Thursday, July 20, 2017

Playing cricket...is just so English/Australian


Most of you won't know what i'm talking about when i say this - or you'll have to put the kettle on when i talk about it - because it has become so boring - i used to love to play a game of cricket. There's nothing i know that is anything like it. What a lovely way of spending the day. When the sun shone: you got plenty to eat. plenty of food half-way through the game, and plenty to drink down the pub after the match had finished. Saturdays were hectic for me: it was rare for the team to finish drinking before midnight. Committing myself to playing every Saturday wasn't fair on Mandy. I can see that now. I played it, all the same.


We, the fleur de lys, were so serious about the game that It was almost an insult to call it just 'a game'. We all had our heroes. We didn't talk about them a lot, though. Mine was Jeff Thomson, the great Australian fast bowler, who you watched from behind the settee, he was so quick at bowling. You had the feeling he wouldn't fight just one bloke. He'd fight the whole pub. And win. Then he'd have buttered scones for tea. Nah, he'd have to drink a six pack. Then feast on two zebras. Uncooked.
How the batsmen could only wear a floppy cap when the ball flew past their heads like a bullet is the stuff of nightmares. If it hit - sometimes it would - if they didn't get back up quickly enough they were weaklings. In reality they often needed intensive care, if they were lucky.
Sometimes a batsman would get hit painfully on the chest. The sound of a ribcage breaking would fill your eardrums,and you'd turn to whoever was sitting next to you, grimace and say "He must be from Yorkshire!, him".


i wondered why i played the game at the risk of being badly injured. I don't really know the answer to that question. I'm not from Yorkshire, you see.
Men are men, though. As long as you didn't have Jeff Thomson bowling at you you'd survive. There was always the sandwiches to look forward to. And the beer. And taking the wife shopping.

14 comments:

  1. They don't play all that much cricket in Canada. It sounds more interestidng than baseball. Baseball is more boring than watching paint dry.

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  2. It was awesome watching the Australians on tv. They were bigger than Princess Di.

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  3. I found this extremely humorous, tho I'm not sure if you meant it to be or not! The idea of risking life and limb for a game is not within my realm of thinking, but going to the pub to have a beer and chat is something I can relate to. In fact, my top travel wish is to go to England and Ireland's countryside and stay in a hotel or Inn where I can walk to a very rowdy pub at night. Americans are way too politically correct these days so one can no longer enjoy a beer in public.

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  4. I enjoyed the fact that we kept on winning. We thought we were good, but we were limited.

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  5. I know people who are obsessed by cricket and one of our friends (now in his sixties) still plays each season (and goes to the pub afterwards). I think it is dull. I am glad that you and he enjoy it though.

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  6. i was obsessed with it too. I loved it when the Aussies were here.

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  7. I'm sure you were like most people and thought you would never get hurt and who would think seriously about injury when having such a good time?

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    1. Causing injury to other players was never seen as a bad thing. Quite the opposite.

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  8. Somehow I missed this post, Terry ... I've never actually see cricket being played, in real life or on TV. But it sounds rather dangerous. The food and pub sound like fun, though :)

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    Replies
    1. When England played Australia you were given the last rites. That's how serious it was.

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  9. I've never known anyone who plays cricket, so I'm totally uninformed about it! It does sound like a fun game but a little bit rough.

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  10. I've seen the game played but always thought it was a gentleman's game. I guess I was wrong. It sound as rough as rugby, lol. No wonder a trip to the pub was in order. These must be good memories for you.
    Hugs, Julia

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  11. They were great memories for me. I'd never describe the game as gentlemanly though.

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