{"id":350569,"date":"2025-12-15T23:58:12","date_gmt":"2025-12-15T23:58:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/350569\/"},"modified":"2025-12-15T23:58:12","modified_gmt":"2025-12-15T23:58:12","slug":"almanac-cricket-cricket-by-the-sea","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/350569\/","title":{"rendered":"Almanac Cricket: Cricket by the Sea"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>A white picket fence encircles Point Lonsdale Oval, lending the ground an idyllic English geometry. It\u2019s Saturday afternoon and, lured by a cricket match, I drive in and park by the mid-wicket boundary. Snatching ten minutes to take in a genteel encounter \u2014 any venue and contest will do. The trend for picket fences is heartening; simple wooden slats bring an elegance to our increasingly coarse world. They also suggest quiet expectations of courteous behaviour for both players and spectators.<\/p>\n<p>I love country cricket but understand many find it incomprehensible. As a sporting contest it is often ritualised rather than wild battle. To the uninitiated, nothing appears to be happening on the field, but in truth everything is transpiring with absorbing compulsion. It\u2019s a psychological feast of anticipation and patience, punctuated by staccato bursts of movement \u2014 then lengthy, enigmatic lulls.<\/p>\n<p>Bowling and fielding, characterised by a cheerful mellowness, suggest this is a B- or C-grade fixture, a suspicion confirmed by the participants \u2014 grey-haired and slower of limb. Of course, the chubbiest chap keeps wicket, and he\u2019s unexpectedly spritely, crouching behind the stumps before bouncing in to scoop up the return throws. His nickname is surely Nugget.<\/p>\n<p>The scrubby surrounds are unmistakably coastal Australia, and the scene reminds me of the one time I played cricket by the sea. This was at Elliston, after a Friday night at the Port Kenny pub with my Wudinna CC teammates. The next morning, a tinny putted out into the bay and we went fishing \u2014 Stink, Ning, Jock, Snook, Chess and me, crowded onto the tiny deck \u2014 during which the bird\u2019s nest I made of my line earned me a new nickname: Tangles, in honour of the beloved Max Walker. Winning late in the day, I recall hearing the crashing surf in sonic contrast to the dusty breezes and magpie warbles of landlocked Kapunda.<\/p>\n<p>Gazing again at those sharing the patchy grass and leisurely privilege, I think of the joyous belonging cricket clubs can gift their members. It\u2019s only partly about what happens on the field; the spirited and forgettable exchanges at training and in the clubrooms matter just as much. Bumping into your teammate \u2014 the mechanic \u2014 outside the post office on a Tuesday lunch confirms this bond.<\/p>\n<p>On Point Lonsdale Oval, the placid medium-pacer saunters in and overpitches just enough on a decent line. Seagulls dance on the salty air as the batsman steps into an off drive, but it rambles over the rough turf straight to a fielder and I hear the shout of, \u2018No!\u2019 This is representative of the even contest during my stay: no wickets or chances, but no boundaries either \u2014 just a handful of modest scoring shots. Was it dull? No. Utterly engrossing and healthily diverting.<\/p>\n<p>Claire is shortly due on stage at the Queenscliff Music Festival, so after half a dozen overs I turn the key in the ignition. This brief cricket excursion has returned me, happily, to the languid Saturdays of my youth.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">More from Mickey Randall can be read <a style=\"color: #0000ff;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.footyalmanac.com.au\/author\/mickey-r\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">HERE<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">To return to the <a style=\"color: #0000ff;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.footyalmanac.com.au\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">www.footyalmanac.com.au<\/a>\u00a0 home page click <a style=\"color: #0000ff;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.footyalmanac.com.au\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">HERE<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Our writers are independent contributors. The opinions expressed in their articles are their own. They are not the views, nor do they reflect the views, of Malarkey Publications.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Do you enjoy the Almanac concept?<br \/>And want to ensure it continues in its current form, and better? To help keep things ticking over please consider making your own contribution.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Become an Almanac (annual) member \u2013 <a style=\"color: #0000ff;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.footyalmanac.com.au\/memberships\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">CLICK HERE<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-188658 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1765843090_186_FA-logo-laptop-with-Sherrin-5-2.jpg\"   alt=\"\" width=\"270\" height=\"228\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1380677442-bpfull.jpg&#038;w=100&#038;id=5209&#038;random=1656298606.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\" avatar  avatar-100  photo user-5209-avatar\" width=\"100\" height=\"100\" \/>About <a href=\"https:\/\/www.footyalmanac.com.au\/author\/mickey-r\/\" title=\"Mickey Randall\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Mickey Randall<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Now whip it into shape\/&#13;<br \/>\nShape it up, get straight\/&#13;<br \/>\nGo forward, move ahead\/&#13;<br \/>\nTry to detect it, it&#8217;s not too late\/&#13;<br \/>\nTo whip it, whip it good<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t <a href=\"https:\/\/www.footyalmanac.com.au\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/fa-banner-1.jpg\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u00a0 A white picket fence encircles Point Lonsdale Oval, lending the ground an idyllic English geometry. It\u2019s Saturday&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":350570,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[564],"tags":[64,63,740,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-350569","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cricket","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-cricket","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/350569","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=350569"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/350569\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/350570"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=350569"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=350569"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=350569"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}