12 October 2007

Mad Dogs and Englishmen




Manic Monday logo courtesy of Jannagraphics







If you have never seen the object at the top of the page you have not spent much time watching murder most foul taking place in the English Country side courtesy of BBC or PBS the investigation of which is often interrupted by that most English of all games: Cricket. You might not recognize that the young gentleman on the left is a bowler while the one on the right is a batsman who could be defending a "sticky wicket".

If you have not been raised with the game that is now played in every country where the sun never set on the British Empire, it will be almost impossible to fully understand. I know this because of an extensive exchange of emails involving the finer points of baseball vs. cricket. He could probably tell you quite a bit about baseball while I, on the other hand, know that some form of cricket has been played since 1300 and tea will be served at 4:00 p.m.

I will prove this to you by posting just a bit of the article from Wikipedia

During the play of a cricket match, two members of the batting team are on the field, while their team-mates wait off the field. Those two players are the current batsmen. Each batsman stands near one of the two wickets at either end of the cricket pitch near the centre of the ground.

The two batsmen have different roles: The striker stands in front of the wicket nearest him and attempts to defend it from balls bowled by the opposing bowler from the other wicket. The non-striker stands inactive near the bowler's wicket.


Got that?

If you have the time, do at least take a look at the Wikapedia page as the pictures of the virtually incomprehensible are wonderful, and the history is fascinating and has often involved major disputes between devotees that have risen to the level of diplomatic outrage almost leading to the severing of governmental relations.

Now test matches in Cricket are known for their length. In researching this article, I found another delightful research website called The longest list of the longest stuff at the longest domain name at Long Last to find out that the longest recorded test match was between England and South Africa which began on March 03, 1939 and continued till March 14, 1939, although they did not play on the 5th, 11th or 12th. During this time they played a total of 43 hours and 16 minutes, finally calling the game a draw at 1,981 runs because the English had to take a ship home.

Arthur Salway has written a humorous poem about cricket called The English Game. Enjoy and then if you have never seen it, rent a wonderful movie called Hope and Glory about World War II through the eyes of a child with a minor theme of him learning how to throw a "googlie" that is unhittable by a cricket bat before his father comes home.






19 comments:

Anonymous said...

wow, I love this post!! I learned something new today. have a great Monday.

Anonymous said...

THIS is what I love about Manic Mondays. The great (and free) education we get out of it. I didn't know any of this. Thanks for sharing.

Sandee said...

I never know anything about what you post. It's always a history lesson. Great and have a wonderful MM. :)

♥.Trish.♥ Drumboys said...

I know about 'Cricket' - my older son played it for three seasons - worse thing is always played in heat wave conditions. Kids here play baseball too but he didn't.Great post !

Neila said...

That was a very interesting post. I have always been curious about Cricket, but it's not something you hear much about in America. I once asked my husband if Cricket wa the same thing as Rugby. He was not amused.

Ian said...

The reason I can't use ianhealy.com is because an Australian cricket player got it first. Bah!

Ian

Crazed Nitwit said...

Ah, not american baseball. Cricket seems so different.

I'm from SE King Co!


::::::::waving hi to Tacoma::::::::

Unknown said...

Great information in your MM post! I learned more about cricket in your post than the sum total of my lifetime's prior knowledge on the subject...

I thought of baseball in my MM post today.

peace, Villager

maryt/theteach said...

Great post about cricket and it's always marvelous to wake up in the morning to "Pomp and Circumstance" or is it "God Save the Queen"? Just joking...Jamie

Lee said...

Once again, informing the masses of Manic Monday. Great post!

I always wondered what a "sticky wicket" was...

Lee

Schmoop said...

Cricket is a great game. Good post Jamie. Cheers!!

Sophia said...

I've tried watching Cricket on TV and I just don't get it. It looks like so much fun, but I guess unless I get out there and attempt to play, I'll never get it. I'm a physical learner!

Jenny McB said...

This just confirmed what I thought to be true, cricket is confusing to someone not brought up with it. I should go check out the wikipedia article.

Lisa Ryan said...

Thanks for the info on cricket! I knew a little but not much. I would love to see a game.

peanut butter said...

cricket looks like an interesting sport. haha

katherine. said...

Jamie - cricket bat! great post for the word...like many above I learned a bunch.

Linda said...

I knew that the phrase "sticky wicket" came from Cricket but beyond that - 'tis a strange game but fascinating!

As always, a good learning post but a fun one to read. Are you sure you weren't a teacher in a previous life??

Travis Cody said...

I can sit down and watch any sport for five minutes, and get it. I can decipher the finer points of the rules in one sitting.

But Cricket defeats me. I spent three weeks in Sri Lanka during a test match, and the matches were televised. I couldn't figure out what I was watching.

MaR said...

Great take on the theme, truly enjoyed your post!