Anyone who knows me won’t be surprised by today’s blast of positivity. The first match of the summer cricket test series started today in Perth. If it weren’t for a certain ex-Prime Minister forever ruining the expression, I would not decline the mantle of “cricket tragic”.
How to field at deep long off
I don’t like cricket. Oh no. Etc.
Oh, I know all the reasons why people might not agree with me – it takes five whole days to get no result, most of the players just stand there in the sun all day doing practically nothing, the Australian nation is often represented by a pack of arrogant, bullying man-babies, and the commentary is frequently hilariously, tediously awful.
Blah blah blah whatevs. [1]
I love the game.
I love that it’s a game of endurance, played in baking heat without shade.
I love that it’s a game of extraordinary technical precision, requiring highly unnatural physical positions and movements.
I love that it’s a contest of concentration, where the tedium of standing and waiting for hours on end is balanced by the need for millisecond-fast reflexes.
I love that it’s steeped in pompous traditions and finicky procedures (I don’t so much love its smacking of a disagreeable dose of British colonialism, but what doesn’t these days?).
I love the ridiculous names for fielding positions. I love the quasi-sexual ball-shining rituals. I love the game’s interminable obsession with unfathomable statistics.
I adore the ebb and flow of a match that strays into the doldrums for hours, only to come crashing back into exciting uncertainty in the course of a few balls. I love dominant batting. I love clever, testing bowling plans that unfold over the course of hours. I love athletic fielding and bold running. I love the bad luck and the cunning instincts.
I love it. So much.
[1] Actually I really can’t argue at all with that last one much.
My interest in cricket has increased since my husband explained some of the finer strategies in play. Can’t claim to be a fan though. Glad it brings you joy!
Heh. When I wrote that post during the euphoria of the first day’s play, when Australia was absolutely crushing their opponents, I did so in the full expectation that nobody who read it would share my enthusiasm.
Now, of course, my team’s on track for a thumping loss, and I’m wondering whether my excitement and my loyalty are perhaps just a tad misplaced …
(This uncertainty will last at least until the first morning of the second test in Hobart)