Reflections on a Year of Cricket

Well, there's no contest - or suspense - about my best cricket moment of 2011, but it has been a great cricket year for me and there are plenty of other great moments and memories - many of them "firsts" - that I am enjoying recalling and reliving.

1. England Retain the Ashes Down: 7 January 2011
Having won the Ashes in England in 2009, after losing them so comprehensively in Australia in 2006/7, I hardly dared imagine that we might retain them in 2010/11 but, for once, one of my dreams came true and there I found myself on 7 January 2011 leaping around and screaming with joy as England secured a 3-1 series victory. Oh, and did I mention, that the final wicket was taken by a (real) Surrey man?  Great work Mr Tremlett.  What a way to start the year.
2. First Day of Domestic Season: 8 April 2011
This year, the first day of the season was bright, dry, sunny and warm - and I was at The Oval for the first day of Surrey v Northamptonshire.  I found myself in sandals, shades and cropped trousers, rather than a fleece, gloves and boots, and eating my lunch sunbathing on the outfield.  Despite Surrey losing the first wicket of the season second ball, it was a fabulous day to start the season: one that I dared to dream would end in Surrey securing promotion to Division 1.  
3. Number One Test Team in the World: 13 August 2011
By beating India, by an innings and 242 runs, England claimed the accolade of Number One Test Team in the World.  According to my Facebook posts, it suddenly occurred to me that afternoon that I was watching England playing cricket and not feeling any nerves at all.  What an odd sensation!  A few minutes later, as the victory was secured, I was quoting Richard Thompson lyrics ("I feel so good I'm gonna break somebody's heart tonight") and completely forgetting all the pain, misery and despair of so many England collapse, thrashes and humiliations over the years.  And, just eight days later, there I was, on the top balcony of the Oval pavilion, as England secured a 4-0 series victory and were presented with the Number One Team mace.
4. Surrey Secures Successive Successes: 14 & 17 September 2011
Despite fizzling out somewhat in the Twenty20 competition, Surrey ended the season as CB40 champions and secured promotion to their rightful place in Division 1.  As part of my deal with the cricket gods, I was on holiday in Greece for both of these events and had to follow the progress of the matches through the BBC live website commentaries.  Felt all of the tension and the joy - but really missed celebrating with other cricket fans.  And, no big little bruv, despite growing up in Somerset, I did not feel conflicted for the CB40 final.  Of course, if the result had gone the other way, I might have taken some consolation in my second favourite team's success …
5. Watching at Other Grounds: 27 April, 19, 21 & 22 May, 26 June, 4 & 24 July 2011
As well as my beloved Oval, I watched Surrey play at Lord's, Beckenham, Whitgift and Guildford this season and had most enjoyable and different experiences at each.  Thanks to the marvellous weather that prevailed throughout most of the season, all offered great sunbathing opportunities as well.  And, on the first day of the Surrey v Middlesex match (the result of which (a) is best forgotten and (b) will not be repeated in 2012), we were allowed onto the hallowed turf at lunch and tea.  Food and drinks, however, were forbidden, so I wasn't able to indulge my picnicking on the outfield fetish.
6. Watching T20 from the OCS Stand: 8 & 14 July 2011
This was my first season as a Surrey member and so the first occasion that I was able to watch T20 cricket from the marvellous OCS Stand.  The views (across London as well as of the game) are fantastic, it's a great place to interact with other members and gave me ample opportunity to wave my Lions flag.  For a county match, I'd still rather watch from the Peter May but enjoying cricket from the dizzy heights of the OCS was a more than adequate substitute for T20.
7. Meeting Captain Fantastic: 4 May 2011
Thanks to a Simon Hughes competition on Twitter, I won two tickets (actually, won one and blagged the other) to an evening reliving the 2010/11 Ashes at a west London sports club.  Mr Strauss was very relaxed and entertaining as Simon Hughes quizzed him through the highs - and occasional lows: there was that third ball dismissal in Brisbane remember - of the series, while we ate Thai curry, drank wine and, it has to be said, shivered a bit: it was an early-May evening in a marquee in London after all.
8. Watching an Entire Championship Match: 10-13 July 2011
For the first time ever, I watched an entire Championship match, as Surrey played (and beat!) Kent at the Oval in early-July.  Zander de Bruyn scored an amazing 179 in the first innings, Rob Key fought back bravely with 162 batting fourth, the margin of victory (21 runs) was much tighter than my nerves would have liked, it was roasting hot on the early days and I was back to shivering, huddling in layers and clutching hot coffee for warmth through the tension of the fourth morning.  But I'd watched, followed and enjoyed an entire match live: the first time since England v Australia the SCG in January 2007.  Not much enjoyment in the latter, of course!
9. In the Lord's Pavilion: 7 July 2011
Surrey played Middlesex in a Twenty20 match at Lord's on a July evening and, courtesy of a cricket mate who is both a Surrey and a Middlesex member, I watched from the Members' Pavilion and saw Surrey achieve a 9-wicket victory.  It felt very different to being in the Oval Pavilion and not where I'd want to watch all my cricket but it was a great experience - and there was Sky TV evidence to reassure my mother than I'd worn a proper summer frock and so not given fuel to the press comments at the weekend that the overall standard of women's dress that evening left something to be desired.  I was a bit cooler than I'd have liked as a consequence though …
10. Riding the Zip-Line at The Oval: 9 October 2011
OK, strictly, this isn't a cricket highlight - but it did take place at a (should that be the?) cricket ground and I only found out about it through an email from Surrey.  Me and my girl pal rode the 500 ft zip-line from the top OCS balcony to the bottom of the Pavilion. Again, it should have been only once but we smiled sweetly and got a second go.  The only thing that could have improved the experience would've been if cricket had been being played at the same time.  Perhaps one for next year?

It's undoubtedly been very successful years for both Surrey and England, and I've enjoyed that muchly. But what's really made this my best ever season is how much of it I've been able to enjoy first-hand. My first year as a Surrey member has been a great experience. Thanks to everyone - players, stewards, other members and cricket Tweeters - who've contributed to that in so many ways. Here's to more of the same of in 2012!

Twelve Crafters Crafting (Part 2)

Having fairly quickly knocked off the first part of this month's Get Funky! challenge, set by Jackie of the marvellous Funky Hand design team, I struggled rather to complete the second part. My non-Christmas card was a birthday card for my friend Cilla, which was also my first waterfall card. At the time of making that, I had intended that my Christmas card for the second part of the challenge would be to my 2011 Christmas card design, using the required traditionally coloured papers from Funky Hand's new CD: Twelve Crafters Crafting. Much as I love the gorgeous design papers, I couldn't pick quite the right combination. After a few days, I decided that I'd utilise the same waterfall design but instead of using the "O Christmas Tree" collection, I'd use "Vintage Christmas".

I was able to make a couple of improvements to the construction of my second waterfall card: primarily, attaching the waterfall mechanism to the backing paper and card before fixing the whole thing to the card blank, which meant that the securing brads were more neatly hidden than on the first.  Otherwise, I used "gold" rather than "silver" accessories and made the mechanism slightly larger on the second card to accommodate the size of the star stamp.

I prefer the birthday card to the Christmas card, because the aqua and brown colours of the former are much more "me" than the traditional green and red of the latter. I don't really feel that either card is very much in the style of Funky Hand and I still think that I took the "easy option" with the birthday card by using the star design paper. However, I'm pretty hopeful that the Christmas card will be very much to my mother's taste and I'm glad that I didn't give up on what proved to be a much more challenging challenge than I'd originally anticipated.

Just a few more Christmas cards to finish and then my 2011 year of crafting will be done. It's been a year of great creativity. I've felt that I've developed my own style much more than before and have gained confidence and skill. Here's to more of the same in 2012! And that's about as close to a New Year resolution as I'm ever likely to get.