Once upon a time, in a land not so far away and a dress two sizes smaller I happened by a stroke of luck to find myself working for a company who, for some bizarre reason, wanted to send me to work in Australia for a month. Easily excitable and perhaps a little naive, I hopped on a plan at the drop of a hat and found myself landing in Sydney without a clue and working with a group of strangers I’d never met before.
It wasn’t quite the free ride I had thought it would be. While I got to sample the night life of Sydney I worked day in and out to pay my way. However, I met the most amazing people who, even though they may not know it, played a role in my becoming who I am today. In all I had four Sundays in the City, nearly all of which were spent sitting on Circular Quay listening to the jazz bands play. I know, I know, poor me and yes, that is the sound of the smallest violin in the world.
Despite all the work and little of the play, I fell in love with the City and have ranted about Sydney for almost the past 7 years and I now have the chance to go back and experience Sydney the way it should be seen. Therefore I am enlisting your help.
So as I mentioned, the wonderfully smart, funny, sexy, brilliant and kind people (that should do it) at New South Wales Tourism and 1000 Heads want to send some of the blogging community to Sydney and over the next 6 weeks will be setting challenges ranging from sports to fashion to travel.
This weeks challenge revolves around sport, cricket to be specific, Aussie related sports to be less so. The aim is to devise a game which incorporate different aspects of the sports. There are no limits and we are assured that creativity is rewarded.
Here’s one they made earlier:
“Sydney Cricket is a simple game you can play anywhere. All you need to get started is a coin and an idea of the rules, which can be altered to suit any situation.
If you have the chance to mock up a board that’s bonza, or if you just want to make use of beer mats, match sticks or anything else you can lay your hands on then that works too!”
Sydney Cricket – the 1000heads version
Players agree amongst themselves the number of overs that are to be played – each over giving the player six attempts at scoring ‘runs’ (much like real cricket). Once agreed, players take it in turns to spin their coin on the playing surface and attempt to score runs. The classic version uses the board below, with players spinning from the centre circle and scoring runs by landing their coin within the rings. If your coin finishes up off the board though, you’re out… Howzat!
NB: If a coin lands between two rings, an umpire’s decision must be sought on where the majority of the coin lies and runs awarded accordingly.
Variant 3 – Sydney Roulette
A new board is used, with ‘RUN’ on one half, and ‘OUT’ on the other. Each player takes turns to keep spinning for as many goes as they dare. You can declare with a score at any time, but if you land on ‘OUT’ you end up with nothing.
Variant 4 – Bar Edition
Not got a board, but want to play Sydney Cricket? Don’t worry – you can build a board at any time from what you find around you. Say you’re in a bar, why not create a boundary of beer mats? If you stay within the boundary, no runs, but you get another go. Outside the boundary, a run. If you touch the beer mat however, you’re out!
Get it?
Ultimately, on a night out in London after a long day in a bar, we settled on the Bar Edition of the game and we all know how that ends.
But now it’s my turn. I was thinking something along the lines of Boomerang Rugby involving a boomerang and variant on Tag-Rugby Rules but it seems a little hokey. Wicke’d Cricket, think Cricket/Rounders meets strip Poker.
I am thinking of the rules for the above ideas but suggestions are more than welcome.
