A day at the cricket

I forgot to mention that last Saturday, me, Tania & a group from the High Commission went to see the second day of the Fourth test.

I’d never been to a test match...ever !! So...to see a test match in India was a hell of an experience.

I have photos from the day that I took on someone else’s camera (why someone else’s camera – see the next paragraph) & as soon as I get a copy of them, I’ll post them up onto the blog.

The experience starts with trying to get into the ground. If you look on the back of the ticket, the list of things you CAN’T take onto the ground is long & distinguished.  The list is not limited to but includes: cameras (are you serious !!), firearms, ammunition (I feel so much safer for that !!), food, beverages & (apparently) coins in the wallet !!

Somehow, one of the guys in the group was allowed to bring in his little compact camera which he gave to me to take some photos. I’m spewing that I couldn’t bring in my kick-arse Nikon – I would’ve got some good photos.

The seats we’d gotten were very well located up in the corporate stand & that area remained in the shade until about 2pm.

The cricket was pretty good – we expected India to bowl Australia out within the first 15 minutes but they managed to see out at least 30 minutes.

It was amazing to see the crowd’s reaction to Sachin Tendulka & everything he did. He fielded over by the boundary: everytime he walked back to the crowd or acknowledged them, this huge roar would erupt from them. If he touched the ball, the roar got louder.

The crowd even pushed their way to the barriers during lunch & cheered him on as he ate his lunch.

When he walked onto the field to bat in India’s first innings, I can’t describe the roar from everyone in the stadium – you’ll just have to watch the video (I’ll upload it when I can). It was simply amazing.

The day’s play was good – we nearly managed to bowl India all out.

For Tania, the day finished off on a high – she & Gary took the lift down to the ground level & who happened to hop in the lift with them: Shane Warne !!

Both of us were exhausted by the end of it all but it was a great day out.