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    Grocott's Mail
    You are at:Home»Uncategorized»Real Cricket
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    Real Cricket

    Grocott's MailBy Grocott's MailSeptember 14, 2012No Comments2 Mins Read
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    Local cricketers in the spotlight

    The media hype around the World T20 cricket tournament in Sri Lanka obscures the value of village cricket. Chris Mann, who played for Bathurst, celebrates the pineapple league.

    Real Cricket

    Local cricketers in the spotlight

    The media hype around the World T20 cricket tournament in Sri Lanka obscures the value of village cricket. Chris Mann, who played for Bathurst, celebrates the pineapple league.

    Real Cricket

    A crunch of spikes on concrete steps,
    a few brave claps, a burst of cheers
    from wives and families on the stand
    as men in white, some whirling arms,
    step out a door, a changing room
    marked Visitors and stroll on to the field.

    They cross a rope, a boundary line
    that rings a world of make-believe,
    where cricket for a day transcends
    the scams and scandals of the week,
    where industry and farming pause
    as caps and floppy hats inspect the pitch.

    Bit green, says one, a spinner’s track.
    I look down at the close-knit roots,
    at crack-lines in the flat-rolled clay,
    at scuffed old boots, their laces frayed,
    stored in cupboards, like dreams on hold,
    beside the backpack, folk guitar and amp.

    Man in! Old hands at tax and law,
    young bloods in chicory and beef
    spread out across the field, so glad
    to range outdoors, to soak up sun,
    to shed the rules, the roles of work
    they’re born again as slip or cover-point.

    Two leg please. An umpire bends
    above the stumps. At short square-leg
    I marvel how such rites transmute
    the thuggish rivalry of human genes
    which thwarted subtly shaft a friend
    or bomb whole cities into smoking ruins.

    The umpire lifts an arm. That’s two!
    The batsman looks around the field
    then settles down astride the crease.
    Does evolution peak on planet Earth
    when families gather on green fields
    and umpires call as to the cosmos Play?

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