Cricket

[The Gaffer]

There's a few people here who come from countries which play this most elegant and demanding of sports, so I thought it was high time there was a thread for it.

Let's start with congratulations to Shane Warne: the first ever spinner to take 500 Test wickets. This guy is probably the best spin bowler ever to play the game. I can still remember him bowling Mike Gatting round his legs back in (?) early 90s with one that turned square. Gatting's (England captain and seasoned pro) expression of disbelief was priceless.

Warne, of course, also holds the record for "most pies eaten during an innings"

[Linaewen]

Warne also happens to be one of Australia's stupidest men. Taking banned diuretics from his 'mum' because his 'double chin' had apparently appeared overnight.

I bet you Brits etc get sick of us winning all the time, eh?

Cricket is one of Australia's main sports. I'm not really into it but I have to know the basics, being in a cricket nation. I guess England is a cricket as well as soccer nation?

[Khamûl]

Could someone please give me brief run-down of cricket? I've seen clips of games (matches?), but no TV network I know of carries them.

From what I've seen, it's akin to baseball.

[Linaewen]

Jonathan can tell you all about it; I explained it to him with pictures and everything.

Yes, it's quite similar to baseball, except they run from wicket to wicket rather than from base to base. That's the main difference that I can think of now. And baseball doesn't really count how many people you get out, does it? In cricket, that's more important I think.

[Beruthiel's cat]

An "out" is very important in baseball, but I suspect it is a different thing entirely than an "out" in cricket.

In order for a player to be "out" he must be playing on the team that is batting. This team has the offensive advantage and is the only team in a position to score points at that time in the "inning" (period of play). The other team would be on the field in the defensive position with the objective of getting three opposing players "out" so they can once again be in a position to score points ("runs").

When a team has three "outs" against them, they stop playing offence and have to move to the defensive position. This switching sides and playing until there are three "outs" in an inning goes on for nine innings, unless the game is tied. Then it goes on until one of the teams gets ahead. Theoretically, a game could go on forever -- much like cricket, if I understand the basics!

I think one has to be born into the game of cricket to understand it. I'm an American and haven't a clue and any explanation I've heard has only served to confuse me further.

By the same token, though, I think you also have to be born into baseball to understand it. My father and brothers lived, breathed and ate baseball when I was a kid. I learned it through osmosis! I never consciously tried to learn it, it was just a part of life. And I think that's how one comes to appreciate cricket as well.

[The Gaffer]

My knowledge of baseball is derived almost exclusively from Charlie Brown comics.

Yes, the Aussies are the number 1 team at the moment, though India might dispute that. Watching Tendulkar and Dravid bat is like going to the ballet or something.

Summary: 11 people per side. One team fields while the other bats ("innings"). The field has two wickets 22 yards apart in the centre. Batsmen score runs by running between the wickets; fielders get batsmen out by knocking the wicket down or by catching the ball after the batsman hits it (before it bounces). The batting team keeps going until 10 of their players have been got out (i.e. 10 "wickets have fallen").

Two batsmen at a time come up to bat (hence why you only need to get 10 wickets and not 11): one faces the bowler while the other stands at the other wicket. The bowler bowls the ball 6 times from the same end (i.e. from one wicket to the other), usually taking a big run-up and firing it at 80-90mph, to try to get the batsman out and/or knock his head off (legitimate tactic). Those 6 balls are called an "over". Then a different bowler has a go from the other end. A typical innings might consist of 150 or so overs (that's 1.5 days!).

Generally speaking, a bowler will make the ball bounce first: it's too easy to hit if you don't make it bounce. The pitch makes the ball unpredictable after it's bounced (as well as uneven ground, the ball has a seam on it, you can spin it and you can shine one side of it to make it swerve) and makes batting more difficult. Hence, the condition of the pitch has a huge influence on the game.

Each team has two innings, whoever scores the most runs wins. If one team is still batting when the five days are up, it's a draw. There is a one-day version, in which each side gets 50 overs to score as many runs as possible, but that's kind of like comparing McDonald's to steak tartare.

Because it lasts for, literally, days, it becomes a real psychological battle and tactics are everything.

[The Gaffer]

Here's a true story to illustrate the psychological battles that go on in cricket. Glenn McGrath, Australia's demon fast bowler, was bowling to Eddie Brandes, the Zimbabwe No 11. Shall we say that Brandes is in the side for his bowling skills, not for his batting ability, and certainly not for any athleticism (he's a bit portly).

McGrath runs up, bowls, Brandes takes a massive swipe at it, misses completely, the ball misses the wicket by a fraction of an inch. McGrath glowers at Brandes, grins, and prepares to deliver the next ball.

This time, he runs up, bowls, Brandes swings wildly, and the same thing happens. McGrath looks a bit more annoyed this time.

Next ball, McGrath bowls, Brandes swings like a madman, connects perfectly and whacks the ball over the boundary for four runs. McGrath is now seriously pissed off. "Why are you so fat?" he asks the Zimbabwean.

"Because every time I shag your wife, she gives me a biscuit." comes the reply. Even the Australian team were in stitches.

[Beruthiel's cat]

Thanks for the explanation, Gaffer! It's still confusing, but I can see similarities and differences.

Baseball has certainly borrowed a lot of terms from cricket, but they seem to have fundamental differences and connotations. They are two quite different games.

And baseball can be quite the head game as well. Pitchers (the guy who throws the ball -- point of reference: what Charlie Brown does...) and batters really play off of each other, the pitcher trying to throw the batter off by tossing an unexpected pitch or throwing to the batter's weak area. He wants the batter to swing at the ball without hitting it (that's a "strike").

I'm not sure I could sit through a match for a day and a half. The longest baseball game I've sat through is 15 innings and it was the first game of a double-header, which means there was another game to be played after that! (Makes for a long day!)

Thank goodness for the concession stands! (Nothing like a hot dog and a cold beer at the ball park!!)

[Beruthiel's cat]

Like your story about the Zimbabwe/Australia rivalry!

Brings to mind some scenes from a really great baseball movie "Bull Durham" with Kevin Costner, Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins. One of the best baseball flicks of all time and it's guaranteed to give you additonal insight into the game!

Are there any cricket movies out there? I remember seeing a Doctor Who episode dealing with cricket once upon a time...

[sun-star]

In my experience cricket is more enjoyable to watch than to play, at least at an amateur level. Specifically, to lie on the grass in the sun and listen to - the sound of the bat hitting the ball, the occasional exclamation and outbreak of polite clapping... idyllic

Basically, whatever its other merits, it's a great sport for people who don't like sport

[The Gaffer]

Exactly, though even when you're playing you can take it fairly easy as long as you're not batting or bowling. Or at least I do.

Last time I played, it was indoor cricket in Australia. Why has that not caught on over here?? We've got the ideal weather for it.

I very much doubt if there's a cricket film, though it does appear in Brideshead Revisited. IIRC, there's some comment about it being a metaphor for the class system (the peasants labouring in the field while the batsmen whack the ball all over the place).

[Ruinel]

I like crickets. I love the way all the males sound when they chirp together on a warm summer night.

I suppose they're not good for the garden, though.

[The Gaffer]

That's all very well but can they bowl a googly?

[Ruinel]

Originally posted by The Gaffer
That's all very well but can they bowl a googly?

I've never asked one. But they can rub their front wings together and make lovely music.

[BeardofPants]

Crickets are absolutely disgusting and smelly. :sick:

And NZ cricket hasn't been the same without Crowe and Hadlee.

[Ruinel]

Originally posted by BeardofPants
Crickets are absolutely disgusting and smelly. :sick:

And NZ cricket hasn't been the same without Crowe and Hadlee.

That's only because of their frass.

[sun-star]

Originally posted by The Gaffer
I very much doubt if there's a cricket film, though it does appear in Brideshead Revisited. IIRC, there's some comment about it being a metaphor for the class system (the peasants labouring in the field while the batsmen whack the ball all over the place).

I think that might be The Go-Between, where the villagers and the rich people have a cricket match and the villagers win, thus symbolising the death of the aristocracy after World War One, etc. etc. Brideshead Revisited is more of a fox-hunting kind of book/film

[Janny]

Originally posted by The Gaffer
That's all very well but can they bowl a googly?

I dunno. The cricket, if originating from the Southern hemisphere, wouldn't bowl a googly anyway; it would bowl a wrong-em (I think).

Plus wow, Ruinel, I share your birthday! (Fascinating facts through the useless stats section)

[cassiopeia]

Originally posted by BeardofPants
Crickets are absolutely disgusting and smelly. :sick:

And NZ cricket hasn't been the same without Crowe and Hadlee.

He's Russell Crowe's brother, isn't he? Better watch out for him.

I enjoy watching cricket. I have been to watch a couple of one-day games at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. It's so much fun; most of the time you're not even watching the game, but doing the Mexican wave or watching somebody being dragged off by the police or chanting something.

I didn't know Shane Warne reached 500 test wickets; he must have last night. So he beat Murali? I guess he is dumb for taking diuretics, but he looks very fit now and is obviously performing very well. Maybe he needed the break.

[Janny]

Originally posted by sun-star
In my experience cricket is more enjoyable to watch than to play, at least at an amateur level. Specifically, to lie on the grass in the sun and listen to - the sound of the bat hitting the ball, the occasional exclamation and outbreak of polite clapping... idyllic

Wow, just read back through that... just the image it conjures...
Aww to be in Surrey...