BBC SPORT | THE ASHES | Steer clear of the golf, Glenn

Australia's Justin Langer continues his Ashes diary for BBC Sport Online.

1 August

Once upon a time it was said that an Australian cricket tour was about playing cricket, drinking beer and playing golf on your days off.

These days, the itinerary of a tour is jammed pack with cricket, training or travel, leaving little time for the last two of the past social events.

Luckily, today was an exception to the rule and we found ourselves relaxing on the golf course, playing for sheep stations, or at least our pride.

Amazingly, I can admit that this was the first time I have been on the course for well over 12 months.

Glenn McGrath
McGrath "had a shocker"
Considering international cricket players are supposed to be golfing naturals who play on courses all around the world, this may sound unbelievable but it is a reality of this modern-day occupation.

Some like Ricky Ponting still manage to play off scratch and make you fell sick with envy, but others like yours truly and my playing partners, McGrath and Miller, scrape through a round hitting the ball like we were attempting to hit marbles with a walking stick.

Some holes were embarrassing, others just downright disgraceful, but in the end we had a wonderful time.

From our point of view, I hope Glenn McGrath bowls better than he hit the golf ball, because he basically had a shocker.

His slicing off the tee was terrible but I get the feeling it could be the only sporting disappointment he has over the next few days.

Our tall, superstar paceman is set to terrorise the English batsmen and play a major role in this potential Ashes retaining Teat match at Trent Bridge.

Reading the news this afternoon, it was interesting to see my friend and ex-Middlesex team-mate Richard Johnson being selected for this Test match.

I am secretly delighted to see Richard Johnson realising his ambition of playing for England

Strong, athletic and fast, he can bowl with good pace and bounce.

When he is bowling at his best he can swing the ball away from the right-hand batsman.

And the fact that he is a genuine wicket taker, who has been in excellent form with Somerset this season, makes him a worthy selection for his country.

While injuries have hampered his development over the years, his courage in fighting back, season in season out, stand him in good stead for the tough arena of Test cricket that he is about to enter.

Although he is playing for the old enemy, I am secretly delighted to see him realising his ambition of playing for England.

The third Test is about to kick off and apart from our deplorable golf form and inability to hide our team notes from the press, the boys are about to slip into fourth gear.

From Nottingham


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