M was the first one who convinced me to go to a Boxing Day test match. All I remember about it is that I had a chocolate shortbread Christmas tree melting away, and I kept confusing seagulls for the cricket ball. Oh, and it was hot. Really hot.
Over a series of years, I've learned enough about going to Boxing Day test games to avoid getting sunburned, and enough to actually follow the game. It still confuses me that everyone wears baggy whites, but at least I know that the ones holding cricket bats are the ones on the batting team. But I'm still not able to pick out any individual person - I have no idea how you can see anyone's face from this far away without binoculars. Maybe people just remember where each fielder is standing. Or some people may have distinctive hair / hats / sunglasses.
Anyway, as I mentioned earlier, I failed to get regular tickets this year, and only had standing room tickets. It wasn't too bad though, as I got there early enough to get a good spot where I could lean on the railing, and when nobody was behind me, I could set up on the railing to rest my legs.
The view wasn't that bad either. If I stood up against the railing, this was my view:
I opted to stand a bit further back though, as I struggled to stand comfortably against the rails at the front.
I also stopped by the Specsavers stall to pick up a USB fan (pretty cool. It says it's micro-USB / lightning, but it looked like it was USB-C compatible). I didn't end up needing it, as the standing area is under cover, and seems to be air-conditioned, as it was pretty cool. I also stopped by the ASICS stand to pick up a radio to listen to the commentary (ABC radio).
Australia won the toss and elected to bat.
Just before the first ball, it was crazily packed outside with people waiting to get their bags checked so they could come inside.
I think the commentators said the crowd was going to be 80,000 people today. It didn't feel that crowded where I was, although at about 11am, the area I was in was full. Strangely, nobody wanted to stand next to me, but they did seem to think that the area I was standing in was a dumping ground for empty beer cups.
Pretty sure anyone walking by would think I was an alcoholic! (Spoilers: I had 0 cups of beer spilled on me this year - hooray!) This English guy asked me to mind his tray of beers. I got called "love" a lot, surrounded by English cricket fans. I was in heaven.
My current top 5 list of favourite accents are:
- Russian
- English (but not cockney)
- Irish
- New Zealander
- French
I really liked the fact that there was such a specific penalty for trying to get onto the ground ($9,5145.20). They didn't want to round it down to $9,500? Maybe they thought the extra $14.20 was where most people cracked and decided, "It's not worth jumping onto the ground.".
I was determined to join the Barmy Army today, and I thought the fact that I bumped into these people on the way to the 'G was a sign.
One of them asked if I wanted to take a selfie with them, but I declined, because I don't like selfies.
Then person I was standing behind in line was this guy.
Unfortunately, I saw where the Barmy Army was sitting, and it wasn't near where I had tickets. Also, one thing I should mention about the standing area is that it's an echo chamber. So hard to hear anything, and sadly, I couldn't hear the songs from the Barmy Army (btw, they even have a website for their songbooks! I think they're quite clever). It's weird because I remember the cricket being really quiet, except for the odd cheers whenever something happened. That wasn't the case today. At all. There was a dull hum of conversation the entire time, and wow, when the no ball from heaven was declared for David Warner, I nearly went deaf.
I meant to film it, but I noobed up and just took a photo.
I guess all the English supporters left, because everyone there was cheering their heads off. My legs were getting tired, and so I decided once Warner was out, I would continue my mission to join the Barmy Army. I also got to hear the famous Jimmy Anderson song that Pharmacist prepped me on (here's one with good audio, but the video might make you throw up, and here's one where the video is fine, but parts of the audio overlap), including some history between him and, Michael Clarke and George Bailey (YouTube video).
It seems that a bunch of people had left by then, maybe to get ahead of the traffic. TS told me that the Barmy Army tend to stay around until the last ball, so I walked into that area, pretending that I was looking for my friends. I managed to get this close.
But then I felt bad, as I hadn't paid for a ticket here, so I shouldn't be sitting there, and went back to the standing area, but this time behind where the Barmy Army were sitting, so I could do more English accent eavesdropping.
I finally understand why there was a push to ban the Mexican wave. I couldn't see it from where I was standing, and so every now and again, there would be this loud, "Booooooooooo" from the crowd, which I thought meant I missed something happening on the field, but I later realised was the Mexican wave hitting the MCC section of the stand (MCC = Melbourne Cricket Club, which is an exclusive club that you pretty much need to join the waiting list when you are born to get in before you die, but does give you access to reserved sections of the MCG). But from the players' perspective, they're probably in the zone and suddenly hear some booing from the crowd. You have to have some pretty good mental resilience to tune that out.
Speaking of, booing is a disgusting thing, in my opinion. If someone on the opposing team plays well, there's no need to boo them. If you are sad that it might make your team lose, then just don't say anything at all. These players are some of the best in the world, and they deserve better than that.
Lastly, a shoutout to the people who keep the green so wonderfully manicured. Look at those straight lines, and that perfectly mowed lawn.
I didn't get nearly as much reading done as I wanted to because I was mesmerised by that lawn.
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