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Cricket? Are you kidding me?

Started by RidgeRider, January 30, 2010, 11:29:11 PM

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RidgeRider

Does anyone know what the appeal is of this game? I feel a bit like TJL when he was going on about baseball back a bit ago.

I have to tell you, having a game last more than 4 hours doesn't make much sense to me.

I suppose if there was a lot of alcohol involved it might be a nice day outdoors, sort of like a double header but truthfully, every doubleheader I have saw, by the 3rd inning of the second game I was so inebriated I could barely see straight.

Can anyone wax poetic on this curious of all games?

YankeeJim

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
I drive by people sweating on their bikes, wearing those loady leotards & those avant garde, inverted fruit bowl helmets and think, if this is happy & healthy, I'll stay fat.
BTW, why does there seem to be more riders on week days than week ends? Don't they have jobs?  ;D
Its not that I could and others couldn't.
Its that I did and others didn't.

Steve_orino

Nothing poetic to say about the game here...

Appeal?  To Cricket?  Yes, please do explain yourselves!
Fulham Supporter - Est. 03/2008
"My aim is to stabilise, sustain, and have the club move forward." Shad Khan 07/2013
@Borino09


finnster01

Beautiful summer day out in the country side. Sit in the stands, drink a few beers, enjoy the weather, the greenery, the smell of fresh cut grass, everyone just having a lazy day, have a bit of a nap, wake up for the odd 6, clap a bit, another beer, maybe another snooze...It is not the game really, as much as it is the day out. Something old fashioned, peaceful and non-disturbed in these crazy days
If you wake up in the morning and nothing hurts, you are most likely dead

RidgeRider

Thanks Finn, that angle makes more sense to me.

I have to admit I feel like an alien when Dan Crawford and others carry on about the game. I know it must have some appeal in the gamesmanship as well.

michaelread

here might be the best insight about cricket you have ever heard.....

i am an aussie who really dislikes cricket.

However the ashes roll around, and I remain glued to the screen for all hours of the day, the radio on,  earbuds in, etc.

The appeal is, test cricket, when played against a worthy opposition, is something to fill the boring days.

Lets say it is played over 5 days, so, for my entire work week, I have something to listen to that I can follow. I can switch back to it after listening to some music, I can check the score whenever I feel like it.

The appeal, for me, is I can follow the numbers, and my nation, as passively as I want. You dont need to be involved in the game to enjoy cricket, you just need to love your country, your county, your state, or your local club.


HatterDon

Quote from: RidgeRider on January 30, 2010, 11:29:11 PM
Does anyone know what the appeal is of this game? I feel a bit like TJL when he was going on about baseball back a bit ago.

I have to tell you, having a game last more than 4 hours doesn't make much sense to me.

I suppose if there was a lot of alcohol involved it might be a nice day outdoors, sort of like a double header but truthfully, every doubleheader I have saw, by the 3rd inning of the second game I was so inebriated I could barely see straight.

Can anyone wax poetic on this curious of all games?

So I take it you don't like NFL football then.

Cricket is a lovely game -- at least the non limited over game is. It is brilliant when played well, and diverting even when played by the English these days.
"As long as there is light, I will sing." -- Juana, la Cubana

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boxhockcycsock

I love cricket and I am a yank. It's got so much intriguing strategy. You'd probably have to have had a course in game theory and at least one in statistics though. Fortunately, I have, and am of legal drinking age. It also helps to have played...as with any sport. Wait, did I mention that I am a Yank. Screw cricket! terrible sport....grrrr >:(
Time is blind.
Make sure in the parking lot of life, you do not take it's handicapped spot because then you'll be occupying time's space, the ticket for which is being thrown into a wormhole.

SteveM19

Still learning about it. I read the tongue in cheek "One side goes out, then the other goes in... etc." thing several times. I have to say, I kinda like it, it reminds me why I once loved baseball.


tjl

RR have you not been paying attention for the last few summers as we explained it to you all from over the pond, Cricked is played over 3 days that's County or you would say State matches Test matches (Internationals) are played over 5 days, playing for 4 hours is a fun game with time for a few beers but it's like a game of baseball with only one innings.
I am still trying with baseball read a bit watch dvds "for love of the game" is my latest, is Kevin Costner a big fan? as "eight men out" is the only film about baseball i have that hes not staring in, reading "Shoeless Joe" by Ray Kinsella and as i don't know much about the sport it's a hard read, any help with LIGHT baseball reading or dvds that are avalable through Amazon will help.
I had to think about it but yes Sark is overseas so i can post on this board as well.

SteveM19

Quote from: tjl on February 03, 2010, 08:42:45 PM
RR have you not been paying attention for the last few summers as we explained it to you all from over the pond, Cricked is played over 3 days that's County or you would say State matches Test matches (Internationals) are played over 5 days, playing for 4 hours is a fun game with time for a few beers but it's like a game of baseball with only one innings.
I am still trying with baseball read a bit watch dvds "for love of the game" is my latest, is Kevin Costner a big fan? as "eight men out" is the only film about baseball i have that hes not staring in, reading "Shoeless Joe" by Ray Kinsella and as i don't know much about the sport it's a hard read, any help with LIGHT baseball reading or dvds that are avalable through Amazon will help.
I had to think about it but yes Sark is overseas so i can post on this board as well.

Kevin Costner looooooves baseball, the two movies listed and Bull Durham, a great flick but I'm not so sure that Brits will relate to it as easily, are cornerstones of his work. For teh love of the game was mediocre, at best.

As far as the culture of the game, I liked Thomas Boswell's "Why time begins on opening day" -- it's a little old, but he captures the feel of the game very well.

A very funny, classic book on the game is Ball Four by Jim Bouton, showing that baseball players can be just as much a bunch of overaged juvenile delinquents as any other sportsmen.

HatterDon

tjl, once you've finished "Shoeless Joe," try reading "The Iowa Baseball Confederacy," also by Ray Kinsella. I almost fell over when I read it and discovered that the quote that preceeds it was an excerpt from a poem by a friend of mine.

Note to RR: how can a guy who loves the Tour de France think that a game that lasts five days is excessive? Snorting butt butter, I think.
"As long as there is light, I will sing." -- Juana, la Cubana

www.facebook/dphvocalease
www.facebook/sellersandhymel


tjl

Thanks Steve and H Don as a person who has to ride a cycle every day (no cars on the rock) to ride for fun is no joke, as a spectator sport the Tour de France sucks open your front door stand for 10 mins that all go by you go back to bed. i will try the books you mention, when i was thinking about it last night i can't think of any good films about football, i enjoyed "love of the game" but then i like a happy ending.

Logicalman

#13
Being an import into this country, from the country that spawned Cricket, was an eye opener to me when I saw my first baseball game.

Let me set the scene first: I have watched cricket, and just as Mr. Finn explained, it is not a game that one might sit glued to watching, as it is more of a pastime to be there when something happens. My memories of watching it live in the auld country would be to take a six pack, hot summers day, shirt off, shorts on, and gradually work on a tan, whilst slowly getting pissed and glancing over at the poor sods in their whites trying desperately to entertain us all.

Back to the over-the-pond excercise, and I found myself sitting on the bleachers (?), at a local game here in (almost) Sunny Fort Wayne. My memories of the game, apart from asking Suzie many and varied questions and hearing her exasperated replies to the umpteenth time of the same question, was to watch the electronic board to see what actually happened, whenever anything did.

I do have to admit, however, that my lasting impression, upon explaining to the natives what Cricket was, is to explain that baseball is like Cricket, but on steroids (little did I actually know I was closer to the home-run truth than I thought). It was at this explanation that the interest  of the keen student of English games seemed to want somewhat and they would walk away muttering something about "Bloody Brits" and "how on earth did they ever get an empire together".

Thus, I admit to watching little baseball, and even littlier cricket, especially as it is not so readily available over here, though it would definitely be an advertisers dream come true, with the ability to cut to an advert every 30 seconds or so, and still not miss any of the play!!!

ron

I like the quote from the actress Tallulah Bankhead when she was asked if she liked baseball. "I detest baseball" she said. The interviewer was amazed. "You don't like America's Pastime?"
"Honey", she said "I am America's pastime"


HatterDon

Mr. Logicalman and Mr. RidgeRider are making the same fundamental mistake in trying to understand baseball/cricket by comparing it with cricket/baseball.

Baseball is a unique sport, and it is fruitless to compare it to any other ball sport. Why? Because ONLY IN BASEBALL, does the defending team have the ball.

Each sport is great, and I love them both. Each is pastoral, and each has natural breaks for contemplation and discussion in the stands. Each has its own rhythm that, once you've picked it up, is like consorting with an old familiar lover. EVERY SPORT is boring if you don't understand it.

I have given up on trying to point anything out about soccer to my American football rooting friends -- I almost dread the upcoming World Cup listening to how much more "exciting" soccer would be if they got rid of the offside rule. I thought about how Americans may never get over the scoreline of 0-0. I listened to our match against Bolton that was so horrible that I thought Gentleman Jim was going to resign mid-match and begin rooting for QPR. A half-hour later I began watching another 0-0 match between Villa and Spurs that I could not take my eyes off. The point is, I could never have made that distinction without watching and analyzing the game over a number of years.
"As long as there is light, I will sing." -- Juana, la Cubana

www.facebook/dphvocalease
www.facebook/sellersandhymel

tjl

We have some 20/20 cricket coming up, if that can't get you in the grove then there's no hope for you. England are playing Pakistan in the middle east a contrive tournament of no value just to make money and win some cup that will never be seen again, both teams will be trying to win as the cash prize will be high.

jarv

Way back, for several years, I and a bunch of mates attended one day at the oval, the 5th test match. Always the friday which is often the best day (of 5). The entertainment was great, the match, the humour of drunken aussies or the steel bands when the windies were there. (Windies = West Indies).
The idea was usually to consume a lot of beer but in reality, once you start watching it draws you in. Like any sport, at the top level, the pace and power makes for great entertainment. I could not get the fascination with baseball when I arrived here in USA. Geeezz, what a bunch of girls, they have to wear a glove!! When they throw from the outfield, why can't they get it to a base in one throw? The fielding?? Truly shocking.
Anywauy, I understand it more now and quite enjoy the occasional game.

To play cricket is great fun, especially if you don't take yourself too seriously. 20 overs each, in the pub by 8.30.

The magazine 'when saturday comes" had a great comment on cricket in it's series...A to Z of sh!te sports., as follows"
A game where a bowler bowls 6 balls at a batsman who does not hit any of them and then the crowd applaud the fact that absolutely feck all has happened.


RidgeRider

Quote from: jarv on February 17, 2010, 02:08:40 PM

To play cricket is great fun, especially if you don't take yourself too seriously. 20 overs each, in the pub by 8.30.

The magazine 'when saturday comes" had a great comment on cricket in it's series...A to Z of sh!te sports., as follows"
A game where a bowler bowls 6 balls at a batsman who does not hit any of them and then the crowd applaud the fact that absolutely feck all has happened.

This made me laugh Jarv. Thanks!

TheDaddy

As a English man i find the appeal of cricket is that it sends me to sleep ! Wonderful game zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
"Well blow me if it wasnt the badger who did it "