It’s just not croquet: the muso and the Russian who bonded over cricket

I’ve visited Sofia in Russia three times. But I’ll never go back now because of the invasion of Ukraine.

Elinor Morrisby

I’ve visited her in Russia three times. I fell in love with the people and the country, and started learning Russian, but I’ll never go back now because of the invasion of Ukraine. Everything’s changed; it’s a real tragedy. Sofia has left her position at Moscow State University. She’s spending three months in Australia, then she’ll go to live with family members in Turkey. I’m glad she’s left Russia because nobody knows when or how this terrible war is going to end.

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Sofia: I was 23 when I moved into Elinor’s place. She was almost 60. She was teaching the flute, taking Spanish lessons, writing a book. She had lived and studied in Czechoslovakia. She had friends all over the world. I was like, “Oh wow, that’s very cool.” When I spoke to my mum, I said, “I am living with a wonderful woman. She is very busy. She’s doing so many things. It’s fantastic.”

I had studied English at school and then at uni. I knew a lot of grammar rules, but I basically didn’t have any spoken English. I was at the level of, “My name is Sofia.” In those first months in Australia, everyone said, “You have to watch television to learn English.” I took their advice seriously. Every evening I watched TV, regardless of what was on. Actually, Elinor watched very good programs: Poirot, Miss Marple, Midsomer Murders – all those mysteries.

We also watched sport. When I asked Elinor about cricket, she said, “Look, it’s quite complicated. Normally, foreigners don’t follow it. But it’s a fascinating game”.

I thought, “Okay, I’ll give it a go. If a person I respect says it’s interesting, I should watch a little bit and see what’s what.” It took me about a year to really get into it. By the time the 2005 Ashes series in England started, I was hooked absolutely. Elinor and I would watch the first session together and then she’d go to bed. I watched all night.

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What I like about cricket is that it’s a team sport – everyone has to perform well to win the game – but when the batsman is out there facing the bowler, it’s one on one. I also like that you can’t predict the result. In soccer, if one team gets four goals, you know that’s it; the other team has basically lost. But in cricket, having a high score doesn’t mean your team is going to win. The other team might get a lot of runs, too, and in the second innings anything can happen. A game that goes for five days can change in minutes. It’s very exciting. When Elinor and I go to a match, we are always well prepared. We take some food and drinks to the ground. Hats, rain jackets, everything we might need for a day out. We always stay for the whole thing.

Elinor and I can discuss anything. We talk about sport, of course, but also history and literature. We exchange information. When we’re travelling, I can talk about stones or rocks that we see along the way and she’ll talk about music. Elinor sometimes gets frustrated if things don’t go according to plan. I’m quite adjustable. I just go, “Okay, we’ll take a different road.” We travel very well together.

Quitting my job in Moscow wasn’t a hard decision. I basically decided on the day the war started that I wasn’t going to stay. Late last year when I came to Australia for the cricket – the Men’s T20 World Cup – I had a chance to discuss everything in person with Elinor. It was great to have somebody who understood. Elinor is extremely good at being a friend.

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