Cricket, lovely cricket

[Steven Russell]

Yes. He could be one to watch.

Steve.

[Adam Went]

Not a good day for the minnows yesterday, Canada and Netherlands both got flattened. Saw a bit of the West Indies match, have to say that I enjoy watching Darren Bravo bat.....was thinking to myself that he bats a lot like Brian Lara, then they said that the two are related!

Good innings from Strauss by the way Steven, I will force myself to admit.

Cheers,
Adam.

[Steven Russell]

Yes, Strauss was superb, perhaps even topping that wonderful innings by Tendulkar. One point each was a fair result in the end after a match which proved 50 over cricket can still be thrilling.

But to return to my old hobby horse (yawn), penetration is still the name of the game. Let's see not containment, but wickets falling! The best teams so far have shown that wickets are the key to success. I was going to name them here but why bother? They know who they are. I hope the World Cup goes to the men who are prepared to take a risk and finally get rid of those "dibbly dobbly" players who can do a bit of this and a bit of that. Our batting can match the best in the world but our bowling is weak. Whoever lifts the Cup will be a team whose bowling cannot be dominated.

But I doubt it will be England.

Steve.

[Adam Went]

Steven:

I agree that wickets are the best way to slow the run rate, but on the small, flat sub-continental grounds, there's got to be the containment factor as well. It's all well and good to bowl an attacking line, you might have the opposition 50-4 after 15 powerplay overs....or, just as easily, given some of the aggressive opening batsmen from the various international teams (Sehwag, Gayle, Dilshan, McCullum, and so on), they could be 120-0 and it's a hard road back from there....

Cheers,
Adam.

[Steven Russell]

England v. Ireland

Jesus ******* Christ on a bike. Ireland! ******* Ireland!

All right, Adam, go on. We deserve it.

Steve.

[Adam Went]

Steven:

Oh wow. Yes, it's made my week. And not just because Ireland are my favourite team outside of, obviously, our own.

Kevin O'Brien, what a special innings.
The UN = faecal. The local Under-14's would be utterly ashamed of that fielding and bowling effort.

What's behind the idea of having Traitorsen opening the batting these days anyway?

South Africa next for you too....looks like an early return home!

Cheers,
Adam.

[DVV]

I know nothing about cricket but I'd like to hear why people love it - just as I could dedicate thousands pages to the beauty of rugby.

[martin wilson]

Fecking Ireland,and more proof if any were needed that KP's head is actually solid all the way through.
See my previous post where I doubted the wisdom of opening with him.
On the other hand it could give us a fun day out, a St Patricks day one dayer against Ireland, lots of green beer and oversized leprachaun hats.
ECB, you read it here first,cheque to the usual address.
DVV
Cricket has all the stories that make sport so exciting , there are not many other sports I know of where watching a team playing for a draw can be utterly compelling.
Rugby is a great sport as well, I watched England V France, and I'm following the six nations at the moment, I always wish football was more like rugby, the minutes silence before the match was observed with great respect as opposed to those cretins who cant keep their mouths shut for one minute if they attempt it at a football match.
I also like the way players just accept referees decisions, and of course the game itself is fantastic,is there anything better than a team defending 1 metre away from their try line? or a sudden break through the centre? brilliant stuff.
All the best.

[DVV]

Thanks Martin.
I'll try to understand the rules of cricket...I was amazed when I learnt that a cricket match can last several days. Unfortunately there's no cricket in my hometown.
And yes, rugby is still rugby, even though professionalism has come.
Hope Sir Jonny won't get injured playing for England....he's our fly here in Toulon.

[Steven Russell]

Oh yes, DVV. Test match cricket, sometimes referred to as the highest form of the game, can last up to five days and drawn games are not uncommon (this happens when time has run out and neither team has been able to secure a victory). 50 over cricket and Twenty20 cricket are also popular though and these last up to about eight hours and three hours respectively. There are no drawn games (weather permitting) in these forms although ties are possible.

One of my favourite things about cricket is this: if you are watching, say, the rugby (rather you than me) and someone asks you who is winning, assuming you know the score the answer is obvious and definite. With cricket however, the answer is often a matter of opinion.

Cricket is also the most cerebral sport in the world in terms of strategy and tactics and is often likened to chess in this regard.

Players within a team can have vastly different roles and skills and there is no other sport in which the team captain's role is so important.

Just a few reasons to love the game.

Best wishes,
Steve.

[DVV]

Intriguing, really. Seems beautiful.
Thanks Steve

[Steven Russell]

Briefly, DVV, a game progresses like this:
The team captains toss a coin and the winner decides whether to go in with his own team or put the other team in. One team then goes in while the other fields out. The team fielding out then tries to get the team that is in out. Each time they get a man out, another man comes in and stays in until he is out. When all but one of the men in the team that goes in is out the innings is said to be played out. The remaining man is not out but he is not allowed to stay in. Then the team that has fielded out goes in and the other team tries to get them out except the man who is not out and then they all go in. Sometimes this is all done twice.

Hope this helps,
Steve.

PS it IS beautiful.

[DVV]

Thanks again, Steve.
Just watched a vid on youtube. India vs Sri Lanka.

[Steven Russell]

Thanks again, Steve.
Just watched a vid on youtube. India vs Sri Lanka.

Sorry about my last post, DVV; I couldn't resist. It really is the king of sports though and it would be great if you became an aficionado. The laws are quite complicated but the basic idea is not difficult to grasp.

France do have a national team and I remember seeing an article on a TV show about 18 months back claiming that the game is growing in popularity over there (actually, it may have been Italy; I forget). The World cup (50 over cricket) is in full swing at the moment which is great as it focuses interest from all the fans in the world onto a single competition. Mainland Europe does have an interest as the Netherlands are competing.

One thing I forgot to mention earlier is that cricket has an image of being a game for gentlemen, a game where fair play is exemplified. You have probably heard the English expression, "It's not cricket" meaning that something underhand or unfair is taking place. Much as the authorities would like to perpetuate this image, it is really not the case. Psychology plays a major part and teams routinely try to unsettle the opposition by using any means they can get away with. Controversy is never far away and, for me, this adds to the appeal of the game.

I hope you enjoyed watching Ind. v. Sri. As you will have seen, the game is massive over there.

Best wishes,
Steve.

[Adam Went]

One of the great things about an online forum like this is that it brings people from all over the world together and thus involved in one another's interests - I know that there's several new international fans of Australian Rules Football now, and if we can get people interested in cricket too, that'd be fantastic. You might be able to get the occasional match on TV over there, DVV - if you get the chance, watch as much of it as you can - that's the best way to pick up the rules and how it all works.

Or, if you're after a good laugh, just watch Youtube footage of any game involving England.

Cheers,
Adam.