Yep, it isn't cricket, it's a fish. With one eye missing and part of the dorsal fin broken off. But that was the trophy for my friend's indoor cricket match, which was today. I asked the organiser why it was a fish, and he said that people kept stealing the real trophy, so he picked something really ugly so nobody would want to steal it, and now they can re-use it between years.
My only bout of sporting prowess that I can brag about was being captain of my high school cricket team in Year 7. Though it's actually not brag-worthy. I was the captain of the C-team. We had so many players that we ended up with three cricket teams (which is pretty big for a school of that size). The C-team was for all the people who had never played cricket before. I became captain because I was the most enthusiastic of all the people who hadn't played cricket before. We got crushed during inter-school sports, though my friend (the one who forced us to pick cricket over tennis (a sport I had actually played before)) spent a lot of time flirting with the boys from the other schools, so I guess it wasn't a total loss.
Today's game was nothing like what we played.
Since my high school cricket failure, my only real tie to the game is the yearly tradition I have of going to a Boxing Day Test game with TS and co. I mostly go there to sit and read, because for the most part, nothing really happens, but I am getting better at seeing the ball now. And there was a player I thought looked really cool last year, but I've forgotten his name, and don't even remember which team he was from. But he had a nice smile.
This year, I think my favourite player is going to be this grumpy guy on the bottom right.
Anyway, where test cricket seems like a good time to finish my Summer reading list, indoor cricket feels like cricket on roller blades. My friend explained that the bowling is slower, because they don't have as much room to run up as they do in outdoor cricket, but each side only has 20 overs, so they tend to play more aggressively since they don't have the time to sit back and wait for the easy runs.
I think the pitch was about 20m long, and the room was divided up into sections. A "run" only involves running 3/4 of the way down the pitch, so it's a lot less distance to run, but because the room itself is enclosed, and the fielders tend to be quite close, it's also a lot easier to be run out. However, if you hit one of the walls, you can score 1,2,3,4, or 6 runs, depending on which part of the wall you hit. This is on top of any runs you score by actually running.
My friend's team was at the top of their league, and made it to the grand final (today's game). Needless to say, there was a lot of pressure and I wasn't sure if it was a good or bad idea for me to go and watch. They had gotten off to a bad start, losing the toss (and having to bat first), losing a wicket in the third over, after only picking up 16 runs. My friend was up to bat, and he kept looking over at me (or maybe at his mum, who was sitting next to me). He had a bit of a shaky start, and ended up being run out.
The first thing he did when he got off the court was come up to where his mum and I were sitting and say that he shouldn't have been run out. The rule they have on the team is that if partner (i.e. the one who isn't facing) says "run", then they go for the run, but in this case, he said "run" and the batter said, "no", so he had started running and couldn't turn around and run back in time. Seems like he's right to be mad, except another friend of ours mentioned how a similar thing happened a week ago: my friend said "run" and the mutual friend said "no", except in that case, the mutual friend was run out instead. He didn't mention who was batting though, so I don't know who is right in that case.
They ended up finishing out the 20 overs, racking up what I thought was a decent number of runs (136), but the team didn't seem all too happy. I tried to channel SirActionSlacks and bring some Positive Mental Attitude™. His mum also gave some words of encouragement.
The second half of the innings also went to a bad start. They were 1/51, with 12 overs left to go, and I had long since stopped taking photos. Their one wicket was one they had to go to the video replay for (and this is the first time I've heard people yell, "Howzat!" outside of Super International Cricket (this video pretty much sums up how I played the game, much to the annoyance of my brother. The umpire saying, "Not out!" was the highlight of the game)). I felt bad for my friend, as this is his third grand final, and he really wanted to win one this time.
Then they got a nice catch. This player was the best on the team, in my opinion. Well, actually, not just my opinion, since he was awarded the MVP trophy for the season before the game started. Anyway, it seemed like that catch was a turning point for them. After that, they bowled someone out, then got three more catches. I was pretty excited by this point, and I don't think I've ever been excited by a cricket game before. They needed one more wicket to win the game, and there were 6 overs left, with the other team trailing by 50 runs. I had just turned to his mum to tell her the score (she didn't bring her glasses, so she couldn't see the scoreboard), and how they only needed one more wicket when the ball arced into the air. All I could hear was a bunch of people yelling, "Catch it!" and the ball seemed to land right into the captain's hands. They did it! His mum and I were yelling (cricket doesn't seem to be a big spectator sport...). His team was yelling and jumping up and down. The umpire was congratulating them over the microphone. They did a quick presentation ceremony, then both teams were booted off the court for the next match.
Indoor cricket felt a lot more exciting than test cricket. I think that's mostly because of the limited overs, and now I understand the appeal of 20-20. Both teams started off slow when batting, but once it hit the 10 over mark, they started saying, "Run on every ball. It doesn't matter if you're out." Despite the slower bowling, I felt like my heart was going to jump out of my chest quite a few times. Because we were a lot closer to the playing, the ball flies at your face so quickly, and even with the nets in the way I kept thinking I was going to get smacked in the face. I don't know how the players can stand so close.
Interestingly, one team seemed to have a wicket keeper every now and again, but my friend's team didn't seem to bother with one at all. Something else I've never seen in outdoor cricket. I don't know if this is a rule in indoor, or my friend's team is just multi-talented, but everyone on the team went up to bowl. My friend is actually pretty scary with a cricket ball, so I'll need to remember not to get on his bad side.
It was a pretty fun way to spend the afternoon, though it ranks below cooking on my enjoyment scale, so I don't think it's something I'll do all the time. But for the grand final (and for something to write about today), it was definitely worth it.
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