Hmmm... glad my gender is interesting - that's good for (roughly - don't quote me) 50% of the world

Thank you for the welcome. "Beyond the black stump" is an Aussie slang expression for a long way away, or the middle of nowhere. So - hope the description was worth the trembling... and I can safely say that there are no black stumps in cricket unless there's been fires, which there has been, but none (as I'm aware) made it onto any cricket pitches.

Hev