Unlike when the presale began, today when the MCG Ashes tickets sale got underway, I was in pole position. I had awoken early to beat any possible crowds, and made my way down to the Ticketmaster office. I had started a queue at 8:20am, 40 minutes before opening time. Living in Newcastle, some 10 hours drive from Melbourne, I guess I shouldn't have been surprised about being the only person there. Pulling out a list of questions, I waited for someone else to show up.
At 8:35 I was joined by a lady named Nuatali. Nuatali was here to purchase 2 tickets on behalf of herself and a friend who is currently in America. About 5 minutes after Nuatali's arival, we were joined by a middle aged gent named Andrew, and when I was beginning to think it was going to be just the three of us, a young man named Matthew arrived. With time to spare before the doors opened, I started my poll.
Ken: Who's your favourite cricketer?
Nuatali: My favourite cricket is Shane Warne. Warnie is hysterical. He's just funny. My friends don't get it, but I think he's a riot.
Andrew: Mark Waugh. A great fielder, and one of the classiest batsmen I ever saw. Elegant, and always entertaining.
Matthew: Steve Waugh, Mr Reliable.
Ken: What is your favourite cricketing moment?
Nuatali: When the guy with the dark hair won the game for Australia.. What's his name? Yea! Michael Bevan! That was great!
Andrew: Well it's not my favourite moment, but it's the one that always sticks out in my mind most: when Craig McDermott and Alan Border fell 2 runs short in the run chase at the MCG. Whenever anyone asks me for a cricketing moment, that's the one I think of.
Matthew: When Steve Waugh got his century off the last ball at the SCG before the end of the day. I was there, and it was great.
Ken: How often do you attend to Test matches?
Nuatali: This is my first time. My friend goes every year, which is why I'm here lining up. I'm so nervous, she'll kill me if I don't get tickets!
Andrew: I go to the Brisbane Test every year, and have done for the last 20 years.
Matthew: I try to go to one Test in Sydney every year.
Ken: Did you order any of the pre-release tickets offered to members of the Australian Cricket Family? If so, why are you lining up today? If not, why not?
Nuatali: I didn't find out about the Australian Cricket Family until two days after the SCG game sold out. Then, when the final round of tickets went on sale, I lined up at the wrong place, Ticketmaster, not Ticketek! (Sales for the Sydney Test were held by Ticketek, for Melbourne by Ticketmaster.)
Andrew: My friends and I got tickets for day 1 and day 2 for the GABBA in the presale, and then yesterday we got two more tickets as well. All of the tickets we got for the Brisbane game were duds, so I thought I'd try my luck for the Melbourne Test.
Matthew: I didn't try to get tickets in the presale because a friend was going to get some through a contact. That fell through, so now here I am!
Ken: What tickets do you hope to get today?
Nuatali: 2 Platinum tickets hopefully, for Boxing Day.
Andrew: Anything on Boxing Day.
Matthew: Any tickets. I'm not fussy.
Ken: What is your Ashes prediction?
Nuatali: 4-1 to Australia!
Andrew: 3-1 to Australia, with 1 hard fought draw.
Matthew: 4-0 to Australia.
As I put my pen & notepad away, the doors to Ticketmaster opened. Hurrying toward the desk, we were told there were no tickets available for day 1. "The best 2 tickets you can give me for day 2 then please" was my reply. Seconds later I was holding 2 tickets for the MCG, I was over a hundred dollars poorer, and I'd been none-to-subtly shoved out of the way by Nuatali. When finally I stopped to actually check and see what the "best tickets available" had been, I had to laugh. Somewhere in the top of the MCG you'll find me, oxygen tank under one arm, esky under the other. There's nothing quite like a bird's eye view.
As for the brief survey, well, I know it doesn't mean all that much. But perhaps it gives insight into the sort of people that will wait 40 minutes in the cold of a winter's morning to get seats right at the back of an event one thousand kilometers away. The Boxing Day Test is the Mecca of Australian sport, and this year I make my pilgrimage.
