Well, we just got back from our first cricket match.  We saw New Zealand play Sri Lanka in a test match.  Apparently New Zealand is one of the best cricket teams in the world, going into the World Cup that starts in February or March.  This was on a brand new “oval” in Christchurch and the first international match played there since the earthquake in 2011.  The oval is, well, oval, with grass like a putting green, surrounded by grass berms upon which we all spred our blankets and picnic and lounged for the 5-6 hours of play.  Now you need to know that a “test” match can go on for up to five days, and even then can end in a draw.  This was day 4 and after 5 hours, NZ beat Sri Lanka.  So the people that paid $30 each for tomorrow’s tickets are just plain out of luck.

It actually has many characteristics of baseball, although the momentary sparks of action are a bit less  exciting than baseball.  It’s a more subtle game and the batmen can hit the ball anywhere in the oval, so balls go forward, backward, anywhere, but without the speed of a baseball.  It was not too hot and ended up being a very pleasant and interesting day – with some of the characteristics of fishing.  The Stacey’s have 4 kids, ages 6 – 13, and I wondered about melt down, physically and emotionally, with such a long day in the sun but they were great the whole day and fun to be around.

So it was a fun introduction to cricket and the Stacey kids play and dad coaches, so they offered lots of information on what was going on.  And we saw some of the best in the world.  Who can complain??

Barb

No this was not a World Cup game we saw but it was the New Zealand team that will play in the cup in a month or so.

 

The bowler.

The batsman.

I thought this was kind of cool.  This news camera woman on a Segway buzzing around the field.  We actually saw highlights of the game on TV when we got home.

Our hosts/landlords in Christchurch, the Stacey family (L-R)
Oliver, Lorraine, Hannah, Thomas, Chris and Rose.