Cricket... the game, not the insect

[Jimmy Higgins]

Watching a whole test match live is a luxury. That's kind of the point, I think.

Isn't that, you need to live in luxury to see a whole test match live? I'd rather go to a curling tournament with multiple games on-going. Slow pace, but stuff happening more.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

So, watched a bit of the Caribbean T20 tournament, Canada T20, England v South Africa Test match, some BBL.

I know some feel strongly about T20, but cricket seems to allow for different types, each having an benefit. You have the longer and more pure tests, but T50 and T20 provide an ability for a game to happen within a fixed viewable time. The T20 experience seems to improve with better bowling. The Canadian T20 was a boundary fest and was kind of like eating a mountain of chocolate, fun at first, but became boring and dull afterwards.

 

[4321lynx]

Cricket is supposed to be a 'gentlemen's sport',

According to a friend of mine that ended sometime in the 1950's ? at Middlesbourgh CC when Yorkshire bowlers were having trouble in getting some batsman out and Freddie Trueman was heard saying to his captain in a stage whisper "Ey-oop Len, giy-us t' ball and I'll pin 'is foockin' ears to t' foockin' saaght-screens"...

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Can someone explain what leads to a draw? I thought it was when the last batting side doesn't reach a required number of overs... but it sounded like if South Africa batted out the 90 overs, the game would have been a draw.

 

[Patooka]

Can someone explain what leads to a draw? I thought it was when the last batting side doesn't reach a required number of overs... but it sounded like if South Africa batted out the 90 overs, the game would have been a draw.

First off, you're talking about Test Matches. They go for five days. When one side goes through their entire line up of batsmen, that's called an innings. Both teams have two innings batting. If the five days are up and both sides do not complete their two innings, the game is a draw. It's far less common for a draw to occur in one day-ers and 20/20 matches as they are the types of matches where the amount of overs are fixed.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Can someone explain what leads to a draw? I thought it was when the last batting side doesn't reach a required number of overs... but it sounded like if South Africa batted out the 90 overs, the game would have been a draw.

First off, you're talking about Test Matches. They go for five days. When one side goes through their entire line up of batsmen, that's called an innings. Both teams have two innings batting. If the five days are up and both sides do not complete their two innings, the game is a draw. It's far less common for a draw to occur in one day-ers and 20/20 matches as they are the types of matches where the amount of overs are fixed.

I thought I read that South Africa had 90 overs today. Does that indicate if they reach 90 overs without losing 10 wickets, they have drawn... in the context of being in the last of the 2nd innings, in South Africa's case?

 

[Patooka]

Can someone explain what leads to a draw? I thought it was when the last batting side doesn't reach a required number of overs... but it sounded like if South Africa batted out the 90 overs, the game would have been a draw.

First off, you're talking about Test Matches. They go for five days. When one side goes through their entire line up of batsmen, that's called an innings. Both teams have two innings batting. If the five days are up and both sides do not complete their two innings, the game is a draw. It's far less common for a draw to occur in one day-ers and 20/20 matches as they are the types of matches where the amount of overs are fixed.

I thought I read that South Africa had 90 overs today. Does that indicate if they reach 90 overs without losing 10 wickets, they have drawn... in the context of being in the last of the 2nd innings, in South Africa's case?

Don't think about the number of overs. A more accurate description would be if the fifth day ends and South Africa still hasn't completed their second innings, the game is a draw. The amount of overs in a test match is how many you can cram into a period of five days, so it varies from match to match.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

I thought I read that South Africa had 90 overs today. Does that indicate if they reach 90 overs without losing 10 wickets, they have drawn... in the context of being in the last of the 2nd innings, in South Africa's case?

Don't think about the number of overs. A more accurate description would be if the fifth day ends and South Africa still hasn't completed their second innings, the game is a draw. The amount of overs in a test match is how many you can cram into a period of five days, so it varies from match to match.

Okay, so it comes down to getting the wickets. That part is pretty simple to understand. But...

The article I read noted a number of overs remaining, and there was an emphasis for England to get the wickets quickly. Here it is.

He removed Dwaine Pretorius and Anrich Nortje in consecutive balls before dismissing Vernon Philander to secure the win with just 8.2 overs remaining.

 

[Patooka]

The 8.2 was an estimate. I suspect because it was late on the fifth day someone, probably the Umpire, decided, "right, we're going to bowl for nine more overs and then we're wrapping this up." It also means 8 overs and 2 balls, not "eight point two" overs, but that's neither here nor there.

 

[steve_bank]

I watched a documentary about a Jamaican or Bahamian all black team fighting its way to the top. In a league where sports conditioning was not high they trained like pro athletes and kicked butt.

Surprisingly the game can be quite aggressive and physical.

Back in the 70s and 80s before Internet I listened to shortwave radio for global news. I remember the BBC reporting Cricket scores from somewhere in India.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Saw an Middle Eastern league T10 game. WTF was that?!

Test Cricket - Pure sport
ODI - Can do it in a day
T20 - Within the time of an NFL game
T10 - For fans who have something better to do?

 

[bilby]

Can I be the first to suggest T1 cricket?

One over per team. Matches could be completed between ad breaks on Channel 9.

It would be a complete travesty, but I bet WWoS would love it. They could promote it with "No play during ad breaks".

 

[fromderinside]

Since you call a screwball a googly I guess I'm not surprised.



Lefties can do it too.

 

[bilby]

Since you call a screwball a googly I guess I'm not surprised.

View attachment 25648

Lefties can do it too.

I thought the ball didn't hit the ground between bowler pitcher and batsman in baseball?

How could you possibly have it move in an unexpected direction after it hits the pitch, if it doesn't hit the pitch at all?

 

[bigfield]

I don't think cricket has any delivery that is comparable to the screwball. That pitch requires the pitcher to impart lateral spin on the ball to make it turn laterally in the air.

Spin bowlers impart a lot of spin on the ball, but the spin is intended to make the ball turn ("break") when it hits the pitch.

Similarly, a normal delivery from a fast bowler has a bit in common with a fastball: in both cases, the bowler/pitcher imparts backspin on the ball. But that's where the similarity ends. The pace bowler applies the spin in line with the ball--same as in baseball--but in cricket the purpose is to make the ball land with the seam vertical rather than keep the ball aloft. When the ball lands on its seam, on a slightly uneven dry grass surface, it will bounce unpredictably and take the batsman by surprise.

A particularly skillful bowler can turn the seam slightly off to one side, and this creates aerodynamic drag, causing the ball to turn ("swing") before it bounces. Given a well-prepared pitch, a skilled bowler, and a ball in good condition (or terrible condition), these swinging, seaming deliveries make test cricket a fascinating battle between the batsman's defence and the bowler's attack. It relies on the bowler's ability to bowl the same ball repeatedly and let the swing and seam provide enough variation to draw the batsman into a mistake.

It's less relevant to Twenty20 cricket where the batsmen are premeditating their shots and swinging at everything. A T20 bowler's effectiveness relies on his ability to bowl variations, like a baseball pitcher, and a T20 batsman's effectiveness relies on his timing and the size of his bat.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

So... cricket was in the Olympics, but England won the Gold, Silver, and Bronze and the IOC said enough of that (only part of that is true).

So this leaves us with cricket outside of the Olympics. Not too much is going on. With England giving up on dealing with the pandemic, the decent sized crowds have helped pump some energy into the new Hundred format of Cricket which is a set of 20 overs of 5 balls each, which equals a total of 100 balls. This is slightly less than T-20, how much? Probably a half hour to an hour, which makes it a better tv slot, as cricket is desperate to squeeze cricket money from the cash cow.

The games have been pretty good. T20... I mean 100, has its pluses and minuses. A little too swing happy, but... when the bowlers are international level, it keeps the batters a bit more grounded. It is quicker, making it possible to watch. I'm a bit on time delay with the Olympics and just watched Ben Stokes squad go down four wickets way too early, on a massive chase, and no chance to win, to see them come within 6 run boundary of tying it on the last ball. Stokes had nothing to do with that part.

England are getting ready to head to Australia to lose in The Ashes and then participate in the T20 World Cup. Due to the craziness that is Australia being adults about the pandemic, the English team (those participating in both) would be stuck in hell (Australia) until mid-January, which has led to some wondering whether to pull out, as that is a long time to be away from the family.

The US starts their Minor League Cricket series in a couple days. Something like 27 teams from over 21* cities competing in a large tournament to try and grow a sport in the US that is less popular than well, any other sport (Akron actually has a cricket bowling strip in a park near me due to the small Nepalese population we have). There is supposed to be a Major League formed, I think. The pandemic stepped in the way of these plans. Also... this is the United States, which hates soccer because foreigners like it.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Watched Bangladesh knock away a paltry 104 runs in T20. Australia still only won by 3 bloody wickets. Glad, I didn't bother sitting for that.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

England saved by the rain in the first Test match against India.

And it appeared that England were likely on pace for a draw with India in the 2nd test match, as India were down to their last two wickets and their bowlers were batting. And then the bowlers completely owned England, with a ridiculous strike rate of something like 67% over many overs. It got to the point where India would declare instead of getting bowled out. England still could bat really well (with their 60 over limit) in their chase, except India all got on their bus, and then drove over the entire England Cricket team... repeatedly... or at least that is how it looked on the pitched as the Indians (actual Indians) bowled the fuck out of England to win outright in much less than 60 overs. Early on, England, at best clearly could, at best, only manage to draw. But the sweater tops continued unravelling as they kept giving up wickets like it was going out of style.

England are very weak at the moment. They can bowl, but they are relying way too much on Joe Root at the moment, and if he doesn't bat a century plus, England aren't in it.

 

[Tigers!]

England saved by the rain in the first Test match against India.

And it appeared that England were likely on pace for a draw with India in the 2nd test match, as India were down to their last two wickets and their bowlers were batting. And then the bowlers completely owned England, with a ridiculous strike rate of something like 67% over many overs. It got to the point where India would declare instead of getting bowled out. England still could bat really well (with their 60 over limit) in their chase, except India all got on their bus, and then drove over the entire England Cricket team... repeatedly... or at least that is how it looked on the pitched as the Indians (actual Indians) bowled the fuck out of England to win outright in much less than 60 overs. Early on, England, at best clearly could, at best, only manage to draw. But the sweater tops continued unravelling as they kept giving up wickets like it was going out of style.

England are very weak at the moment. They can bowl, but they are relying way too much on Joe Root at the moment, and if he doesn't bat a century plus, England aren't in it.

Jimmy for a yank your knowledge of cricket is remarkable. You sound like you almost appreciate it.

Shame on you.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Yeah, I always thought hula dancing was about communication and telling stories. I have since learned it is simply prettied up signals for a boundary.

#themoreyouknow