Cricket

[Dirk Wainscotting]

One for the Cricket folk perhaps (English people, Australians, India etc), but a great little film in itself. It shows the real laid-back Sunday Afternoon spirit of the game. Also lots of well-dressed, well-behaved ladies and gents at the match
There's a section showing the bats and balls being made; the pitch being marked out (by a fellow in seriously braced trousers) and footage of greats like Dennis Compton, Jack Hobbs and W.G. Grace.

It makes me think of Sundays as a boy (thirty years after this film) when we went for walks in the afternoon after dinner (or lunch in some parts) and ended up emerging from the trees at the other side of the local cricket club.

 

[2jakes]

One for the Cricket folk perhaps (English people, Australians, India etc), but a great little film in itself. It shows the real laid-back Sunday Afternoon spirit of the game. Also lots of well-dressed, well-behaved ladies and gents at the match
There's a section showing the bats and balls being made; the pitch being marked out (by a fellow in seriously braced trousers) and footage of greats like Dennis Compton, Jack Hobbs and W.G. Grace.

It makes me think of Sundays as a boy (thirty years after this film) when we went for walks in the afternoon after dinner (or lunch in some parts) and ended up emerging from the trees at the other side of the local cricket club.

Great images! Thanks for sharing.
I don’t know much about this sport, but I do appreciate it .
The spirit & good feeling I get from watching it.

Reminds me of Ken Burn’s “Baseball”, mostly the part where a baseball & gloves
are made from scratch using film footage from long ago.

 

[LizzieMaine]

One of these days I'm going to really figure out cricket. I know the basic routines enough to understand the objective, but the complexities and the finer strategies elude me. (If I can understand the infield fly rule, cricket ought to be a cinch.)

 

[2jakes]

^^^^^
It looks like the “Infield Fly Rule “ which can only be applied by the umpires,
has many interpretations as to why they reached a certain ruling on the hit ball in
a particular instance.
Which at times, may make it difficult or complex to understand their decision.
At least that’s my 2¢ on this.

 

[ChiTownScion]

I'm current Master of my Masonic Lodge. Two of my favorite lodge brothers are ex-pat Brits, and I want them to help organize a weekend event called, "Take Me Out to the Cricket Pitch." Watch a match in the area (there are a number of teams, amazingly.), explain the play, and then retire to a local pub for a few pints. I think that it could be fun. As soon as I get through the pending Ladies Night Dinner, I'm on it.

 

[GHT]

One of these days I'm going to really figure out cricket.

It's really quite simple:

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 a man goes out to go in, the men who are out try to get him out, and when he is out he goes in and the next man in goes out and goes in.
There are two men called umpires who stay out all the time and they decide when the men who are in are out.
When both sides have been in and all the men have been out, and both sides have been out twice after all the men have been in, including those who are not out, that is the end of the game.

Cricket must be the only team game in the world that can be played over five days and still end in a draw.

 

[BlueTrain]

There is a sports field in D.C., down somewhere on the mall, where cricket is sometimes played. Once many years ago when my father was in town, we happened to drive by and noticed a game being played. My father grew up on a farm in Southwestern Virginia in the teens and twenties. He said it, the game, looked like stickball they used to play when he was a boy. I guess when you get older everything (and everyone) reminds you of something or someone you've already seen.

 

[Dirk Wainscotting]

It's really quite simple:

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....

Haha, it's true, but also very cruel. Even in England you now find more people who don't know the rules and it must be because football has more-or-less replaced it; especially in many schools. I never liked football, but I loved cricket from day one.

 

[GHT]

I never liked football, but I loved cricket from day one.

You and me both. Former grammar school boy, Cricket & Rugby, never could get into football. To me, cricket has all the elements of a game of chess, and nowadays with the advent of professionalism, so too has Rugby Union.

 

[Stearmen]

We have at least one Cricket team here. They are all from India, they came to our British motorcycle club to try and entice us to join, even our Ex Pat's weren't interested. I noticed they were playing another team a couple of Sundays ago, so apparently it is growing in popularity out here!

 

[Fading Fast]

It's really quite simple:...

God love you for trying, but never has a sentence been more disproved by what follows it than yours.

That said, I did get some inkling out of it, so thank you for a gallant effort.

The parallels to baseball jump out in the community spirit it inspires / the way it weaves itself into a country's customs and traditions. The above nod to Ken Burn's "Baseball" is spot on - it's appears to be more than a sport, it's a community shaping institution. The quick shot of a "pick up" game on the street reminded me of American stick ball - kids will find a way to play it.

Love the hands-on mechanical scoreboard.

 

[Dirk Wainscotting]

I just looked up the Ken Burns documentary and see that it's ten episodes long! That ought to keep me busy (and informed) for some time...

 

[GHT]

And for a little light relief Dirk, Gary Sobers will give a masterclass in batting.

 

[Dirk Wainscotting]

That last one disappeared into the street! Superb stuff. I like the slightly 3/4 angle the camera takes here. The camera now is higher and centred and it's harder to see. There's a real charm to the old cricket films.

 

[Stearmen]

It's really quite simple:

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 a man goes out to go in, the men who are out try to get him out, and when he is out he goes in and the next man in goes out and goes in.
There are two men called umpires who stay out all the time and they decide when the men who are in are out.
When both sides have been in and all the men have been out, and both sides have been out twice after all the men have been in, including those who are not out, that is the end of the game.

Cricket must be the only team game in the world that can be played over five days and still end in a draw.

 

[HudsonHawk]

Cricket must be the only team game in the world that can be played over five days and still end in a draw.

Any sport in which a game/match can end in a tie/draw goes against my sporting sensibilities. What's the point?

 

[Stearmen]

It's really quite simple:

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 a man goes out to go in, the men who are out try to get him out, and when he is out he goes in and the next man in goes out and goes in.
There are two men called umpires who stay out all the time and they decide when the men who are in are out.
When both sides have been in and all the men have been out, and both sides have been out twice after all the men have been in, including those who are not out, that is the end of the game.

Cricket must be the only team game in the world that can be played over five days and still end in a draw.

Sorry, but I could not resist the pun! As I often say, if you need a cure for insomnia, just read the official major league baseball rule book. To this day, I have never seen a baseball get stuck in a umpires mask!

 

[Dirk Wainscotting]

Any sport in which a game/match can end in a tie/draw goes against my sporting sensibilities. What's the point?

It's the taking part that matters most (unless of course it's a matter of winning back the Ashes).

 

[GHT]

To this day, I have never seen a baseball get stuck in a umpires mask!

Maybe not the umpire, and let me tell you, a cricket ball is as hard as nails.

 

[HudsonHawk]

Sorry, but I could not resist the pun! As I often say, if you need a cure for insomnia, just read the official major league baseball rule book. To this day, I have never seen a baseball get stuck in a umpires mask!