After a perfect Christmas Day, what do 4 sports lovers do on Boxing Day in Melbourne?? Yep, the legendary Boxing Day test match at the MCG. We were bubbling with excitement as we joined the throngs of people flooding towards the ground.
We all wore Wednesday shirts for the crack. It gets you noticed and we met several other Wednesday fans in the ground. 2 people actually came over to have their photos taken with us!
The ground is huge. Holds over 100,000. Probably because the Aussies had already beaten us back in Perth, it was not full, just the 88,000 people there!! Which made it all the more remarkable that I bumped into 2 blokes I know! Well, they both spotted the Wednesday shirt then realised it was me. One was a manager from the Council which was amusing.
God was it hot though?! As we walked in I thought to myself "I hope we're not sitting in the shade back here". 1 hour later when the sun had crept over us to stay, burning and cloudless, I was dreaming about shade. It was relentless. Hats and sunscreen essential. All you could do was sit as still as possible and drink plenty of the watery, over-priced beer.
The cricket itself was pretty dull. Saw some wickets but then it settled into nothingness. I can't blame the players, how they could run in that oven I do not know. The Barmy Army was hilarious though, magnificent singing and support.
The Aussies are rubbish at singing to the frustration of some. They only have "Aussie Aussie Aussie, Oy Oy Oy". Snooze...
It must be our national football training. I particularly enjoyed (and joined in with) the traditional word perfect rendition of Jerusalem in the second over of the day. The boys missed it as they had joined the supposedly faster queue for folk with no bags....haaa ha ha! Also good was the national anthem with all the "our"s changed to "your"s. As in "God save YOUR gracious Queen" etc etc. Got a few bites....
What a great day and a bucket list item ticked off.
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