Written 28/11/11
The sun finally emerged on Saturday afternoon as we were on our way to Parramatta. Arrangements were quickly altered allowing us to spend the next day, Sunday, at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
I should have reasoned that cities around the world do rail maintenance on Sundays, and therefore it should have been no surprise that our journey was stopped short of our destination and we had to complete the last part from Central to Circular Quay by bus.
For some reason this confused a number of passengers who strangely seemed to think we knew the way and asked us for guidance. Anyway after renewing acquaintance with a number of sites, the Sydney bridge and the Rocks, we boarded the bus to Moore Park, home of the SCG. Even from the road outside I could tell that this to be " a bit special".
The SCG is a iconic ground, it has a history of cricket, rugby league and now AFL. Once through the turnstiles we were in eye shot of statues of Steve Waugh and Ritchie Benaud, that stand outside the members pavilion reminding spectators of the tradition and heritage of the SCG.
Sunday marked the 21st Anniversary of ABC's Sunday Grandstand programme and as a result the NSW v WA game was offered with free admission. in additional ground tours were provided incorporating a chance to visit the museum.
Although I've been in the pavilion at a number of English grounds not least the Oval and Lords, to walk through the pavilion at the SCG was an unexpected bonus. There's an eleven year waiting list for membership.
As for the game the 4 day Sheffield Shield fixture seemed to interest us more than the Sydney public. The attendance numbered around a thousand scattered across three stands. As the sun shone the wicket bcame easier and NSW began to build a large innings with Simon Kaditch at one end and young debutant Kurtis Patterson at the other; the scoreboard began to tick over faster.
As the afternoon session moved towards the tea interval, Patterson overtook the experienced Kaititch and moved towards his maiden century for NSW on debut. His century arrived with a boundary just before tea and the crowd rose to applaud the start of what may be the start of a cricketing career already dubbed the new KP by the Sydney press.
In order to spend some time in town we left the SCG after tea but Kaititch would also reached his century and Patterson eventually made 157 before finally surrendering his wicket.
Back in Sydney after a brisk walk around the quay we had the chance at look at the huge cruise ship ( Rhapsody of the Seas) in the harbour that dwarfed the passenger ferries that move about the harbour. We made our way through the Rocks for an evening meal and drink at the Merchantile Hotel. This has become a firm favourite of ours on visits to Sydney. Sunday always brings forth musical entertainment. Usually a traditional Irish style band will deliver well known irish tunes, today however they focussed upon some Johnny Cash standards, however midway our stay a man walked past me who made me do a double take. In fairness he had styled himself as Rod Stewart with appropriate hair, dress and walk. Within minutes he was at the mike offering a couple of Rod numbers. His voice struggled but full marks to his hairdresser.
The evening ended with us battling the car's air conditioning system, on a warm evening, we could not prevent the heated driver's seat from operating; needless to say it wasn't a comfortable journey home, and I finished the night with a butt impersonating rump steak.
No comments:
Post a Comment