When I started planning this journey around Australia I had noticed that the last weekend of my time here would coincide with the third test of Australia’s three match test series against South Africa.  This was to be the second day/night test in Australia, with play starting after lunch and continuing into the evening under lights.  The first day/night test had been played at the Adelaide Oval and had been a thrilling, if short, encounter between Australia and New Zealand, with Australia scraping home thanks to a controversial (read incorrect) decision by the TV umpire.  The day/night test against the Proteas was also being played in Adelaide and I had planned my trip so as to arrive in Adelaide for that weekend and spend a couple of days watching the cricket.  James had, very kindly indeed, arranged for me to go with one of his neighbours, who was a member of the Adelaide Oval.

Before the cricket, Andrew, who was my host at Metro, had arranged for me to play golf at Glenelg with his cousin David.  As I was going to the cricket and David had a lunch in Adelaide, we had agreed to play early, though, as it turned out, there was some confusion as to exactly when!  I arrived at 6.30, believing for some reason that we had agreed a 6.45 tee time.  In fact we had agreed 6.30, so I changed my shoes and hit off.

David is a recently retired customs investigator and we were playing with his friend Grant.  Glenelg is immediately south of Adelaide airport and one of the better Adelaide clubs (and courses), built on red sandy soil.  It’s a smallish property, so the course is tighter than many of those I had played on this trip and asks a lot off the tee.  As it happened, I didn’t drive it badly and enjoyed the round a lot.  It’s another course where greens aren’t easy to hit in the right place and I noted again that I am yet to play in Australia with a bad bunker player.

A fairly typical approach shot at Glenelg

After a quick coffee I dropped David off in the city for his lunch (an annual affair with former colleagues, I think he was expecting a long one!) and met James (who had been playing a match that morning at Royal Adelaide) at the airport, where I dropped my hire car off.  We had a bit of time before the cricket, so James took me to show me the coast.  Adelaide runs north/south as a city and has miles of beaches.

We then headed back into the city, where James dropped me off near the Adelaide Oval.  What I have seen of Adelaide so far has impressed me.  It is a very planned city, based on a US style grid, but the centre has a lot of open (and at this time of year very green) space.  The Oval is located near one of two municipal golf courses located centrally.

Like both the SCG and MCG the Adelaide Oval is a very modern and impressive stadium.  Again, like both of those, the development has been done with at least a nod to history.  At the SCG, the old pavillion has been preserved.  At the MCG the members area has been fitted with more than a nod to tradition.  At the Adelaide Oval the famous old scoreboard has been kept at the North End, which remains open, showing views of the city and features the famous Hill, though rather sadly that area is now seated, rather than being the grass slope it used to be.

Although built at different times, the Oval is a coherent and attractive structure.  From outside a feel for the design starts to develop:

I was early and had a stroll around the members area, from where I was able to get a good feel for the ground.

The Oval operates a system where members and guests can, on arrival, find a seat and reserve it.  James’ neighbour Brenton, who had let me use his second ticket, had arrived early and reserved excellent seats, just behind the bowler’s arm at the South End.  We were there for the second day of the final test of a three match series which Australia had already lost, performing dreadfully in the first two matches.  It had been fun to be in Australia at a time of widespread hand-wringing about the state of Australian cricket.  After two utterly limp performances and two shocking batting collapses (in the second test Australia had limped to 85 all out, having threatened to under-perform last year’s abject performance at Trent Bridge, there had been 6 changes to the squad for this match, with a number of younger players given their chance.

On day 1, South Africa had batted and their captain, Faf du Plessis, a pantomime villain over here after being caught using a mint to shine the ball in the second test, had made a hundred before declaring on 259-9 in order to have a bowl under lights at a time when the experienced Aussie opener David Warner was unavailable to bat having taken time off the field for injury.  Australian debutant Matt Renshaw (born in Middlesboro, great to see an Englishman helping the Aussies out) and makeshift opener Usman Khawaja had batted really well in testing conditions to survive a challenging period against the new ball.

On the second day we got to see an excellent innings from Khawaja, who went on to make a very good hundred, a very good one from Aussie captain Steve Smith, ended by a silly run out, and a skittish and unconvincing 50 from debutant Peter Handscomb.  A proper day’s test cricket.

At the Oval there is a large area behind the West Stand with bars and food outlets which was very busy throughout.  Several people told me that many people may come to the game and spend the entire time “out the back”, not seeing a ball bowled.  There were certainly a number of reserved seats in front of us which didn’t get much use!  The crowd swelled in the evening, reaching nearly 38,000.  I was impressed by how well the lights worked.  It does seem that the ball may move around a bit more than usual in the evening, against that the first, afternoon session, seems a good time to bat.  In England the morning session can be the hardest time to bat, I don’t see a problem with palying at a time that makes the last seeion slightly harder, so long as it is fair.  Certainly the experience of watching under lights, in a pretty full ground, was a very good one.

The old (and new) scoreboard at the Cathedral end as night arrives

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