A Dream in a Broad Sense

While I attempt to keep this blog free of magic realism, this particular incident (or rather coinkidink) warrants publishing.

A couple of weeks or so ago during one of the tests between England and Pakistan, the TMS team on the BBC started talking during the tea interval about the Twenty20s cup which was in its final stages at that time. They mentioned Stuart Broad in particular, the tall 20 year old quickie who plays for Leicestershire and has had an impressive season, and whether or not it is too early to talk of him as an Ashes prospect for this winter. It was a very brief exchange and the subject was quickly changed, quite possibly because Blowers got distracted by sea gulls or the blue trams pulling into Old Trafford Station.

Fast-forward a couple of weeks to New York City and more specifically, to my bedroom between the hours of midnight and 8am starting last night. In the dream that filled the gap between those hours, a very tall bowler named Broad bowling in a street game at an undisclosed location - but most probably Melbourne, by the feel of it - gets extraordinary bounce from good length deliveries and takes several wickets in that innings including a hat-trick. For some reason, the passers-by on the street keep referring to that game as the Ashes.

The first thing I usually do after waking up every morning and checking my email is open the BBC sports section. To my shock when I did that today, there was a large article on the front page talking about the rise of Stuart Broad and it included bits of interviews with him and his father - former England batsman Chris Broad.

What is the point of this fable? That the seed of a thought was implanted in my brain via the media a couple of weeks ago and I had a dream about it yesterday. Just like any other normal person. And then it got published in the BBC this morning.