Exciting finish to 1st Test

[Admiral Yi]

I had the game explained to me in a bar in Jamaica with a match on the TV a long time ago.

IIRC each batsman gets one strike; a strike is a pitch knocking over the wicket (the base).  Also IIRC a pitch has to hit the ground in front of the batsman.

What I can't remember (because it didn't happen in the match while we were watching) is how a runner is out between bases/wickets.  A fielder knocks over the wicket with the ball?  A fielder pegs the runner in the back with a throw? 

From the little I've seen the flow of cricket is much like a Wade Boggs at bat: 10 pitches dinked and dunked foul between each scoring shot.

[Viking]

I had the game explained to me in a bar in Jamaica with a match on the TV a long time ago.

IIRC each batsman gets one strike; a strike is a pitch knocking over the wicket (the base).  Also IIRC a pitch has to hit the ground in front of the batsman.

What I can't remember (because it didn't happen in the match while we were watching) is how a runner is out between bases/wickets.  A fielder knocks over the wicket with the ball?  A fielder pegs the runner in the back with a throw? 

From the little I've seen the flow of cricket is much like a Wade Boggs at bat: 10 pitches dinked and dunked foul between each scoring shot.

It's like being run out in baseball. When you are on base you are safe. When you are running between bases when not stealing you can get the runner out by touching the base with the ball. The cricket equivalent is knocking the bales off the posts while the runners are out of the crease (not on base).

[mongers]

Some suitably celebratory music for Tricky, I have their first album, which is rather good, haven't heard this one yet:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sticky-Wickets/dp/B00CUL7SXY/ref=zg_bs_digital-music-album_10

[Gups]

A very enjoyable game. I managed to watch a fair chuck of it as well.

Neither side is of the very highest quality so these two back to back series will sufffer in comparison to the 2005 one, but the first test certainly lived up to 2005 in terms of drama and ebb and flow.

A record 10th wicket partnership for the Aussies in the 1st innings with a debutant no 11 making a record 98 for that position (this a 19 year old guy who had been playing club cricket just before being called up). A clear catch from Broad invredibly missed by the umpire (I'm in the minority of English fans who thinks Broad shoudl have walked and it has slightly spoilt my enjoyment of the victory). A brilliant pitch with offered something for bat and ball with some spin, some low bounce and some reverse swing. High drama at the end.

And played out in glorious sunshine throughout.

Roll on Thursday and Lords...

[fhdz]

Probably the best way to get a basic understanding is to see an amateur match, they are so much quicker apart from anything else. With the help of a friend who knows what's happening you'll soon get the gist.

It's really, really difficult to find live cricket on TV here in the US.

But it is a highly technical game, especially in the full 5-day test version; so it takes a lifetime to understand the intricacies and it is a delight to listen to the experts 

I think it is fair to say that great cricketers require tremendous mental discipline; OTOH they can come in all shapes and sizes, which makes it a better game than sports where you have to be very big or very tall or whatever.

I found a great page on Wikipedia comparing and contrasting cricket and baseball this morning; that actually has helped my understanding quite a bit. It's easier to relate when someone says "in baseball x happens, but in cricket y will happen instead".

[crazy canuck]

Once you get the hang of it you will probably like watching cricket a lot more than baseball since something is always happening.  In baseball, unless you are a defensive purist and love no hitters, very little can happen for long stretches of time.

[fhdz]

Once you get the hang of it you will probably like watching cricket a lot more than baseball since something is always happening.

I doubt it; I've loved baseball since I was a little kid. I'd probably feel the same way about cricket had I been born English, Indian, Australian, South African, or whatever. Having said that, I love sports in general and am not one of these "If it's not popular in the USA it's not a real sport" assholes, so I'd really enjoy watching cricket and learning more about it.

Unless you pay for a TV package which includes it, though, it's virtually impossible to find cricket on TV here. The internet's another matter, but I don't like watching longer videos at my computer.

In baseball, unless you are a defensive purist and love no hitters, very little can happen for long stretches of time.

I love watching good defense and good pitching. In middle school and high school I played catcher, so I've developed a real affection for the defensive side of the game.

[Richard Hakluyt]

I suspect that baseball and cricket have pretty similar appeal. So, if an American baseball fan were exiled here I'd recommend he take up cricket; vice-versa for an Englishman moving to the US.

[Gups]

It's really, really difficult to find live cricket on TV here in the US.

Given the number of South Asians in the US, it's surprising someone hasn't moved into that niche - at least with the Indian Premier League.