Ashes coverage

For all those who haven't discovered this all through the first 4 Tests of this amazing series, live commentary of the Ashes is available online on BBC. Here is the link to the page on BBC; needless to say, click on the live commentary link on this page :P

As I have religiously listened to every word the BBC commentators have uttered since the last day of the 3rd Test, I have become fascinated with the English accent. It is so refreshingly different from what we get to listen on TV daily out here. Sometimes it is fun when what one of the commentators says cannot be understood even by his colleague! Also, considering that I'm backing England, it certainly helps that the commentators are vociferously doing the same. Listening to commentators who support the Aussies would be pathetic. You would get to hear the commentator moaning about a big six from Flintoff with the crowd applauding in the background!

Anyway, let's hope this Test turns out to be a cracker too. From what I heard on the last day of the Old Trafford Test, the BBC commentary panel (which btw comprises of Henry Blofeld, Jonathan Agnew, Christopher Martin-Jenkins, etc.) does a great job of capturing the excitement out there in the field (I sadly couldn't catch the end of the Trent Bridge Test :(). At the moment, the Aussies seem to be slightly ahead thanks to Warne ...

Update:
Excerpt from an article on Cricinfo:

John Howard, the Australian prime minister, has asked bosses to go easy on their staff this week if they turn up yawning after watching Australia's push to retain the urn.

From a search on Google News, looks like the Aussie PM did say that! Amazing :)

That reminds me of this excellent article on Rediff yesterday where India's lone medallist at last year's Olympics argues why any Indian would be motivated to get into a sports career. For once, the reader's comments on a Rediff article were also worth reading. Oh, btw, John Howard's comment reminded me of this because Rathore compares the sports culture in Australia with that in India ...

Cheers,
Harsha