I went into York's centre today for the first time since I got back to England. It doesn't look to have changed much. The building work that had been going on when I left has continued, there's a huge construction going on at the end of Coney Street which was an empty site when I left but now has something there, still not finished though.

There's a lot of fun to go round your home town again after being away. Spotting the differences, changes and new stuff that's around. When I was living in Scarborough I didn't go to York very much, after 5 or 6 years it changed a vast amount. It's never going to alter that much though. York's old, going back to the days of Romans, Vikings and those early days of city walls, which are all still there and well worth the effort of walking round if you're planning a visit.

Yesterday also saw the end of the cricket. England won the Ashes, which was excellent to see. Although the last test was a draw. Having seen the series from both here in England and in Australia it's been fascinating to see how the two different countries deal with sport. Australians are born to win, they love winning and are often very good at what they do. Cricket crowds don't tend to differ too much between the two countries though. Both have respect for the opposition and, much like tennis, applaud and appreciate good players.

I can't say I totally approve of the mas jingoism that's been created in England though. The use of Jerusalem before matches was a little unfair towards the Australians and today's parade through London was just a little too much for a team that have done well to win the Ashes but it's not as if they've won a World Cup or become the official best team in the world. Still, the English aren't too used to winning too much and so we do have to make the most of it when it happens!

Differences in the two countries show more in other sports. Football in England is a religion and there's been a very nasty growing trend for hatred and violence from supporters of various teams. More to the point sometimes that "supporting" one team means hating others with a passion. Australians still manage to show some restraint at AFL matches. You'll hear more people screaming abuse at their own team than the opposition. It's also a much more family orientated game in Aus. Women and children will pack out the MCG, Telstradome et al.

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