Which sport is better....

[notsmokinjo]

Polls are now open....yes it's completely pointless, well not really will interesting to see how much national pride plays into people's choices...so tipping the Commonwealth nations, cept Canada, will lean towards cricket and the Yankie Doodles will be voting Baseball...the south Americans and Canadians will probably go for the game with bases... And our non British Europeans won't give a fat rats clacker either way...

 

Polls are now open until 15th....as all Aussie votes go they will be anonymous but feel free to chat below and defend your choice....you may just won you option some swing voters.

[Sazerac]

To make things perfectly clear...

This article is Anglo-centric ( apologies for those below the Equator) 

For us wilder colonials,  here is ,

 

10 Things To Know Before Attending A Cricket Match In The UK

by Andre Walker in The Observer

 

It’s impossibly British and not unlike baseball. 

The special relationship between Britain and America is incredibly strong; we share a common language,

a shared history, and have been allies in most—but not all—wars.

However, there is one thing that most definitely divides us: cricket.

 

Even the most avid sports fan from North America has absolutely no idea what’s going on in cricket.

Here are the top 10 things Americans need to know before heading to a match.

 

What the hell’s going on. 

This is undoubtedly the first question. Cricket is not that dissimilar to baseball.

The opposing team bowls, and the player hits the ball as far as he can.

But, rather than go for a home run, he attempts to swap sides with his team mate, who is opposite (next to the bowler).

Each time he does this, he scores a run, and the team with the most runs wins. Simple.

 

Weird scoring system.

Perhaps the most puzzling thing about cricket is its seemingly incomprehensible scoring system.

It turns out that it’s remarkably simple: the reason fans watching last weekend’s match were pleased with 450/5 is because the first number is how many runs they got (450), the second is the number of players caught ‘out’ to achieve it(5).

Knocking it out the ground gets an automatic 6. Knocking it to the edge of the playing area gets 4.

The reason for the weird scoring is there’s no point knowing how many runs a team has without knowing how many players it took to get it.

  

Players die. 

Countries that play cricket are generally former British colonies.

The only colonials who don’t play cricket are Americans. England plays Australia every two years for the Ashes, which is essentially the World Cup of cricket.

The West Indies, India, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and Pakistan are also quite handy.

Unlike in Gridiron, no joke substitutions are allowed. The ball arrives with the batsmen at 95 miles per hour.

Throwing at the head is an entirely legitimate tactic and has resulted in deaths.

 

Matches last for days. 

Being a cricket fan takes some commitment, seeing as county championship games last four days.

England games, known as Test Matches, last five.

Thankfully, there is no expectation for fans to sit through entire matches, which is why you see so many empty seats.

 

English summer time.

The first thing you need to remember about any sporting occasion across the pond

is the old saying, “English summer time is without question our favorite day of the year.”

It’s true: England is beset by rain and dark clouds. On the plus side, the mist and fog doesn’t generally descend during the cricket season.

To catch a warm day, it’s best to attend in June. Many games are determined by the ‘cricket weather gods’ because matches are regularly stopped due to bad weather.

 

Team names make no sense. 

The Oval is the home of Surrey County Cricket and is located near the new American Embassy in London. Hang on, why is it in London?

Because every team is from traditional English counties.

When The Oval opened in 1845 (having previously been the Prince of Wales vegetable garden),

the town of Vauxhall was in Surrey—but today London has grown so much it has consumed this part of the county.

 

Silly hats and sillier kit.

On my way to the match, I couldn’t help but ridicule the silly hats the supporters were sporting.

They ranged from baseball caps with the crest of Prince Charles to Australian bush hats to little black numbers that looked more Israeli than British.

However, I was thankful for the hats by the time the game started,

because both teams wear white and the only way to tell them apart is by how they accessorize.

 

Fish, chips and warm beer.

Most British sports have banned alcohol from their stadia, but not cricket.

I think it is fair to say the crowd at cricket matches aren’t prone to starting drunken fights.

It’s a pretty sedate atmosphere and all feels like a rather splendid affair.

It’s made all the more authentically British because the food is from the fish and chip van.

The ale is warm, and there is no objection to fans drinking huge quantities of it, as long as they don’t make a fuss!

 

Pitch invasions. 

Pitch invasions are allowed and they appear to be encouraged, but only when the players stop for tea.

At other times they are a definite no-no, especially if you have nudist tendencies.

That doesn’t deter the odd English wag from streaking, many of whom have suffered physical consequences of years of English ale.

Parts of their bodies are very small as a result of other parts having gotten fatter over time (you know what I mean).

 

They own their club.

 Splendid chaps with crazy moustaches adorn adorn the walls of every cricket club because the clubs are owned by their members.

They have committees, elect their chairman and own the grounds they use.

The advantage of this is they are really cheap. 

Surrey gets you into the clubhouse bar for free and entry to all the county matches: it will set you back the princely sum of $250.

 

Conclusion

Cricket goes on for hours on end, and sometimes it can be hard to see the appeal.

But it’s worth embracing English county spirit, even if that county has shrunk or been abolished.

It’s all about drinking heavily (ale or tea) and shouting ‘yah’ and ‘rah’ at old friends from the boarding school you wished you went to.

All of this goes on whilst frequenting a club you all own.

The game rolls on, barely even noticed. And what could be more English than that? God save the Queen!

 

 

I will vote for Cricket because people die.  Too harsh ?  Think of Darwin. 

This doesn't make me a v. bad person, does it ? 

OK, I'll draw the veil.

 

[notsmokinjo]

1 hour ago, Sazerac said:

To make things perfectly clear...

This article is Anglo-centric ( apologies for those below the Equator) 

For us wilder colonials,  here is

 

Um...ok...let's see... "to make things perfectly clear"....

1. Pretty sure a couple if billion Indians, Pakistanis, Bangladeshi, Sri Lankan, West Indians and Nepalese (they play in the 20/20 world cup) would object strongly to be referred to as Anglo.

 

2. As a member of the greatest cricket nation on earth, I'd like to lodge a protest on behalf of ourselves, our little cussy-bros the kiwis and those odd cousin's of ours Sth Africa and Zimbabwe...defo not a north of the equator strong hold.

 

3. The test match format of the game (cricket) was invented in Melbourne, Australia....below the equator....oh an while ya down here...

 

4. 20/20 cricket was the brain child of a kiwi and started there until the Poms n Taffies wrote up the official rules n claimed it.

 

And finally...

5. As one of the real Wild Colonials (cos the Irish/Australian folk song tells us it's us)....it's gotta be cricket.

 

Oh..and I can think of 4 songs about or with significant references to cricket but only one about baseball

 

Um....

Cricket is kinda like the chess to baseball's checkers...it's played on an oval with no diamond just two wickets....a test game is played over 2 innings that take up to 5 days to play and might end in a draw...both teams wear white...or cream, but usually white....except if you play a short form of the game, 1 day or 20/20 where they wear brightly coloured outfits....oh and when you bat, you wear a catching gear.

[Sazerac]

48 minutes ago, notsmokinjo said:

 

Um...ok...let's see... "to make things perfectly clear"....

1. Pretty sure a couple if billion Indians, Pakistanis, Bangladeshi, Sri Lankan, West Indians and Nepalese (they play in the 20/20 world cup) would object strongly to be referred to as Anglo.

 

2. As a member of the greatest cricket nation on earth, I'd like to lodge a protest on behalf of ourselves, our little cussy-bros the kiwis and those odd cousin's of ours Sth Africa and Zimbabwe...defo not a north of the equator strong hold.

 

3. The test match format of the game (cricket) was invented in Melbourne, Australia....below the equator....oh an while ya down here...

 

4. 20/20 cricket was the brain child of a kiwi and started there until the Poms n Taffies wrote up the official rules n claimed it.

 

And finally...

5. As one of the real Wild Colonials (cos the Irish/Australian folk song tells us it's us)....it's gotta be cricket.

 

Oh..and I can think of 4 songs about or with significant references to cricket but only one about baseball

 

Um....

Cricket is kinda like the chess to baseball's checkers...it's played on an oval with no diamond just two wickets....a test game is played over 2 innings that take up to 5 days to play and might end in a draw...both teams wear white...or cream, but usually white....except if you play a short form of the game, 1 day or 20/20 where they wear brightly coloured outfits....oh and when you bat, you wear a catching gear.

 

 

I love my Jo !  

[Sazerac]

Thought I would put something in about Baseball. 

 

When I first heard this song,

I wasn't really listening to the lyrics except for the hook,

'Put me in, Coach'

 

and 

 

I thought he meant,

Put me in coach, (instead of business or first class) on an aeroplane.

 

So, for YEARS, I was singing,

'Put me in Coach, I'm ready to play !'  Play as in travel to meet a playmate or something...

 

I was shocked and not a little disappointed to have a sit and listen to the real lyrics.

 

 

 

are there any songs about Cricket, I ask you.

 

[Rozuki]

3 hours ago, Sazerac said:

To make things perfectly clear...

 

OK, I'll draw the veil.

 

 

Well, that was entertaining, thanks Saz...I tried playing that Google Cricket game! I am not crazy about baseball myself...have been to a few MLB games and found it to be quite boring to watch in person and crazy expensive! I can tolerate watching a televised game...barely! Yet I like to watch Golf...go figure!  

[Reciprocity]

Voted Baseball only because I know zero about cricket other than there's a bat that looks different from a baseball bat and there's some sort of ball involved as well plus the games can go on for days I believe (not sure why) but that's the extent of my knowledge.

 

Don't care for baseball much for the same reasons Roz mentioned.......................

 

Baseball can get more exciting at playoff time though!

[Boo]

Back when I had a satellite dish, I used to watch the international sports station from time-to-time.  Watched a few minutes of a cricket game one night.  Some guy ran a bit and skipped a ball towards a guy who I'm not sure if he was trying to hit it or just get out of the way.  The British announcer believed he "knicked it."  There was much debate about whether or not he "knicked it."  The guys on the team from Sri Lanka were very agitated by the call.  I guess they didn't think he "knicked it."  I'm not sure if they ever came to a consensus about whether he "knicked it" or not...I changed the channel.  It felt like watching two mules fighting over a turnip...I couldn't have cared less.

 

Give me the Great American Game, the National Pastime...Baseball!

 

[notsmokinjo]

5 minutes ago, Boo said:

Some guy ran a bit and skipped a ball towards a guy who I'm not sure if he was trying to hit it or just get out of the way. 

Some bloke took a run up and bowled to the batter.

 

6 minutes ago, Boo said:

The British announcer believed he "knicked it."  There was much debate about whether or not he "knicked it."  The guys on the team from Sri Lanka were very agitated by the call.  

 

The commentator believed he knicked (make a slight contact with the bat)....so from this I know that the Sri Lankans were bowling, the wicki (wicket keeper) went up (claimed he had caught the ball of the bat) the commentator thought so too but the Umpire and not called him out (raised 1 finger above his head...there is no actual calling by the umpires like blues do...just lots of fancy hand and arm signals)

 

1 hour ago, reciprocity said:

plus the games can go on for days I believe (not sure why)

Because it can take that long to play 2 innings...there are 11 players on a side and they all get to bat until the fielding team gets 10 of them out, and there are no strikes so you can let 58 balls in a row pass you....and you don't have to run when you hit the ball unless you want to (unless your playing tippy touch in ya mum's backyard or on the beach). Oh and if you hit it over the fence you get 6 runs.

[notsmokinjo]

@Sazerac....if it makes us feel any better I woulda sworn on a stack of bibles this song was about cricket...clearly I only listened to the chorus and then really just the stuff about catching someone out... An it's about infidelity...

Oh..."howzat" is how Aussie cricketers ask an umpire if something is out....usually a knick to the wicki for caught behind or an lbw (leg before wicket....when the bowler bowls the ball and hits the batter in the leg which stops it hitting the stumps)...howzat is much quicker than "how is that"

 

 

[notsmokinjo]

Oh....and unlike baseball bowlers are allowed to hit the batters....just ask the Poms....they base their how fielding game around playing the body...nearly caused riot in staid old Adelaide.

 

Some more cricket songs...which are actually about cricket....

 

 

 

Omg I just remembered we even have an entire musical about a cricketer...Warnie the Musical

 

 

[Doreensfree]

Im not really into any ....but went cricket...cos they dance better !!!