After Germany invaded Poland in September 1939 and inflicted a swift and violent defeat, Europe stood still and waited for the inevitable shift to the Third Reich’s next target, France. This shift ended up taking six months – a period known as the ‘phony war’ – while Hitler readied his forces and waited for winter to pass. This is how I was expecting to feel at this point in the Cricket World Cup, a lull with some action in isolated phases, maybe the odd raised eyebrow at a particular result. As it has turned out, we have had a dramatic group stage.
Sport
22
Mar 07
Mar 07
Just Like Being There
There are a few threads that weave in and out of my thirty-odd years, one of those being the Cricket World Cup. One of the more interesting ones for me was the 1996 series hosted by India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Interesting not because of the performances or results, but the way in which I followed the games. The time difference was a bit rough and we didn’t have Sky at home so I was reduced to listening to the game in bed on the wireless. I have a delicious memory of Jeremy Coney and Brian Waddle spending the best part of five overs discussing the sandwiches they’d had for lunch that day. Two of the best, no doubt.
16
Feb 07
Feb 07
Five go mad at the ‘G’
As sporting arenas go, the Melbourne Cricket Ground must rank as one of the most imposing. Three- and four- tiered stands sweep around the massive emerald outfield. The Great Southern Stand alone holds 50,000 people, slightly over half of the total capacity. Bay 13 is perhaps the most notorious seating area in world cricket, a springboard for alcohol-fuelled barracking of a most Australian order. And it’s 150-year history has witnessed some of the biggest cricketing moments – dozens of Boxing Day tests, the underarm in 1981, Muralitharan no-balled by Hair in 1995, Warne’s 1994 Ashes hat-trick and Hadlee’s desperate attempt to remove the final Australian pair in 1987.
01
Feb 07
Feb 07
Shane Warne – Knob
Darwin, 1990. Three young girls are sunbathing beside a pool at a university college, where a cricket team from the Australian Institute of Sport are also staying. A young cricketer yells something from an upstairs room, then drops his pants and sticks his buttocks out of the window. Shortly afterwards, another man comes downstairs clad only in a dressing gown, opens it wide and says “hey girls, how’d you like to suck on this?”