How about some of your experiences when youve actually gone to watch the action live?
My first and only time that i went to watch a game was during the 1996 World Cup when Pakistan played South Africa in Karachi (and lost) at the National Stadium. I wasn’t really a huge cricket fanatic and back then, like many, cricket fever caught up with me only during the world cups.
So i decided to brave the elements and ditched watching the game from the comfort of my living room sofa in exchange for checking out the action live. One of my class fellows (who also happens to be Hanif Mohammad’s nephew, and Sadiq Mohammad’s son) offered to get all of us (about 14-16 guys) a free ticket in the general stand. So yeah that was incentive right there.
So early in the morning i get up get ready and a friend of mine picks me up in his car. On the way we pick up about 8 more guys and all of us squish and mesh into his 600 cc Suzuki FX.
Once we got there we met up with the rest of the group and decided to get in line for the big day. Due to heavy security for the visiting team, every person entering the stadium was frisked by atleast fifteen different policemen. I had made some thought provoking banners and was quite proud of them too but the police confiscated them from me saying they could be used to kill someone. They didn’t tell me how. They were pretty strict with what went into the stadium. One of my friends’ brother got sort of hysteric because they wouldnt let him take that spray thingy (that asthama patients use) with him. So yeah we got into the stands bright and early and the crowds were just filling in.
Everybody had known that South Africa were a formidable side and were near impossible to beat. The fact was further confirmed when, practicing bowling near the stands, was Brian McMillan. He was trying to bowl a ball to a lone stump about 30 yards down. And he got it in the first try. 
Anyway so yeah the day started to progress. Morning cool turned into afternoon heat and with thousands of people breathing and yelling down at me the stand soon became a blaring inferno. At no point during the day could i keep track of the game because i couldnt see the scoreboard. So i only yelled when everyone yelled - which was pretty much throughout the day.
Before long came lunch and everyone went out of the stand to the food stalls to get refreshments etc. Amazingly the only thing they were selling was biryani and coke. There was a major fight going on at the biryani stand and i just managed to get in get the stuff and get out. Each plate of biryani was fifty rupees and i was stupid enough to buy five (for some friends too). Then i went back to join the ever so long lineup of people going back in. The lineup was there because everyone was being frisked again by the cops in order to go back in. While in the line i realized i hadnt bought pop so i asked the guy behind me to hold my place while i go get some. When i got to the coke stand i was informed theyre all out. So i walked back to the line and amazingly the guy who i had asked to hold my place was nowhere to be seen. Without thinking i just jumped in the middle of the line. Some people behind me let out a few groans but they didnt make a scene. I soon found out why. A cop had seen me jump the line. He came running towards me with a cane in his hand and down came his cane on my butt. Whack!!! ‘Oe pichay ja line may lag’ he seemed to yell as he got ready to bring down his cane on me once more as i jumped to save my life. As i tried to hold my butt with my hands trying to subdue the pain from the cane i noticed my wallet was missing from my back pocket! Amazing, someone had picked my pocket! Soon i just gave in to my luck and went back to get in what seemed like an hour long lineup.
Finally i got to the entrance where i was again frisked by a cop. There i was informed that i wasnt allowed to take the biryani inside. And while i was being told that, four guys walked past me carrying biryani enough to feed a whole army. I asked him why but he kept on repeating the biryani stays out. So i had no choice but to dump the biryani outside and go in hungry. It was only minutes later had i realized that mr cop was hoping for some compensation in order to use his authority to allow me to take the biryani inside. Oh well, too late.
I walked back to the stands and regrouped with my friends. They didnt ask what had happened, i didnt tell them what had happened. It was too loud to carry out a conversation anyway. Soon the evening session finished. Pakistan lost and South Africa won. A fact which would have been pretty saddening otherwise but seemed irrelevant in contrast of the events of the day.
We all left and gathered in the parking lot outside. From there somehow everyone dispersed and the guy who was supposed to drive me home somehow wasnt in the picture anymore. Ah, so it gets worse! Soon the whole place cleared up and not a soul was within sight except the cleaning staff. I was deserted in the middle of a distant part of town and had no idea where to go from there. I knew the aga khan univ hospital was close by so i walked up to there and see if i can get any help. Soon after asking a few people i figured out what bus(es) i would have to take to get to my place and then began the 2 hour long journey home (changing 3 buses).
I finally got home tired and beaten up and that is how my day, at the first and probably the last cricket match i experienced live, ended.
Oh and five days later someone called to let me know they found my wallet. Ofcourse my 2000 Rs worth eidi in it was nowhere to be found so i didnt bother to drive across town for a 20 rupee wallet. ‘You can keep it’ i told him.
… myself, Bhola, DesiMunda, Shehryaar, Muzna and others.
Great stuff Umar-T must be some fun yar, 
We were sitting on the grass - me, my sister, my mum, couple of aunties (no uncles!) and Razzaq was positioned on the field near us and I was shouting wierd things like “Razzaq, bohot achey lag rahey ho” 