Forget about the Ashes. The cricket series following the Ashes was the one to see--and we took in the penultimate match on Wednesday at the Sydney Cricket Ground: 8 hours of bat vs. ball, the Aussies vs. the Poms...classic!
In the 8 hours, we saw nearly 700 runs scored; Watson, Clarke, and Johnson each got half centuries, and there were some spectacular 6's and 4's (Watson alone had 8 fours). But best of all, the Aussies won! It came down to the last 4 balls, but Hastings got a "meaty" 4 to win. It's not a real Australian experience unless you get to see the Aussies beat the Poms in cricket. Been there, done that.
During those 8 hours in a small, hard plastic seat, I did ponder what else one could do with the time: fly from NYC to Rome; watch 4 feature films; get a good night's sleep; work a full day; drive from LA to San Fran; run 2 marathons. But then we would have missed the experience--early on the crowd was polite, applauding good batting by the opponent and cheering for British player Trott who scored a century. This is not the kind of behavior you'd witness in America. Later, however, when the crowd started to feel the 8 hours of drinking, the polite applause was replaced by chants of "you are a wanker."
That's more like it. Aussie, Aussie, Aussie--oi, oi, oi!
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