"The drive to Bowral in New South Wales takes you through some of Australia's most English countryside. Pastoral hills roll right up to the roadside and finish in grassy verges, flecked with yellow and white wildflowers. Alliums stand sentinel around vibrant lawns. Even the eucalypts are cosplaying as beech and oaks. You might be in Hampshire, if it weren't for the dazzling sun. Just a few roads from the high street storefronts full of fancy cookware and country casuals is the Bradman Oval."
"This small ground, with its pre-loved outfield, has become a pilgrimage stop for the Australian cricketing faithful. Head out to the middle and you're walking across the sacred turf where Sir Don honed his skills. Stand at the crease, look past the white picket fence, and you can see the family homes where he grew from boy to man, on Shepherd Street and Glebe Street respectively. The village feel gives the ground a surprising charm and familiarity especially to the England fan."
Bowral and surrounding New South Wales countryside resemble an English rural landscape, with pastoral hills, grassy verges and ornamental plantings beside eucalypts. The Bradman Oval sits close to high street storefronts and family homes, attracting visitors who tread the turf where Don Bradman practiced. The ground’s village setting offers charm and familiarity. Travel across several Australian states reveals cricket as a pervasive summer pastime and cultural glue, from intimate club post-match gatherings to park and pub conversations. Solo travel repeatedly encountered welcoming cricket communities, including a warm Wudinna Cricket Club hang that replaced an expected lonesome motel evening.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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