Here we go again....

[No Such Agency]

I heard a bunch of white robots invaded the pitch and took the ashes.

 

[Legacy Account]

Yeah - they\'re called Australians!

 

[Shawn R. L.]

Why is cricket played with a boat oar?? USE A PROPER BAT!!!lollollol

 

[Infidel Castro]

Did you know that cricket was massive in the US until some charlie chose the sport of baseball to promote the American Dream. Cricket lost its foothold and never recovered. I was amazed when i read that.

The English team need to dig out another quick wicket this morning to allow a fair crack at hitting the target runs. The pitch seems a little steadier at the mo than the first day, but it could just be that Aus played very well yesterday to slog out their score.

Interesting day ahead I\'m sure, but I\'ll be in the hills taking in the scenery

 

[War Griffon]

Originally posted by Orb
That was painful - the morning looking so promising.............even started dreaming.........

looked so very bleak at one stage. still bad but not 50 all out; looked like that at one stage.

We were betting at 47 all out in work lol

Must be a new record for the lowest score in an ashes test match though.

Buggered if you\'ll catch me standing there while somebody throws a hard ball at 90+ miles an hour I\'d rather start playing rugby again

 

[Shawn R. L.]

In cricket does the pitcher (the guy that throws the ball. I know you call him something different) ever throw what we in baseball call \'junk\' - cruve balls, knuckle balls, change up\'s etc..?

 

[Infidel Castro]

Thing is Shawn, the ball has a seam right the way around it (like the equator), and that\'s the key to different bowling styles. The ball can move in the air a bit, but as the bowling in cricket is for hitting stumps (ideally), the ball needs to be low. It also needs to bounce to bamboozle the batter. That\'s where all the spin and swing comes into play, in the air a bit, but mostly off of the floor. So yes, there are loads of different things to do with the ball, perhaps more so than baseball

I\'m not a huge cricket fan mind you. Never been to a lie one even though our county (Glamorgan) only play down the road from me. They play against the English teams as we are part of the same cricket board.

 

[Legacy Account]

Originally posted by Shawn R. L.
In cricket does the pitcher (the guy that throws the ball. I know you call him something different) ever throw what we in baseball call \'junk\' - cruve balls, knuckle balls, change up\'s etc..?

Are you kidding??

The BOWLER has a vast array of weapons in his arsenal. As Rev says, a good bowler can get the ball to SWING in the air before bouncing. The SEAM then comes into play, making the ball change direction. Licking, wetting and polishing the ball on one side aids this movement.

He can also bowl YORKERS - right into the batsman\'s feet, or BOUNCERS - vicious short balls designed to take the batsmans head off. Then there are the decidedly unsporting BEAMERS - bowled without bouncing.

We haven\'t even spoken about SPIN bowling.... LEG BREAKS, OFF BREAKS, GOOGLY, CHINAMAN, FLIPPER, WRIST SPIN, FINGER SPIN, LEG SPIN or the fact that you can bowl around the wicket or over the wicket...

The pitch also comes into play, as it can crack up, develop a layer of dust or areas that are rough. Bowling at certain areas of the pitch will give differing bounce, seam and spin.

...and finally the JAFFER

 

[Shawn R. L.]

WOW! Never knew all that. Is it allowed to simply roll the ball or does it have to be in the air for most of it\'s trip?

I do remember being in London, watching American baseball while I was staying at a hostel in Earls Court. The third base coach was giving the batter instructions in code by touching his hat, pulling his ear, putting his hand in his pocket etc, all in rapid sucession. One girl there, not a Yank, very astonished, loudly exclaimed in what I think was a Cockney accent: \"Wot eez that man doing\"?lol I\'m so used to seeing it that it looked normal but I guess to one not aquainted with it it would look really bizzare.

 

[Itchy]

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOSHHHHHHH

^that\'s the noise this topic made as it flew over my head at 57 thousaund miles an hour.

How long is a game of cricket anyway? Morning... after tea... afternoon, then days later more posts. Are these different games?

 

[Legacy Account]

We just finished the first test match against the Aussies. They last for 5 days, but the Aussies won in 4. We were praying for rain so we could blag a draw!!

Buggers won by 239 runs... That equals a drubbing!

 

[Itchy]

i\'d say loosing by 239 would be bad... lol

sounds like an interesting game, if they played it this side of the pound.

 

[provoke_me]

i am extremely confused.

 

[Dr Sanch]

Now all we need to win the next test match is for Mcgrath and Warne to have a mysterious unexplained illness for five days

Will someone also teach Pietersen that when someone on the opposing team hits the ball towards him he\'s supposed to catch it and not attempt and fail to juggle it. 3 dropped catches from him alone and a couple by G Jones.

 

[Modderrhu]

A damn shame, guys, a damn shame. A win by England would\'ve made every Aussie\'s head hang in misery after their rugby team was defeated by ZA on Saturday. Still, four more games, only three wins required, or two wins and two draws. Pucker up, chaps! Lots more cricket to play. And there are still some one-day games, not?

As for Pieterson\'s juggling, heck he was doing that when England last toured here too. A few weeks in the ZA team will get his fielding sorted out - Jonty Rhodes left a fantastic example. He can smack some decent balls, but he sure can\'t handle them. McGrath, Gillespie and Warne definitely know how to handle theirs though.

 

[Infidel Castro]

I\'m glad the boks won in the rugby - I really thought they\'d win in Australia with the first match, but it wasn\'t to be. It\'s interesting that France did well against the two teams even though losing and drawing rather than winning.

Percy Montgomery is back in business...