Ladies Day

The good old British Summer has arrived and along with it the stop start, covers on, covers off, cricket season. As both the Aussie Men’s and Ladies teams were heading our way this year, it seemed a good time to book tickets to see a match.

Despite starting my search in January, both Lords and the Oval tickets were snapped up. With members getting first pick, it was always going to be hard to attend a match at one of those prime stadiums 🥲

However, I struck lucky in, having previously attended the Hundred at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton I was given priority (after members) to book tickets there. 👏👏👏. A day at a Ladies ODI (one day international) it was then.

With an Airbnb booked all we had to do was wait. Exciting, until the Airbnb cancelled and with only 6 weeks to go anywhere close by was already booked 🤬. ………… But all was not lost, there is a Hilton Hotel attached to the ground and having been an Honors member for several years, we had accumulated some loyalty points. Bingo! rooms available and using our points no more expensive than the Airbnb and we also thought we’d have access to and from the ground via the hotel restaurant.

The match started at 11am, so we headed down the day before and enjoyed a National Trust property a short drive from the hotel, before checking in. Our room wasn’t ready and we tried to blag an upgrade to a balcony room overlooking the ground, but she wasn’t having any of that and found us another just along the corridor from our original room and overlooking the golf course, which kept the hubby entertained for a while.

There is a nice bar, overlooking the ground, so we wandered down for a late afternoon drink and nibbles. The hubby chatted to the barman and discovered the doors to the ground would be locked throughout the match, meaning we’d have to head round to the main gate, like everyone else on match day and take all our warm and wet weather clothing with us. 🙄. He refused to confirm whether any of the team were staying at the hotel, but as my hubby joined me at the table he spotted three of the team relaxing at a table behind me. Bit embarrassing to turn around to take a look, so I got him to take a photo of me instead 👿.

When we headed down for dinner later, there were more of the lovely ladies just finishing their meals, so it seemed the whole team might be staying alongside us. Brilliant 🤩 very excited for the following day.

The ladies were up breakfasted and preparing for the match as we strolled down to the restaurant. However one lingered as she devoured a very large bowl of porridge. A girl after my own heart, with her slow release energy fix. We were all too polite to ask for selfies, but she did have a quick chat with people as she left.

As the main gates opened and the early birds arrived, we watched from the restaurant as some were fortunate enough to get photos of the team as they crossed the concourse from the hotel. There was still an hour until start of play so we had plenty of time to pack our jumpers and wet weather jackets incase the weather turned, before toddling round the corner to the gates. Having watched a heavy stream of people trudge passed the golf course, we were pleasantly surprised how quickly were reached the gates. Being an ultra modern Granny I had the tickets on my phone, thinking someone would just scan them. Mmm I had to feed it into a slot at the turnstile, which meant having to take it out of its tight fitting case. Not easy at the best of times, let alone when you have people behind chomping at the bit to get in and raising their eyes to the sky. Then I needed to pass it back to the hubby and show him how to swipe right to get his ticket!

And we were through, chuckling to ourselves at our achievement 🤣. With the sun blessing us with its presence, 1st stop was to the shop to find a cap for the hubby. £30 later 😬 he was happy with his purchase and we still had time to stroll around the stadium, watch the ladies for their final practice, grab a pasty and a couple of ciders before locating our seats.

We had a great view from our elevated position. A block away from the Pavilion so we could see the players as they headed to and from the pitch and also next to the Barmy Army trumpeter, raising the spirits of the crowd. Perfect.👍 We were surrounded by some lovely people too. Behind sat a young family, whose children kept us chuckling especially when one shouted she could see the Eiffel Tower AND several of us looked up to see if we could see it too 🤣🤣

It was an enthralling match, Australia’s wickets initially tumbling quickly. With only half the overs bowled they had lost half their wickets for just 158 runs and the crowd were buoyant. Then a solid partnership began to build the run total. The trumpeter played to boost the crowd and the big screen spotlighted members of the crowd, including a young man celebrating his 85th birthday. It was still a beatable score, so with a few overs remaining we headed to the facilities and to grab another drink before the crowds descended from their seats in between innings. We stood watching from the concourse and all was looking good until the final over, when Australia scored an unprecedented 26 off the final 6 balls 😬. A total of 282 was a big ask. We might be in need of a lot of trumpeting 🎺🎺

Lunch consumed, it was the turn of our ladies to whack that little white ball all over the ground. They didn’t let us down and put up a good fight. Ball by ball, over by over our girls kept piling on the runs and we stayed ahead of the Aussies, but all the time there was that niggle of their final 26 run over.

Up to the crease came Nat Sciver – Brunt slogging the ball to the boundary and making her team mate run between those wickets. As the number of remaining overs reduced, doubts started to creep into the hearts of the spectators, even the Mexican wave and the trumpeter couldn’t get rid of the thoughts of that Aussie 26 final over score. That could be a pivotal part of the match.

The final over arrived, Nat on 103, 14 runs needed to claim an additional, super over for each team, 15 runs needed to win the game and keep our dreams of winning the Ashes alive. One run off each of the first two balls, a boundary for 4 off the third, a further 2 runs off the following two balls meant we were going to need a massive hit over the boundary on the final ball. A 4 would mean a draw and a super over, a 6 would mean a win. Sadly it wasn’t to be and a great delivery gave us just 1 run, meaning we were beaten by a measly 3 runs.

So close yet so far.

A couple of hours later we were enjoying a pre dinner drink in the bar, when the team came through from the stadium to be greeted by family and friends. Some looked a little dejected but it was a great game. They did themselves and their country proud.