The ship docked at Pireus for people to go to Athens but did we go to Athens?
Of course not.
We are the Jolly Hollies.
We got up supasupasupa early (oh....so did a lot of others...) and walked round the bay to catch the Flying Dolphin which literally lifted up its front end and flew across the water to AEGINA
(thanks to Husb's ace planning)
What we hadn't been told in advance was it was all aboard by 3.30pm (what sort of time is THAT for goodness sake) which meant getting the earlier Dolphin back.
Not a lot of time then...
So we just went to a weedy looking beach.
Never judge a book by it cover.
The SEA was SUPERB!
Shallow, warm, lots of fish and a lovely sandy bottom.
The Flying Dolphin sailed on the hour every hour.
But she wouldn't accept our "wrong" ticket.
We had to go back to the kiosk to get another issued.
The ticket kiosks were over the bridge and round the corner.
"You have exactly 8 minutes before we leave" and boy, was she right.
Talk about strict timing!
They weren't waiting for anyone.
"SPRIIIIINT!"
But this also meant we had half an hour to kill.
Yes we could have got back on ship for an All-Inclusive coolish beer in a plastic beaker.
But we could also sit in a trendy bar with an ice cool "A@aA" beer in a glass glass with a bit of wifi. We couldn't resist and I can tell you now, it was like pure nectar.
oooosh! It was worth every penny.
We hardly spoke.
We had access to The Ashes on our phones.
One minute we were chilling, the next minute we were getting hot and bothered.
Butler...RUN OUT?🏏 Nooooo!
It's the HOPE that gets you.
We'd been relying on Butler.
We had no faith....
In the craziest hour back on ship we got news that Stokes was doing OK and was STILL IN.
Could he do it?
HOPE
Again.
People were running back down to their cabins (no signal) trying to get news.
People on phones were passing news round deck.
People were trying to find a TV on ship with some coverage.
People with headphones were asked WHAT'S HAPPENING WHAT'S HAPPENING?
"Jack Leach is still in, he's faced 17 balls and he's scored a run"
And in the craziest of hours
WE WON THE ASHES!!!
🏏 🏏 🏏 🏏 🏏 🏏 🏏 🏏 🏏🏏🏏🏏
Stokes finished with 135 not out from 219 balls, with 11 fours and nine sixes. At one stage he was three not out from 73 balls. He played with such intelligence, patience and flexibility. And then, when time was running out, he went nuclear. To quote Martin Tyler, I swear you’ll never see anything like this ever again.
The Man of the Match is Ben Stokes, and the crowd are giving him his 44341238th ovation of the day
“This probably matches the World Cup. Wow. When you’re out there and you know what’s on the line, adrenaline keeps you going. There’s nothing better than getting your team over the line. Today has been incredible… I’m blabbering on here because I don’t quite know what to say. It still hasn’t sunk in.
“I didn’t really start to get nervous until the target was in single figures. I didn’t know what to do then! Before that it was pretty obvious. Those are the most crucial deliveries Jack Leach will face in his career, and credit to him for the way he played in such a hig-pressure situation.”
Ben Stokes bowled like a drain on Thursday and played the worst of many bad shots from the England batsmen on Friday. And then, in the second innings, he bowled 24.2 overs off the reel and smacked the most glorious 135 not out. His Test averages are fairly modest - 36 with the bat, 32 with the ball - but this match, like Headingley 1981 with Sir Ian Botham, is the ultimate proof of his greatness.
🏏 🏏 🏏 🏏 🏏
What a day!
