Cricket 2007
By any measure, this summer has been a good one for me and the game of cricket. I made it to my first Test match, first trip to Lord's, saw my first Twenty20 game and went to my first international championship.
So the cricket-watching year kicked off for me back in June, with a trip to the Riverside to watch England vs West Indies in the 4th Test. We were very fortunate to see anything as the Friday had been a washout and there was only half a day played on the Saturday. Sunday however, was a nice day for cricket. It's always quite something to see the big names in the flesh and certainly seeing the likes of Michael Vaughan, Shiv Chanderpaul and KP playing at Chester-le-Street was great. Our batting performances late in the day were rather less entertaining, but you can't have it all.
Next was two domestic Twenty20 games against Leicestershire Foxes and Lancashire Lightening. I must say, this is a great form of the game and certainly when Durham captain Dale Benkenstein hoofed a six over long off only to have it fumbled by a spectator resulting in a satisfying thud as it landed on a player's car, we were all greatly amused. The Durham players on the balcony behind us were in stitches. Anyway, we won the first and lost the second. Durham didn't progress in the competition.
The first trip to Lord's was a special one. Durham had made it through to the Friends Provident One Day Final against Hampshire and I had managed to get tickets for dad and myself. Having decided to do the jet setting thing and fly down for the day (it was cheaper than the train by some margin) we set off to headquarters for what we thought would be a tight game. After walking around Heathrow for a while trying to get back to the Underground station (we were going to use Heathrow Express to Paddington, but what a rip off!) we headed off to St John's Wood.
Lord's is a lovely place to watch cricket: cosy and full of character and what a game to watch. Otis was inspired and I was still making my way back from the loo queue when the first 2 Hampshire wickets fell. It was a shame that the rain meant the game couldn't be finished until the Sunday, but it was still a great day.
Finally, nine games of international cricket at another fine cricketing venue: Newlands in Cape Town, South Africa. The first Twenty20 world championship was held in SA in September and very well organised it was too. A real testament to the authorities down there, which bodes well for the 2010 Football World Cup.
Over the 2 weeks I was there, I saw Zimbabwe, Australia, England, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, New Zealand and Pakistan. Highlights? Zimbabwe beating Australia for sure, but also the New Zealand v Pakistan semi-final. Overall, a poor showing for England, but a great showcase for cricket. The next World Twenty20 is in England in 2009 - go and watch some games, although I doubt they will be as cheap as the tickets were in SA. (The ticket for the semi-final worked out at about £12, earlier games started at something like £3).
A good year for cricket overall, and it's certainly prompted me to think about going abroad again: The Ashes in 2010 springs to mind.
References:
General cricket photos
World Twenty20 photos
So the cricket-watching year kicked off for me back in June, with a trip to the Riverside to watch England vs West Indies in the 4th Test. We were very fortunate to see anything as the Friday had been a washout and there was only half a day played on the Saturday. Sunday however, was a nice day for cricket. It's always quite something to see the big names in the flesh and certainly seeing the likes of Michael Vaughan, Shiv Chanderpaul and KP playing at Chester-le-Street was great. Our batting performances late in the day were rather less entertaining, but you can't have it all.
Next was two domestic Twenty20 games against Leicestershire Foxes and Lancashire Lightening. I must say, this is a great form of the game and certainly when Durham captain Dale Benkenstein hoofed a six over long off only to have it fumbled by a spectator resulting in a satisfying thud as it landed on a player's car, we were all greatly amused. The Durham players on the balcony behind us were in stitches. Anyway, we won the first and lost the second. Durham didn't progress in the competition.
The first trip to Lord's was a special one. Durham had made it through to the Friends Provident One Day Final against Hampshire and I had managed to get tickets for dad and myself. Having decided to do the jet setting thing and fly down for the day (it was cheaper than the train by some margin) we set off to headquarters for what we thought would be a tight game. After walking around Heathrow for a while trying to get back to the Underground station (we were going to use Heathrow Express to Paddington, but what a rip off!) we headed off to St John's Wood.
Lord's is a lovely place to watch cricket: cosy and full of character and what a game to watch. Otis was inspired and I was still making my way back from the loo queue when the first 2 Hampshire wickets fell. It was a shame that the rain meant the game couldn't be finished until the Sunday, but it was still a great day.
Finally, nine games of international cricket at another fine cricketing venue: Newlands in Cape Town, South Africa. The first Twenty20 world championship was held in SA in September and very well organised it was too. A real testament to the authorities down there, which bodes well for the 2010 Football World Cup.
Over the 2 weeks I was there, I saw Zimbabwe, Australia, England, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, New Zealand and Pakistan. Highlights? Zimbabwe beating Australia for sure, but also the New Zealand v Pakistan semi-final. Overall, a poor showing for England, but a great showcase for cricket. The next World Twenty20 is in England in 2009 - go and watch some games, although I doubt they will be as cheap as the tickets were in SA. (The ticket for the semi-final worked out at about £12, earlier games started at something like £3).
A good year for cricket overall, and it's certainly prompted me to think about going abroad again: The Ashes in 2010 springs to mind.
References:
General cricket photos
World Twenty20 photos
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