Ashes, a doctor who fanfic

Ashes

'I'm telling you Doctor whatever way you look at it Australia have a better side than England'

'And I'm telling you, Tegan, that while I'll admit Australia play well, England have what it takes to beat Australia'

Nyssa stood by the TARDIS consol as the Doctor and Tegan argued. She hadn't been familiar with the sport before meeting the Doctor and she still didn't know much about it. She just accepted that the Doctor had a keen interest in it and left it at that. Never before though had she heard Tegan challenging the Doctor on it.

'Beat Australia?' Tegan scoffed. 'On Australian soil? Not going to happen. Your forgetting that they're going to playing the same Australian team that just beat them on English soil for the first time'

'Exactly!' The Doctor agreed 'They've just had a crushing defeat, they'll be all fired up for revenge and that will make them play better. They'll play to their very best and beat Australia. In Australia'

'Prove it' Tegan said. To the Doctor's blank look Tegan added 'Take us to November 12th 1882 in Perth for the first test'

'Fine' The Doctor said, a look of determination on his face as he raced around the TARDIS plotting the course. 'But you're going to eat your words'

'Of course I am' Tegan said sarcastically, and waited for them to land.

Nyssa kept quiet until the three of them where leaving the TARDIS. As they left the TARDIS crowds of cricketing fans passed them and the Doctor led the way. 'I don't understand the interest in cricket' Nyssa commented.

Tegan simply looked at her like she'd grown another head while the Doctor said 'You'll get it once we're watching the match'

'If you say so' Nyssa said. 'Anyway can't you just go to tomorrow and see how it goes'

'The Ashes isn't just one day, Nyssa' Tegan told her 'it's five test matches in five different locations. It won't be finished until January 7th'

'Still' Nyssa replied 'the Doctor could go to then and see how it ends up'

'I could' The Doctor said 'but why would I want to? I'd much rather sit and watch England crush Australia'

Tegan laughed 'This is going to be good'

Nyssa still didn't see the interest in cricket when they were watching the game. Tegan and the Doctor became impossible to talk to, both of them intensely watching the game, which to Nyssa seemed very boring. She's never actually seen a cricket match before and she now hoped she wouldn't have to again. It just involved one person throw a ball and another hitting it with a bat and then running before it got back to the person who threw it. Where was the interest in that?

'A draw?!'

After five days being forced to watch cricket almost all day, Nyssa was as disappointed with the result as Tegan and the Doctor was. She had at least hoped one side would win so one of them would've been proved right.

'Still, it proves us Aussie to be better' Tegan said as they walked to back to the TARDIS to get to the next match.

'How?' The Doctor asked.

'Australia had 424/9 in their first innings and then declared, whereas England were all out in both their innings' Tegan said. 'Therefore Australian are the better side'

'Early days' the Doctor muttered. 'To Brisbane'

'I can't cope with 5 more days of cricket' Nyssa moaned, but the Doctor and Tegan barely seemed to hear her.

Nyssa took to wondering around Brisbane while Tegan and the Doctor were watching the second test match. Part of her even began hoping there would be some sort of alien invasion or problem, just to stop them watching the cricket.

She had no such luck and at the end of the five days Tegan was extremely happy and the Doctor was the opposite. Meaning Nyssa had to listen to 'England were rubbish, you should've seen it. We won by 7 wickets' coming from Tegan and 'It was atrocious, we were robbed'.

Nyssa wanted to point out that he wasn't actually English, in face he wasn't even from Earth so what did it matter. But she decided it would probably be best not to.

'Time to go to Adelaide' Tegan said, smiling.

'England can still win' the Doctor muttered.

Nyssa found herself sitting between the Doctor and Tegan for the third test match. A position she really didn't want to be in. Whenever England did anything great (which, Nyssa noted, wasn't very often) the Doctor was taunting Tegan and visa versa with Australia.

This match confused Nyssa, she thought she had worked cricket out and that one team batted, then the next and then the first and then the second but this match didn't. This match went Australia, England, England, Australia. When Nyssa asked why the Doctor simply buried his head in his hands.

Once she had stopped laughing, Tegan explained 'Australia scored 438 runs in their first innings, but England only scored 216. In a five day match if the second team batting gets more than 200 less runs that the first team it goes to a f/o - a follow-on, meaning they have to bat again straight away'

'Right' Nyssa nodded, pretended she understood that.

'In short it means England are rubbish' Tegan said.

'What's wrong with them?' the Doctor muttered. 'Really, what's wrong with them?!'

Australia won again, no surprise for any of them. Though the Doctor was still adamantly sticking by England.

'Tell me how England are going to crush us now?' Tegan asked.

'It can still be a draw' the Doctor replied.

'Yes, I suppose a draw for England is the equivalent to a crushing for any other team' Tegan muttered and the Doctor glared at her.

The fourth test match was at Melbourne, started on Boxing Day and finished on December 30th. England did the seemingly impossible and beat Australia.

'Happy New Year, Tegan!' The Doctor said, tauntingly. 'I knew they could do it' he cheered. 'Good old England'

'Three runs' Tegan pointed out. 'They won by three runs! At least when Australia win they do it with plenty to spare and not just a few runs!'

'Who cares?!' The Doctor asked, smiling broadly 'England won'

'It's going to Australia at the moment, Doctor, with one test left. Australia are clearly better' Tegan said, but the Doctor didn't seem to hear.

'It's a late Christmas present' The Doctor said.

'Australia's still been playing better'

Come January 7th 1883, Nyssa was glad that it was all over. The fifth test had taken place in Sydney and had been a draw. By this point a draw (to Nyssa who hadn't been keeping up properly) seemed good. It meant neither side won and neither had lost. She was glad she didn't voice this though, as she soon found out that altogether Australia had won 2-1. Meaning Tegan had been right all along.

'What was that about me eating my words?' Tegan asked. 'What was that about England being out for revenge? What was that about England having what it takes?'

The Doctor made no comment. It was clear he was silently sulking.

Tegan didn't let up, she was enjoying this victory too much. 'If that's a fired up, determined England I'd love to see a weak English side! We'd destroy them!'

The Doctor looked at her, still making no comment.

'But then, we destroyed them anyway' Tegan added.

'You know Doctor, it's not often that you're proved wrong' Nyssa commented.

'Don't you start' The Doctor said, and set the TARDIS co-ordinated.

'It's just a game, Doctor' Nyssa said.

'Cricket is not just a game' The Doctor replied insistently.

This sort of thing is what happens when you don't plan to watch Doctor Who but do and are thinking about fan fiction and in the episode (Time Flight btw) the Doctor says something like 'What is going on with English cricket' and I see an English guy and an Aussie girl and my mind goes 'Ashes!'. Although I didn't plan to make that much fun of England! My poor England! Now, you see that little button down there, please click it!