musings

Purists deride the new-fangled Twenty20 cricket format. Me? Well I don’t know the first thing about the game, so it may well be an ersatz imitation of proper cricket. But I know what I like, and that’s a few hours on a balmy June evening sipping beer and watching a fast-paced game in a family atmosphere.

As you walk up the steps to choose a seat, there is something quite thrilling about the wide green vista which opens before you. It is almost unreal. This is Old Trafford - the Old Trafford! Over 150 years of cricketing history, right there. A vast oval turf enclosed by a motley jumble of stands, and the main pavilion. Andrew ‘Freddie’ Flintoff is fielding!

Yesterday I watched Lancashire Lightning playing Derbyshire Phantoms. Loads of fours and sixes which are marked by loud music and cheerleaders. Yes, they have cheerleaders! Except unlike their American counterparts, these are half-hearted and very self-conscious. We beat the Phantoms by 9 wickets, so a game that started at 5.30 was over by 8 pm. Just right.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 24th, 2008 at 10:48 am and is filed under recreation. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.