Great Britain 2022 – July 16 & 17 Liverpool and Manchester
On Saturday, we left the Lake District and drove South to Liverpool, where we toured Anfield, Liverpool Football Club’s stadium. We put this on the itinerary because Jack is a huge Liverpool Football Club fan. Having watched Liverpool play at Anfield so often on TV, it was a treat to tour the stadium.
After our visit to Liverpool, we drove the short distance east to Manchester. Carter is a huge Manchester United Football Club fan. But that is not the reason we visited Manchester. A One Day International (ODI) cricket match was being played at Old Trafford (the third oldest cricket field in England) on Sunday between India and England. And Jack and Carter, who now play cricket in a league in Richmond, wanted to watch this important match. So Carter secured tickets for the match months in advance.
For those who are not familiar with the game of cricket, it may be the most popular sport in the world and will be added to the next summer Olympics. The ball used is similar to a baseball, but is harder and heavier. But what amazes me is that the players catch this ball with no gloves! Makes baseball players look like sissies.
Cricket is played with two teams of 11 players each. Each team takes turns batting and playing the field, as in baseball. In cricket, the batter is a batsman and the pitcher is a bowler. The bowler tries to knock down the bail of the wicket. A batsman tries to prevent the bowler from hitting the wicket by hitting the ball. Two batsmen are on the pitch at the same time.
Before spending most of Sunday in Manchester watching the England and Indian National teams play cricket, we spent Saturday evening celebrating Carter’s Birthday by going to an Irish Pub, enjoying a birthday dinner at a fancy steakhouse, and ending the evening well past midnight enjoying cocktails at the sky bar at our hotel overlooking Manchester. Manchester was very busy Saturday night with lots of people out on the streets.
