i love cricket...

yep, and some people will just think that's sad, but it's in my blood! i come from a line of cricket loving men (my grandfather, dad, uncle (real and chosen)...)...i say men because i think, on the whole, the women in my family tolerate, rather than love cricket!

not me! i LOVE it...i love nothing more (well that's not entirely true...) than knowing that i can watch (either live or on tele) most sessions of a test match...

sure, i can see you rolling your eyes as you read this, especially if you aren't english or australian, or from any other cricket playing nation! but it's true...i love it...and not the 20-20 or one day stuff, the real stuff - the purists cricket which is how we cricket tragics refer to test match cricket...

i can't even remember my earliest memories of cricket but i know from an early age it's been a part of my summers...one of my favourite photos of my Dad is one where he is on the way to the Adelaide Test in either 1975 or 1976 (green metal esky in tow...)...i'm sure as a kid i was taken to cricket matches, and there was plenty of backyard or street cricket with other kids...of course i only loved batting but as i have gotten older i have realised that batting isn't the only source of glory and adornment in cricket!

i grew up in Yorkshire which has a very proud cricketing history, so no doubt, it wasn't really optional to like cricket - one just did :-) and that is just fine with me...

funny though how you can love something so much but understand so little about it...and don't get me wrong, i understand cricket very well (for a chic!) but up until a few years ago i don't think i'd realised what a mental game it is, i didn't understand the tactics, or the strategy at times, and i'm certain i still have a lot to learn, but as i'm only 41, i have plenty of time!

and i know there are people out there who can think of nothing worse than watching a game that goes for 5 days and still doesn't get a result...and i can see that, as i sometimes find a draw frustrating myself, but that's just cricket! and not like i favour any australian captain who sees fit to play for a draw when a win could be achieved, but still, sometimes you get what you get...

some of my happiest times with people i love have involved cricket! around 12 years ago, myself, my dad, my uncle and his mate sparra, started going to the Sydney test for the first 2 days - it became a tradition and so i would look forward to the 2nd/3rd (3rd and 4th this coming year!) of January knowing that a great 2 days would be had...

we quickly got into a routine - sparra's wife and my mum would 'cater' for the outing (even though i was the only girl to get a guernsey), campbell would spend a lot of time on the phone, dad would wander off to the TAB and sparra and i would find ourselves watching the cricket! enjoying the game unfold...him and i formed quite a special bond during these 2 days of the year when we got to see each other, and i never manage to get thru the gates of the SCG without thinking about him (RIP my good friend, I miss you)...

one of the best days we ever had was the day Darren Gough got a hat trick (the only hat trick on the SCG between Australia and England in the 20th century!)...and what a fabulous day of cricket that was...the batting was a display, the bowling improved as the day went on and a spectator near to us gave us plenty to laugh about...he left before the hat trick and so missed one of the SCG's most historic moments (shame...)....and on that day the saying 'and the procession continues' was born! to this day, even though our dear mate sparra is no longer with us (physically), the rest of us still smile when we remember that day...

the evenings were often more fun than the cricket (especially if Australia were getting belted) as we would head up from the ground to Micky's on Oxford St or other venues of choice and disect the game...for hours! hard to believe you can watch a game and then sit around and talk about it for hours afterwards...and then turn around and do it all again the next day...

but that's just what we do! that's why (i guess) it's called a tradition, and i can't wait for when my Daniel (nephew) is old enough to join in on this tradition...

i don't just love going to or watching the cricket, i love talking about it too - i have a couple of mates (i call them mates coz almost NONE of my girlfriends like cricket) who i talk cricket with...that's fun too! the hypothesising, the slagging (wouldn't be australian if we didn't do this on occasion), questioning the decisions of the infinitely challenged selectors board etc...

over the years i have had the privelege to see many great cricketers, and matches, and some of my favourites (in no particular order bar 1 and 2) would be Steve Waugh (my all time number one cricketer), Sachin Tendulkar (my favourite batsmen without a doubt), Jacques Kallis (that wonderful all rounder), Darren Gough, Shane Warne, Adam Gilchrist, Damien Martyn, Michael Clarke, Michael Slater, Shane Watson,  Rahul Dravid, Gus Logie, Graeme Smith, Daniel Vettori, Brendon McCullum...of late I am loving Ryan Harris and Mitchell Johnson...

so i'm calling stumps on this post now - and that reminds me of the other thing i love about cricket! the terminology...wickets, stumps, bails, LBW, silly mid off, backward square leg, fine leg, deep fine leg, mid wicket - what other game has such funny language??

sooo thanks to all those cricketers who make my summer afternoons just perfect, and bring on Melbourne! go boys :-)