I've made some trips for some crazy reasons, but one weekend in Amsterdam ranks up with some of the craziest. Do you know the game of cricket? The British do, and a bunch of former colonies like Australia, South Africa, India and Pakistan. Since I grew up watching cricket, but couldn't see or hear a word about when I lived in Asia and Europe, I jumped at the opportunity to watch a game in the Netherlands, where for some reason cricket as quite a following.

If you're still in the dark, cricket is a game played with a bat and a ball, two batsmen, and eleven members of the other team, all arranged strategically on a field. The rules are long and complex, but once you learn them, it can be an exciting game to watch, even if the original variety of the game takes five days to be played. Cleverly, game promoters have come up with one day cricket in recent years, so that there is more action for the spectators (and less days taken off work to watch it!).

While I was living in southern Germany with a cricket-mad friend, we got wind of an international cricket tournament being played in Amsterdam as the lead-up to a "real" tournament being held in England. Not only was it an international tournament, but our team Australia would be there, playing against India and Pakistan, both good cricketing nations. When we were able to secure tickets, we drove all night to get there, and eagerly navigated our way through the suburbs of Amsterdam to an oval in Amstelveen, just south of the city.

When we arrived, rain had delayed play. This is a common problem in cricket, as the game can't continue if it's raining, or if the day becomes too dark. Australia was due to play Pakistan and as the last game of the tournament, it would decide the winner. There was a loud bunch of Pakistani fans sitting behind us, a couple of people bearing Australian flags, and a lot of bemused Dutch trying to understand what was going on.

Their bemusement certainly increased when the game finally got underway. Two men sat behind us, and amidst their quick Dutch chatting we could hear words like "leg before wicket" and "fifty overs" as one more knowledgeable man attempted to educate his friend about the strange game of cricket. Australia batted first, and our final score of 192 runs wasn't very impressive; we feared the Pakistan team would reach that total quickly when they batted and we'd be heading home early. But we were in luck, as they seemed to get too confident and took risky shots, leaving all team members out with just a short time to spare.

Australia's victory made the long drive to Amsterdam more than worthwhile. The drive home was sweetened by this, but we still ended up pulling over on an Autobahn and sleeping for a couple of hours early the next morning. When we arrived back at our flat in Germany, we slept soundly for the rest of the day, but with the satisfaction of feeling that we'd helped support the Australian cricket team.