Why cricket scares me - Always Pack a Runcible Spoon

January 09, 2005

Why cricket scares me

Only two days now until we fly to Calcutta - surreal, yet exciting! But one thing keeps bugging me: I know nothing about the great game of cricket. How this happened without my being forced to surrender my Australian citizenship is a mystery. All I can say is that neither Andrew or I have a clue when it come to this game.

My first inkling that not knowing anything about cricket might cause problems on this trip occurred in Dubai.

Dubai has a large ex-patriate population of workers from the subcontinent, and over the five days or so we spent there we got chatting with quite a few shop clerks who were from India.

Keen to know where we were from, they would become extremely animated when they discovered we were Australians.

Great conversational openings would then progress something like this:

(us:) 'We're from Australia. Where are you from?'

(two Indian guys in chorus:) 'We are from Kerala! God's own country!'

Unfortunately, the conversations then quickly died when it became apparent that we had zero ability to follow their enthusiastic commentaries about current happenings in the world of cricket.

As my more cricket-literate friends know, this lost cause has been preying on my mind for some time now.

But come Tuesday, we bite the bullet and plunge into India still knowing nothing of the game.

Who knows, we might even learn a thing or two while we're there ...

Posted by Tiffany on January 9, 2005 01:25 PM
Category: India

Comments

I too knew absolutely nothing about cricket when I ventured to India - to many very shocked responses (and utter disbelief that such a thing could possibly be true). However, knowing 'a bit' about cricket is also probably not enough - I have recollections of nine year olds rattling off the 1970 Australian touring team!

Posted by: Jane on January 10, 2005 02:14 PM

Jane - I am feeling reassured that other non-Cricket-knowing Australians have ventured to India without being deported :) Still, it does sound as though we are talking about ENCYCLOPAEDIC Cricket knowledge, rather than the sort of flash-in-the-pan, passing familiarity with the game that I had hoped for!! Oh dear God ...

Posted by: Tiffany on January 10, 2005 05:39 PM

The 'mastermind' knowledge is truly amazing - I am sure, even with what seems like an absolute lack of knowledge on your part, some names chucked around in the air once you admit to coming from Australia will be familiar to you (given the blanket media coverage we have of cricket each summer) - and you too will be able to say 'warnie'; 'bradman'; 'waugh'; 'miller'; 'walters'; 'simpson'... (I admit that I have compiled this list with some assistance - but it could well come in handy...).
When my sister travelled to India - she found her partner's ability to converse in cricket a very handy distraction while negotiating the markets - as cricket was even more important than showing her saris, skirts, jewellery, carpets...

Posted by: Jane on January 10, 2005 08:39 PM

Tiff,

I get the feeling that having a little bit of knowledge will be looked upon even more unfavourably than having no knowledge at all!

You could always put one of those red maple leaves on your backpack!

Patrick

Posted by: Patrick on January 12, 2005 04:31 PM

Dear Tiff and Andrew,

Be not ashamed of your ignorance of the mystical ways of cricket! I, quite unashamedly, go to the cricket to enjoy the view - of Brett Lee's bum as he takes his run up to bowl.

Of course, this does annoy certain cricket aficionados (uhem, Patrick!). But let me give you one tip: if it's a test match and everyone's wearing white, find out which team is batting/bowling so you can at least cheer for the right team (being surrounded by the massive Indian crowds, I'd go with the local team). I failed to do this at home and suffered the wrath of friends when I cheered loudly for the poms as they scored a run ...

Kaye.

Posted by: Kaye on January 23, 2005 05:18 PM

Luckily for us, so far the only people who've wanted to talk cricket have been touts or salespeople ... so I haven't felt too bad about my ignorance or about blowing them off! However, we did have one enconter today where a guy said breathlessly, 'You are coming from land of Shane Warne!' as if Warnie was a great and wonderous sage :)

Posted by: Tiffany on January 24, 2005 01:37 AM

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