Nightlife
Staying up all night and watching cricket can be one helluva way to contribute to a boring life, but occasionally there comes along a day (night) that you will remember for its twist and turns that only this game can seemingly give to a sports audience. As time dulls the memory history will record England were robbed of a victory over India as bad light and then rain meant no play was possible in the final session with England one wicket (and India an improbable 98 runs) away from victory.
But before we dissect the final day, lets go back to the beginning. The test started off with the spectre of a second day washout, which combined with the recent history at the ground and suspect bowling attacks meant most people thought a draw was a nailed-on cert. The rain did arrive spectacularly on Day 2, but what nobody took into consideration was the outstanding drainage at Lords and play recommenced an hour after the aqua moved on.
And here the first of many twists kicked in. The Indian bowling attack, after being lifeless on the first day, suddenly found their rhythm on a pitch juiced up by the rain and wickets tumbled. The dull, boring draw that we were expecting - the odds were down to $1.20 at the beginning of Day 2 - didn't look so certain after all.
Fast forward to Day 5. Another dodgy forecast meant there was plenty of doubt over whether England would have enough time to get the 7 wickets required for victory. My working day began at 2 p.m. (NZT) constantly watching weather sites and odds - and in that seven hour period before play began the draw price oscillated between $1.40 and $2.00.
A precursor of what was to come. A couple of early wickets and England were favourites, before a partnership between Laxman and Dhoni saw the draw freefall (and even India shortened to $7.80). The predicted arrival of rain kept getting pushed out as the rain band stalled over the English Channel, and always in the back of the mind was the possibility of bad light forcing the players off. The draw price kept going up and down (in the words of someone on a betting forum) like a whore's knickers as half-hourly updates of rain radars and commentators musings on the time left before the rain and/or bad light would arrive kept betters on tenderhooks.
Betting in such an environment requires testicles. More than I've got. Usually I avoid betting in such an environment as you're either going to get it spectacularly right or spectacularly wrong, and I'm betting for rent and food money, not play money. But I was seduced by my own strong opinion that the match would finish as a draw and positioned accordingly, so was feeling rather smug when the umpire's light meter came out with India 8 wickets down.
Well fuck me, this game hadn't finished playing its tricks - the Pommie skipper decides to bowl his part-time spinners and play continues. Then an Indian batsman has a brain explosion and tries to whack another spinner out of the park and gets bowled - 9 down and 30 min to go to the afternoon tea interval. Fuck Fuck Farrrrrrrrrrrrrk. Ever bet on a horse race and your horse is leading but there's some other horse flying down the outside and you just know your nag is going to get nabbed on the line? Yeah, that's how I was feeling.
Yes I bailed - England were $1.25 at this point which I felt was a ridiculous price with only one wicket to go - supported by its shortening to $1.12 as play continued. Then without warning the umps decide with about 10 min to go to the interval the light is too bad to continue and they go off, which provokes another expeletive-laden tirade from within the walls of my house and wakes the wife up (not good at 3 a.m. when she starts work at 7 a.m.).
The good news is I only bailed on half my draw profit so I ain't moving into the trailer park yet, but I'd had enough of this roller-coaster. I watched with amusement as the market panicked one more time as the umps announced play would begin at 4.40 p.m. UK time, only for the rain to arrive. That was 3.40 a.m. here, and I'd been watching computer screens and a TV for nearly 14 hours - I was stuffed. The draw was $1.40 - it should have been $1.01, but I'd had enough.
So yes, test cricket can be boring, but getting days like that every so often kind've makes up for it.
But before we dissect the final day, lets go back to the beginning. The test started off with the spectre of a second day washout, which combined with the recent history at the ground and suspect bowling attacks meant most people thought a draw was a nailed-on cert. The rain did arrive spectacularly on Day 2, but what nobody took into consideration was the outstanding drainage at Lords and play recommenced an hour after the aqua moved on.
And here the first of many twists kicked in. The Indian bowling attack, after being lifeless on the first day, suddenly found their rhythm on a pitch juiced up by the rain and wickets tumbled. The dull, boring draw that we were expecting - the odds were down to $1.20 at the beginning of Day 2 - didn't look so certain after all.
Fast forward to Day 5. Another dodgy forecast meant there was plenty of doubt over whether England would have enough time to get the 7 wickets required for victory. My working day began at 2 p.m. (NZT) constantly watching weather sites and odds - and in that seven hour period before play began the draw price oscillated between $1.40 and $2.00.
A precursor of what was to come. A couple of early wickets and England were favourites, before a partnership between Laxman and Dhoni saw the draw freefall (and even India shortened to $7.80). The predicted arrival of rain kept getting pushed out as the rain band stalled over the English Channel, and always in the back of the mind was the possibility of bad light forcing the players off. The draw price kept going up and down (in the words of someone on a betting forum) like a whore's knickers as half-hourly updates of rain radars and commentators musings on the time left before the rain and/or bad light would arrive kept betters on tenderhooks.
Betting in such an environment requires testicles. More than I've got. Usually I avoid betting in such an environment as you're either going to get it spectacularly right or spectacularly wrong, and I'm betting for rent and food money, not play money. But I was seduced by my own strong opinion that the match would finish as a draw and positioned accordingly, so was feeling rather smug when the umpire's light meter came out with India 8 wickets down.
Well fuck me, this game hadn't finished playing its tricks - the Pommie skipper decides to bowl his part-time spinners and play continues. Then an Indian batsman has a brain explosion and tries to whack another spinner out of the park and gets bowled - 9 down and 30 min to go to the afternoon tea interval. Fuck Fuck Farrrrrrrrrrrrrk. Ever bet on a horse race and your horse is leading but there's some other horse flying down the outside and you just know your nag is going to get nabbed on the line? Yeah, that's how I was feeling.
Yes I bailed - England were $1.25 at this point which I felt was a ridiculous price with only one wicket to go - supported by its shortening to $1.12 as play continued. Then without warning the umps decide with about 10 min to go to the interval the light is too bad to continue and they go off, which provokes another expeletive-laden tirade from within the walls of my house and wakes the wife up (not good at 3 a.m. when she starts work at 7 a.m.).
The good news is I only bailed on half my draw profit so I ain't moving into the trailer park yet, but I'd had enough of this roller-coaster. I watched with amusement as the market panicked one more time as the umps announced play would begin at 4.40 p.m. UK time, only for the rain to arrive. That was 3.40 a.m. here, and I'd been watching computer screens and a TV for nearly 14 hours - I was stuffed. The draw was $1.40 - it should have been $1.01, but I'd had enough.
So yes, test cricket can be boring, but getting days like that every so often kind've makes up for it.
Labels: cricket
posted by Rob Crawford at 5:40 PM
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