That’s the problem with English cricket - you still think you’re living in God’s Own. One day, if you ever come out of your delusion, you may be worth playing! (my grandmother worked it out 80 years ago-smart lady)

Meanwhile, trundle back to county cricket, Will, and dream on………Afterall, on your day, you lot can beat anyone, can’t you?

Just stirring, of course

Come on you two, everyone knows God’s own country is New Zealand.

Of course i “fell” for the bait, wasn’t that the point? Glad to oblige.

More seriously, I’m not sure i want to know what the the ramifications of Bob Woolmer’s murder are going to be , apart from his great loss. From the latest, it doesn’t sound like it was a crime of passion by an fan.

Wraye, I’m interested to know — why is Germany safer and cleaner than the UK? Is it something to do with the “national character”, or is it politics or immigration or something else…

Yes Germany is clean and safe, right now, that’s why it’s a by-word for comic creativity no doubt.

Wraye, I think we need a little smiley-face thing that indicates irony (and it would doubtless get used more than anything else) — I’m sure Mr Glamorous_Organ was being ironical…

And I guess if you don’t want to go back to the UK, the only solution is to bring a little bit of the UK to Germany, hence the cricket.

Interesting, Will. I was just talking to a Finnish friend here in NZ who says that Finland is very classless and equal (and highly taxed!) and no-one is too poor or too rich. But she also made the comment that it is too safe there, and thus quite boring.

So maybe the UK has that exciting edge….

I’ve never been in Britain for longer than about four weeks and the only big negative that struck me was the crowds, that made me feel claustrophobic. That may just be because I’m a Kiwi who was brought up way in the backblocks…

And the newspapers in Britain are very good, though there is a too-pervasive air of cynicism in that otherwise good journalism which I find a little depressing.

I thought this was a cricket blog? But since you’re all discussing the pros and cons of other countries, I’ll put in my 2 cents’ worth.

Kathy, I’m surprised that, for an Anglophile, you’ve only ever been to Britain for three weeks. But then, I was once like you, looked to England, or rather Britain, as a place I thought I’d rather be, looked down on Australian culture, (or lack of it) and dreamt of more refined way of life. I’m a history addict and a Celt, so Britain was like a spiritual home.

I lived in England for 6 years in the 80’s, loved it, then went back with a work permit a few years ago, stayed a year, coudn”t bear it, and left without a backwards glance. The work permit, still valid, sits in a bottom drawer.

What had changed. Me, probably, since your needs and values change, but England as well, Things like the healthe service the bureaucracy ( yes, I know everyone has it but they have pros with theirs, as well), the transport system (once I was due to catch a train from Kings Cross to Glasgow, got on the train, half an hour later was advised that the train was cancelled for the day - could I come back tomorrow?)

And the people seemed so backward-looking and locked in by their lives, compared to Antipodeans and Americans. And Germans. ( I have a lot of Deutsche relatives and friends and have been there often). And the grubbiness of the big cities. I don’t mean there was lot’s of litter lying around, just a sense of tired old has-been. Yes, London, which I once loved. I had the same with Greece, another favourite often-visited place, standing on the Acropolis last time and thinking “what is this old pile of rocks? What ever was once there has long gone.

That newness that Will finds hard to live with in Australia is the vibrancy that gives us a future-oriented perspective on life ( despite the bests aeforts of John Howard). Even our cricket team has it demonstrates that. I’m not anti-history these days - I still value it highly - but I don’t need to live in it anymore.

That’s my rant, bit long, I see, from the Preview, but, now that the Cup is over, I probably won’t post much for while.
Cheers

The reason for only four weeks, Fiona, is that I am not strictly speaking an Anglophile. I’m a very loyal Kiwi and get quite homesick if I stray from home for very long — I’m a poor traveller, unlike many Aussies and Kiwis. But I do love the England cricket team — I love it when they do well and have been known to take it hard when they don’t — and I don’t believe that all the world’s ills are the fault of British colonialism, so I guess I’m an Anglophile to that extent.