Howzattt!!

[TheEarl]

Australia are 97-5 at lunch!

For those of you who don't follow cricket, Australia are the best side in the world. They have been the best side in the world for at least a decade now and England haven't beaten them in a series (5 games) since 1982.

Every two years, England and Australia play for the Ashes series. This is 5 games of 5 day cricket. It started on one of the first occasions Australia beat England, when the Sporting Life paper in Australia printed a front page with a mocking obituary, mourning the death of English cricket and declaring that 'the body would be cremated and the ashes would be shipped back to England'. To cement the joke, they cremated a cricket stump and sent it in an urn to the MCC (the club who runs English cricket).

So it's basically a big 'fuck you' to the English; an Australian Statue de Liberte if you will. England have not won it since 1982 and, in the years that I've been able to appreciate cricket, we've been utterly whopped. So this series is a big deal.

And England have just had a fantastic first session to end up taking 5 Australian wickets (meaning that we have got the best 5 Australian batsmen out from the 10 that we need) for only a small number of runs (the points scoring method in cricket).

Whoop!

The Earl

 

[Guest]

Whoop, indeed!!!

Go England!!!

(Mat's excited, too, she sent me an email, and said I should start up a thread, but yours was perfect timing, Earl. )

 

[Guest]

Tu tu tu tu
ta la tatata ta
tul lalala




























C4, BTW.

 

[rgraham666]

Sorry.

I still can't get behind a sport that has positions with the word 'Silly' in them.

 

[Colleen Thomas]

Being an American, and considering any sport match that isn't over in...roughly the same calander year it was started to be rather strange, can someone explain to me how Austrailia can be 97-5 and loosing? Or is that not the score?

 

[Guest]

Being an American, and considering any sport match that isn't over in...roughly the same calander year it was started to be rather strange, can someone explain to me how Austrailia can be 97-5 and loosing? Or is that not the score?

They've accrued 97 runs (by two batsmen running between the wickets 97 times, or by hitting fours or sixes), for the loss of 5 wickets (i.e. five batsmen are out - by being caught, bowled out, having their wickets stumped, etc, etc.) Only one team is in at a time, and that is currently Australia. England are fielding.

It means 97 for 5. Or, 97 runs, for the loss of 5 wickets.

Once all 11 are out, England go in.

I'll keep adding to this post, I'm sure.

Lou

 

[Guest]

Sorry.

I still can't get behind a sport that has positions with the word 'Silly' in them.

Well, they're only called "Silly mid-off" and "Silly mid-point", etc. cos they really are quite silly bastards for standing there - in the line of fire of a very hard and heavy leather ball.

I prefer "Slip" or "Gulley". "Short leg" can be fun, too.

 

[rgraham666]

Having their wickets stumped?

And here I thought cricket was a civilised sport.

 

[Guest]

Having their wickets stumped?

And here I thought cricket was a civilised sport.

It's a sexy sport.

(You should see what they get up to after tea. )

 

[rgraham666]

Well, they're only called "Silly mid-off" and "Silly mid-point", etc. cos they really are quite silly bastards for standing there - in the line of fire of a very hard and heavy leather ball.

I prefer "Slip" or "Gulley". "Short leg" can be fun, too.

Do they have a target on their uniforms? It would seem appropriate.

 

[Guest]

Do they have a target on their uniforms? It would seem appropriate.

No, but they often have rather attractive helmets.

 

[rgraham666]

No, but they often have rather attractive helmets.

Considering what they do for a living, I suspect the helmets aren't a lot of help. I doubt being hit in the head with a leather ball would do much damage.

 

[Colleen Thomas]

They've accrued 97 runs (by two batsmen running between the wickets 97 times, or by hitting fours or sixes), for the loss of 5 wickets (i.e. five batsmen are out - by being caught, bowled out, having their wickets stumped, etc, etc.) Only one team is in at a time, and that is currently Australia. England are fielding.

It means 97 for 5. Or, 97 runs, for the loss of 5 wickets.

Once all 11 are out, England go in.

I'll keep adding to this post, I'm sure.

Lou

Ok, so they are roughly halfway through their alloted number of outs and have scored 97 runs? The 97-5 isn't a score, per se, but is their score thus far compared to batsmen remaining?

 

[neonlyte]

178 for 9.

If anyone want's to hear the full rnage of the English language go to www.bbc.co.uk , click radio, click radio 4, click LW and you will hear the loquacious tone of Henry Blowfeld (English) commentating on the cricket, with comments by the hairy sheep shagger Merv Hughes (Australian). Blowfeld is the most idiosyncratic broadcaster on the planet.

 

[Colleen Thomas]

178 for 9.

If anyone want's to hear the full rnage of the English language go to www.bbc.co.uk , click radio, click radio 4, click LW and you will hear the loquacious tone of Henry Blowfeld (English) commentating on the cricket, with comments by the hairy sheep shagger Merv Hughes (Australian). Blowfeld is the most idiosyncratic broadcaster on the planet.

Neon, what's the typical score in a cricket match?

 

[neonlyte]

Neon, what's the typical score in a cricket match?

Anything from under a 100 runs for an innings (ten batmen dismissed) to over 500. This is Test Match cricket played over 5 days, 2 innings per side, can finish sooner but cannot go longer, probably the only game you can play over 5 days with no result. There are a variety of formats including 20 overs per side (an over is 6 balls) played usually in the evenings for the beer and merriment crowd, usually over in 4 hours.

 

[raphy]

Bah, Cricket is very easy to understand. You only need to know 5 rules:

• You have two sides: One out in the field and one in.
• Each man that's in the side that's in goes out and when he's out he comes in and the next man goes in until he's out.
• When they are all out the side that's out comes in and the side that's been in goes out and tries to get those coming in out.
• Sometimes you get men still in and not out.
• When both sides have been in and out including the not outs, that's the end of the game.

 

[rgraham666]

Bah, Cricket is very easy to understand. You only need to know 5 rules:

• You have two sides: One out in the field and one in.
• Each man that's in the side that's in goes out and when he's out he comes in and the next man goes in until he's out.
• When they are all out the side that's out comes in and the side that's been in goes out and tries to get those coming in out.
• Sometimes you get men still in and not out.
• When both sides have been in and out including the not outs, that's the end of the game.

My brain hurts! My brain hurts!

 

[TxRad]

Bah, Cricket is very easy to understand. You only need to know 5 rules:

• You have two sides: One out in the field and one in.
• Each man that's in the side that's in goes out and when he's out he comes in and the next man goes in until he's out.
• When they are all out the side that's out comes in and the side that's been in goes out and tries to get those coming in out.
• Sometimes you get men still in and not out.
• When both sides have been in and out including the not outs, that's the end of the game.

The last time I heard of that many in's and out's I think it was a Nevada whorehouse.....

 

[matriarch]

I LOOOOOOVE cricket.

The last time I saw the Ashes at Lords, was 30 years ago, I was 3 months pregnant with my first child, feeling absolutely shitty with chronic morning sickness, it was a boiling hot day, like today,but I wouldn't have missed it for the world.

The likes of Australian giants like Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thompson, the Chappell Brothers.......Fletcher, Knott, Gooch, Arnold, Greig.........it was an awesome day.

I was a cricket widow every weekend, every summer for 15 years, minimum....loved every minute of it, and the boys grew up from babies only knowing that kind of summer. They both love the sport, both played it as well as their father. Even I played the odd game, and developed a mean medium spin right hand over.....took a few wickets.

Its great to have the Aussies back in England for the summer. There'll be some really worth-watching cricket on tv now.


Mat - besotted and confirmed cricket lover.
So you better not malign my favourite sport.

 

[Weird Harold]

Ok, so they are roughly halfway through their alloted number of outs and have scored 97 runs? The 97-5 isn't a score, per se, but is their score thus far compared to batsmen remaining?

Think of 97 for 5 as "the top of the first with two outs."

198 for 9 is like "Top of the First with two outs and a full count"

The scores so far are the mark their opponent will need to exceed to win in their half of the inning.

 

[JRaven]

Think of 97 for 5 as "the top of the first with two outs."

198 for 9 is like "Top of the First with two outs and a full count"

The scores so far are the mark their opponent will need to exceed to win in their half of the inning.

Thanks Harold. That makes sense. So if I understand correctly, the England hasn't been at bat yet.

Raphy, what was easy about that? I wish the British would start speaking English!

Jenny

Honest Raphy, I was just teasing!

 

[matriarch]

Just watched the highlights of the day.

Wow.........a wicket-fest.

But WTF? After getting Australia all out for 190, the England wickets start tumbling and for a while there, we were in reaaaaallll trouble. But a day's finish of 92 for 7...........that's scary.

Definitely a bowler's wicket out there today.

Tomorrow will be verrrrrrry interesting. Wish I had a tv in the office, would love to watch it unfold as it happens.

 

[rgraham666]

Mat - besotted and confirmed cricket lover.
So you better not malign my favourite sport.

How can I malign it when I don't even understand it?

 

[matriarch]

How can I malign it when I don't even understand it?

Rob, its as easy for you to understand as baseball is to me.........

Raphy's explanation was a wind up......but not far from the truth. Its far easier explained DURING a game......then it all makes complete sense.

Trust me. I'm English.