Saturday 22 November 2008

The storm starts in Brisbane

Watching a Test match at the 'Gabba has the feeling of a much anticipated event, just like the start of a storm after a hot summer day. For quite a while now, Brisbane has hosted the first Test match of the Australian summer. As a result, even though the Aussies have been playing in India so recently that they didn't fit in any decent preparation for this match, there are enough memories to build up an electric atmosphere.

The 'Gabba has answered my anticipation and that of the nation in many ways over the years. One big memory is listening at midnight as one of the most waited for series of recent times satisfyingly began with a wide going to second slip. The match has abandoned as draws, with the highlight being the amazing images of electric storms over the ground. At other times, a result was achieved only because the bowlers were able to use the conditions to take 20 wickets in a fairly short time.

The big storms that have been hitting Brisbane this week, damaging one of the stands at the ground have had an impact on the pitch and conditions. The batsmen haven't coped well. But it's actually fairly common for the 'Gabba Test to be interrupted more than this one has been. Obviously, scheduling is a tricky business in these days of so much cricket, but there was much more reason to start in Brisbane when the first Test was held in October. On average, the city has half as many rainy days in that month as it does in November!

3 comments:

Soulberry said...

Congratulations Jonathan! I hoped the Kiwis, batting especially, wouldn't be such a bummer.

Brisbane - now it isn't usual for it to see matches wrapped up so quickly, is it?

Both teams falterd twice...only Australia were the better team overall. Has something about brisbane changed?

Anonymous said...

Call it global warming :)

Jonathan said...

That's definitely one of the shortest matches in Brisbane in recent times, but not the shortest. There have also been a few that lasted to the 5th day, but only had a few more hours actual playing time.

My feeling is that the weather makes a big difference up there. In any case, this match is unusual in that both teams faltered. Only about 30 wickets tended to fall in other shortish games. Apart from some pretty poor batting (and preparation), I think we did see two sets of bowlers able to capitalise on the conditions. Thankfully, there's been a recent global warming in the quality of bowling attacks... :)