The Ashes Test Match

I stayed two whole days in Adelaide. Apart from hanging out and eating with my friends, my fourth foray to Adelaide marked another new first for me - my first cricket match.

My visit happened to coincide with the Ashes Test between Australia and England, so I joined Trixie, Charles and their friend Lisa to watch the third day match at the Adelaide Oval. I knew next to nothing about cricket. Much to Trixie’s chagrin, my first observation watching the Ashes on television while we were on the Great Ocean Road was that the Australians wore tighter trousers than the British. I was in for a crash course on bowling, batting, wickets, and everything else in between. I approached this event as a cultural experience, much like how I approched watching baseball at the Dodgers Stadium, college football when I was at UCLA, soccer at Manchester United, rugby union at Sale Rugby Club in Manchester, etc. I rooted for England, my former home.

To my surprise, I actually enjoyed watching cricket. The pacing of the game was consistent, the crowd was very congenial, and parts of the play were actually quite exciting, especially towards the end of the evening with England batting. The end of play that day was a little abrupt, though; the players just walked off the field when their run was completed. I also developed a new sports crush - Australian cricketer Pat Cummins😁. The icing on the cake was getting to watch aircraft after aircraft descend into Adelaide Airport as I observed the match.

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