Take me out to the ball game...

So last weekend I was able to across another item off my list - understand the in's and out's of cricket and go to a cricket game.

Some people have asked me why this is on my list, but I think this question from my friend Chris sums it all up - "Do you understand the rules now? I seem to remember trying to explain them to you and you not getting it at all".

I've now been living outside the US for 8 years now (give or take). This time has been spent in England, Ireland and New Zealand. I'm married to an Australian. These are all cricket playing and loving nations. In my 8 years abroad I've tried to understand it. Or watch it.

The first time I made any effort was in a pub with Matt in Perth back in 2006. We sat there and watched what I think might have been the Ashes for several hours. *yawn*. Didn't get it.

I've had several other friends try and teach me over the years. When I went to a 20/20 game with Matt and Victoria back in 2009 I think I spent most of my time watching the food and beer than I did the cricket.

To give this some context, this is like an American not knowing baseball. A national past time.

So, fast forward to 2013 and it's time to learn.

Matt, Kyle and some of their friends from frisbee all came along to the game with me. The game we went to was New Zealand's Blackcaps (the national team) vs England at Eden Park which is one of NZ's biggest stadiums. Surprisingly, there was a pretty decent sized crowd considering that Eden Park holds 60,000 (there were ~20,000 people there for this game).

Cricket can be played over several days, but we went to a short game, called a 20/20. What this means is that each team has 20 overs (180 pitches of the cricket ball) to get the highest score before either a) their 20 overs are up, b) their team mates are all out or c) they beat the 1st teams score.

Seems simple enough, right?

Actually, it is. Well at least it seems it is.

In an effort to support our new homeland, Kyle and I supported NZ.

There were actually a fair amount of English supporters there too. We were a little late arriving, but England was setting a pretty good pace. At the end of their 20 overs they had 215 runs and 7 outs.
We were hopefully that NZ could match it. What would be better than seeing the underdog (NZ) win with a big NZ crowd around.

Sadly, it was not meant to be.

With cricket, you bat until you're out. When a batsman is up, the highest they can hit on each swing is a 6. Even with cheering and signs, NZ just didn't seem to have it in them and from what I understand the 215 benchmark set by England was pretty high. There were some 6's when they came to bat, and with each 6 they had flames ignited in the stadium (these were the same flames that just earlier had been going off signaling an out for an English player).

Cheering for a 6!

We had a great time, even with NZ losing, and I now feel confident that I can watch cricket and have a solid understanding of what's happening.

And with that, I'm out.