Where To Watch The Match

cricket

Photo by Simon Leischke

Watched the match at Bayleaf. Was lovely last time but this time was notsomuch. The match, of course, has to be watched with people. Then there is beer, and food, and television and sound. Not that hard to manage, and lucrative. Bayleaf charged a Rs 1500 minimum at the door – an amount you could charge against your bill. Very steep, but what makes it worse is that it was impossible to spend the damn paper tokens. Waiters had no cash to motivate them and the billing procedure was draconian. The end result being a bunch of sober and hungry people. Like the place, but don’t think I’ll go back again. Which makes me wonder where to go. All the various cricket clubs seem cool, but some are members only. There’s also the public Parliament, Cheers (retch) and the car radio. What to do.Bayleaf

To elaborate, the Bayleaf thing was a fiasco. Expensive is fine, but getting value for money was impossible. Granted, there were a hundred odd people to serve, but they had cash in hand. You had to spend 1500 in one shot, or deal with endless running around of receipts. The dude working the till was also going overtime. The end result was that food and drink took forever to arrive, if it arrived at all. They should have just had an open bar and Kottu for 1500, or the usual cash economy. This shit was nowhere in between. I normally tip at open bars, but my friends recoiled at ‘bribing’ the help. But you have to. A fistful of hundreds and you can get some service, and they get some value for their time.

I enjoyed the match anyways, but I missed big chunks of it hunting and gathering.

CH

My boss said he went to CH and it was great, cash economy and food for like 200+. Big screen good crowd. I nodded, but I don’t really know what CH stands for.

Clubs – CR&FC, Nondescripts, SSC, etc

I don’t know how this stuff works and I’d appreciate any hints. Are they free or what? Most of them have space outside, which I think is the only place to watch the game. Seems like the target audience as well.

Clubs – Cheers, Tabu, Cricket Club

I think Cheers is very Bourgeois and watching a cricket game inside kinda nauseates me, but it is very hot outside. I’m assuming they have cover and cash bar.

On the other end, I think the West Indies tourney is poorly done – the stands for the semis look half full. There seems to be room there. I think the place is just to far from the fan base and difficult to travel around. Anyways, what to do

10 Comments

  1. I too went to CH and the atmosphere was fantastic. You got to have enough people around you to get the maximum out of it, and CH had it.

  2. CH is short for the Colombo Hockey and Football Club. Or is it Ceylonese?

    Crowds are good, but it’s always dangerous when you can’t swear voiceferously at Rudi the Cunt Koertzen for fear of offending your boss at the next table or someone else’s six year old.

    Pack up your buddies and do it at home. I did. And it was awesome.

  3. yah bayleaf is a sweaty swindle. harpo should get his act together.

  4. its colombo i’m sure. because it is also the colombo cricket club (CCC). and if i’m not mistaken it is (was) called the gymkhana club. Why ? Did they jump around on horses ?

  5. By the way, I’ve noticed alot of sri lankans seem to not realise that people in the Carribean are crazy about their cricket too. In fact it used to be the best place to go and enjoy a cricket match. Unfortunately in recent times, their team’s performance has been abysmal and interest has dwindled, plus I heard the world cup was arranged very poorly, with alot of restrictions on the fun activities they usualy have at such an event in the West Indies. You think Sri Lankans can party…these people have perfected it to an art.

  6. The Sports Pub at Wella (above Curry Leaf) is bloody good. It’s tailor made for this. Giant screen, AC, decent prices, great food, Carmen Electra posters everywhere. Perfect if you’re with a gang of a dozen at your table. I’ve watched two matches there, and will be there for the final.

  7. Yes, I dropped by at Bayleaf for a short while. Arrived late, no one asked me fo the 1500/- Impossible to buy a drink at the bar. Harpo came to the rescue and summoned a waiter who did bring me my beer. Paid with a credit card, took 45 minutes to get it back – I went straight to the cashier. Poor guy was totally harassed – I would have hated to be in his seat. The Big Screen was good, as was the sound. But, they could make a lot more money, sell a lot more drinks if they go their act together. Having said that, I’ve seen the bar at Barefoot get really slow on big concert nights…

  8. Empty house, friends, projector, industrial fans, ++ always worked out for me. Was plannin on bay leaf buyt after the previous semi realized it was just another overcrowded poorly serviced disappointment. Why screw up my night when tension may be high. Best thing is to hook up with friends.

  9. Actually i was at station which was absolute fun…sea sand and cricket buddies and kottu all rolled into one was a great experience….had a great time….food was good and not tooo expensive…CH was fun too…but a little too packed…but fun…SSC was more a private party…cozy and comfy…also good..amazing…weeell like i’ve always said…good kottu and great friends make a day…

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