Greetings from the Gumbamorra Swamp.

Lovely morning here in Marrickville. The frogs are donking in the backyard, the magpie family is feeding on the nature strip, and the house is otherwise peaceful after a brush with fame last night.

Sue and I had star of the 7.30 Report, Gideon Haigh, and his sparkling partner, Janeen, over for a modest dinner last night. They are now headed down the highway to Melbourne (I suggested the Monaro Highway and a stop in Cann River) while Sue is headed north on a train to see her mother (no, we aren’t fighting).

Did you see Gideon on the 7.30 Report? He looked elegant in his Cricket Et Al t-shirt and was equally eloquent in an extended interview with Lara Tingle. Sue and I got very excited when he came on the screen. Lara – one of the absolute best in the business – held up well despite clearly having no idea about this cricket caper.

We would have recorded another podcast last night, but as you may have heard, I have lost the podcast machine. (I also left my electric toothbrush in Brisbane, the Et Al Aeropress in a cab in Perth, and my NY Giants cap in Adelaide. FML!)

Minor losses aside, we’ve had a great summer and thanks to all of you for being there. We didn’t know how this Cricket Et Al thing would play out when we started doing it and we’re still feeling our way, but the Cricket Etal Village has given us a sense of purpose and drive.

It is great to have so many cricket fans of like-mind on board. Thank you very much.

That said, we aren’t winding up yet – or anytime in the foreseeable future.

You may have also heard that I’m going to Sri Lanka at the end of the month. We’ve found enough money in the Cricket Et Al kitty to cover costs. I bought return tickets two days ago (actually, I bought two return tickets, but that’s another story. FMLx2) and got a visa. Yet to book accommodation.

That we’re able to pay for these trips is down to the loyalty of our subscribers. As we’ve said before; it ain’t cheap covering cricket – even with our modest tastes.

You may have noticed I was working a few side gigs this summer. I may have been overstretched at times, but I’m working on a way to address that next year.

It looks like I’ll be doing a bit of commentary for SEN while in Sri Lanka. It’s good for me, keeps me focused and they are a good crew.

Gideon has matters to attend to in Melbourne, so unfortunately I’ll be flying solo.

I’m looking forward to a few weeks in Galle. It’s a nice spot and there’s plenty of intrigue ahead.

The Australian squad will be named on Thursday or Friday. It sounds like Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins will be absent. Mitchell Starc has sucked in a few deep ones and will head to the place where he got 11 wickets in a losing effort in 2016 – let down by those bloody batters again! Starc is set to become just the second fast bowler after Glenn McGrath to play 100 games. He’s on 94 at the moment, there’s two Tests in Sri Lanka, three in the West Indies and then the Ashes summer ahead.

Oh, almost forgot. The World Test Championship final is in June and they’re locked into that match at Lord’s against South Africa. Proteas captain Temba Bavuma doesn’t sound too confident about their chances when asked overnight:

“Looking forward to it, up against Australia, so it’s not going to be any mean feat. We’ll enjoy the moment,” Bavuma said after his side beat Pakistan by 10 wickets at Cape Town.

He addressed the issue again later.

“As much as we have got the success, I don’t think we are a well-oiled machine,” Bavuma admitted. “When you speak about the special factor within the team, it is our ability to find a way,” he said.

“We are still on a journey and not close to playing 100 per cent. But there is something special brewing within the team and it will be scary when we are firing on all cylinders.

“We’ll obviously have to adjust our processes for the conditions in England and obviously the opposition as well. But we’ll stay true to that and we’ll go out and fight. Whatever happens, we’ll go out and fight.”

Peter Lalor