Come on Aussie

This week I finally made it back to the SCG and saw the first day of the Australia/India test match. As we never tire of explaining to foreigners, a cricket test match runs over five days and may still end in a draw, so it's not to everyone's tastes (in fact some of my female co-workers described it as their idea of hell). It can be a game of subtle conflicts and deep strategy - which is another way of saying that there's not always a hell of a lot going on - so statistics are vital for keeping things interesting. Like when Hogg and Symonds broke the record for best seventh-wicket partnership... against India... at the SCG. Time for a Mexican wave?

Well before you do, check the conditions of entry part 16(e) on the back of the ticket:

"[do not] interfere with the comfort of other patrons in their enjoyment of any of the matches or other activities at the Venue, including by way of participation, in any manner, in a 'Mexican wave' "

Stay seated then (and dial 1300-Plain English, quick!), because a lot of things are not allowed any more. The day before the match we saw some reruns of games from the 1980s, and every time they hit a boundary there were kids jumping on the ground to grab the ball. You get tackled by a security guard if you try and do that these days. Besides, there are relatively few kids in the crowd - at about $50 a pop, it's simply too expensive. And don't try making a beer snake (when you put all the empty beer cups you've accumulated over the day together and hold it up to the crowd). That will bring the police over, and maybe get you chucked out.

Probably the biggest change is that you can't get full-strength beer any more. Apparently they used to have a limit on how much beer you could bring in to the ground - one case (24 bottles) each! Now you can't bring in anything. And perhaps this is a good thing. You certainly don't see as many fights and crowd-control problems, but it has become a bit sanitised. Sadly, it also smacks of a money-making exercise. The thoughtfully provided "bus service" to the ground cost $5.40 return from Central station ($1.70 if you catch the normal bus from around the corner). No you can't buy a one-way ticket. And no you can't use your travel card. Fuck you very much.

But those are the distractions; what it comes down to is the cricket. You see the players as humans, rather than figures on a slow-motion replay, Ganguly signing an Indian flag for a kid between overs, the Australians' gritty first-day fightback and that moment about halfway through the afternoon when the heat stops being oppressive and becomes perfect. And after watching all of the last day on TV today - Australia pulled off a pretty amazing victory with just 7 balls remaining - I'm especially happy I got to see some of it live.