Cup Match

After being here close to a year I've realised that Bermuda has its fair share of drawbacks, but how can you fault a country that declares two public holidays for a cricket match?
Cup Match takes place on the first Thursday and Friday of August and the only thing people and the press talk about for the week leading up to it is cricket and crown and anchor. The match is played between St George and Somerset Cricket Clubs (essentially East vs West) and has been contested for over 100 years. Somehow the game celebrates the abolition of slavery too, but I don't quite get the connection there.

The ground was absolutely packed, with scaffolding erected around most of the ground to ensure enough seats for everyone. Probably an accident waiting to happen but great for the atmosphere.

The game was quite different to cricket back home - I was there for about 40 overs and during that time Somerset scored at close to 10 an over - it's all about hitting the ball with technique and patience seeming to come a distant second and third.

Two batsmen reached 50 while I was there and I was amazed to see the field stormed by hundreds of kids - each not only congratulating the batsman for his achievement but also filling his pockets with money collected from the crowd. One of the guy's wife works with me at the Bank and she said he was given over $800 in this way. Unbelievable but great to see.
The other highlight of Cup Match is that it's the only time that gambling is permitted on the Island - and only in the form of 'crown and anchor'. It's a pretty simple dice game - three dice are shaken, each with clubs, spades, diamonds, hearts, anchor and crown on a side. You place your bet on a suit and if one dice shows that suit you double your money, two dice triple your money and three dice quadruple your money. So behind one stand was a huge tent with probably a dozen tables of crown and anchor - each table apparently costing $10k for the permit. This is actually quite a bargain because each game only takes about 30 seconds (bet, shake dice, pay or collect money) and on each roll the table would make hundreds of dollars. Incredible to see so much money thrown away so quickly. Played a few rounds to give it a go but blackjack's definitely still my game of choice.