By Way Out West
May 13 2013

Way Out West bravely reports on a cricketless day. We hear about some unusual holiday habits and get to find out how to pass the time in a handy pub with a very good cider.  A great read to enliven a frustrating day.

The weather forecast had changed from dry and cold to very wet and the journey across seemed to tally up with the predictions of Umbrellas, Noah’s Ark and very little cricket.

I arrived just before 11 at Temple Meads with my Dad and my friend Ben. The 4^th member of the party, Mark, arrived a little later from De Beauvoir Town via Victoria Bus station and the Megabus. There was a little rain in the air but not enough to really worry us as we discussed Ben’s friend Chupka who he had just got back from a holiday with. Does anybody else think that using a pillow case as oven gloves and a bed sheet as a towel is weird?

Covers on

Tour of the city and the riverside over, we headed up to the ground by taxi at 1PM. The first site that greeted us was the covers on.  I bumped into Dawid on the way in and asked him whether he thought there would be a game. He said 10 or 15 overs a side after 5pm which pretty much matched my prediction. My Dad predicted a 3.30 start.

 We had a quick drink but soon headed to the Sportsman Pub just a few footsteps from the entrance to the ground. What a cracking pub. Grand Prix and both football games on TV, six pool tables, a lounge area where we watched Tottenham scrape a win and cracking food for a little over a fiver.

This passed the time very nicely and there were maybe even a few reluctant voices to be heard as we learned that the game would start at 3.30pm with a 29 overs game. However, once back in the ground the covers were still on. It was only really spitting and apart from a couple of slightly heavier downfalls during the day, the weather just kind of hung around.

Still raining

What to do next? We decided to venture around the local area but somehow as we walked past the Sportsman we ended up back inside. Plenty of games of pool followed and normally I am a good player but for some reason I couldn`t even pot a ball. Maybe too much Thatcher’s Cider.

The pub was in full flow now and I had pretty much forgotten about the cricket. A look outside revealed that it was clearing up slightly and a quick look at Cricinfo revealed the heartening news that there would be a 10 over game starting at 6PM. 

Quick rush back to the ground and lo and behold, there were the players warming up and heading onto the pitch. A few drunken shouts of “Come on Middlesex”, a few quizzical looks and hang on, what is this? The players are walking off and almost immediately the tannoy is on saying the game is off. I must admit that this left me slightly seething but looking back now, it might have been that damn Thatcher’s at fault once more. 

It seemed very strange to walk on and then walk straight off the pitch, almost staged in fact. However, it was very dark and it may just be that the players and umpires felt it wouldn`t have been safe to play in those conditions. 

The journey back was pretty drab but all in all an interesting day, albeit one with no cricket.