One visit to a "20-20" circus at the Gabba was fun.
Night cricket suited me, having it over and done with in 4 hours and rules to keep things moving fast appeal to me. Scrooge was not impressed spending $35 for a ticket but with seats near the action - fireworks, red carpet entry to the ground, seeing several boundary catches before our eyes ... it eased the pain. (Punishing conditions on Saturday morning junior players reinforce how night cricket is the way to go. Seeing hundreds of Little Athletes melting at Mansfield High School oval was sad. Balmoral Little A's do their thing from 5.30 pm under lights. That's clever.)
While Joel likes the technical stuff I enjoy seeing how the the event is organised - 100 people are needed to hover on the outskirts of the field to get the lads on to the pitch and create a fun atmosphere. The Channel 9 cameraman filming crowd shots was good value. Maybe he pretended, but he seemed to really enjoy himself, was nice to the kids who gave him material to film for crowd responses. Lugging a heavy camera around like it weighs nothing, not getting caught up on the cables, finding classic reactions in the crowd, he really earned his pay.
I solemnly vow never to travel Em-IRATES. If you have to sit for hours using those red wacky banging things on your trip for attention from a hostess or for participation in singalongs I would rather stay home and wander around removing rubbish at the park.
Some observations ... Australia was not in the game as they struggled to reach a 204 run target set by their mates. It's great to see legends in real life ... taking notice of fans is part of the territory, they pay the rent, even if it is a pain in the neck to have being nice as part of your contract.
Gilly, Matt Hayden, Shane Watson don't seem to have any problem connecting with appreciative fans. Two girls in front of us scored Gilly's gloves, something that costs him nothing but gives them a story to tell.
Andrew Symonds was great value. Bringing two young kids on in his place to help field for the All Stars created an exciting memory for the boys, their family and friends. Symonds was tired, his innings was the most entertaining slogging of the evening. Having two kids field while he had a break was clever cricket.
A direct hit of the wickets from 150 metres and spectacular boundary catches were awesome moments.
The Emirates Musical man has one of the best jobs at the game, being able to comment via 20 second sound clips ... Matt Hayden was dismissed cheaply, so he copped "Hit The Road Matt." When umpires were taking too long to make a decision, they got "Would You Blokes Just Get on With It?" and our player of the match heard "Oh Gilly, you're so fine ... You're so fine you blow our mind, Hey Gilly."
From the archives ...
After 2 years in the South Burnett we caught up with Kingaroy hero, Matt Hayden. He kindly chatted to Tionne & Joel. On the basis of one half minute interaction, we declared Gilly a great bloke and were thankful he did not pour poweraid over us when asked for a photo.
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