The Kent CCC Member and myself have arrived in Melbourne to temperatures of below 20 degrees and they are forecasting the coldest Christmas Day in Melbourne since 1934 and a 30% chance of rain!! Not the plan at all but i guess we shouldn't complain about the weather given the lousy weather back in England. Thousands of England supporters have been arriving over the last few days just happy to have got through the fog at Heathrow.

Since the last blog we have been doing the 'tourist' bit around Margaret River near Perth which is primarily known for its wineries. You would think visiting beautiful wineries and tasting wines would be fun but the drink driving laws over here are very strict so there is not the slightest chance of tasting wines when driving. You can guess who the driver in this relationship is but I did get my own back on one day when we came across a wonderful Chocolate Factory. I can assure you that tasting chocolate can be just as much fun as tasting wine and of course such pleasures have to be enjoyed over a long period of time! The result was that I put on pounds and the Kent CCC Member was, to put it politely, tipsy.

The big cricket news is, of course, the announced retirements of Shane Warne and Glenn Mcgrath. Many people talk to me about the day Bradman appeared at Worcester in 1948 when there were queues over the bridge to get in. He was undoubtably the best batsman ever and I am in no doubt that our generation has been privileged to see the best ever bowler in Shane Warne. We may have lost the Ashes already but the thought of a record crowd at the MCG on Boxing Day and Warnie's 700th wicket is something to get really excited about. And to think we will see Warnie play at New Road with Hampshire next year in the Championship - I wonder whether the queues will go over the bridge for that match?

The Worcestershire public know enough about Glenn McGrath already. A wonderfully aggressive player on the field and a charming man off it - truly one of the great fast bowlers.

It's Christmas Eve so we wish everybody a very Merry Christmas and hope gor a better performance from England on Boxing Day.