OUR PLACE IN THE SUN !
- 15/5/2013 <--Prev : Next-->
Even the ice cream vendor was ecstatic! In fact he was so excited when Zimbabwe won, that he was dishing out free ice creams!!
It was just like the olden days when no one ever missed a cricket match at Queens.
Admittedly in those 'olden' days we used to have a fancy smancy hospitality box, and a marvelous view from three stories up, but the elegant shade of the gracious Natal Figs is just as pleasant a place to watch this most gentlemanly of sports.
It was mighty hard work though, I remember it well, catering for forty odd cricket fans with three flights of stairs to contend with.
Charlie and I would diligently lug, heave, shove, fillet steaks, borevors, rolls and all skottles, gas bottles and cooler boxes as well as all the drinking requirements, up and down those metal stairs, but we were younger then!!!
Some days we would do an elegant array of cold meats and salads, but the borrie rolls were always the cricket favourites.
These days it is a lot more satisfying to sit under the massive Natal Figs in a deck chair, cooler box at heel, with the winter sun gently caressing one's ankles!! Ah old age has its advantages !!
The two twenty twenty games against Bangladesh were a sheer delight. Zimbabwe cricket fans were there in their thousands and thankfully the school children were allowed in for free.
The atmosphere was tremendous, all races and creeds mingled together as one, with one intent - to see our team put up a great fight in a game that has always been very special in our land.
As for atmosphere, well the Drums of Peace were there in full strength adding a uniquely Zimbabwean touch. The weekend had a real carnival atmosphere, the biltong vendors were doing a roaring trade, vuvuzellas were heard everywhere, Zimbabwe flags were on sale and the food stands were flourishing.
The lads at Castle Corner were in fine form - (Bulawayo's equivalent of the Barmy Army), and all eyes were focused on the unique and rather antique score board, where intrepid youths risked life and limb to keep score for us with antics that included abseiling and acrobatics forty feet up in the air !!
To quote a well known Senator 'We are rebuilding cricket in Zimbabwe and we need support. Also this is more than just about cricket. The weekend's turn out shows that Bulawayo is a wonderful, vibrant place to live and we need to keep it that way'
Probably one of the most important aspects to cricket at Queens is that its two minutes from anywhere, parking is absolutely not a problem, and it takes you two minutes to get home after the game!!
So come on over next time there is cricket at Queens for free ice creams (maybe) and a memorable Bulawayo Day in the sun.
