# Cricket lovers **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [April 10, 2011, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cricket-lovers/577863 "2011-04-10T13:06:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2011, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cricket-lovers/577863/21 "2011-09-01T21:54:10Z")
Well, the “wicket” in this case was a wicker basket just being used a reference point. Aside from the bat, I don’t think we had any actual official cricket gear. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2011, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cricket-lovers/577863/22 "2011-09-03T18:09:33Z")
Then you should have put the ball into the basket. Which parallels an earlier version of cricket where the wicket was the same size it is now, but there were only two stumps surmounted by a bail, and a “popping hole” between them large enough to put the ball into. The batsman had to put the bat into the hole to keep from being run out. As you can imagine, this could get quite amusing in a close race when the fielder’s hand was in the way of a big wooden cudgel. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2011, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cricket-lovers/577863/23 "2011-09-03T18:20:15Z")
> [@Malacandra](#): > > Then you should have put the ball into the basket. And risk getting the hose again? ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2011, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cricket-lovers/577863/24 "2011-09-04T08:19:26Z")
Well, if a little physical hazard is off-putting, perhaps shove-halfpenny would be more your style, my friend. But your story just reminded me of an incident from my schooldays. We played Rugby as our winter sport and that year, I must have been about fourteen, there was an American in our group. The sports master must have been confident that Steven, as I’ll call him, would pick it up as he went along and with a spot of instruction he was doing fine - he may have wondered why there were all these running plays and no huddles, but he made no attempt to block anyone who didn’t have the ball and was perfectly happy with tackling. And then, as sometimes happens even to the novice, he found himself with the ball and a chance at getting to the end zone, so he went for it. He was stronger than average and reasonably fast for his size, and burst through a couple of tackles to cross the line between the posts… Where he flung the ball at the ground and punched the air in celebration. :smack: After it was explained tactfully that in Rugby the ball must be held by the player as it touches the ground[sup]1[/sup], Steven went on to enjoy many more games and was well up to standard for the group, but sadly his best-ever try was the one that wasn’t. [sup]1[/sup] Or already be lying on the ground in-goal (in the end zone) and have downward pressure placed on it by a player’s hand, arm, or anywhere from shoulder to hip. ---
**Author:** ![Bordesley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c89c15/32.png) [@Bordesley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bordesley)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2011, 8:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cricket-lovers/577863/25 "2011-09-04T08:48:06Z")
Malacandra, the way Moseley have been playing over the past decade, it seems that your American friend is now coaching the game. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2011, 9:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cricket-lovers/577863/26 "2011-09-04T09:42:16Z")
> [@Cicero](#): > > I was fortunate enough to watch Watsons innings in the 2 nd game (I set the ironing board up in front of the TV- I was working I tell you!). Greatest “ironing” sport on earth. You can iron all day and not miss a play. Bowler runs in to bowl, batsman defends to cover. Head down start ironing. At some point as the bowler reaches the wicket, head up watch the shot. If a wicket falls or something happens you may watch all the way to the next ball. But even the most thrilling stuff will allow a bit of ironing as they change ends. Same thing with overnight matches. You can tape a whole days play and watch it while eating breakfast once you get the rhythm of the fast forward right. ---
**Author:** ![Bordesley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c89c15/32.png) [@Bordesley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bordesley)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2011, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cricket-lovers/577863/27 "2011-09-04T16:15:20Z")
Can’t argue with that, I think I would rather do the ironing than watch the Aussies play. The two together are a sure cure for insomnia. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2011, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cricket-lovers/577863/28 "2011-09-04T18:06:10Z")
TMS is probably the finest sporting broadcast in the world. There’s actually a pretty substantial cricket following in Scotland. It’s probably the only sport where supporting England is fairly common. ---
**Author:** ![Biffer\_Spice\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7ea924/32.png) [@Biffer\_Spice\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffer_Spice_1)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2011, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cricket-lovers/577863/29 "2011-09-05T14:56:55Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > As I become slightly more crumbly and crotchety I find myself falling out of love with football and more in love with cricket and rugby. > It might because I have small children now and I just find the level of cynicism, vitriol and bad sportsmanship inherent in football rather unsettling. > > I don’t play the game like that, there is no need to play the game like that. I find it all rather sad and roll on the FA’s attempt to stamp it out. Though I don’t hold out much hope. > > So yes, Bring on the cricket. Where we can have our heroes and villains and yet shake hands and have a beer at the end of it all with little prospect of a gang raping or celebrity “roasting” > I can point my children to people like Sachin Tendulkar, Andrew Strauss, Ponting, Warne etc. etc. etc. and say “There are some sporting icons for you” > One of the finest moments in recent sport was Freddy commiserating Brett Lee at the end of the second test in 2005 > > And as for the draw? All we need to do is point to the very next game in that series. How can people say that draws are boring. wait, what? ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2011, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cricket-lovers/577863/30 "2011-09-05T20:22:22Z")
> [@Biffer\_Spice](#): > > wait, what? Be fair, Ponting has been a great. Yes, a bit controversial and he has had his moments with discipline but it is an order of magnitude away from the underlying self-possessed, spiteful, mean-spirited thuggishness of a lot of footballers. And I say that as a cricket fan, football fan \*and \*an Englishman. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2011, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cricket-lovers/577863/31 "2011-09-06T06:09:47Z")
> [@Baron\_Greenback](#): > > TMS is probably the finest sporting broadcast in the world. There’s actually a pretty substantial cricket following in Scotland. It’s probably the only sport where supporting England is fairly common. Mainly because the name of the team as England is a historical accident. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cricket-lovers/577863.md?page=1)