Nobody here is interested, but it is just possible that Gups will make a drive-by visit :D
There has been some excellent cricket so far with the balance of power shifting between the teams throughout the match. It's the final day now with Australia on 174-6 and requiring 311 for victory.
Theoretically, especially with a pitch that the experts reckon is "difficult", this should be a win for England...........but the Aussie tail-end seems to be pretty formidable :hmm:
I reckon it is 50:50 :cool:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/cricket/23302781
I shall refrain from re-posting the Fry & Laurie cricket commentary bit.
Rather interesting so far. :bowler:
Australia 291-9 as they go off for lunch :huh:
.........and England win by 14 runs :bowler:
Incredibly close call for the last Aussie wicket, one could almost feel sorry for them..........almost.... :P
It's weird sport, especially you do your thing then I do mine and then we score thing.
I've never watch a game that wasn't from the Indian Pro League tho.
Heh, we won. :D
Almost makes me wish I was a little less miserly; watching highlights is in no way the same as watching it live.
Congratulations England.
And Grey Fox - how is it any stranger than Baseball which also has a multi-innings format?
I love cricket. I just don't understand it at all.
Quote from: fhdz on July 14, 2013, 12:12:06 PM
I love cricket. I just don't understand it at all.
kind of like curling in that there's stuff moving and people get excited but you're not really sure why they're getting excited. I wanna like and watch it (I have a few Tamil friends who love cricket) but it's too "foreign" and I just can't follow along. plus it's like three days long lol
Quote from: HVC on July 14, 2013, 12:53:21 PM
Quote from: fhdz on July 14, 2013, 12:12:06 PM
I love cricket. I just don't understand it at all.
kind of like curling in that there's stuff moving and people get excited but you're not really sure why they're getting excited. I wanna like and watch it (I have a few Tamil friends who love cricket) but it's too "foreign" and I just can't follow along. plus it's like three days long lol
I watched one curling match and understood curling. After multiple attempts to understand cricket I still haven't been able to grasp it yet.
Quote from: fhdz on July 14, 2013, 01:05:38 PM
Quote from: HVC on July 14, 2013, 12:53:21 PM
Quote from: fhdz on July 14, 2013, 12:12:06 PM
I love cricket. I just don't understand it at all.
kind of like curling in that there's stuff moving and people get excited but you're not really sure why they're getting excited. I wanna like and watch it (I have a few Tamil friends who love cricket) but it's too "foreign" and I just can't follow along. plus it's like three days long lol
I watched one curling match and understood curling. After multiple attempts to understand cricket I still haven't been able to grasp it yet.
i understand the basics, get the rock near the center, block the other rocks, but t seems like there's more strategy there that I'm not getting lol
Quote from: fhdz on July 14, 2013, 12:12:06 PM
I love cricket. I just don't understand it at all.
On our trip to Aus a friend took the time to explain it all to me. Now I enjoy watching it much more than baseball.
Quote from: fhdz on July 14, 2013, 01:05:38 PM
Quote from: HVC on July 14, 2013, 12:53:21 PM
Quote from: fhdz on July 14, 2013, 12:12:06 PM
I love cricket. I just don't understand it at all.
kind of like curling in that there's stuff moving and people get excited but you're not really sure why they're getting excited. I wanna like and watch it (I have a few Tamil friends who love cricket) but it's too "foreign" and I just can't follow along. plus it's like three days long lol
I watched one curling match and understood curling. After multiple attempts to understand cricket I still haven't been able to grasp it yet.
It's like baseball only with a few differences.
There are two innings (in one day cricket there are one innings)
In each inning all players get an at bat (not just three)
Each player has one strike
There is always a player on first base
When a hit is made the at bat player runs to first base and the man on first base runs to home plate directly (there are no second or third bases, plus first base is just in front of the pitchers mound)
The batsmen run back and forth between home plate and first base as many times as possible. A home run gives you 6 runs, managing to reach the back end of the field gives you 4 runs.
When 10 out of 11 players are out the team is out.
To keep pitcher attrition low each pitcher pitches 6 balls and is replaced by one of the other pitchers (usually 4 per team), after 6 balls the pitches changes location to the other pitchers mound behind home plate.
Whoever scores most points wins. The game ends if the team that is second at bat gets 1 point more than the other. If they don't need their second innings to do so they win by an innings if they don't need all their batsmen they win by x wickets (the x being how many batsmen were not out).
Apart from that its pretty much the same except the shape of the bat and the rules on hitting the player with the ball - perfectly legal, its the player that gets into trouble if he blocks the strike zone with his body.
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.
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 :cool:
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.
Exciting and cricket don't go together.
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.
Quote from: Admiral Yi on July 14, 2013, 03:11:47 PM
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).
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 (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sticky-Wickets/dp/B00CUL7SXY/ref=zg_bs_digital-music-album_10)
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...
Quote from: Richard Hakluyt on July 14, 2013, 01:37:54 PM
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.
QuoteBut 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 :cool:
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".
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.
Quote from: crazy canuck on July 15, 2013, 05:14:45 PM
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.
QuoteIn 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.
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.
Quote from: fhdz on July 15, 2013, 01:18:49 PM
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.