15 days until I jet off to Auckland and the airline I fly with are one of a few that do not allow professional cricketers the luxury of free extra weight allowance. There are a number that do allow the addition of a kit back, free of charge, for those who earn their living using such means. Singapore Air, that’s SINGAPORE AIR, do not.
As one might imagine, the cricket kit bag is as big and as heavy as any sport. Trying to pack sports equipment plus regular luggage for a five month trip to the other side of the world, does not really add up to 20kgs. Throw into the mix a female partner with her profession of “seeing how many handbags and pairs of shoes add up to 20kg’s” and the whole traveling task becomes almost impossible. Needless to say that the airline do not allow the extra weight for the latter profession either.
I understand that too much weight would eventually not allow the big white bird to leave terra-firma. However, this cannot be too much of an issue bearing in mind that if I wanted to pay an extra £36 per kg, then I could evidently take another 500kg’s without any problem whatsoever. Don’t get me started on the likelihood of the gentleman in the seat adjacent to mine being a good 10kg’s heavier than me and getting off scot-free. Maybe I should check-in fully padded up, with helmet and all, exercising my right to wear whatever attire I wish on the plane. That would free up some space in the suitcase.
There’s still a huge hole in my kitchen ceiling/bathroom floor.
Northants promotion hopes in the County Championship are still very much on. The solid draw away at Surrey consolidating, if not quite strengthening our push to hold on to second place. Avoiding defeat in London meant that we have a slight cushion going into our penultimate game, although it counts for very little bearing in mind we are playing the team directly below us, and away at that. The carrot that is certain promotion through a win combined with full bonus points at Chelmsford against Essex this week is a big one. If we fall short of victory, a draw going into our last game against bottom side Leicestershire, at home, will see us in a very strong position.
Unfortunately, I am still not involved. I will travel down to Essex should there be a chance of us clinching victory on the final day. Having played in two-thirds of the season, and contributed significantly, I would not miss this for the world. When one is based at certain clubs, promotions and trophy successes should be cherished. As opposed to the Surrey’s and recently Sussex’s of this world, where a player might experience success in at least one format almost every season.
The free time this week will give me opportunity to organise fixing that hole in my kitchen ceiling/bathroom floor.
