Cricket and pasties--an english Friday night
Cricket and pasties--an english Friday night
Assimilating into English Culture
Friday, June 13, 2008
Last night we went to our first cricket match ever. I got free debenture tickets from Shearman and Sterling, so Tyra and I decided to check it out. Before we went, one of the Australian guys at the office gave me a Cricket primer, so I was actually able to understand what was going on, and I explained it to Tyra while we watched the game. It is pretty fun, though most of the English spectators seemed only partially interested in the game--it was mostly a time for socializing.
Cricket is actually a very interesting game, and it is easier to understand than it looks. If you want to learn more about Cricket, there is a really good summary here.
A Surrey bowler bowls to a Kent striker. Some of the bowlers get pretty animated with their windups. This guy would run for about 30 feet before releasing the ball.
Tyra also sampled some local food at the match--a Cornish pasty filled with steak and stilton cheese. Pasties are very traditional English food. A pasty is basically a pastry filled with diced meat, cheese, potatoes, etc. They come from Cornwall and were invented for miners who took them for lunch and would eat the insides and parts of the pastry, but would throw most of the pastry part away because their hands would get the outside all dirty. Read the whole story here. I was going to share it with her (they are HUGE--so far the only thing in London actually worth the money you spend on it), but, as is usual with me and hot food, I took one bite and burned my tongue. So Tyra inherited the whole thing.
Anyway, it was really fun (and a nice break from studying for the Bar).
Thanks for the tickets, Uncle Shearman.
Tyra with her pasty.
This hit was a “6”-- meaning it went out of the field (like a home run) and automatically scored 6 runs.