Jeepers, creepers: fans test their calf-strength in Edinburgh Stu Forster / © Getty Images

In cricket, as in life, it's important to draw boundaries - put up walls, as it were, should the situation demand it. Matches definitely demand it, to keep non-paying spectators out of the ground. But in cricket, as in life, some people are bound to try and creep over them. Case in point above: looky-loos watching the first ODI between Scotland and Australia at the Grange in Edinburgh.

Truth be told, barriers have done very little to deter cricket fans from catching a glimpse of the game. Below, schoolchildren scale the forbidding walls of The Oval by shimmying up lamp posts to get a free seat to the 1953 Ashes match.

Stone-cold thriller: and they say cricket is not an adventure sport Mirrorpix / © Getty Images

Skipping school, or work, and risking your neck to watch a match is practically tradition in the subcontinent as well. And sometimes nature lends a hand, or limb.

Tree seating: determined fans risk life (theirs) and limb (the tree's) to watch an England vs India ODI over the Ferozshah Kotla wall Arijit Sen / © India Today Group/Getty Images

Galle Fort is practically the 12th man in matches in Sri Lanka. The Barmy Army has long set up shop there, matches are always played against its very picturesque ramparts, celebratory posters and cutouts have gone up there, and it's both a promenade to stroll on and a convenient spot to put up nets against.

Sea wall, hit ball: there's no shortage of activities in and around Galle Fort © Getty Images

And Galle Fort's battlements always have a little space for everyone.

Cricket is a niche hobby for these schoolkids © AFP

And because walls are not very adept at keeping people out, sometimes it's important to add another layer of security to them, like during England's tour of Pakistan in 2005.

Boundary fielders: Pakistani commandos keep fans out as England practise in Karachi ahead of their match Aamir Qureshi / © AFP/Getty Images

No walls? No problem. An abandoned timber factory is the perfect space for Afghan kids to perfect their lengths.

One man's ruin is another boy's playground on the outskirts of Kabul Mauricio Lima / © AFP/Getty Images

Sometimes the writing's on the wall and there's very little you can do about it.

A two-word horror story greets fans trying to buy tickets to a 2011 World Cup game in Ahmedabad Sam Panthaky / © AFP/Getty Images

England last toured Zimbabwe in 2004, a fractious tour where the government banned foreign journalists from covering matches and cricketers dropped out of the series citing political reasons. The love was clearly mutual.

Spoiler: They did. For the next 20 years © Getty Images

Where in the world can you play in the shadow of a 1500-year-old castle? In England, of course. Bamburgh Castle has loomed over the village of Bamburgh in Northumberland since at least 547 AD in different forms.

A century of centuries: battles of a different kind are now fought beside the bulwark of Bamburgh Castle Owen Humphreys / © Getty Images

Somerset offers its club members a unique perk - should you, or your loved ones, choose to be close to the cricket even in your afterlife, you can buy a space for a plaque on its Legends Wall, spending eternity in the company of the likes of Viv Richards, Ian Botham and Marcus Trescothick, who thankfully are still among us.

Honour roll: Fans share space with their heroes on Taunton's Legends Wall © Getty Images

Deepti Unni is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.

 

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