Say What? Cricket, in Scotland?
What does the word cricket mean to you? If anything, it most likely conjures up images of a quaint little country ground, overlooked by a darling little pavilion adorned with hanging baskets and surrounded by a white picket fence (or if you’re American, a little green bug). As you bask in the sun a team of hunky cricketers (this is your imagination remember, you can allow yourself these luxuries), all dressed in white, passes you, all heading off for their half-time tea and cakes.
Now instead picture a sodden pitch, players huddled under shelter, hunky men gone, instead replaced with shivering girls, whites stained with mud, clutching cups of luke-warm greying coffee and watching a steady downpour of rain. Welcome to Scotland.
Women’s cricket isn’t the most popular sport at the best of times, but women’s cricket in Scotland, really? I’ve played cricket in rain before, and we all know that it’s an occupational hazard of the game, even in England there’s always a chance a game will be called off, but this really is something different. Now don’t get me wrong, I love cricket, it’s a great game full of skill and surprise, but when you can only play for ten minutes before you’re forced off the pitch due to torrential rain the whole fun of the thing is pretty much just goes down the drain.
Cricketers will hate me for this comment (and in fact I even hate myself a little right now)but for those of you with no clue about cricket, yes, Americans, I’m looking at you, I guess you could (maybe), if you absolutely had to, compare cricket to baseball. Please don’t quote me on that, I may die in shame. Basically there are two batters, a bowler (not a pitcher) and lots of fielders. We’ll leave the rest until later shall we? Otherwise this could take a while. But rest assured Americans, it’s a good game, even better, I daresay, than your version.
With the 2011 Cricket World Cup well underway, and so far, not without its fair share of drama and excitement, cricket is at its peak. Instead of gloomy Scotland pitches you’ll catch a glimpse of the vibrant and exhilarating Indian scene, characterised by the boisterous crowds and big-scoring games. And, with some of the results turning out rather different that predicted (Ireland beating England for example) it seems there is some hope for the smaller cricketing nations, or ‘minnows’ as they seem to have been otherwise named, for giving the big dogs a run for their money.
So despite the climate problems in Scotland, even though we are (supposedly) in the driest place in the country here in St. Andrews, I (wholly unbiased, of course) really think you should give it a go. The weather may a bit of the downer but the game is as good as ever, and even if you don’t turn up to training at 9 o’clock on a Saturday morning (tempting though it may be) then at least snuggle under your duvet and watch a little on iPlayer.