FenceGate

England 314-9 declared
v Cricket Australia XI 151-4 declared
England 130-3 declared
Cricket Australia XI 269-8
Match Drawn

Two Day Tour Match

Played at Richardson Park Perth

Sunday 10 December 2017

443 Australian Beer Ticks

Firstly. Let's deal with the fence. Richardson Park is a simply appointed, no nonsense, functional Grade Level Cricket Oval in South Perth. Flat land. No stands. No raised grass banks. Some trees here and there. Shade to provide. I counted two park benches. Ground capacity therefore of Six. On a normal day. I'd imagine. It's a great place to watch Grade Cricket. Rock up. Get your picnic rug out. Get your folding chairs out. Parasols if needed. Only this is not a normal day. Because The Circus has come to town.

Someone has decided the playing area needs to be enclosed. By a fence. A sort of functional, white “picket fence”. As you mosey around, it's actually quite an attractive effort. But. If you whack your folding chair under a tree for respite from the sun. You can't see over (or even through) the new fence. You can stand. And you'll see. Stand. They're six hour days. Plus intervals. To stand in this heat.

Richardson Park has been improved. It now has an enclosed playing area. Which I'm sure passed the Security Risk Assessment of the ECB Security Team. Richardson Park has now been improved. That fence is awfully white & pristine. At Richardson Park, the Dogs can no longer see The Rabbits. Improved I tell ye.

That'll be partly on the advice of the ECB Security Team. You know them. The fellas who accompany the Team Piss Heads. On their nights out in Perth. For all your headbutting & pouring Ale over heads needs. Maybe you're putting the fence in the wrong fucking place.

Secondly. Let's deal with the in ground ale. Big hoo haa announcements recently about the New Perth Stadium serving local, smaller, maybe still vaguely independent Gage Roads beers. It looks like I've benefitted from the early spin off here in South Perth. There was a XXXX Gold bar. Dispensing Buffoon Juice. And a heavily branded Gage Roads bar on the other side. That effectively had two Gage Roads on. Narrow Neck (their 3.5% Session Pale). And. What I assume is their planned BJB - Buffoon Juice Buster. Called Alby Crisp Lager. For ticking & refreshment purposes, I had to have the Alby.

Some negotiation was able to set the game up. But, we may as well have it right. That was because England's bowlers lacked penetration. The CA XI were waved off at 151 for 4. Leaving the England batters 20 overs to have some crash, some bang & a hint of wallop. Taking one for the team. You can't enhance your Test Credentials in those circumstances. Moeen & Ballance shared 68 in 12 overs. All the maths left CA with 37 overs to have a go. The Mugs.

Welcome the second appearance of England bowlers lacking penetration and creating very few chances. The first wicket went at 152. Travis Dean was out for 100 off just 70 balls at 158-2. A good bit of humpty down the order as CA continued to go for it. Some inevitably perished in the deep. To rather flatter England falling only two wickets short.

I couldn't see much 'cause of that folding chair vs white fence juxtaposition. But, I sensed same old. Batters not grasping it & sticking their hand up. Bowlers lacking - penetration mainly, but mainly lacking.

The South Perth pre-match operational planning had taken place in The Windsor Hotel, South Perth. Usual vast, disconcerting, loud, multi room affair. But, stuff was out there if you persevered.

White Lakes Brewing, Standard on keg
Little Creatures, Elsie WA Ale on keg at 4.2%

Neither were quite what I expected. The White Lakes was a gentle amber bitter style. Some malt. But not much bitter. At first, I thought the Little Creatures was a Wit. On reflection it was probably a bit of everything. Summer, Wit, Steam. Fell between stools. But, came up nice & refreshing & citrus. A lot of wheat/wit coming through.

The between games days out revealed.
Over Board Cafe, Hillarys
Gage Roads Little Dove, New World Pale Ale from a bottle. Each bottle (certainly mine) proclaiming Dry Hopped & Unfiltered. That one was Orange & Hoppy upfront. Lots of flavour.

And. A lovely find. Taken there by relatives. Raffles Hotel Perth. I'm mad with myself. Because I didn't do a proper count up. I went;

Feral Brewing, BrewPub Series, Hop Hogan, American Strong Pale at 6.1%
Lovely. Thick n chewy. Nice near toffee sweetness. Into intense rich bitterness. Hits the spot.
Nail Brewing, Super VPA at 9%. That was billed as an Imperial IPA. It wasn't dark enough. Nor sweet enough. Nor enough of an ancient burn for that billing. Turning that 180. It was a lovely thick, flavourful Hoppy offering.

573/1209