Wimbledon Tennis

Okay, after a long week of bid writing, I was aptly persuaded by members of my staff to slow down long enough to remember where I am living ... Wimbledon. And right now, we are in the middle of a little tennis tournament that has been around since 1877. But of course, before I could go, I had to have an adventure.

I bought my ticket on-line on Thursday for Friday's games which were round 3. The place that I bought the ticket from called and said they were going to have it delivered to my billing address before 9:00 am on Friday by special post delivery; could I call and confirm that. I called them back and told them that at 900 am on Friday, I would be in Mayfair and let's have the ticket delivered there. Never heard from them. I called the place Friday morning, of course they were busy and never go my message, so they sent the ticket to my home/billing address. I made my way back to the house to pick up the notice from the Post Office ... that my special delivery would be available in 48 hours from the dispatch station. Nice. I walked to the dispatch station ... yeah, that hasn't come in yet. I said, "yeah but it's a ticket for today's game"! The guy gave me the number of Bobby, who owns the drivers for my postal code; but that's all he could do. I called Bobby; as it turns out, I was standing outside of the building he works and he had the package. He'd bring it right down. Got it!

So, back up the hill to the Village to follow the pilgrimage of fans that were walking to the Courts.

The big news at Wimbledon this year is that they put a roof on Centre Court of the All England Lawn Tennis Club [aka Wimbledon]. For the first time, rain may not have an impact on what happens in Centre Court [I have to mention that we are one week into the two week tournament and so far, no rain.].

All-in-all on the grounds there are 19 courts. Centre Court seats about 15,000. Court No. 1 seats about 5,000, I think. Court No. 2 is known as the 'graveyard of champions' and seats about 4,000. It has a sunken playing surface, 3.5 metres so that the outside structure does not dominated the skyline with concrete.

The whole experience is very formal that has been rehearsed. The referee waits for the players and administers the coin toss. Around the referee's station are hidden water bottles for the ball boys & girls. There is a refrigerator with water bottles for the players. The runners are responsible for taking care of the players and keeping court clear of stray balls. They have place to squat in the runner's position on either side of the net. There are only ever six balls on the court at a time. The referee calls for ball changes and there is a routine to taking the worn balls out and the placing the new balls in play. The ball boys and girls are responsible for getting the strays back to the ball boy or girl that is at the end of the court with the player. To show the player that you have a ball, the ball boy or girl stand at attention facing the player with the ball in their right hand and had fully extended over his or head. To show the player that they don't have any balls, the ball boy or girl stands at attention facing the player with arms extended fully at his or her side with palms up.

I got to Wimbledon at about 1 o'clock and the games I was watching were set to begin at 1:15. Perfect! I had tickets in Court 1, Southwest corner. As it turns out, they were perfect! The sun was not in my eyes and I was sitting in the shade!

First match: Regina Kulikova [RUS] v Elena Dementieva [No. 4, RUS]. Since I don't follow tennis, I have no idea whether or not I am seeing a good match or not. Elena Dementieva is the gold medalist in the Beijing Olympics, and she will be in the London 2012 games. She was very good and won the match, 6:1, 6:2. The whole thing lasted less than an hour.

After this match, I ducked out for some lunch and champagne. Had to be done. I had access to the Debenture Lounge, so while I was eating, I was watching some of the doubles play out the window.

The ushers at the court are the men and women from the UK military services. They are responsible for keeping the crowd quiet [which seemed to get more difficult as the day wore on] and seated. They let people in or out of their seats only between games. Otherwise, you sit in the shade under the seats and watch the match on a television until a game finishes and you can return to your seat.

Second match: Ivo Karlovic [No. 22, CRO] v Jo-Wilfried Tsonga [No. 9, FRA]. Karlovic hit 46 aces and never faced a single break point through four tight sets, eventually putting together a 7-6 (5), 6-7 (5), 7-5, 7-6 (5) victory over Tsonga to reach the fourth round at a Grand Slam tournament for the first time since 2004. This is Tsonga serving. These guys hit 140 mph on some of their serves.

The line judges are also very formal and well-rehearsed. They wear khaki trousers or long skirts for the women, a blue shirt with white collar and navy tie, a cap, sunglasses and a navy jacket with white trim. In all, there are nine, three on three sides. If one of line judges has his or her jacket on or off on one side, then they all do. When the serve is about to happen, they all lean over at the waist, together. And I decided that the most dangerous job is the one on the receiving side of the serve watching the middle line. Not only do you have to call if the ball is foul, but when player doesn't return the serve, 50% of the time the ball is coming right at your head ... which might be the reason to bend over at the waist!

Third match: Tommy Haas [No. 24, GER] v Marin Cilic [No. 11, CRO]. This has been branded as the best match of the tournament through yesterday. Suspended by Darkness, after 4 hours of play, No. 11 Marin Cilic and No. 24 Tommy Haas were tied 6-6 in the fifth set which ended at 9:30 Friday night. Tommy Haas beat Marin Cilic 7-5 7-5 1-6 6-7(3) 10-8 20 [on Saturday].

Twenty-20 Cricket World Cup 2009, London

London is hosting the Twenty-20 Cricket World Cup tournament at the Oval. I went to my first cricket match on Tuesday evening and now have a walking around understanding of the game.

First, let's talk about The Oval. The stadium is owned by the Duchy of Cornwall [aka Prince of Wales, Charles]. Surrey County Cricket Club was set up in 1845. The Duchy was willing to grant a lease of the land for the purpose of a cricket ground, and, on 10 March 1845, the Club signed a lease with the Otter Trustees, who held the land from the Duchy of Cornwall, 'to convert it into a subscription Cricket Ground', for 31 years at a rent of £120 per annum plus taxes (£20 more).

The current pavilion was completed in time for the 1898 season. The stadium seats 23,500.

How do you play cricket?

Cricket is a bat-and-ball team sport that is first documented as being played in southern England in the 16th century. By the end of the 18th century, cricket had developed to the point where it had become the national sport of England. The expansion of the British Empire led to cricket being played overseas and by the mid-19th century the first international matches were being held. Today, the sport is played in more than 100 countries.

The rules of the game are known as the Laws of Cricket. These are maintained by the International Cricket Council (ICC), the governing body of cricket, and the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), the club that has been the guardian of the Laws since it was founded in 1787.

A cricket match is played on a cricket field at the centre of which is a pitch. The match is contested between two teams of eleven players each.

In cricket, one team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible without being dismissed ("out") while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the other team’s batsmen and limit any runs being scored.

An over is a set of six consecutive balls bowled in succession. An over is normally bowled by a single bowler. However, in the event of injury preventing a bowler from completing an over, it shall be completed by a teammate. An over consists of six legal deliveries. No balls [illegal delivery] and wides [a "ball" in baseball] do not count toward the six-ball tally. The captain of the fielding team decides which bowler will bowl any given over (subject to the restriction that no bowler may bowl two overs in succession).

The batters are encouraged by the crowd to "hit for six" [a home run in baseball] where the ball goes over the outer boundary without bouncing. The wall is only about six [6] inches high and the home run counts for six [6] runs. If the ball makes it to the wall with a bounce and without interference from a fielder it counts for four [4] runs.

When the batting team has used all its available overs or has no remaining batsmen, the roles become reversed and it is now the fielding team’s turn to bat and try to outscore the opposition. This is when the game got fun.

There are several variations in the length of a game of cricket. In professional cricket this ranges from a limit of 20 overs per side, Limited Overs Cricket, to a game played over 5 days, Test cricket. Depending on the length of the game being played, there are different rules that govern how a game is won, lost, drawn or tied.

I went to a twenty-20 game between New Zealand and South Africa. The game was decided on the last bowl where New Zealand was behind by 3. They run for 3 and tie or hit the edge of the field for 4 and win. The ball was fielded well and they only scored 2 and lost the game by one run.