A Part of History?

For the last couple months the cricket season has been taking its traditional hold on the hearts and minds of countless Australian Males and in an attempt to ride this wave of hype i have been posting classic moments that have taken place at the SCG. Throughout the history of this hallowed piece of dirt, grass and dreams countless historic feats of human triumph, weakness, daring and despair have occurred and have inspired humans from all walks of life, even bringing tears to the eyes of the most stone hearted of men. While i expected the two series to have taken place in recent weeks to be at least mildly interesting i never thought the Calypso Hell Men of the West Indies or the charismatic shralpers of war torn Pakistan would be capable of the type of display that would force the Australians to accomplish the type of feats capable of stirring my little emotions in to a patriotic frenzy.

How wrong i was indeed. The events that transpired over the previous 4 days at the SCG have once again made me believe in the beauty of this great game, where whole matches can hinge on one pivotal moment, where every single partnership has the potential to lift the spirits of an entire nations, where the dreams and desires of men can be dashed and destroyed with a single delivery of a stitched up hunk of leather. The beauty of cricket is found in the subtleties of each and every delivery, the thoughts behind each move that a player makes and the fact that, regardless of previous deeds and reputation, every batsmen walks to the crease with nothing, except the applause of the crowd, the sound of his footsteps and any remarks that the fielding team may care to make.

From the moment the coin toss landed trouble seemed to be in the air for Australia. Ricky Ponting called correctly and haunted by his fateful decision to take the opportunity to bowl first on an overcast day at Edgebaston, nigh on five years ago, he decided to disregard the blatant green tinge of the pitch and the exact atmospheric conditions that are conducive to seam bowling and sent his openers out to face the music. By the time play got started several hours late due to rain and bad light this choice seemed misguided to say the least and both openers were back in the pavilion cheaply and Ponting was out hooking life a freak for a first ball duck. Australia were skittles for frigging nothing and things were looking like the captain had lost his mind and with it went Australia chances of winning the match.

The second day only seemed to lure Australian footsteps further down the road to defeat as lack luster fielding and some resolute Batting saw the Pakistanis thrive on the same pitch that seemed like a mine field only 24 hours previous and amass an lead of over 200. Australian supporters were losing their minds, while the Pakistanis seemed to be off their tits on happiness at the prospect of recording their first win over Australia in the new millennium.

Despite the prospect of an Australian victory deteriorating by the hour, I remained unfazed and decided that i would make the pilgrimage to the SCG on the third day of the test, on what has now become Jane McGrath day. What a day it turned out to be as Todd "Griggsy Rock Ledge" Griggs and myself boarded the 7.43 train and began our quest towards the SCG. Here is a photographic representation of our day.

Here is a lovely little shot of the rock ledge and i taking the well trodden path through Surrey Hills towards the cricket ground. We are filled with anticipation of the glory that the day may hold.

Here are two shots of us sinking our first boirs for the day at the Captain Cook Hotel. Facing the prospect of and 8 hour sesh on the mid strength beers we were determined to take in the nourishment of at least on full strength schooey to get our day off on the right foot. upon return to the Hotel Griggsy was accosted about the validity of his ID and the Whereabouts of Wonoona while i was jokingly referred to by the same bouncer as a female. Good times.

Here is a shot of what 50 bliggs (or 35 with a valid student card) will get you. This and the memories of any wonderful moments of sporting prowess that you may be fortunate enough to witness.
A lovely shot of the members and Ladies stand during the first session of play. While some of our mates were fortunate enough to receive members tickets to the game and subsequently enter for free, sip on full strength beers from glass schooners while rubbing shoulders with cricketing royalty. However I was not jealous as our seats were just as dreamy.

Ps that last sentence was a complete fabrication.

The third day of every test at the SCG is Jane McGrath day, which has been created in an attempt to raise awareness about breast cancer. As a result a high percentage of the crowd rocks all kind of pink gear and pink bandannas are sold to raise awareness for the cancer council. It is a pretty good initiative as it helps babes save their teets and raise money to save live. Here is a pic of me surveying the conditions while doing my best to support the McGrath foundation.

Rock ledge and I sipping on our beers wondering what could have been. While the ray of sun shining in this pic looks overly optimistic do not be deceived. Shane Watson once again had just lost his mind in the 90's and we were seriously negging, barely speaking a word for the next hour.

As the day wore on it got frigging hot. Australia kept batting and while heaps of dudes made starts no one seemed to get on with it. Hussey was looking good until he decided to bore out tits off as he managed to only score about 10 runs in the last two hours. At this stage we were trying to amuse ourselves by taking photos, pumping beach balls around, booing security guards when they popped them and involving ourselves in an out of control mexican wave which shralped its way around the ground 14 times. Still digging the day, though i left the ground ruing the day Hussey first pulled on a pair of batting gloves... what a difference a day makes.
Train ride home while i have a little sleepy and Rockledge looks what can only be described as a little manished.
As we left the ground we reflected on the days play. While we had definitely had a whole lot of good times and had witnessed some glorious stroke play by Watson, two half centuries and some brilliant leg spin twirling by Paki hellman Kaneria there was a sombre mood in the air as the Australians looked like they would face a certain defeat on the morrow. As we departed I tried to remain upbeat and commented to Griggsy that if this partnership continued to flourish that the Pakis might lose their mind and fall apart for a famous Australian victory. We both quickly agreed that this was little more than a pipe dream. 

If you happened to be fortunate enough to witness today's events you would see that i spoke these words with a certain prescience. Hussey cemented his place in the team for at least another series, for after being dropped by the same man on three occasions he scored a famous century and the partnership we had so little faith in became the 4th highest Australian 9th wicket partnership of all time. Siddle was a hellman and deserves to be shouted several beers and to woo some babes with his gross little bead necklace tonight. The Australians set the barely competitive target of 170 and as the Pakis cruised to 50 without loss things were looking bleak. A series of rash shots and absolute bloinders of catches followed and the dudes from the subcontinent did indeed lose their minds. Finally Hauritz tossed up another well flighted delivery, the ball was skied, the catch held and one of the greatest comebacks in recent memory was completed. a sense of euphoria swept me up and i struggled to hold back the urge to shed a tear. Test match cricket is the only game where one team can be on top for three entire days, only to have the match taken away by one mans steely determination to lead his nation to glory. This is is the kind of shit that makes me love test match cricket.