Getting the call up

The call came at nine thirty on the Friday night. The tone of voice at the other end of the phone made me immediately fearful of an accident. While my experiences of the broadcast world (in that the axe often swingeth after a show has finished for the week) raised the possibility that the chop had fallen brutally but not necessarily unexpectedly.

"Carragher's been called up by Capello"

Momentarily the words failed to register - instead the sentence hovered in the air, perfectly formed yet unable to permeate my mind's buffer as I assimilated the good news that nobody had died nor been shown the door.

Jamie Carragher. The man who was set to present a show on talkSPORT throughout the World Cup from his hometown. The man who had turned his back on England a few years previously. The one club man who had never managed to disprove the doubters for his country as he had for his team. The man who was now on the way to the World Cup.

The significance of his and Fabio's change of heart didn't immediately ring true. And why should it? But it was only a couple of days before a decision by the England manager and a Liverpool defender had a knock on affect that will affect my life forever.

For the show Jamie was supposed to be presenting was now to be hosted in South Africa. And for that to happen a new radio producer was to be found. Someone who could fly out to Johannesburg at the last minute and spend five weeks producing a football show whilst trying to catch a game of football whenever tickets and time became available. And thankfully that's pretty much what I do when I'm not watching, talking or reading about cricket.

So, from here on in it's all about 64 games of football. It's all about talkSPORT, the Drivetime Show with Adrian Durham & Darren Gough, the red earth of Africa, living and working in one of the most violent cities on earth, the hopes, fears and dreams of a billion Africans & a pocket of Englishmen praying they will see something not seen for nearly 50 years. And it all starts here......hopefully you'll be with me to share it.