At Fours and Sixes with Cricket

Yesterday I went to the cricket for the first time. Being a cricket virgin, I wasn’t sure what to expect.

It was only my third experience of a competitive ball game.

My first was baseball, over 10 years ago: Seattle Mariners vs the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, at Safeco Field. It was an interesting experience. I felt strange standing for the national anthem. Most spectators had brought with them a baseball glove, which I was rather intrigued by. I realised the importance of the accessory when a ball came flying straight at my head. I ducked.

The second ball game was rugby, Waratahs vs Brumbies at Sydney’s Aussie stadium. It was a rambunctious occasion. I can't remember much about it because I drank lots of beer; it was just to fit in, you understand...

Anyway, back to the cricket. The match I went to see was a Twenty20 match between Middlesex and Sussex at Lord’s. The home of cricket ground is suitably impressive, with the ‘spaceship’ media box.

Watching Test cricket on the telly always seemed a bit like watching paint dry, but Twenty20 is pretty fast-paced. For the uninitiated, each team has 20 overs to score as many runs as possible. It was pretty high-spirited, with cheering and songs, rather than the gentlemanly polite clapping you’d have expected in days of old.

You’d never have guessed it was the middle of June: it was absolutely blinking freezing.  I was tempted to mug the guy in front of me for his puffer jacket. Many people had arrived for the occasion equipped with picnic baskets, beer and wine, for a summer’s evening’s picnic. At least they could drink away the cold!
Sadly, the cold meant there were definitely no streakers – it would have to have been someone who was extra brave!

Cricket to me has always seemed a ‘posh’ sport. This view was supported by the presence of many sharply-suited men arriving straight from work, with their Blackberries still fastened to their ears. Not content with a beer tent, Veuve Clicquot had a presence, offering bottles of champagne for a cool £275. To complete the picture, the corporate boxes were full.

However, I was surprised at the wide range of people at the cricket: children and, particularly, women.

The grey clouds were a constant threat and finally, with just three overs to go, the heavens opened; the stadium emptied.

So did I enjoy my first foray into cricket? It’s a fun, family-friendly way to spend an evening. I’d like to go again, but when the sun is shining, or when I’m wearing thermals.

Oh, and the score: Sussex won.