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.
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:
And risk getting the hose again?
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.
Malacandra, the way Moseley have been playing over the past decade, it seems that your American friend is now coaching the game. 
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.
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.
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.
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.
Mainly because the name of the team as England is a historical accident.