Cricket for beginners

Cricket is a great game that few people understand, so I'm going to keep it simple.

Cricket is like chess, it's a game that requires strategy and precision. Firstly, you must place your field and there are many fielding positions-there is point, gully, deep fine leg, silly mid on, old man in a deckchair, dancing flamingo etc.

Now next you need a bowler, and there are many options, You have your swingers, your seamers, your off spinners, your leg spinners, your left arm China men, your right arm Cambodian-the list goes on.

Now that you have your field set and selected your bowler, we get to batting, now there are a number of shots that can be played-the square cut, the cover drive, the french cut, the 'I have no idea what just happened but I hit it' and so forth.

The rules are simple-dismiss the batter via a catch from a fieldsman, knock them over (that means throwing a leather ball at some dead trees) or LBW (that's an acronym for Ladies Before Winnipeg) and after play expires, a winner is declared; Unless rain stops play, that's when the Duckworth-Lewis takes effect and-I can't explain it without a calculator.

And let's not forget the corridor of uncertainty-or as others call it 'the avenue of apprehension' or as I like to call it ' the urban restoration of urgency.'

How can people not understand that? you can get a diamond duck from the long stop for yorkers sake!

a reply to: Thecakeisalie

Can you do underwater basket weaving next? I feel all the noobs out there need to be skooled.

a reply to: Thecakeisalie

Crikey, I like this. Square leg and silly point were my main positions. Wasn't happy with silly point but could never ever get into slips. It was always the alpha boys call. Captain and all. Square was as close as I could get. If the slips missed the ball it was my duty to run to the boundary.

I did a stint in fine leg but broke me thumb. That ball, that day, went for four. Never lived it up. No sympathy from the other fielders and the bowler let me know. Now batting I liked. Even had a Gray Nicholls back in the day. Sadly mistiming never saw me get into the double figures.

Now I could bowl a mean leg cutter but the batsmen worked me out. So there you go, I was a tragic cricketer but also I'm a tragic follower. Can't miss a game on the TV.

Kind regards,

bally

a reply to: NarcolepticBuddha

Strewth mate. What sport do you follow. Surely not weaving.

Kind regards,

bally

a reply to: bally001

For the record, I was rather amused by the glitch video posted earlier

a reply to: Thecakeisalie

Only thing I understood there was Winnipeg..

Cold place to live...

a reply to: NarcolepticBuddha

Glitch videos. Is that a sport mate?

Whats the rules or game plan in that contest?

Kind regards,

bally

a reply to: bally001

For the Johnny-come-lately's

www.abovetopsecret.com...

a reply to: NarcolepticBuddha

Ahh! Never saw that. My humble apologies. Reminds me of that song that went something like, "I don't like cricket - I love it" by 'Dreadlock Holiday.'

Cheers for that.

bally

a reply to: bally001

Cheers bro.

a reply to: bally001

I did a stint in fine leg but broke me thumb.

Jeez mate , dropped catch ??? . Once ran a grand final from fine leg to fine leg , fielded one ball . Apparently i was the only one capable of getting the ball back on the full . After that i fielded in the covers .They eventually worked out a baseball pitcher who could actually field without a glove made a lot of quick singles a bit dicey . Oh , best was 42 .

a reply to: Thecakeisalie

You for got stumped , hit wicket , run out and a few more methods of dismissal .

a reply to: hutch622

Played a bit of seppo ball in my time too. Was better at that than cricket. Got a drop with the Canberra Senators in Alice Springs once. Had a good time.

Cricket, well, never understood angry fast bowlers who wanted to take your head off, no helmets in those days, but can watch them play with some zest. Like the game.

Cheers

bally.

originally posted by: bally001
a reply to: NarcolepticBuddha

Ahh! Never saw that. My humble apologies. Reminds me of that song that went something like, "I don't like cricket - I love it" by 'Dreadlock Holiday.'

Cheers for that.

bally

Me neither...

One man throws a ball, another man with a stick hits the ball and everyone else runs after the ball. Surely?

Plus it sounds like some people are talking in code because I didn't understand a word. Russian spies?

Cricket sounds like a geography lesson more so than sports.

The Brits love it, though...

a reply to: hutch622

Check Pm's

Kind regards,

Bally