It is over (so to speak)

Congratulations to the winners:

1) Paul - 1776
2) Missy - 1772
3) Sarah - 1662

It was very exciting. I was watching the game with Missy and had Paul on MSN Chat. Missy had 11 players and Paul had 9. Missy unleashed her WMDs while Paul was trying to track the scores. It seemed to go back and forth with each wicket. By Paul's estimate they were tied at the end of the game. The final score showed Paul to be the winner. If Gilchrist had made 1 more run the game would have gone the other way.

This is the closest finish we have ever had in the Robinson World Cup. It kept me on the edge of my seat until the end.

The game itself was pretty good even though it was shortened by rain and ended in the dark. Australia set a formidable target for Sri Lanka who were on track to beat it until Sangakara and Jayasuraya went out. There was a lot of good cricket and it was fun to watch, which is all we can ask for from a final (well, except for Australia winning.)

Here is the final worm.



Other notable events: Katy made a valiant effort to catch up with catherine but didnt quite make it even though her captain finally came through for her. Henry had just enough point to make it into the top 6 and knock me back down to 7th. Thanks a lot.

Moira stuck to her guns for a solid 12 place finish and so earns the sweaty world cup teddy bear of 12th place-ness. Paul get the shirt of first place-ness. Missy came in second and has requested the third place prize of the hat coz she doesn't know what a cricket ball is and so, if that is ok with you Sarah, she wins the hat and you win the cricket ball.

Also, we bought a floating trophy of a signature cricket bat that will go to Paul as the winner. I will get his name put on it, and in 4 years time it will go to the next winner of the Robinson World Cup. It shall hence forth (I always wanted to say that) be known as the Sweaty Robinson World Cup Trophy of Winningness. Here is a picture of the bat and the bear.



Thank you to everyone for taking part and getting into the spirit of the game. It has made the world cup a lot more interesting and exciting for me than it would have been and I think it has done a good job of getting everyone together to enjoy it even though we are all separated on various continents. We will do it again in 4 years time, so start studying up already!

Love,
Michael

South Africa crash and burn.

Oh well, so South Africa didn't come to play. This isn't the first time and it probably will not be the last. I really hope the final is a somewhat more exciting game. At this point in the game I'm sure everyone has very similar teams and so everyone's worms had a similar climb. The notables are Missy and Catherine who have closed in slightly on their nearest rivals. Henry is also getting close to kicking my butt.



It is going to be very interesting to see the final outcome of the Robinson World Cup. The final blog entry will be after the game on Saturday. I hope everyone has had a lot of fun. I have really enjoyed it, I think it has been a great way to quickly and easily make fun of multiple family members. After this I'll have to go back to making fun of Katy on her own.

Ciao,
Michael

Sri Lanka in the final

Hi all,

We are into the semi-finals. Sri Lanka beat New Zealand easily. Some say New Zealand under performed but the official South African decription for their performance is "pieperig". Let us hope the South Africa - Australia game is a more exciting one.

Despite the poor game some people had some big jumps and people changed positions. Lynda continues her fall from the top to a new place in 10th spot, as Graeme jump ahead of her. He gets the sweaty jumps ahead of the ex pregnant chick award of secret teamness award.

Henry is poised for a jump up a couple of positions, so watch him with his Pontying captain. It will be very intereting to see what happens at the top.

Here is the worm.



Let us know where you would like to end up by the end, who is it you are trying to beat. I would be over the moon just to get ahead of my wife. It would be a dream come true.

Enjoy the last few games,
Michael

Some more photos from our trip

I have added a couple more photos from our trip on flickr. Click on the picture and then browse.

Most exciting game so far!

Wow! I watched the England-Windies game and that was the most exciting game of the tournament so far! West Indies set up a good score of 300 with Gayle and Samuels each contributing a lot of runs quickly. England came in and, like Catherine said, Vaughn had a his first good knock of the competition (see Catherine's worm for details.) Pieterson and Nixon looked like they would maintain the required 9.5 run rate to win the game. Pieterson scored his hundred in 98 ball with a big 6. He then went out bowled by Taylor very next ball and I screamed. The notorious Plunket went out soon afterwards. England needed 48 off 36 ball to win and the West Indies looked like they were going to win. Nixon managed to keep things going, picking up where Pieterson left off and put England back in the driving seat.

Nixon managed to get the final over down to 4 required from 6 balls. When Nixon was bowled by one of Bravo's excellent slower deliveries it was down to Broad and Jimmy Anderson to find three from four balls. Off the penultimate delivery Lara, in his final gesture as an international player, brought the field in and Broad, at the opposite end of his career, hit a one over cover to win the game. Phew! I was on the edge of my seat for the last 15 overs of the game. Excellent stuff.

Here is the worm:



Things are heating up at the top, Sarah kinda pounced as Missy and Paul too a bit of a break, preparing their troops for the final 3 game showdown. Catherine made a last minute surge with her captain Vaughn and Henry came up nicely too. The rest of us just keep ticking along listening to Katy swear at Gayle.

Oh, and Graeme has reached a score of Eleventy One.

See you all on Tuesday.
Michael

Did I mention that Australia will win?

Hi all,

Australia looked unstoppable against New Zealand making NZ look like amateurs. Here is the worm.



I spoke to Missy last night and she has all sorts of plans to get into first place, so Paul, you better watch out. Here team is incognito so that Paul cannot pick up her stratergy.

The England-West Indies game, the last of the super 8 round, is on right now. Lara went out with 18 on a run out, which is unfortunate for him. This is his last game of international cricket. The ground is full, which is a good thing, I think they let people in for free or something. West Indies are moving along nicely and England are going to have to play very well to win.

The semi finals are next Tuesday and Wednesday and the final is Saturday, so there will be a pause for a few days in the blog.

An katy, you should have kept Gayle as your captain :-).

Ciao,
Michael

West Indies finally win one.

Hi all,

Not much going on yesterday. West Indies finally won a game, woohoo. And it looks like Lara will be retiring after their last game tomorrow. New Zealand have just started their game against Australia, which me be a copy of the final, so it should be interesting. There should be a bunch of points flowing, unlike yesterday's game. Here is the worm, the only significant change is Graeme's recovery. The P's and Q's and remaining M's are doing well for him.



Moira seems to be getting quite competitive for a tail ender. Maybe she has a big late surge planned and will take the Tiddlywinks World Cup. She gets the Sweaty Better Late Than Never award of Silliness.

Enjoy the game today, let us hope it is a good one.
Michael