Ready for some pro cricket in America?

[wolf stansson]

I am a really open minded sports fan but cricket is just a bridge too far.

[RedFlash]

I feel like I'm reading a foreign language in this thread.

 

You're not the only one. I've seen terms use like bowl and bat and I'm totally thinking of something else other then cricket. It's fascinating that people are talking in-depth about Cricket, but like you OMC, it's like taking a foreign class.

[wvcbxl]

I prefer first-class, ...

 

Good man. Test cricket and first class all the way for me. 8-)

One day games are sometimes ok to watch, I guess, but when the side batting 2nd gets off to a slow start it can be boring.

I'm not in to this 20/20 fad at all.

[Marco4]

The drama of test/first-class cricket, that takes hours to build, is something that can never be replicated in the shorter forms, which is why they're not for me.

 

I don't know about impatience in Twenty/20 cricket, it just seems like it rewards risk a lot more. Swinging for the fences every shot isn't a sound policy if you've got to protect your wicket, so what's the point of bowling if the aim isn't to take wickets, but prevent runs?

[Hairyducked Idiot]

I am a really open minded sports fan but cricket is just a bridge too far.

 

Here's the comparison I like to make:

 

1) Baseball fans get excited when a guy hits the other way, slightly altering his swing. A cricket batsmen has a dozen or more wildly different shots (swings) available to him, which he often has to choose from in the same split-second a baseball batsman has.

 

2) George Will wrote one-fourth of a great baseball book on the brilliancy of shifting a shortstop one or two steps in either direction, and that's about the extent of defensive strategy. In cricket, there is an almost unlimited number of fielding options, all with unique strategic implications.

 

It's sort of like the baseball that non-stathead baseball fans like to imagine exists but doesn't.

[imb]

I am a really open minded sports fan but cricket is just a bridge too far.

 

Here's the comparison I like to make:

 

1) Baseball fans get excited when a guy hits the other way, slightly altering his swing. A cricket batsmen has a dozen or more wildly different shots (swings) available to him, which he often has to choose from in the same split-second a baseball batsman has.

 

2) George Will wrote one-fourth of a great baseball book on the brilliancy of shifting a shortstop one or two steps in either direction, and that's about the extent of defensive strategy. In cricket, there is an almost unlimited number of fielding options, all with unique strategic implications.

 

It's sort of like the baseball that non-stathead baseball fans like to imagine exists but doesn't.

 

I have this dream where you never post here again because you're so in love with stupid bullcrap like cricket

[Hairyducked Idiot]

I have this dream where you never post here again because you're so in love with stupid bullcrap like cricket

 

Holy crap, I got a capital letter from IMB!

 

I think that's a Freudian slip that shows how much you really respect me.

[OleMissCub]

 

I have this dream where you never post here again because you're so in love with stupid bullcrap like cricket

 

much love for that one

[wvcbxl]

... stupid bullcrap like cricket

 

The fact that you don't like it doesn't make it bullcrap.

[imb]

... stupid bullcrap like cricket

 

The fact that you don't like it doesn't make it bullcrap.

 

No, the fact that it sucks, does.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

... stupid bullcrap like cricket

 

The fact that you don't like it doesn't make it bullcrap.

 

No, the fact that it sucks, does.

 

The opinion of the Oklahoman NBA fan has been given its due notice. Maybe if the Barmy Army incorporated some rap music into its chants?

[OleMissCub]

point for Kyle

[jersey cubs fan]

1) Baseball fans get excited when a guy hits the other way, slightly altering his swing.

 

Only the dorks.

[imb]

... stupid bullcrap like cricket

 

The fact that you don't like it doesn't make it bullcrap.

 

No, the fact that it sucks, does.

 

The opinion of the Oklahoman NBA fan has been given its due notice. Maybe if the Barmy Army incorporated some rap music into its chants?

 

let's be clear here, the opinion of an oklahoma nba fan definitely holds precedence over a north dakota cricket fan who doesnt own a tv.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

let's be clear here, the opinion of an oklahoma nba fan definitely holds precedence over a north dakota cricket fan who doesnt own a tv.

 

I'm worried that if I buy a TV, I'll get caught up in the moment and provoke a weatherman, then back down when he challenges me to a fight. The sheer emasculation would be too horrifying to contemplate.

[imb]

you're not fooling anyone. you don't have a tv because A.) you can't afford a cable bill and B.) you'd lose one of the two things in your life that you're convinced makes you interesting.

[OleMissCub]

you don't have a TV??

[imb]

and i kicked frank mitchell's ass, why do you think he blocked me from further tweets!

[Hairyducked Idiot]

Please. Even if I bought a TV, I'd still be a ND-living, curling and cricket fan with world-class knowledge of Harry Potter and dreams of moving to Canada and rooting for a team other than the Cubs someday. I'm pretty sure all that would still keep me awesome and interesting. Fair point on the affording it part, though. But we can just add my awesome sense of frugality and priorities to the list of reasons why I am awesome.

 

Anyways, to keep this vaguely on topic, the fourth match of the Ashes starts tomorrow morning! It doesn't look like Freddie Flintoff will be fit, which really hurts England's chances to play positively. I can actually kind of see this match bogging down to negativity pretty quick and marching toward a draw. Australia might not want to take many risks when they know they can make their last stand going for a win at The Oval to split the series and retain.

[wolf stansson]

I'd still be a ND-living, curling and cricket fan with world-class knowledge of Harry Potter and dreams of moving to Canada and rooting for a team other than the Cubs someday. I'm pretty sure all that would still keep me awesome and interesting.

I'd tell you to start taking it easier, but I guess it's better to burn out than fade away.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

I'd tell you to start taking it easier, but I guess it's better to burn out than fade away.

 

Life, like a Golden Snitch, slows down for no wizard. You have to fly it down and catch it!

[wvcbxl]

Please. Even if I bought a TV,...

 

Please do; you can enjoy watching a test match for five days and discuss the progress here.

Annoying any posters while doing so is just an added bonus. 8-)

[Hairyducked Idiot]

Please. Even if I bought a TV,...

 

Please do; you can enjoy watching a test match for five days and discuss the progress here.

Annoying any posters while doing so is just an added bonus. 8-)

 

I don't think I could get the test match on TV here even if I wanted to. I doubt it's available.

 

However, I do intend on watching most of the Headingly test on my computer. I probably won't be able to get up at 4 a.m. for the first day, but Saturday and Sunday are fair game.

[Guest]

Please. Even if I bought a TV,...

 

Please do; you can enjoy watching a test match for five days and discuss the progress here.

Annoying any posters while doing so is just an added bonus. 8-)

 

I don't think I could get the test match on TV here even if I wanted to. I doubt it's available.

 

However, I do intend on watching most of the Headingly test on my computer. I probably won't be able to get up at 4 a.m. for the first day, but Saturday and Sunday are fair game.

 

You'd have to get a dish if you want to watch it on TV.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

England completed peed down their own legs this morning, reaching a pathetic 72-6 at one point, now on 92-6. Hopefully it's just the conditions and they can keep Australia down too, but they really don't want to be going into the last test needing the win.

 

Edit: 92-7. Expletive.