Apparently, Somali pirates who captured some Egyptian Sailors and held them hostage for four months were rather "peeved" when the Egyptian sailors escaped captivity and in the process shot seven of their pirate gang in the process. Oops!
"We were upset when we found seven of our pirate crew floating dead in the sea", apparently one reported, from the pirate base somewhere. "We have always respected the Egyptian sailors and treated them well, but the next lot we capture, we will have our revenge on!"
So, let me get this right Mr. Pirate, you treated them kindly, by keeping them in captivity for 4 months and then feel slightly hard done by when they escape in a gun battle and shoot 7 of your esteemed colleagues? Right. Those inconsiderate Egyptians, at it again. They may have been slightly annoyed and missing home. Just a thought..
Jonathan Trott, half brother of my former Boland and Western Province Team mate, Kenny Jackson has been selected in the England squad for the final Ashes Test at the Oval. I'm sure he will start tomorrow and bat at no 4 for his adopted country, poor lad. Having played for SA U19, I'm sure Trott and all other members of foreign teams (Holland, New Zealand, incl) would far rather play in the green and gold of their native South Africa. Kevin Pietersen included. He, (KP) has made such a song and dance about disliking South Africa for various reasons, such as the inequality towards himself and his frail little ego, that we, as South Africans are quite happy that he left. He fits in perfectly, all tattoed and money conscious, like a real football chav.
One story about KP goes: when he arrived on a tour to South Africa, he got hold of the one friend he had left in Kwazulu Natal, Grant Rowley, and having not seen him for many years, the first thing he showed him and could talk about, was a picture he had in his wallet of his new sports car. Poor lad. No great loss, people like that, but he can bat. Trott joins the list of many non english born cricketers to play for England, and good luck to him. At least he will feel at home amoungst Pietersen, Strauss and Prior.
On another front (not too far away), the Zimbabwe cricket team rattled up enough runs to defeat the Bangladesh team in a ODI recently. They scored 300 odd. Bearing in mind that the ever improving Bangladesh team had just put the West Indies to the sword in a series away from home, makes this victory even better for our neighbours, who have had not had a great time of it recently, both on and off the field. Corruption, misplaced funds, ex-players burning down pavillions, etc A bit of a shambles.
Then, a bit of inspiration from nowhere to beat the high flying Tigers. Was it that Morgan Tsavangarai was semi saluted and shown a small amount of respect by 2 of Mugabe's generals, which has not been seen before? Perhaps this is the sign Zim have been waiting for to make thier political, economic and cricket turn around and take the world by storm? Pinky and The Brain beware..
Meanwhile, I'm still in bed, three day on, suffering with a stomach bug of sorts, while the weather outside is showing all and sundry, who is boss. Some horrendous rain and wind wouldn't have allowed for any cycling anyway and plus, I need the rest. I'll be better tomorrow and look forward to my flat ride out to Melkbos on Friday with my faithful companion, Gromit (aka Russell).
I'm busy with a book (Tour De France by Graeme Fife), which is an absolute must if you're a Tour De France fan, as I am. Fascinating detail about history, past winners, their fortune and mis fortune and how Desgrange, the father of the Tour, invented and applied the strictest of rules to make the course as tough as possible. It's comparitively easy now compared to the days of steel 12kg bikes and tubes around the shoulders and 300-450km stages. Can you imagine how the spruced up euro-racer type would react to news of a 350km stage every day. The 1926 tour, called "The Tour Of Suffering" was 5795 km long. You had to start and finish with the same items, same amount of tyres, shirts, jerseys, nothing could be discarded. Tough school back then. Arguably the greates cyclist of all times, Eddy Merckx, describes (in this book) entering the Tour and penetrating it's strange world as a quasi-religious experience: "The paradox of the test condems the champion, by definition, a public figure, to the life of a recluse for 20 days." Jacques Ancquitil, who always rode his bike for a living not due to his love thereof, commented, "A minor at the end of the day, does not love his pick." Both 5 time winners.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment