Similar to baseball, but 1/10th of the wages and they don't wear plus 4's
And it's all supposed to be very non-violent and civilised and for the toffs and very stiff-upper-lip "British" - as in the old moralistic cliché of "play up, play up and play the game" and non-competitive sporting and all that stuff (it's no wonder the Aussies trounce the Brits at it, really) and slow-paced - hence the old expression for things that are not like that "it's simply not cricket!"; of course it's nothing of the sort - it's a big money commercial scene now (albeit nowhere near as big as UK football or US baseball), there's plenty of fast bowling and competitiveness, the protective gear worn by players has of necessity become more protective and the only relevance of the British stiff upper lip is that fast bowlers aim for them in the hope of smashing as many of them as possible.
I am not a sportsman of any kind; watching it does little for me (sorry, "ada"!) and the prospect of playing it does less than nothing at all. My eyesight isn't really up to standard for most of that kind of thing anyway. I do recall when at school having to participate as a reserve on a cricket team on one occasion, thinking to myself how utterly stupid this was and reckoning that the only redeeming feature of this absurdity was that, as a reserve, I'd never actually have to go in and bat, so I simply took a score with me (a musical one, that is!) and planned to work at it until the match ended. The school playing field was situated next to a train line and beyond its boundary at its far end was a train station, the significance of which will later become apparent. However, I did have to go in and bat - at which point I endeavoured to calm myself with the thought that even this ridiculous situation would not be ridiculous for long - out first ball and that would be that - back to work. The first ball was a wide to my right (apparently - not that I could see it coming) and the second a wide to my left. The third apparently came straight for me, so I just batted as hard as I could at something I could barely see, expecting at least to be out third ball. The shock of actually hitting the thing was something for which I was entirely unprepared, but the gentle leather-on-willow sound of legend seemd to me far more akin to a revolver going off in my face. I was about to run and then advised not to; I said "not a four, surely?" - "no!", came the swift retort - "a clear six". Well, a six it certainly was - a fact made still clearer as the ball's trajectory had in its sights a window of a train standing at the station; it crashed right through it into a "ladies only" compartment (they used to have those on some British trains in those days) and I learnt afterwards that the ball knocked out a lady in her 80s who also received namerous cuts to her face and arms from the broken glass. Funnily enough, I was never invited to play cricket again. I cannot for the life of me imagine why...
No - to me, "sport" is an Australian term, rather like "mate", thanks...
Best,
Alistair
Topic: here's one that can't go to religion...what's your favorite sport to play/watch? (Read 2525 times)