There's two things that make me feel like a young schoolboy again - cricket nets, and getting hit with a cane by an old man in suspenders.
After joining a local cricket club (aptly named The Dregs), we've been training mid-week at the nets at North Sydney Boys High School - after the kids have cleared out for the day, of course. Net hire is a pittance, and while there's only two nets the astroturf is in good condition and the nets are as wide as the day is long, allowing batsmen to open the shoulders up and go for full-blooded shots. Hell, you can dance down the wicket and try and loft one out of the nets and onto the roof of the gymnasium if you like, although you'll have to pick the hole in roof of the chain-link fencing which is tougher than you might imagine.
And while you're slinging down a bit of chin music you can laugh at the dudes playing tennis AKA suckball on the concrete courts next to you. Pfft, losers. read more