Touch of the noble*The kids issued us with shopping lists while we were in Australia.
They wanted nothing very onerous or expensive — Lily asked for a few hundred Madura teabags, Redskins, Peppermint Crisps, the latest Panics CD, the new volume of Isobelle Carmody's The Obernewtyn Chronicles, and some eucalyptus oil.
Will wanted a pair of Aussie boardshorts and a cricket set. That's him, above, bowling to his delighted dad at the park yesterday.
Obviously, Will's out to persuade his mates about the joys of street cricket. And they're loving it! On Saturday, he had a big group down at the local park and they played for hours, much to the amusement of a family from India, and a New Zealander who was playing beach volleyball on the sand court in the corner.
It was a very, v-e-r-y informal game, with some weird deliveries ...
... and some great smashing hits. Justin, above, was a natural.
I was thrilled to see the Carmel Creek U-18 XI included a few bold girls who, like the boys, did their best with the eccentricities of bowling, after years and years of pitching baseballs and teeballs and softballs.
Will dressed for the occasion, in his red Queenslea House athletics top from his old school, Christ Church.
Trev, above, is clearly too much a rock star for this game. He's much more likely to end up on a stage than a cricket pitch, but he did a great job.
And this lad had the bat the wrong way, which led to hoots from the crowd.

* For the uninitiated, cricket — or criggit as it is called in Australia — is rather loftily known as 'the noble game'. I presume that this is because only toffs, the upper classes, the idle rich and those with private incomes had enough leisure time to indulge in playing and watching a game that can last five days.