Katie Pringle has started her own business, Rock, Paper, Scissors >>>I feel now is the best time to comment on the amazing events of the weekend of the 18th and 19th August. For a number of reasons, I feel that it has been best to take some time to think about the true meaning of what happened in that Friends Provident final, and indeed what appears to be happening, without wishing to tempt fate, in the Championship and Pro40 competitions also.
Many things are written in the direct aftermath of events like this. I wanted a few weeks for it to sink in. Plus about now is the time when people have sobered up after the celebrations. Of course, I don’t mean the players, all being extremely professional, we had an early night and all thoughts were immediately on the next game.....unlikely…..on the first count anyway! No, I mean the supporters who have followed us, and specifically the hardy thousands who ventured down without being able to see us parade the trophy around the hallowed turf. It sounds clichéd but all the support really was and is wholly appreciated.
As soon as the game began it appeared that the result was, (one or two dicey moments aside,) never in doubt. However it could well have been thrown into disarray the day before. And all because of a pigeon……..
Halfway into the journey down to the capital, the team bus made the scheduled stop at one of the service stations on the M1. These are spent either at the fast food outlet, or for the health conscious among us, the much healthier option of the service station sandwich is accepted. Half an hour passed and we began filtering back to the bus to resume the journey. At this point, frankly it all turned a bit weird.
Our amiable skipper Benks was approached by a guy with a cardboard box containing what apparently was a pigeon. Not just any pigeon, but a highly bemused and very lost one; apparent as the bird had a tag etched with ‘London’ on it.
This guy asked where we were going. He obviously wasn’t a cricket follower, as the badge on our polo shirts should have hinted that we were indeed Durham CCC en route to victory in the final the next day. So when Benks intimated that London was our destination, he promptly handed the bird over and asked if we could set it free nearer it’s home city. ‘Sure thing,’ said our wholehearted and always trusting captain.
Only when all the disbelief, joking and guffawing amongst the lads had died down, did it dawn on us that there might be more to this bizarre animal exchange than met the eye. It could have been stuffed with drugs, been laced with a poisonous substance, had a sophisticated surveillance camera installed as means for spying on our best-laid plans for the next day. The mind boggled. Especially when someone noticed the ‘pigeon guy’ driving off chuckling in a car emblazoned with Hampshire CCC.
Ok, perhaps I am playing devil’s advocate slightly with these above comments, and thankfully the journey went smoothly and without serious mishap, with our newest team member. Upon arriving in the dressing room, ‘Speckled Jim’ was set free and duly flapped away to take up what looked like a familiar perch above the media centre. Lord’s is known for an abundance of pigeons, but over the next two days I’m sure I saw a familiar glint in the eye of one such bird as it continually flew by the dressing room balcony.
That day was a true success for the county, and the way everyone has dealt with it all has been admirable. What is more is there is a clear attitude evident that suggests as we now have one trophy, we want more. There has been no resting on laurels or suggestance that winning this trophy will constitute a great season. The form and mind-set of the side at the moment shows that we want more, and perhaps we will have the chance again to parade another trophy at St. James’ Park as we were able to last Saturday.
Steve Harmison is a something of a legend at the home of his beloved side, and he kindly organised for most of the squad to sample the executive hospitalities at the home game against Wigan. Going out at half time and receiving such a warm and genuine reception is a sign of how much this victory means to a lot of people.
I have said it before, but the North-Eastern public are fantastic when it comes to sporting knowledge and supporting their chosen sport or team. Winning the Friends Provident Trophy and being welcomed at St. James’ are true signs of genuine success. Not the kind of success that comes with being a personality-less squib on a banal reality TV show, in which the only guy who had any charisma and should’ve won anyway, was the lad from Lanchester, County Durham!
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