Off to the cricket!

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ITT, LJ blogs about going OFF TO THE CRICKET

Today, it is Surrey versus Derbyshire at The Oval, second day of four. Derbyshire are 306 for 5 overnight in their first innings.

forgive me fada (acoleuthic), Saturday, 10 April 2010 08:53 (fifteen years ago)

Special mention to the Oval Fox:

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs476.ash1/26104_671231909080_36910239_42395305_1644242_n.jpg

...and, alas, Fear Of The Beer Snake :(

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs476.ash1/26104_671231864170_36910239_42395297_4907041_n.jpg

forgive me fada (acoleuthic), Sunday, 11 April 2010 14:49 (fifteen years ago)

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/163/410438211_e29acd0528.jpg?v=0

alpha zingdog (history mayne), Sunday, 11 April 2010 14:53 (fifteen years ago)

http://photos-d.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs456.snc3/26104_671237308260_36910239_42395567_1447995_s.jpg

forgive me fada (acoleuthic), Sunday, 11 April 2010 15:12 (fifteen years ago)

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs456.snc3/26104_671237308260_36910239_42395567_1447995_n.jpg

forgive me fada (acoleuthic), Sunday, 11 April 2010 15:16 (fifteen years ago)

Today, it is Surrey versus Worcestershire at Whitgift School, third day of four. Worcestershire are 262 for 3 overnight in their first innings.

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs496.ash1/27095_673215029890_36910239_42482610_6467669_n.jpg

sausage s4rgent (acoleuthic), Friday, 23 April 2010 19:58 (fifteen years ago)

since when do they play county cricket matches in school playgrounds

nakhchivan, Friday, 23 April 2010 20:21 (fifteen years ago)

the practice of playing a number of matches per year at 'outgrounds' - cricket venues alternative to the county's main stadium - has been commonplace for a long time, and helps to bring the game around the county, so that fans do not necessarily have to travel so far to watch their team. moreover it offers a welcome change of scene for players and supporters alike, and indeed the 'outground' venues are frequently more idyllic and welcoming than the principal stadia.

many of these 'outgrounds' are school fields - someone has to own the 'outground' when it is not being used for its two or three games per year, otherwise it is a colossal white elephant. usually this is a school, sometimes it is a lesser cricket club.

such pleasant environs deserve to be blessed with a sizeable supporting contingent

sausage s4rgent (acoleuthic), Friday, 23 April 2010 20:31 (fifteen years ago)

http://photos-d.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs456.snc3/26104_671237308260_36910239_42395567_1447995_s.jpg

sausage s4rgent (acoleuthic), Friday, 23 April 2010 20:35 (fifteen years ago)

that's fair enough i suppose

fairly commanding overnight lead so if they collapse we'll know who jinxed it

nakhchivan, Friday, 23 April 2010 20:41 (fifteen years ago)

well, they were actually behind as Surrey had already scored 493 in their first innings. they got to within 30 and Surrey are now 80 ahead again. it will almost certainly be a draw.

sausage s4rgent (acoleuthic), Friday, 23 April 2010 20:42 (fifteen years ago)

shit i totally missed 'third day of four'

do county cricket matches always start in the middle of the week?

nakhchivan, Friday, 23 April 2010 20:46 (fifteen years ago)

not always, although this season they generally will, yes

a good crowd was achieved, all things considered, albeit bolstered by pupils of the school, many of whom spent a good ten minutes failing to heed the post-lunch registration bell that pealed for their prompt return

myself and my fellow-fans were also regaled to a lengthy lecture on life, the universe and "T-O-T-T-Y" by a talkative gentleman named Big Mike - his parting shot was to assure us in crassly euphemistic terms that he was well-endowed. at least he had dished the dirt on more or less every single cricketer to have raised a bat since 1965 first

sausage s4rgent (acoleuthic), Friday, 23 April 2010 20:51 (fifteen years ago)

hahaha i thought it wd be all retired colonels, maybe they get nosebleeds coming within 3 miles of croydon

need to get big mike on twitter

nakhchivan, Friday, 23 April 2010 21:01 (fifteen years ago)

just realised that hyphenating 'fellow fans' has given my sentence an entirely unwanted spin

quite a lot of retired-colonel types, to be honest, but above all quite a lot of placid-to-mildly-rowdy older gentlemen, including a few I talked to at length and one I'd met on my day out to the Oval as detailed above - he was lovely and we really could have talked cricket all afternoon - an Australian but a fervent supporter of the English game and above all an enthusiast, twinkling eyes as young as the fragment of action they witnessed

Big Mike on Twitter would be interesting - plenty of namedropping, plenty of exvagitations upon the nuance of real ale, and yodelled feats of yore where burly fast-bowlers were repelled and simpering dames conquered

sausage s4rgent (acoleuthic), Friday, 23 April 2010 21:15 (fifteen years ago)

tales of a mike-errant

nakhchivan, Friday, 23 April 2010 21:23 (fifteen years ago)

'placid-to-mildly-rowdy older gentlemen'

that phrase contains multitudes

not sure what 'exvagitations' are but perhaps best not to know

nakhchivan, Friday, 23 April 2010 21:27 (fifteen years ago)

n.b. before this thread progresses any further I would like to point out that I am a Worcestershire fan, and my regularity at Surrey matches is owed to love of the game and proximity. also that I have been otm in this thread.

overgrown 60 year-old lads are ten-a-penny at weekday county cricket - the trick is to take everything they say with a wheelbarrow of smelling-salts

exvagitations was a word I thought might exist, so googled - found it did not exist, which excited me so much I coined it - the prefix and root verb make a snug and cogent fit

sausage s4rgent (acoleuthic), Friday, 23 April 2010 21:28 (fifteen years ago)


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