Tasmania's captain George Bailey likes to say "no mountain, no cricket".
That is, if the enormous front of Mount Wellington towering above Hobart's CBD is covered by cloud, then across the river at Bellerive there'll be no play.
It's a pretty sound theory, but at this ground there are plenty of other weather cues for the keen cricket watcher and player.
To the east of the ground beyond the main scoreboard there is the vast Howrah Bay; large houses rim its crescent shaped beach.
Beyond the dry hills of Howrah you look east, and if the weather moves in from there there's often trouble and long breaks in play.
It's known as the dreaded 'East coast low' if one of these lows sets in it's a potential day killer if not game killer.
Further around and to the south the river opens up even further.
It's hard to figure out the exact cues from this ocean-like expanse of water because the main southern grandstand, serving the dual role of view blocker and wind break, encloses the ground and shuts out the view due south.
In fact, there is a theory in these parts the micro-climate created by the southern stand protecting the opening-day pitch from the Derwent's drying southerly breezes has changed the character of the ground and the quality of its wickets for the better.
Move a little further east again and you come to my favourite weather cue, Bruny Island.
Sitting around six nautical miles downriver from the ground, if the hills of the island are obscured then be assured the cricketers will be off soon.
When the clouds lift and the Island's gently undulating features appear again, it's time for groundsmen to rev the motors, player to limber up and commentators to let base studio know that play will resume any time.
If you look directly west across the river to Nutgrove Beach at Sandy Bay and you can see nothing, then pull out the knitting or the crossword on the iPad because no beach definitely means no cricket.
Even on the bleakest days this beautifully situated ground is an attractive and stimulating place to watch cricket.
On an afternoon like we have on Friday, with its canopy of high cloud and mild to warm temperatures, it's idyllic.
I recall the manager of the 2000/2001 West Indian team, Ricky Skerrett, remarking to me during a tour match "this place could be somewhere in the Caribbean".
The highest of praise, I would have thought.
No doubt over the course of this Test the weather will play its part.
Hobart's weather patterns are simply too diverse for that not to be so.
So if you hear ABC Grandstand's commentators talk about a disappearing mountain or an absent Bruny Island, then set yourself for some down time.
Tags: cricket, sport, hobart-7000, tas, australia First posted December 09, 2011 15:14:22
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