CLANCY OVERELL | Editor | CONTACT
Local Betoota Grove dental receptionist, Georgie King (28), says she never thought there would be a day where she gave a shit about any sporting events other than state netball – or whatever grand slam tournaments Venus and Serena were playing in.
Growing up as an only child with a father who loathed the inconsistent noise of commercial TV advertisements, Georgie never really had the opportunity to sit on her arse for two months, while watching every ball of an entire series of test cricket.
But that changed in 2020.
After nearly two years in and out of lockdowns with her boyfriend, a 32-year-old commercial property valuer who grew up in Townsville, it seems Georgie now understands the deep emotional attachment that cricket tragics have for the sound of red leather knocking on willow timber.
She says her partner, Boof, didn’t even have to do much to get her onboard.
“I’d watched everything on the streaming services. And sport was the first live TV back on air” she says.
“I even watched the NRL and AFL grand finals, but it was The Last Dance that really taught me to love the soap opera of sport…”
“And that 2020 test series against India was nothing short of a soap opera”
Now, out of lockdown and free to do whatever she wants outside, there’s some things that have stuck with her after lockdown.
Sitting at the front desk of a quiet dental surgery in the leafy Betoota suburbs, Georgie says she can’t help but livestream the first day of the Brisbane test against England at the Gabba.
“Yeah, it’ll be interesting to see how we go this year,” she says.
“The Indians played gritty last year,”
“Seriously, they were littered with injuries. No one has scored anything like 329 to win a Test match in Brisbane, Australia hadn’t even lost at the Gabba since 1988. India didn’t even have to win, a draw was enough for the visitors to have retained the trophy”
“But they brought it home. A remarkable finish. Just marvellous cricket.”
More to come.
