Cricket

by Adam & Lara on 03/12/10

Like watching grass grow, watching paint dry or watching the National League Central Division, watching Cricket is an acquired taste.

First off, the short games are called 1-day matches, as in they last ALL DAY.  We recently saw the 1 day match between the Australia and New Zealand national teams in Auckland.  The game started at noon and we left around 8pm.

Secondly, they only serve 3.5 beer at the stadium.  You drink all day for $6.50 a pop, and by the end of it you don't even have a buzz and you find that you've actually paid attention to a cricket game for 8 hours straight.  If we had known this we would have stuffed more mini bottles of Jim Beam in our unmentionables beforehand (we only stuffed 4).

But despite those downsides, we thoroughly enjoyed our experience.  There are some pretty impressive aspects of the game.  They use one ball for the entire match, and constantly scuff the shit out of one side of it so that they can throw some wicked googlies (no relation to Google) later in the game.  They don't wear gloves, making baseball players (sans Pujols) look like huge pussies.  And just about everybody on the team hits, bowls (pitches) and fields throughout the course of the game.  Here are some highlights:

 

 

Jackpot!  A 4-pack of cold beers for $20.

Upon closer inspection, they're 3.5 beers (i.e. half beer half water) or as the Steinlager marketing geniuses call it "Mid-Strength."  Do they have a low-strength?  Note the slogan: "Designed for those who want to enjoy a cold beer and still do everything else in their day without compromise."  Propsed disclaimer: excludes most things, including watching live sports.

 

Something is happening!

Cricket umpires tend to spend most of the game doing nothing.  However, it is their job to hold the hats and sweaters (jumpers) of the players if it gets too warm out.

Thank god for that scoreboard, because without it we wouldn't have known what the fuck was happening.

Brendan McCullum, NZ's star batter, tries to hit a ball omnidirectionally while also making sure the ball does not hit a wicket, which is undesirable, we think.

Aussie won the game but it was close up until the end.  Next stop northland.