The Boxing Day test is always filled with magic moments and this year has not let us down after one of the “flying fox” cameras smacked a cricketer in the back of the head, laying him out flat. Absolute gold-class stuff, this.
Now I’ll level with you, I don’t know a lot about cricket. Every year I watch a bit of the season, semi-remember the rules and immediately forget about it again by the end of summer. So having a live TV blooper happen right in front of my eyes while I’m trying to wrap my head around the game’s intricacies was an absolute treat. This game truly has something for everyone (sport, big hats and men being hit by stuff).
South African cricketer Anrich Nortje was the victim of the MCG’s spidercam on Tuesday afternoon, providing footage that was even better than David Warner hitting his first century for his 100th test.
Man getting hit by spidercam #ausvsa pic.twitter.com/Ce6zElKnQa
— Tim W (@tdwilso92) December 27, 2022
Sure old mate might have hit a test milestone but watching a bloke getting flattened by a careening camera on a wire is high comedy.
The footage from the spidercam itself is unreal. The sweeping shot that was ruined after it clocked the cricketer, the camera quickly panning back to show the poor bloke face down on the ground, the majestic music not stopping for anything — it’s broadcasting at its finest.
We’re absolutely in luck too because another camera caught a separate angle of the moment Nortje got cleaned up by the spidercam and it’s simply phenomenal stuff. Just watch this poor bugger getting owned by the piece of tech and tell me you didn’t laugh.
Who said cricket isn’t a contact sport?
South African player Anrich Nortje hit by the aerial camera at the #BoxingDayTest
Meanwhile Warner has his century & Australia only two wickets down and 2 runs away from SA’s first innings total (Warner on 115 & Smith on 39) pic.twitter.com/ZafPYIJPue
— The Sage (@SarkySage) December 27, 2022
Nortje got back up and continued his fielding duties after the collision so thankfully he wasn’t seriously hurt. God damn, it provided one of the best moments of the Boxing Day test so far though.
Plus it’s something I can bring up over a beer with Dad when I’m pretending that I know a single fucking thing about cricket for yet another year.
