If you’ve been in the UK (or Australia) at all this summer, you could not have missed all the fuss about the Ashes cricket tournament. I got a bit hooked on cricket when I lived in Sri Lanka a couple years ago so I understand the rules of the game now and followed the series on the radio pretty much from the start.
It was great that England won for the first time in 18 years but the best thing was the general atmosphere. People who would otherwise have no interest in sports (e.g. me) were keenly following a test series! Cricket, one of the most trying and sometimes mind-numbingly dull sports, was suddenly the everyman’s game, with people following it on radio, OBO on the Guardian website, or nipping off to the pub to watch a few overs.
Best of all though, it was late summer. The sun was out, the evenings were warm and it was just a great time to hang out with friends and take it easy. Sadly though all good things must come to an end and in final few overs – especially when poor light at 6:30 pm became a problem – I think everyone realised that the cricket frenzy, and the summer, were finally over. Sigh.
