a night-time thrill

It all goes off as England win in Melbourne.

By Dave Tindall

While hosting the Aussies in England is always a thrill, for me an Ashes series Down Under brings an extra excitement.

I think it's a time thing.

As a child I remember believing that when the TV went off at night and the lights were turned out the whole world went to sleep.

So to find out there was cricket going on through the night and was live on radio... well, it was nothing short of an extraordinary discovery.

Part of the fun back then was listening to it in secret. I'd smuggle a transistor into the bedroom, borrow my Dad's headphones and lie there transfixed.

With my parents the thickness of a bedroom wall away, I had to be careful not to give the game away though. Clenched fists greeted England boundaries while a small grunt was added for the fall of an Aussie wicket.

By the 1982/3 series, I'd just turned 13 but still my late night cricket habit remained a secret.

There were problems though. England had fallen 2-0 down after defeats in Brisbane and Adelaide and needed to win in Melbourne to keep their hopes of retaining the Ashes alive.

But the combination of added tension and raging hormones meant the grunts were getting uncontrollably louder.

Now, a parent who walks into the room of a 13-year-old boy thrashing around under the covers and grunting is only thinking one thing. And it isn't that Norman Cowans is taking 6-77 to win England a Test match.

I'm sure in the days after England had pulled off their thrilling three-run win there was an uncomfortable silence around the breakfast table.

I rewind the scene now and I think my mind plays tricks. Did I really wake up from a night's grunting to find a cup of tea by the side of my bed? And did I shout "grab hold of it" when Chris Tavare spooned up that edge off Jeff Thomson before Geoff Miller snared it at the second attempt to win the match?

I'd like to think that my own son will discover the thrill of listening to cricket in bed when he grows up.

And if I hear strange noises at unearthly hours and walk into his room, I shall calmly ask him the score rather than wait until the next morning and shake my head in disapproval everytime he walks by.