As any readers of A Separate Life will know, I like to watch rugby internationals, Olympics and tennis. That’s about the extent of my sport watching on TV. Cricket last week was an aberration. One that was to be repeated tonight.
But that was only after we watched the Women’s Rugby World Cup. It is so wonderful to see women’s rugby finally getting recognition, to see these hard-working, strong, skilful and fast athletes be feted in a full stadium and with a national (and international, we hope) TV/online audience. So we settled in to watch the NZ team (known as the Black Ferns) play Wales in a quarter final (and win handsomely), then followed up watching the All Blacks (the equivalent men’s team) play Japan in Japan, where they gave a pretty dismal performance. It doesn’t upset me – in fact, I like to see the underdogs do well, and I take delight in being able to brush off a bad result! (I would hate to be a sore loser.) (Note: NZ won, but it was far too tight and a poor performance.)
Finally, we switched over to watch one of the Cricket 20-20 (short form cricket) World Cup matches. Fortunately, with judicious use of the rewind and fast forward buttons, we were able to enjoy the ups and downs of an international cricket match, without the interminable waits of a one-day match or a 5-day test match. And after a bad start, New Zealand won easily again. We’re not consistently a top-ranked cricket nation, so this was another delight.
Mali's Daily Delights 