It is in summer when the game of cricket grabs the Australian public�s imagination, and when Australians are more or less united in their sporting focus. In winter, people in Melbourne love Australian Rules Football, while people in Sydney fall for the Rugby League. Cricket in summer is however common to all states in Australia.

If you do not know what cricket is, here�s a quick primer. Cricket was invented in England in the 1800s. It is a bat (made from willow) and ball (red and made from leather) game played on a strip of 22 yards (66 ft) long pitch. There is the �wicket� on both ends (3 pieces of wooden stumps) that is to be defended by the batsman against the bowler who pitches the ball with a straight arm action. No throwing action is allowed by the bowler. The bowler usually �bowls� (pitches) the ball so that its bounce off the pitch against the batsman. Speeds up to 99 mph can be reached by fast-bowlers. The batman tries to hit the ball to make runs between ends, whilst the bowler and his fielders tries their best to dislodge the wickets. Each team comprises of 11 people, and one team initially will bat while the other team will bowl and field.

Past Australian cricket legends includes people like Don Bradman, Ray Lindwall, Dennis Lillee, Greg Chappell etc. Nobody in the world has been a better batsman than the Donald Bradman - �The Don�. (see picture, right) During the 1930s and 1940s, he dominated cricket and was to cricket what Babe Ruth has been to baseball or Pele has been to soccer.

Cricket spectator interest greatly centers on the Australian national cricket team in its traditional �Test Match� encounters against the England, West Indies, India, Pakistan and South Africa teams. It is Australia against England where it is like �war� with all the years of heritage animosity between the two. A Test Match normally takes five days (!) to complete, and even then it frequently finishes in a draw. To the unknowing observer, cricket�s tactical intrigue is less than evident. However, to keen cricket observers, it is like a religion. Radios blare the ball-by-ball commentary at the beach, pub discussions focus on the latest �catch in the slips� (i.e. how the fielders managed to get the batsman out with a spectacular catch of the ball), cricket receives daylong TV coverages�making armchair experts of millions of Aussies.

Lovers of cricket say that there are few greater sporting moments than to experience the opening first �over� (first 6 balls) of an England vs. Australia Test match before a capacity 90,000 crowds at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. A Test Match is never as boring as described when it is attended live: the combination of sun, partisan passion and beer can make cricket crowds boisterous, humorous and sometimes downright dangerous!

If the traditional five day Test Matches are too much, there is the modern entertaining �limited-over� or �one-day� games. As the name implies, these are more wham-bam affairs created for adrenaline rushes with their tension and drama. These games often begin in the afternoon and continue into the evening under floodlights! Instead of the bland white that players wear in traditional test matches, players wear much more colourful uniforms.