Friday, December 24, 2010

My wonderfully odd Cricket experience

G'day everybody!

How are things? I hope you're all getting in the holiday spirit. For me it feels a bit strange. My brain doesn't quite comprehend that it's December 24nd and 35 degrees outside. Compounded by the fact that I spend all day working outdoors, it just doesn't feel like Christmas is tomorrow. Doesn't matter too much, I'm loving this endless summer of the long sunny days!

I wrote some time ago about my resolution of embracing the Aussie culture, and as you might know sports is an integral part of the local culture. During the winter season, it's all about the Australian Football, and now that summer is in full swing, it was time to immerse myself in the Australian summer sport of predilection, Cricket.

Now, as most North Americans, I had always perceived Cricket as this weird sport that looks like baseball but on a round field. I had also heard something about test matches being played over 5 days, which just seemed ridiculous.

You might remember that about a month ago I had watched a Cricket game on the UWA campus, but it had been casual watching at best. And there were about 12 spectators on site so the atmosphere wasn't exactly electric.

No, I needed to see Cricket on the highest stage, a match involving the Australian National Team. The real deal.  Luckily for me, since 1882, Australia and England engage in a biennial cricket contest called The Ashes. Played over the whole month, The Ashes are comprised of 5 test matches, which last 5 full days each, and are contested in 5 different cities. Australia and England alternate at the series' host.

This year, Australia was set to play on their home turf in the cities of (in order) Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, Sydney, and Melbourne over the whole month of December and into earlier January.

Clearly this was the perfect opportunity for me to watch some world-class cricket and really understand why Aussies love this strange sport so much! But much to my chagrin, tickets for the event were way out of my financial range. I would have to come up with a plan to "beat" the system.

The solution eventually presented itself in the form of a job ad by promotion company called Wingman which was recruiting temporary staff members to promote their client, Vodafone, over the Perth leg of the series. Perfect! 1 short application form and 1 phone interview later, I was the newest member of Vodafone's promotional team.

My job consisted of standing at a booth where Vodafone customers only had to give us some information in exchange for a small radio commentary headset. Basically we were handing out free stuff to people who were loving life because they were outside watching the Cricket in beautiful weather. There were 2 of us at the booth and once we were past the initial rush when people came in, the rest of the day was quite chill. Hence, I had plenty of time to sneak off and go enjoy the Cricket will the girl I worked with stood guard at the booth.

What I was supposed to do for work...

...what I was actually doing :)
Everytime I sat down around the oval to watch the match, I would strike up a conversation with someone close to me so they could help me understand the countless intricacies of this sport. Over the course of the 4 days I ended up working, I finally came to understand the game.


The Western Australia Cricket Association Oval

Believe it or not, I can actually read that board now

I thought about trying to explain the sport of cricket to you, but I really didn't know where to start... Then I remember a passage in Bill Bryson's famous booked "Down Under" where he brilliantly describes the sport of Cricket through his American eyes:

"Imagine a form of baseball in which the pitcher, after each delivery, collects the ball from the catcher and walks slowly with it out to centre field; and that there, after a minute's pause to collect himself, he turns and runs full tilt towards the pitcher's mound before hurling the ball at the ankles of a man who stands before him wearing a riding hat, heavy gloves of the sort used to handle radioactive isotopes, and a mattress strapped to each leg. Imagine moreover that if this batsman fails to hit the ball in a way that heartens him sufficiently to try to run sixty feet with mattresses strapped to his legs he is under no formal compulsion to run; he may stand there all day, and as a rule, does. If by some miracle he is coaxed into making a misstroke that leads to his being put out, all the fielders throw up their arms in triumph and have a hug. Then tea is called and everyone retires happily to a distant pavilion to fortify for the next siege. Now imagine all this going on for so long that by the time the match concludes autumn has crept n and all your library books are overdue. There you have cricket."

Even if Bryson's description is a bit cheek-in-tongue, it's actually quite accurate. The craziest part about this part to me is how long they play for! Everyday, for 4-5 days in a row, they play from 10am to 6pm. As far as rules go... well each team alternates batting, but instead of being like in baseball where after 3 outs it's the other team's turn, now the bowling team needs to take 10 wickets from the batting team. This can be achieved by "bowling" the batsman which means throwing the ball and hitting the stumps with the ball. (Examples here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wjZdaVmz_kg), by catching the ball before it hits the ground once the batsman hit it, or if the ball hits the batter while he's standing in front of the stumps.

The funny thing is... taking 10 wickets generally takes about 6-7 hours. This means that on a good day, a team can bat all day. Hell, on a good day, the same player can bat all day (while I personally didn't witness that, Mike Hussey, an Aussie batsman, did manage to stay on for 4 hours, facing something like 150 bowls before being put out). No wonder it's called a "Test" match as it really tests players' ability to stay focused for very long periods of time).

What I came to realize while I was there is that the reason Cricket is so popular is all about the atmosphere. Imagine the scene... you're going there for the whole day with a few of your friends, the sun is shining, the cold beer tastes like heaven, everyone around you is loving life. Families bring picnics, hardcore supporters are chanting and waving flags. It's one big social gathering where the match serves more as a background than as the main focal point.

The bar line-up at... 10:30am. Who needs coffee when you can have a cold beer?!

 With 3 of the numerous dudes who rock up in costumes and get progressively more rowdy as the day goes on!


The "Barmy Army" aka the hardcore British fans who flew all the way here to cheer on their team

Funny story... As the week progressed, I got really good at navigating around the oval and sneaking into all the VIP sections. On day 2, I was sitting in the best section of the whole oval, right behind the stumps. I was eating my lunch and minding my own business and eventually I got up to go back to work. Only problem is... nobody had told me you weren't supposed to get up a certain times to avoid distracting the batsman. To make matters worse, I was wearing all red, the same colour as the ball. The result... the referee had to stop play twice because I was distracting the batsman! The commentator on the radio apparently pretty much called me an idiot in front of millions of listeners and said I should get kicked out for my behaviour... Oops!! Hahahah..

All in all though, a truly stellar few days and it made me realize that working at events is a really fun way to watch cool stuff, while getting paid for it. Sweet deal! I will definitely be partaking in some more stuff like that in the near-future so hopefully I'll have a few more stories down the road.

All right, I'm out, time to go crack open a nice cold beer and throw some shrimps on the barbie (no joke!).

Merry Christmas all!

Much love,
Phil

PS I guess I should mention that Australia ended up winning the match 577-311 and the series is now drawn 1 win, 1 loss, 1 tie for each team so things are heating up as they are headed to Melbourne!!!

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

The 2 most important questions in the Universe

Catchy title isn't? Well, there is no false advertising on this blog, so I will indeed share these 2 precious pearls of wisdom with you. But before I do so, allow me to give the 2 questions the introduction they deserve.

I strongly believe that there is (at least) one major problem with today's Western world mentality. Everyday we are trying to do more, share more information, be more connected. This whirlwind of activities, stimulation and information may be entertaining, but it also prevents us from doing many useful things. One of them is: taking time to reflect on the path we're taking through life.

If you're working long hours, pleasing your boss, and building good connections... You must be on the fast-track to success, right? Perhaps so. Perhaps not.

You're most probably on the fast-track to somewhere. But to success? Not necessarily. You might be headed in the wrong direction at full speed. And that's a dangerous proposition.

You'll move up the ladder and become more "important", but ultimately if you don't enjoy the place where you spend most of your day, you're not really "successful". You might have power and money, but you won't have true success. At least not in my book.

That's why I believe that it is critical to take a step back. Pause for a minute. And take a good hard look at the direction we're headed to. Are we headed nowhere fast? Or are we methodically making our way towards our goals and aspirations.

Our academic system does a fairly good job at teaching us how to learn, how to think critically... But it thoroughly lacks in the department of helping us figure out what we really want to do with our lives. As a result,  most of us go by trial and error...And unfortunately this process eventually leads many people to give up searching for their true calling and settle for an unexceptional life.

But this can be avoided. It's not going to happen overnight, and it's going to require some soul-searching. And possibly a certain degree of risk. But it'll all be worth it in the end.

All right so... what are the 2 most important questions in the Universe?

The first one is, "What do you want to get out of your life?".

The second one is, "How can you help others in a way that no one else can?".

Simple enough, but not necessarily easy to answer. I don't claim to have life all figured out (far from it!) but I'm fairly certain that finding the answers to these 2 questions is a quantum leap in the direction of true success and true happiness.

I consider myself very fortunate that through my experience in Australia I have been able to find my 2 answers. I don't think moving away from home is absolutely necessary to find our true self, but it sure as hell helps. There's just something about being in a new environment, surrounded by new people, that forces introspection and leads to better self-knowledge.

I'm currently reading an absolutely incredible book called "The Art of Non-Conformity: Set your own rules, Live the life you want, and Change the world". The book's premise is to show the reader that it's possible to step out of the mold, and to live the life that we dream about. We don't have the live a conventional life, we don't have to live the life that others want for us.

Our life is a journey and we have the power to shape it the way that makes us truly happy.

I would say so far it is one of the most influential books I have ever come across, and I definitely recommend it to anyone. It can be purchased here: http://www.amazon.com/Art-Non-Conformity-Rules-Change-World/dp/0399536108. I have to warn you though. This is a powerful book that will make you re-evaluate the way you live your life. But it will also inspire you to something better, something more meaningful.

*Edit* You can also download the condensed version of the book for free here: http://chrisguillebeau.com/3x5/files/2008/06/worlddomination.pdf

Enjoy the ride.

Until next time,

Phil