Originally posted by Irishnev
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Great innings from Root and England going well, I have a great anecdote about Chennai and cricket which I’m surprised I never told here.
Back in 2004/2005 I backpacked in India, Nepal and a brief trip to Tibet for the best for of a year. I was in Goa with a buddy of mine from Uni and we watched the first test of the 2004 India/Aus test match in a beach bar. We were planning to leave Goa to trek across the country so we decided we’d go to Chennai to watch the second test.
We got to Chennai 2 days before the game and the day before we rocked up to the pitch to buy tickets for the test match. After getting the tickets we walked around the ground and some kid called us and showed us a ‘hole’ in the fence. Being two absolute Irish chancers in we went into the grounds........and approached the pitch. Two soldiers were guarding the entrance so we smiled at them and strolled in.
Both teams were in nets at opposite ends of the pitch - remember this was the great Aus team in their pomp - Langner, Hayden, Ponting, Katich, Clarke, Martyn, Gilchrist, Warne, McGrath, Gillespie etc. India had Sachin, Laxman, Dravid, Ganguly, Kumble, Sewhag, Harbijhan etc. We went to the Aussie end and sat on the grass - we were throwing the ball back and we did the same in India end. My mate was fielding when Sachin was batting......it was mental.
We then realised we had no cameras so we left the ground, rickshaw to the hotel, grabbed cameras and rucksacks and back to the ground. Same way in and back to the pitch - the teams were winding up and there was a lot of security as Sachin was leaving. We walked over to crease started patting the pitch ‘inspecting it’
some Aussie journalist walked over to us and we started chatting. I said it looked like a 4 day wicket where the spinners would dominate - absolute spoofing - he concurred
We then walked into the stadium and into the press conference - sat down for a listen, not brave enough to ask a question. Walked out some back door later as the Aussies were getting on the bus - took some pics with the players and walked out the gate behind the bus where there must have been 1000 people outside.
In those days (not that long ago) a brass neck and being a “westerner” meant you could get away with a lot. Nobody checked our bag, asked who we were or what we were doing. Nuts but a great memory.
We used to take a rickshaw to pizza hut at lunch during the test and sit eating pizza for the afternoon
Back in 2004/2005 I backpacked in India, Nepal and a brief trip to Tibet for the best for of a year. I was in Goa with a buddy of mine from Uni and we watched the first test of the 2004 India/Aus test match in a beach bar. We were planning to leave Goa to trek across the country so we decided we’d go to Chennai to watch the second test.
We got to Chennai 2 days before the game and the day before we rocked up to the pitch to buy tickets for the test match. After getting the tickets we walked around the ground and some kid called us and showed us a ‘hole’ in the fence. Being two absolute Irish chancers in we went into the grounds........and approached the pitch. Two soldiers were guarding the entrance so we smiled at them and strolled in.
Both teams were in nets at opposite ends of the pitch - remember this was the great Aus team in their pomp - Langner, Hayden, Ponting, Katich, Clarke, Martyn, Gilchrist, Warne, McGrath, Gillespie etc. India had Sachin, Laxman, Dravid, Ganguly, Kumble, Sewhag, Harbijhan etc. We went to the Aussie end and sat on the grass - we were throwing the ball back and we did the same in India end. My mate was fielding when Sachin was batting......it was mental.
We then realised we had no cameras so we left the ground, rickshaw to the hotel, grabbed cameras and rucksacks and back to the ground. Same way in and back to the pitch - the teams were winding up and there was a lot of security as Sachin was leaving. We walked over to crease started patting the pitch ‘inspecting it’
some Aussie journalist walked over to us and we started chatting. I said it looked like a 4 day wicket where the spinners would dominate - absolute spoofing - he concurred We then walked into the stadium and into the press conference - sat down for a listen, not brave enough to ask a question. Walked out some back door later as the Aussies were getting on the bus - took some pics with the players and walked out the gate behind the bus where there must have been 1000 people outside.
In those days (not that long ago) a brass neck and being a “westerner” meant you could get away with a lot. Nobody checked our bag, asked who we were or what we were doing. Nuts but a great memory.
We used to take a rickshaw to pizza hut at lunch during the test and sit eating pizza for the afternoon
Great story man
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