Victory in the Cricket! (Not England...) + positive constraints + Flick & Julie

Victory!

British Part-timers defeat Afghanis (With aid of Afghanis)

Last month, I had the privilege of playing a game of cricket. Five members of the London-based Weekenders cricket club brought six huge bags of cricket kit for the highly talented Afghani and Pakistani cricketing migrants who are stuck in Calais. The game was billed as Afghanistan vs England, but, due to a shortfall in numbers, Afghanis starred with bat and ball for both teams.

In fact, the visitors technically "won" the game, but only thanks to some inspired batting from an Afghani we borrowed who played like Sachin Tendulkar, with a fag in his mouth. (By contrast, the current author survived, I think, six balls, of which at least four hit him in various body parts and the sixth mercifully obliterated his wicket.)

It was a terrific day's play and just the sort of way that these cricket-lovers should be spending their Saturday afternoons.

But while the match was going on, the rest of the Tioxide "jungle" was being evacuated. The camp, along with all the other migrant-built camps in Calais, has been issued an eviction notice by the mayor.

Hundreds of migrants are being forced to move all their tents, sleeping blankets, fire wood and food several kilometers down the road, further into seclusion from the rest of the town. (As you can see in the background of the very excellent photograph above, thanks to Jake and the rest of the VICE team!)

One of the cricketers shot a short video of the day's frivolities. I took my best shot at doing an informative voice over. Not sure I'll be threatening David Attenborough's job any time soon.

Quick update on my Positive Constraints project...
For those of you who haven't heard me banging on about them, positive constraints are when we deliberately choose to restrict our behaviour in some way. I've been loving them for over five years now - No Aeroplanes, No Mobile Phones, No Supermarkets, No Borders, No Walking... And now I'm writing a book about all my adventures.

Yesterday, I finally finished putting the finishing touches on my proposal and the first three chapters (No Walking, No Aeroplanes and No Mobile Phone).

I have now overcome my fear of rejection and SENT IT TO SOME LITERARY AGENTS.

I await their immediate acceptance...

20th May: An Evening with Anna Hughes

(No, this is not an excerpt from my diary.)

In 2011, Anna cycled 4,000 miles around Britain - just like me! Unlike me, she's only gone and published a great book about it!

On the 20th of May at Stanfords bookshop in London, Anna will be sharing stories, photos and readings from her book-of-the-journey Eat, Sleep, Cycle. Go - it's only £3!

I'll leave you with Flick & Julie: Pop-Up Penny Pinchers, a comedy sketch show which offers advice and tips on how to survive and thrive in austerity Britain.

As usual, just hit reply if you've got anything to say. I do like hearing from people as I sit in what a friend called "my silent, tapping world"...

Otherwise, I wish you very happy cricketing, cycling and comedying!

See you in June for more...
dc