World Cup, Tasmania

When the Cricket World Cup draw was released I knew this was the game I would bring Liam to. Ever since he was a small boy he’s had a fascination with Scotland; fair, given we are of Scottish heritage. More recently, he just can’t get enough of Braveheart! Therefore Australia versus Scotland in Hobart was to be the planned father/son trip with Liam.

A few years ago we attended the Highland Games in Aberdeen, NSW. On display were an array of peculiar but excellent athletic events but most popular for the boys were the clan displays and the weaponry. Quite the enjoyable weekend and one that Liam particularly loved.

We’d been dressing up for the World Cup matches (see previous posts) but for this match we decided to go all out. We’d donned the cricket world cup jerseys, dabbled with face paint in Melbourne, upped the ante in Brisbane, so we took it to the next level and ordered a couple sets of Aussie tartan…

As we had done with previous World Cup trips, we turned it into a long weekend. Liam is my academic child, having landed in Hobart we grabbed a car and drove down to Port Arthur. After Australia’s worst massacre back in 1996 I suppose I had always wondered what the scene was like. Further, it is a historic site and I knew Liam would enjoy a tour.

We took our time, stopping for lunch in Eaglehawk Neck because, well, it’s a kickass name. We visited Doo Town, because that’s what you doo before finally heading over to the Port. And what a great idea. We enjoyed the guided tour (Liam was selected as a prop for a story), grabbed a harbour cruise, the additional tour of the isle of the dead (spooky, eerie, cool) and a sneaky out of bounds run into a tower for a cheeky selfie. Not done there, we then visited the nearby Tasmanian Tiger wildlife park to learn about these crazy animals and watch some feeding.

Come match day, we woke to a brisk Hobart morning, attended the Salamanca markets before taking a water taxi over to Bellerive. This was a match Australia was heavily favoured to win and a match that promised a potential record score. That was until our loss to New Zealand and the looming rain clouds forcing the Australian’s to play tactical. Winning the toss we sent Scotland in to bat, much to the chagrin of the gathering crowd.

There were Scots at the ground and there were obviously plenty of Australians, but not too many Australians wearing a hybrid costume. Thus we were quickly picked up and interviewed by a number of local papers. Great fun to feel like superstars for a short while and great fun to agree to yet another reporter to answer questions and pose for photos. The Hobart Mercury would run a great article for the Sunday paper and provide the photo as seen in the cover of this post (which I purchased).

Liam has two heroes; Glenn Maxwell and Mitchell Starc. He was able to see Maxwell score his first hundred in Sydney so it was only fair he might see Starc perform well in Hobart. And go well he did, spearheading the attack with 4-wickets to see Scotland bundled for 130. I think most fans would have rather seen Australia bat and put up 300+ but the tactical choice was probably the right choice as rain intervened.

In a reshuffled order, Warner and Faulkner came on after the break to smash the required runs before the rains came again and ensure the crucial two points were gathered. A showdown with Pakistan looking more and more likely for the Quarter Final and not meeting New Zealand in New Zealand in the Semi the primary focus.

We wrapped up our weekend with a beautiful breakfast by the beach on the Sunday morning, where we were delighted to discover a lovely write up in the Mercury. Liam was quoted talking about his favourite player whilst the Mercury did a spot on my World Cup travels across Australia. Very cool.

After a lengthy and filling breakfast we drove to the top of Mt Wellington to see Hobart from on high. While we were up there it started snowing (in March!) before we returned to sea level to tour a number of small towns in and around Hobart, until our evening flight.

What a weekend and what a (expected) performance by the Australians.

I can’t wait to go back to Tasmania.

Scorecard: http://www.espncricinfo.com/icc-cricket-world-cup-2015/engine/match/656435.html
Match Report: http://www.espncricinfo.com/icc-cricket-world-cup-2015/content/story/839693.html