Just to right the last section: England currently holds the Ashes after this summer's series.
shhhhh.
An Explanation of Cricket (2009)
41–50 of 66 posts
Re: An Explanation of Cricket (2009)
#42Earlier quoted context omitted.
For those who don't know it: in cricket, a draw is different from a tie. A tie means both teams are equally strong, a draw that no conclusion could be reached because time ran out, either because the weaker team managed to postpone defeat long enough or because of the weather (playing in bad light or in rain makes the game too dangerous, so play can get stopped, even when one team is on the brink of victory. Watching…
Draws in Test Cricket are also fairly rare. In recent years, 75% of matches have ended in four days.
That's recent because, one could claim, test cricket has suffered from the loss of attention span of "kids these days" (prime example: the Ashes this year consisted of a few slightly lengthened 20/20 games and a ODI, with no test match in sight :-))
In the period from 1950-2000, 40% of games ended in a draw (http://www.espncricinfo.com/blogs/content/story/629608.html)
Also, even 20% is huge for readers from the U.S, where the whole concept of undecided games is rare.
Re: An Explanation of Cricket (2009)
#43Earlier quoted context omitted.
incremental improvement
It pays vastly more than Test and One Day cricket, has radically shifted the balance between batting attack and defence (including in the One Day Cricket played today) by making strike rates matter more than batting averages, has made superstars of players that would have previously been considered severely lacking in defensive technique, encouraged athletic fielding and made Indian franchises an attractive and lucra…
I agree with all points regarding the impact.
The reason Twenty20 was incremental was because it took an entrepreneur like Packer, with connections and money, to prove that cricket could even be changed in the first place.
Re: An Explanation of Cricket (2009)
#44Earlier quoted context omitted.
Test cricket is the ONLY cricket... none of this one-day nonsense ;) Once you know the rules (easy* ) and start to understand the strategy (hard) then test cricket is fascinating and pretty exciting! * The easy rules are easy, then there about a thousand weird rules that hark back to ol' England. You take "tea" for example. Though my favourite is that if a ball is damaged or goes missing in the middle of a game, they…
My favourite weird rule is the one where the bails are already broken and the stump needs to be removed from the ground to affect a run out or stumping. Nice example here from the 2011 world cup: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXChmlp2g0Q
nitpicking: ... to effect a run out
Re: An Explanation of Cricket (2009)
#45Earlier quoted context omitted.
Draws in Test Cricket are also fairly rare. In recent years, 75% of matches have ended in four days.
That's recent because, one could claim, test cricket has suffered from the loss of attention span of "kids these days" (prime example: the Ashes this year consisted of a few slightly lengthened 20/20 games and a ODI, with no test match in sight :-)) In the period from 1950-2000, 40% of games ended in a draw ( http://www.espncricinfo.com/blogs/content/story/629608.html ) Also, even 20% is huge for readers from the U.S…
The Ashes was 5 Test matches, as always: Sophia Gardens, Lord's, Edgbaston, Trent Bridge, The Oval.
Re: An Explanation of Cricket (2009)
#46Test cricket (international matches played over five days) is a truly wonderful experience that I urge everyone to try and watch* at least once. When you try and explain that the most engaging of matches can end in a draw, after all that time, you rarely succeed on winning over sceptics, but find a friend that is willing to sit and watch for a few days and try it out. *or listen to, it's equally at home on the radio,…
"doesn't require complete concentration" is key. Many people new to watching cricket expect continuous stimulation, which it is not. It is more a meditative repetitive cycle of spaced intense activity. And it's amazing how many jobs you can get done in 30second ad breaks between overs. People who compare cricket to baseball ("baseball on valium" as Robin Williams said) generally miss the variety that is made possible…
When watching cricket on television, the commentary team is crucial. One of the greatest commentary teams of modern times is generally acknowledged to have consisted of Richie Benaud, Tony Greig, Ian Chappell, and Bill Lawry. From Benaud's understated command of the game's history and personalities, to Lawry's excitable tone and banter with Greig, these four men anchored decades of cricket coverage and may have done more than anyone else to dispel the myth of its tedium.
Re: An Explanation of Cricket (2009)
#47Earlier quoted context omitted.
Test cricket is the ONLY cricket... none of this one-day nonsense ;) Once you know the rules (easy* ) and start to understand the strategy (hard) then test cricket is fascinating and pretty exciting! * The easy rules are easy, then there about a thousand weird rules that hark back to ol' England. You take "tea" for example. Though my favourite is that if a ball is damaged or goes missing in the middle of a game, they…
My favourite weird rule is the one where the bails are already broken and the stump needs to be removed from the ground to affect a run out or stumping. Nice example here from the 2011 world cup: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXChmlp2g0Q
Great rule indeed
it also happened last night, Australia vs England ODI on the run that brought up James Taylor's 100.
Re: An Explanation of Cricket (2009)
#48Earlier quoted context omitted.
That's recent because, one could claim, test cricket has suffered from the loss of attention span of "kids these days" (prime example: the Ashes this year consisted of a few slightly lengthened 20/20 games and a ODI, with no test match in sight :-)) In the period from 1950-2000, 40% of games ended in a draw ( http://www.espncricinfo.com/blogs/content/story/629608.html ) Also, even 20% is huge for readers from the U.S…
The Ashes was 5 Test matches, as always: Sophia Gardens, Lord's, Edgbaston, Trent Bridge, The Oval.
You missed the sarcasm/irony/humour in the post you replied to.
Re: An Explanation of Cricket (2009)
#49https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEH4ahCCrJo
I would leave this here since its most relevant.
I grew up playing cricket.I recently broke my foot playing after not having played for 15 years(collided with an idiot that ran across the pitch close to my crease to backup the wicket in an attempt to run me out).
Go West Indies(we sure aren't what we use to be)!!
Re: An Explanation of Cricket (2009)
#50https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEH4ahCCrJo I would leave this here since its most relevant. I grew up playing cricket.I recently broke my foot playing after not having played for 15 years(collided with an idiot that ran across the pitch close to my crease to backup the wicket in an attempt to run me out). Go West Indies(we sure aren't what we use to be)!!
> I recently broke my foot playing after not having played for 15 years(collided with an idiot that ran across the pitch close to my crease to backup the wicket in an attempt to run me out).
I feel like cousin avi from snatch here, that or rick in that it appears like you're just shuffling english words together in a sentence.