I Love Pink Balls

Well. This is it.

The last few days. The final stretch. The Final Countdown. It's here.

Months of months of fitness, team bonding, team building, fitness bonding and bonding building.

The Everest Test, now called the Nokia Maps Everest Test 09, will be wheels up by 21.00 on Thursday 9th. A week yesterday. It seems weird to say that to myself, so God only knows what Leaders Kirt and Wes must be thinking now. It's been a huge achievement and quite obviously a monumental effort to get this and 60 odd people (not nearly 60 - 60 genuinely peculiar people) off the ground. If I could offer up a cyber round of applause; now's the time.

Just to go back a moment. We are now sponsored by Nokia and more precisely Nokia Maps, which is fantastic news and has brought a real boost to us all during the closing stages of the organisation to this unique event. Testament to the Herculian task of getting this trip moving is the final piece in the puzzle and bringing on board a wonderful brand.

We had our last formal get-together at Lords last Saturday where we learnt more about the finishing touches and the finer details of the trips logistics.

We had our full medical de-brief from the medical team and I have to say to say I feel very safe and secure in the knowledge that these guys are with us. They are all seriously good guys (and girl - Sorry Isla), very experienced and know their stuff. We must be able to listen to our bodies most of all but if I do have an arse full of tapeworms (seriously), we have the guys on board to be able to sort us out; that's a huge reassurance to me so many thanks for coming on board guys and fingers crossed that you will have plenty of time to enjoy the sites. Not my arse of course. I am sure you will...enjoy the sites......anyway........  I am sure too that they will be nothing like my boarding school Doctors, when even if an acute attack of Himalaya ArseWorm struck, I would have to drop my trousers and take a couple of Polo's twice daily.

We also had our final net session before departure where the Tenzing machine bared it's teeth for the first time in public, together and with the oppo in the next net. This finely honed, fully greased and bull-buggeringly brilliant team of guys I know are ready for the off and can smell victory. 

Furious bowling, combined with West Indian-esque Calypso batting must have had a few of the Hillary brows furrowed over the two hour net session. Hillsy, Butler and Toovey I think bore the brunt of the bodily contact as we had to road-test the new, specially designed pink balls that we will use up the hill. These balls misbehaved brilliantly and never have the hallowed halls of the MCC echoed with "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH you F***ing Baas**rrrrrd" quite so much as when Tooves copped another pearler in the plums. The bowlers kept hurling them down - Arms were Shouldered, skin and bone were hit and bruised, bats flung in the air, yorkers were landed on the boot laces and screaming batsmen ran around in painful circles hopping and limping to try and shake the pain away, as if they had been shot in the backside by an annoyingly stingy air-rifle pellet.  I should think the pain was heard in the Long Room and no doubt woke most of the 40 year old plus MCC members up in the pavilion who were enjoying their afternoon of farting in the Pavilion. Even the coach in the other half of the net was heard to say under his breath (whilst feeding balls into a bowling machine aimed at an 11 year olds head), "Even the Yeti will hear that........", as Toovey got another one in the clangers. Stirling work by all the batsmen really as those two hours couldn't have been easy. Pink Balls; it's the future. I've seen it.

We have also been immortalised in a computer game - www.stickcricket.com - and look for the Everest test logo. A fantastic way to while away the hours and another fantastic way for my fellow Preston Cricket Team-ers to smash me all over the, ...well....Himalaya really, without even having to get changed. Seriously good fun.

So, we now find ourselves 6 days away from the off. Still a hell of a lot to be done - more kit to buy, more kit to buy and more kit to buy. Walks to be done, sacks to be tested, boots to be broken further. These 6 days will go very quickly and I also need to enjoy the family a little before I go. Beth my daughter will be giving me a teddy to take up and stick on to my rucksack. Knowing her it will be the 7ft one she has in the corner of her room and I also have a surprise drinks evening on Saturday that I'm not supposed to know about but thanks everyone for coming and sending me off.

I can't believe its here and that next Friday I will be in Katmandu and next Saturday morning I will be on the best roller-coaster ride ever - flying into Lukla for the start of the trek. This will probably be my last Blog update before I'm back so keep you posted soon.