Wed 14 February 2007 - The Village Green
We don’t have the Village Green anymore, but many Australian suburbs do have this: a local cricket oval.
In summer the local cricket club will be in residence. About every fortnight there’ll be a game on. I’m not skilled enough to tell who are the locals and who are the visitors, but they frequently show just as much enthusiasm as their well-paid counterparts playing international matches. (”Howzaaaaaaaat?!”)
At some point in the autumn they’ll vacate to let the footy club move in — there might be some overlap in the players. (They seem to have left the football goals in place over summer here.)
I assume in rugby-playing states they have a more equal balance of rugby pitches and cricket ovals, though even here in AFL-loving Victoria, there’s a few rectangular pitches for rugby and soccer around.