The Couch Cup

[khiemtran]

Competitive grass growing is one of many sports first popularized by the British, who soon found themselves getting thrashed at it by other nations. As you can see, the sport still has a strong following here in Australia, and, indeed, throughout the Commonwealth; even though there has been a great decline since the 50s.


This is Day Three of the Couch Cup, the biennial challenge between Australia and England. Australia won the toss and elected to seed on the lee side; and the crowd is waiting anxiously for the first tips. Traditionally, the Couch Cup battles have come down to a battle between Northern Hemisphere couch and Southern Hemisphere kikuyu, but there has been renewed interest lately in Australia in the once controversial desert-adapted spinifex. Since this is a home fixture, the Australian curator has opted for soil from the Great Sandy Desert; which the English sowers have always traditionally struggled on.

It will be interesting to see if this sport can survive in the professional era, especially with the perils of match-fixing and the demands of modern media. The other big transformation is the shift of the balance of power to the subcontinent, now that the revenue from Indian media rights is dwarfing the dwindling money available to the the AGGB and the All-England Lawn Club.

Comments

[heleninwales.livejournal.com]

British Home Internationals are, naturally, much faster paced that the games you're probably used to watching. Matches can be decided in as little as a day during a warm wet May or June. But as you say, British players, especially the Welsh and the Irish, always struggle in the unfamiliar dry weather when playing away.

[carl-allery.livejournal.com]

Although of course where the British really excel is in the endurance events. If you read the biographies of that great Gaulish traveller, Asterix, he makes it quite clear that the Brits evaluated the sport of grass-growing in centuries long before cricket was invented. Though they also favoured the single-grass-blade sickle back then and now we've succumbed to the modern fad for trimming the sward with scythes - even some of those new-fangled adjustable continental ones. I'm also a bit concerned about the presence of aritificial lighting around that circle ...

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

I'm also a bit concerned about the presence of aritificial lighting around that circle ...
Yes, you have to wonder where it will all end, don't you? Although the night game has been quite popular for getting in the crowds after work.

Did you see that news article about the Grass Circles at Lords and Headingley being dated back to the paleolithic? I like the theory that the standing stones at Stonehenge actually read "Keep Off the Grass!"

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

Yes, and did you ever see that famous Two Hour Test in Colombo where they played in the monsoon and it was over in the first session? I couldn't believe it when I tuned in a few minutes late and it was already first tips! I still remember one match in Melbourne in the eighties which took twenty days because it was the middle of a drought.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

In the US, doping scandals in professional grass growing is a huge problem, with all too many surreally verdant lawns clearly showing, after testing, the presence of banned or dangerous substances.

I'm glad to see Australia has been training up naturally competitive strains!

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

In the US, doping scandals in professional grass growing is a huge problem, with all too many surreally verdant lawns clearly showing, after testing, the presence of banned or dangerous substances.

Yes, I hope they manage to weed it out.

Spinifex was also actually considered cheating not too long ago, leading to the famous "That's not a lawn!" clash between England and Australia.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

I do think the "That's not a lawn" crowd had a point when it came to the clearly spurious claims that prickly-pear cactus comprises a grass, viz, the prickly-pear lawn:

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

Yes, I'm with them on that one! Although they would be quite at home in the South American game. There is actually a small Cacti and Succulent league here in Australia, but its following is quite small compared with the more traditional lawn growing.

[zeborah]

Of course Australia has quite a history of, ahem, stretching the rules, see also the notorious underarm sowing incident of the 1981 match against New Zealand.

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

Yes, I'm pretty sure *that* won't get forgotten for a while. Particularly on your side of the Tasman...