The Boxing Day Test

St Kilda, Victoria, Australia
Thursday, December 26, 2013

This is Peter's special day, that he has been waiting for these past two months. Blow all those rocks that I have waxed lyrical about, this is the real deal. The Boxing Day Test at the MCG.
We arrived bright and early as we had tickets to collect and seats to find. The ground is enormous and it was already thronging with folk all with the same idea in mind. We had excellent seats under cover and just to the right of the bowler's arm. For those of you in the know - a very similar position to that of the Warner Stand at Lords. We were on the end of a row, with no one in front of us, so in theory an unrestricted viewpoint, just marvellous. However, there is always a snag and before long it became apparent what it was! Unlike on English grounds, there are no unwritten rules about restricting movement from your seat until the end of an over. Here, they jump up all over the place, wander desultorily off gossiping in the aisle and generally obscuring the line of sight.. The stewards at Lords would have heart failure, as did PL for the first hour. He and the rest of the Lords contingent chuntered away like things demented, until they came to terms with the fact, that this is how it is and you have to ignore it.
The crowd was a world record attendance of 91,092 and it is an atmosphere quite unlike any other. When they get behind Mitchell Johnson (fast bowler for the uninitiated!), the noise and vibration seems to come up from underneath you, travel up the spine and out of the top of your head. It is electrifying. There is not the quick fire witty banter of English crowds, but it is all very friendly and lively and a wonderful experience.
The cricket itself was gruelling at times if you were an English supporter, as England struggled to survive a tight and always threatening bowling attack. Uncharacteristically, the fielding was spasmodic, several catches being put down, including two from Pieterson. The scoring was slow and Australia probably just emerged on top, with the last two wickets taken late in the day. Tomorrow will be interesting.Read more