Ashes Hangover - How not to watch it online

Day 3

Day 3 of the Ashes and I thought i'd try the "let's get drunk and listen live all night" trick.

Wrong. (There are various ways of staying awake - see my guide at the bottom).

I should have drunk coffee!

I started so well, two small bottles of beer, my homemade spicy crab linguine (recipe to follow another day unless you request it!) and a glass or two of white wine. Nothing too heavy, felt good and ready to listen to the cricket or track it down on the web. I felt good until my friend Pierre knocked on the door.

Pierre is from Northern France but spent one year in Brisbane, Australia. He speaks good English with an Australian accent. Bizarre but actually quite cool! Anyhow, he knew of my plight to watch cricket and believed he knew of a bar in La Rochelle that would be showing it.

Great I thought..

Five bars later and after sinking eight pints of 'wife beater' (Stella Artois), I found myself sitting in an Irish bar talking to a drunk landlord (owner of the bar) called George. By this time, I didn't even know what I was doing let alone remember to watch the cricket. After showing him my tricks including levitation and finding the card, I was paraletic..

Arrived home at half past two in the morning...Looked up Radio Five live on the web - only available to UK residents..Dug out my old radio and tuned it in on LW...Finally, I was going to do it. I was going to actually listen to some live Cricket..I heard Geoffrey Boycott, great, finally...

Passed out.

Missed the lot again.

Anyhow, back to cricket..

Can we win the ashes now after last nights show?

Yes.

We can win it but we need this early defeat to open our eyes. Maybe England believed that they deserved to win because of last years heroics, maybe they were too big for their boots, maybe Australia are just more determined to win it than England.

One thing is for sure, until Flintoff starts to 'out-captain' Ponting, we won't win. It is now resting on one mans shoulders, he is big enough to do this, come on Freddie, let's have it.

I think this should be the kick up the backside they need. .



Staying awake to watch the cricket (from Sky Sports site):-

1. Sleep - Get as much sleep as possible the night before.

2. Drink coffee intermittently - Have a cup at 2—3 am and a short 15 min nap. Use an alarm to wake-up to avoid ‘deep sleep’ kicking in. Walk around for a few minutes. Wash your face with cold water. Repeat at around 4-5 am.

3. Drink coffee continuously - Alternatively, have as much of this coffee as you are used to! But by not having naps you will be less able to stay awake the next day.

4. Avoid sugar - Unlike caffeine, sugar is not very effective in combating sleepiness.

5. Drink low sugar energy drinks - These are an effective substitute for those that don’t drink coffee.

6. Avoid heavy meals -There are no diets or foods that are particularly good at promoting alertness, but avoid ‘heavy’ and fatty meals in the small hours — they can cause bad indigestion.

7. Steer clear of alcohol - Alcohol worsens sleepiness: it is impossible to stay awake throughout the night and drink more than small amounts of alcohol.

8. Keep the lights on - The darker the room, the more likelihood you’ll nod off.

9. Stay warm - Your body naturally becomes cooler in the middle of the night.

Alternatively, watch tomorrow's blog for my next efforts.