SRI'S Blog

The Ashes -- Third Test The Aussies bounced back in to the Ashes reckoning with a big win in the third test. This was largely possible due to Mitchell Johnson who was not in the team for the second test which the Aussies lost . Johnson playing in his home ground at Perth batted with gusto in the first innings and then had England in all sorts of bother with four wickets in 27 balls to give Australia the edge in the first innings . Then Watson and "Mr Cricket" Mike Hussey ensured that England had a target that they could never chase in the fourth innings . Ryan Harris chipped in with the wickets along with Johnson in the second innings and Aussies were home and dry. That leaves the series tied at one each with two matches to go. To me, Mike Hussey has been the big influence on the Aussie team so far . He has had a lean trot in the last two years but from the first test of this Ashes Series , he has been in form , fresh on legs , great body language on the field. Aussies norm

All Cricket fans will be excited by what England has done … The Ashes series is not overyet but the English have created the buzz and in line with my earlier blog on what I thought about series. It is very exciting when what you anticipate happens and so ……I am excited !! England did a neat job. It was clear that from the drawn result of the first test , the Aussie defeat was coming for sure very quickly. England bounced back with a strong batting display in the second innings of the first test to frustrate the Aussies and earn a creditable draw. Aussies in their prime would have overrun them after taking a sizable lead . But not to be.. With Alastair Cook in great form ( close to 450 runs in just three innings so far ) and with Trott becoming the Rahul Dravid "Wall" equivalent for England , Strauss getting a hundred , England set themselves well to draw the first test. Some thoughts on Cook - I wonder what Strauss, the England captain must be thinking of what he said on Co

The plan to get away was soaking for a long time but it took the "spirit of energy" to execute it . Late evening a month back , we jumped up and down , scrambled websites for fares , booked tickets for onward and return in a jiffy and then got ourselves winded to get the accommodation and transportation done . Over time as the date of the journey became nearer , one member backed off due to school commitments of his daughter ( how much we missed him and his tender care for children was evident during the trip ) . As you go through the link to the photo album , you know who made the trip and who did not ( guess out ). This was my first trip past Ooty .. It was a nice drive down from Ooty to get to the terrain of the jungle. Masinagudi is just before the point where the Mudhumalai Forest Sanctuary begins. ( It is on the Ooty Mysore Road and you can get in from Mysore as well )For those who are not comfortable with the drive up or down the hills , there are 36 hairpin curves dow