part two - Wright, MCG, cricket world!

PART TWO

My day continued with great delight, after spending the day with the sisters in the evening I joined a companion couple and their son and we went to the… MCG!! 

I think it must be how little children feel when they say "like a kid in a candy store"! Being in the stadium adds a whole other dimension to cricket - even if it is Big Bash cricket!! 

The MCG has been on my list to go to from the moment I saw the imposing structure months ago, not to mention watching many teams playing there on the television! 

Going to the stadium definitely provides a perspective that is missing from today's television coverage! Watching a match live at a ground is an enriching experience, theres also something about visiting a stadium when its not hosting a game as well. Not just because the grounds serve as memorials for all the sporting deeds performed there. It transformed you from a moment, to give a little understanding of the conditions, the endurance the sheer physical effort of batting in the atmosphere that you stand in just like those greats before you. 

We sorted out parking, walked through Yarra Park with tree-lined paths to reach a broad concourse that is dotted with bronze statues… Bradman raising his bat, Ponsford seeing off for a run, Lillee in all his brutal beauty, Warnie about to unravel the magic…. all whom conquered nerves, endured the roar of the crowds and their opponents in this famous ground to make history. For all the elegance, beauty and intimacy of cricket stadiums around the world, there is no match for an experience at the MCG!! (I'm a little bias in this statement yet hard to believe another can come close!!)

Entering into the stadium I saw the grounds, its an amphitheater, long, wide and HUGE, so grand, so green. It's everything you see on television and more!! Letting it all sink in, Im sure I missed a breath, the heart was beating with the knowledge of been at the same grounds as Guptill has played many times over, same grounds that the match before me awaits, one team will walk away as heroes while the other fall into the capricious nature of the stadium falling into its cruel potential. 

We headed up to sort out our seatings, leaving the lower section to head to the top level!! Bird eye view at its best. I could see why some Australians are under the illusion that this grand stadium might help nailing a yorker, or adding bounce to their ball but the sense is no illusion as one does feel they have made it to the top, made it to the high of the high playing here! I for one would feel like this!! 

Siting there for the first time is an impressionable young cricket fan, it is probable the spectacle of its greensward and heaving grandstands, the stentorian scoreboard and fluttering flags and the way the noise of the crowd rose and feel with the rhythms of the game that left me in awe and will never fade. 

As most of you know, Im not a big sport fan, don't have a long history of following a certain team, or support one game over another. Im still a very young sports baby in this sense. However, I can not wait to return to the MCG, its like a citadel, a landmark, a totem. It is for Melbourne what the Opera House is to Sydney, the Eiffel Tower to Paris and the Statue of Liberty is to New York; it symbolizes Melbourne to the world. It inspires reverence. 

The game unfolded, before leaving home I made sure I did my research and choose my player. LUKE WRIGHT, is my man, he has all my support! When he came on the field to bat, I silently encouraged then giving way to yelling at the Hurricanes when they thought they got him out, foolish players!! Making a half century brought celebration!! He has set the standards high for the coming season!! Leaving me egerly waiting for Saturday night after mass to hear the game/result!! 

Sad to see the game coming to a conclusion as we knew who won by the tenth over. Attention flipped to the crowds that had gathered. Some Hurricane fans sinking in their seats losing interest. Reminds me of dearest friend saying always no matter what have faith in your team, support them to the end! 

There was a large group to the side that roars of applause and shouting arose even if nothing was happening on the field. This was due to a few people misbehaving due to the alcohol no doubt. 

There was beach balls floating through the crowds until a push or gentle wind blows it onto the field losing it forever! The more younger crowd counted down to do a mexican wave, which carried around the stadium. Very impressive! 

Also near the thirteenth over the birds came down from above to join the fielding, as they must have thought the hurricanes needed extra support to try and trip up Maxwell and Wright! Never worked yet made it hard to follow the ball at times. 

I have to admit that the guys have amazing strength, making it look like running from one wicket to the next is like running to the mailbox and back. Their concentration is held even when there is 33,000 plus people yelling, loud music, fireworks, screens, birds, lights and just the atmosphere. So hats off to them, the world of cricket has taken on another dimension for me!  

HOW SPOILT AM I! The day was perfect, a heart full of joy, I got to spend it with loved ones, both here and aboard. My first MCG experience which leaves me longing for more. Plus on top of all this I got to just thank the Lord for all his blessings he has poured upon me ;o)

Photo of the memories from the day