the England players were there last time and will have hopefully learned from the 5-0 drubbing. We have a settled wicketkeeper and arguably the best spinner in the world at the moment. The coaching set up is relaxed and I think the two Andys have formed a great partnership. And this time, I think we have the right captain. I'm also excited about the Ashes on a personal level. On December 21st, I fly over to Melbourne to have a dream come true in seeing the Boxing Day Test live. Then, on New Years Eve, I head over to Sydney.

I cannot wait!