SPORT REVIEW | YB40 FINAL (GLAMORGAN VS. NOTTINGHAM)
Lord’s Cricket Ground, London
Sat 21 Sept
It was a big year for Welsh cricket with Glamorgan’s first Lord’s final for 9 years: the YB40. For those who don’t keep up with cricket this is one of the newer formats with each team having 40 overs or 240 balls. Matches last 5 to 6 hours and are normally held in the evening. As this was on a Saturday the club arranged for coaches (ours was driven by cheeky chappy Geraint) to pick us up early and go to London to face the Nottinghamshire Outlaws.
You realise why people love cricket so much when you go to Lord’s: there are some great tie and blazer combos and you get a real sense of character and history from the architecture and the pitch that slopes like no other. For a cricket novice like me it was also great being allowed to take in food and a bottle of wine and that the supporters are mixed up together – unlike football. The wine was certainly a good social lubricant in chatting to Tom and Selina from Nottingham and then really came into its own when Glamorgan started to look unlikely to reach the target of 245. The arch game-changer was Notts bowler Samit Patel. Though he’s regularly criticised for being overweight their fans love him and chanted ‘Samit Patel – he eats what he wants’, as he gobbled up our best batsmen!
Though disappointing to lose, Notts always had the advantage with 7 England players compared to our sole former international Simon Jones [and this was probably his last ever game]. Although I’m a big football fan, I would say that going to a cricket match is more relaxed and therefore probably more fun. I look forward to the new season starting in April 2014 and hope for another Lord’s final!
words: ALED SINGLETON
photo: RYAN KILPATRICK