A fraction of a Wellington day at the cricket
It is not clear from the Waitangi weekend Venn diagram what Wellington tribe you are from if you choose to go to the cricket on Waitangi Day. Could we possibly fit in the grand intersection, in that big exclamation mark.
Cricket at the Basin. Wgtn–Otago 20-20 by the way – Otago win by 117 runs. Excellent crowd. Sitting at midwicket behind the practice nets I couldn’t see much of the play and couldn’t see the scoreboard. So I was only ever vaguely aware of what was going on – basically, Wellington behind from ball one. But beautiful on the grass, under the sun. The bright sun bleaches the view and the wind muffles the sound, making the game seem distant. The occasional *crack* from the field, or a gasp from the crowd, but the dominant sound is the *burrr* of the canvas sightscreen vibrating violently when the wind picks up.
February 9th, 2009 at 7:50 am
Good to see that sport = rugby over at Wellingtonista.
I went yesterday, and enjoyed it more than I’d expected, although it’s not a format stacked with ebb and flow.
Highlights:
Watching Harry Boam bowl. He’s not there yet, but there’s a bit of the Shane Watson about him.
Seeing McGlashin bat. Why it’s not him flying over as cover for Prince Brendan is beyond me.
I saw Flem have to run at one stage.
And good to see Franklin take out his IPL rejection on Bruce Martin.
February 9th, 2009 at 8:15 pm
Sunday might have been the day to go. Friday’s game was a bit frustrating.
I quite enjoyed my first live 20-20 as well. It’s much easier to find 3 hours to spend at the ground than 8. So much more so with kids. And whenever you do feel like looking up and seeing what is happening on the field, there is a decent chance something might actually be happening.
Kinda creeped out by the fact that there are no restrictions about walking past behind the sightscreen at the bowlers end. It just feels wrong.
February 10th, 2009 at 7:10 am
Kinda creeped out by the fact that there are no restrictions about walking past behind the sightscreen at the bowlers end. It just feels wrong.
So that was on Friday too?
That’s just wrong. And when the State guys dressed at Smurfs who were giving stuff away did the Pied Piper bit and took close to 100 kids behind the sightscreen on the bank to see who could yell that loudest as an over was being bowled from that end I just about had a stroke.
Peasants.
February 10th, 2009 at 8:53 am
Heh. There were smurfs there on Friday too. Real smurfs. Well, men painted blue with white tights on at least. And grown men with fake breasts and tight shorts. And a gaggle of butchers. Some guys with lollies stuck to their t-shirts. And a few superheroes.
The Basin is just far enough away from the Caketin that we only got the fringe of the costumed crowd.