Blog - Charlie Morgan - Dragged to the library!

12 April 2010

Even with the usually excellent company of my fellow squad members Alex Turner, George Harper and Daniel Gale, Durham University Library seems more uninspiring this evening than ever. Against all odds on the eve of our first First-Class match of the season against Nottinghamshire, we have dragged ourselves out of the house to get some work done.

Inevitably on the first day of the County Championship though, our last couple of hours’ work have been interrupted by intermittent checks on how our captain Tom Westley has been getting on at Chelmsford against Hampshire. Then someone catches a glimpse of the Nottinghamshire CCC website, and there is no hope for anything academically productive.

Not for the first time in my three years at Durham, poetry takes a back seat as all four of us pour over the names selected to play at the Racecourse, filled with excitement. There are no fewer than seven players with international experience, including Ryan Sidebottom and Samit Patel. More than anything else, this is a huge compliment. The hours spent in the gym, on the running track and in the nets over the grim winter will all be worth it when play starts tomorrow. We may even be able to forget the traumatic dehydration monitoring (test tubes is all I’ll say) that our tireless fitness coach Darran Fowler has been conducting for a few hours!

Al Pacino? Despite the disappointment of the Lancashire fixture being abandoned, we have managed to salvage some invaluable time in the middle over pre-season, with back-to-back 50-over games against a strong Durham 2nd XI this week. On the back of some inspirational words from stand-in skipper Harps (think Al Pacino in ‘Any Given Sunday,’ only hairier) there were some very encouraging performances in two tight defeats. We are under no illusions, though, that the Notts game will be altogether more intense.

All four of us decide to leave the big grey library behind, and get home for a big feed and a rest. As Galey doubles up as my housemate, most of the chat will probably revolve around Ian Poulter’s chances in the Masters or the best soundtrack for the journey to the ground tomorrow morning, rather than where he will be looking to bowl to Hashim Amla. One thing is for certain, that even for the most laid-back of us; cricket won’t be too far away from our thoughts tonight.