Kasper

The festival guest at Philly was Michael Kasprowicz. Personally (and not just because he is an Aussie) I think he was one of the best guests we have had. Getting to play against him was great. But it all comes down to how well he can speak. Derek Underwood was a great guy and nice to chat to in the bar...but his speech was deathly dull. Kasper walked the line perfectly providing insight, comedy and anecdotes in the right proportion.

Andrew Symonds is apparently quite the character. Kasper told a couple of stories about comments he would make from time to time. Apparently Andy Bichel had a couple of letters written on his bat: "FT". The 3 of them were there one day and Symonds saw this and asked what it stood for. Bichel replied: "Focus and Technique...it is just something that helps me think about the important things when I am batting". Symonds then replied: "I think I would have 'SW" ". "What would that stand for?"..."Swing Hard" was the reply.

He also spoke of the 2005 Ashes and the mood in the dressing room. He said it was the first time that "luck" was being mentioned in an Australian dressing room. There was also a subtle change in tactics when we beat India over there for the first time in forever. Instead of setting typical Aussie fields with 3 slips and a gully, bowling at off stump, they played to India's strengths. Block off mid wicket and mid on and bowl at the stumps and force them to change. The results would indicate this was quite effective.

After the speech, got a cricket ball signed and staggered home...many bottles of Mad Dog wine was consumed and a lot of laughs were had. We also lined up Kasper and his wife for a dinner in NY when they were visiting the next week...

So Thursday night, a week later, and I went into NYC to meet Kasper and his wife Lindsey for drinks and dinner. What a great evening! Drinks were had at a small pub in the Greenwich Village and then we had a private room for our dinner. About 6 Mad Dogs, a few partners and the Kaspers. I managed to get a prime spot next to him and a great night of questions about cricket and everything else was had. For me the highlight was talking to him about captaincy. Steve Waugh was named as the best captain he played under and it was clear that there was a little resentment about Mark Taylor's "18 month form slump". Not that anything bad was said, but it was clear that it was not just the fans who were getting pissed off by his constant selection, despite him not being able to score a run.

It ended up being a very late night to get home but certainly well worth the lack of sleep. Not sure who will be next up for Philly but can't wait for 2011!