The Ashes

One of the worlds oldest sporting rivalry renewed itself last night with the start of the Ashes. The Ashes consit of 5-6 test matches played over 5 days.

Last night England the tour started with the traditional curtain raiser, England against Aussie hopefuls representing the PM's XI. Needless to say the Aussies bashed the tourists in a one sided display. For a balanced report see the BBC site, for a smug self-satisfied "we told you so" report see the Sydney Morning Herald.

The downside to the Ashes tours:

a) No sleep, the game started at 11GMT and finished around 5am, this left very little sleeping before work.
b) England normally lose. This means spending 5 sleep deprived days in a row watching England loose, before 2 days off and repeating again.
c) Most bar staff in the UK are Ausies. They are not known for holding back and being magnanimous in victory, I frequent a lot of pubs.
d) Regardless of the abuse, I am likely to post things about the Ashes for the next six weeks.

COYEngland.

 

I for one am looking forward to your reports. The sloppier, whether from sleep deprevation or from frequenting your local pub to harass the wallaby behind the bar (or both), the better.

 

It is always nice to place some local conext into the ramblings of post. Here is some US cricket history.

The first ever international cricket match took place between the USA and Canada in 1844 - the US lost. It is the longest running current international fixture in any sport, and predates the first Rugby International (1870) and Football (1871) between England and Scotland.

George Washinton and John Adams were cricket fans. Adams even spoke to congress saying if a president is good enough for the leader of a cricket team then it is good enough for a leader of a country.

John Major presented George Bush Snr with a cricket bat signed by the then England team, telling him that we came in the 1920's, played, lost and never came back!

The USA is an associate member of the ICC.

Hollywood Cricket Club included Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Errol Flynn and Cary Grant.

Cricket is alive and well in the US, the official site http://www.usaca.org/ has information on regional events.

 

I was surprised at the result...I blame the jet-lag. I'm hoping England can put it behind them and focus on playing better.

Looking forward to more reports.

 

Bugger - the second game is going much the same way as the first. The most dangerous of the English bowlers is a guy called Steve Harmison. He gets very home sick and if things are not going for him his head goes down.

Unfortunatly he was tonked around the park by some more second rate Aussies. The only good thing is that this game is not televised so I did not sit up all night watching it, there are still 2 days to go so by the end England should be really short of confidence.

For thoses that don't know, the ashes is one of the smallest and cheapest prizes in sport. It is a tiny urn about 2 1/2 inches high presented to England on the occasion of the demise of English cricket. There is no monetry values and the urn lives at Lords in London regardless of who wins it. The captains do not event get given the urn when winning as it is now so fragile.

 

Re: RE: The Ashes

Any chance he is related to a "soccer"player named Donovan.

(Oh come on, I couldn't have been the only one to think that.)

 

RE: Re: RE: The Ashes

PCB - On the plus side when Harmison does fire he is probably the best bowler in the world, and it happens about once evey 2 years!!!!

The news today was much more promising with the bowlers picking up 4 wickets for 50 runs, while the batsmen finally got some runs - they youngster Alister Cook, Andrew Strauss, Kevin Pieterson all scored half centuries.

Don - I was very lucky to watch Curtly and Coutney Walsh play their last test together at the Oval. I have loved the Windies since I was a kid, they always used to beat us but they did it with style. Viv Richards was a master, but my fav was a guy called Carl Hooper - he was so laided back. Richie Richardson was magic, especially in partnership with Gordon Greenidge. I still wear a floppy hat when I bat in emulation of Richie.

The West Indies match also produced the greatest commentary ever when Peter Willey was facing Micahel Holding the commentator, Brian Johnston, said "The bowler's Holding, the batsman's Willey".

In the UK we have a mag called Private Eye, Petty would like it. It is a sideswipe at almost everything, especially politicians. They publish commetery errors by pundits, these are called Colemanballs after David Coleman, a master of confused commentary.

Brian Johnson appeared regulally in the column, two other magic gaffs include (taken from Wikipedia cos I'm lazy):

"Johnners" is much missed by cricket fans the world over.

 

RE: Re: RE: The Ashes

Firstly, I would like to thank you all for indulging my continued rambling on cricket – I know by now that most of you a probably seeing the topic come up and ignoring it, as such this sentence is redundant, but the sentiment is there anyhow.

Secondly I would like to thank Don for his encouragement - you can blame him for my continued ramblings!

Now, to the business of the day: England had another very good day with KP going on to make a ton and Freddie Flintoff bagging a half century, on top of that Jimmy Anderson took 3 wickets. This means that all of England’s batsmen and bowlers have come to the party, with the exception of Marcus ‘Banger’ Trescothic who has gone a little do-lally and has returned home.

‘Banger’, named after a lover of sausages, has left a hole in the side but I would imagine Ali Cook will go up to open with Strauss while Bell does 3, Pietersen 4, Colly 5, and Fred at 6.

The next match starts midnight Friday GMT.

 

RE: Re: RE: The Ashes

Has GBFC hijacked the website now?

I love the jargon, but I need fookin' translator. Or read-up on the game.

Can't wait to hear who cracked a molly and spun the twizzler while doing a knob wobbler, on Friday.

Seriously, keep it comin'!

 

RE: Re: RE: The Ashes

GBFC, what do you think of Ed Joyce being named as the replacement for Marcus Trescothick? To be honest I know nearly nothing about him.

Keep the cricket updates coming!!!

 

RE: Re: RE: The Ashes

Ed Joyce is a weak choice. He showed some promise and is a good country player, but I would not have gone with him. My choice would be for Robert Key to fill in since has has better international experieince, and been a big scorer in the county game. Either way, Joyce should not feature unless there is injury:

Cook
Strauss
Bell
Pietersen
Flintoff
Collingwood
Jones
Giles or Anderson
Hoggard
Harmison
Monty

 

Ashes & Cricket

I usually like Nick Webster's writings, and this was a good one from a few years back. I especially enjoy the "Object of the Game" section. Sorry for the length, I think it's worth it.

Oh, and I suspect the Windies are so popular (even though they continue to lose!), because of all the Red Stripe consumed whilst watching the matches (a co-worker is originally from Guyana and likes to go down to see his beloved Windies-- I think he does it to guzzle beer!).

Cricket 101
By Nick Webster
Foxsportsworld.com

To many people, the game of cricket is akin to baseball on Valium.

However, if you take the time to sit down, watch, listen and learn you'll soon discover that it contains a whole host of subtleties and nuances that any sports fan can identify with.

Before all of this can happen though, we do need to have a basic grasp of what the bloody hell is going on.

So go grab a large, strong coffee, sit up and pay attention, because here we go.

The object of the game

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 all 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 out, and both sides have been out twice (in 'test' matches) after all the men have been in, including those who are not out, that is the end of the game!

Phew! Complicated enough? Let me attempt to simplify.

The make up of sides

Each team consists of eleven players. The general make up of the side is as follows. Five specialist batsman. Four bowlers, one wicket keeper (who can usually bat a bit) and one all-rounder (who is skilled at batting and bowling).

At the start of play, the two opposing skippers will go out to the middle, inspect the wicket, toss up and decide if they want to bat or bowl first. This toss of the coin is as big as winning the coin flip in an NFL overtime because the movement of the cricket ball and the condition of the wicket is effected by many elements throughout the day and the captains have to somehow anticipate this.

Batting

Let's say for instance that we've called correctly, won the toss and have elected to bat. The order of batsman is established and each player will have a semi-defined role. The openers (No. 1 & 2) are like the lead off hitters in baseball in that their job is to erect a platform that the innings can be built upon. Nos. 3 & 4 are usually the stroke players (batsman who rely more on timing than power) and they'll build on the momentum supplied by the openers. Nos. 5 & 6 are considered the swashbucklers of the side and they come in towards the end of the innings intent on pulverizing anything out of sight (they're the Sosa's. and Bonds of the team). Nos. 7 through 11 are the bowlers and therefore not too much is expected of them, although many, are more than capable of hitting some lusty blows.

Bowling

In the World Cup, bowlers are allowed to bowl a maximum of ten overs. So in theory a team will deploy five bowlers at ten overs apiece.

So say we've won the toss and seen that there is moisture in the wicket or humidity in the air. This will cause the ball to move and swing and so we will elect to bowl first. Just like in batting you'll have a pair of opening bowlers. These two will generally be fast bowlers known as quickies and are capable of chucking down the ball at speeds close to 100mph (the distance between the batsman and the bowler is roughly 20 yards). These opening spells (usually 6 overs a piece) are critical in containing the flow of runs and if you happen to nick a wicket or two even better (they will generally try to beat a batsman with pure pace, much like a Randy Johnson). Next up for a twenty over stint will be two medium pacers who'll try to get movement out of the wicket and swing the ball (sort of like a Greg Maddux) and perhaps one spinner who'll try to deceive the batsman with slower balls that turn and dip violently (like a knuckle-baller). Towards the end of the inning the opening bowlers usually return to finish off their spells and slow down the run rate.

Yes I know its sounding complicated, but trust me, If you can hang in there it'll all be worth it.

Until then, I'm off for tea and cucumber sandwiches.

 

RE: Ashes & Cricket

Cricket is a complicated game, it is steeped in history and is much more tactical than most.

I love it for two reasons, one, the preamble of the laws of cricket. It states:

Cricket is a game that owes much of its unique appeal to the fact that it should be played not only within its laws, but also within the spirit of the game.

This means that every team is responsible to play in the best interests of cricket, even if it is outside the laws. One example is that a batsman who has been unfairly given out should be recalled if the fielding team realise the error. Obviously, this does not happen at professional levels, but I have played in more than one game where players have been recalled for incompetent umpiring.

Two, the sledging (I assume it happens in baseball, but I don't know if it is called the same). Sledging is where a player verbally abuses another player to put them off.

Again at lower levels sleding takes place, although it tends not to be personal. I have repeatedly indulged in sledging and love it.

My favourite exchange was between Eddo Brands (Zimbabwe batsman) and Glen McGrath (Ausie Bowler)

GM: Hey, Brands, How come your so fat?
EB: 'Cos everytime I f*** your wife she gives me a biscuit.

A collection of other top sledging:

Also Rod Marsh asked Ian Botham "How's your wife and my kids?"

Mike Atherton blatently edged (the ball hitting the edge of the bat) and was caught by the keeper. Merv Hughes, the bowler, was extreemly upset and went into a torrent of about about being a f'ing cheat and a c........... Athers replied in best Oxbridge "When in Rome, old boy", smiled and walked off.

Greg Thomas was bowling to Viv Richards in a county game. Viv missed a superb outswinger, and Thomas said "It's red, round and weighs about 5 ounces." Next ball Viv hits Greg Thomas out of the ground and replies, "Greg, you know what it looks like. Go ahead and find it!"

James Ormond had just come out to bat on an ashes tour and was greeted by Mark Waugh, brother of former Ausie captain Steve.

MW : F*** me, look who it is. Mate, what are you doing out here, there's no way you're good enough to play for England

JO : Maybe not, but at least i'm the best player in my family.

Porky Sri Lankan batsman Arjuna Ranatunga was facing Shane Warne, trying to tempt the batsman out of his crease mused what it took to get the plump character to get out of his crease and drive. Wicketkeeper Ian Healy piped up, "Put a Mars Bar on a good length. That should do it."

 

RE: Ashes & Cricket

The last player who played both cricket and football that I recall was Ian Botham - He played some games for Scunthorpe United. I will try to research this and give a definitive answer.

Although CB Fry would be one of the most famous having represented his country in Cricket, Athletics and Rugby, as well as played in an FA Cup Final. Charles Burgess Fry was a Sussex player c.1912. He also was a founding representitive in the League of nations and met Hitler in the 30's.

Surrey Batsman Andy Ducat played for England once, but managed Fulham in the 1920's. Biography.

To save effort I will add my findings to this post. There are very few who represented England in cricket and football, the ones I could find are:

Alfred Lyttelton, Denis Compton, Arthu Milton and Willie Watson

There are plenty who played first class cricket and league football. Although Chris Balderstone time was the last where it regulally happended, his contemporaries include Ted Hemsley, Jim Cumbes, Jim Standen, Graham Cross and Phil Neale.

Bugger, see here for someone who has already posed this question.

So, I guess my Ian Botham was probably the last - althoug I seem to recall Scots goalie Andy Goram being a tasty batsman.

 

RE: Ashes & Cricket

Great stuff GBFC. Sledging exists in the States. It's called "talking trash".

 

RE: Ashes & Cricket

So, What are the best examples of State-side sledging and in which sports?