Baseball? Cricket!

Posted by Barney on May 29, 2000

In Reply to: Baseball? Cricket! posted by Bruce Kahl on May 29, 2000

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The secret of understanding cricket is to understand its origins. Not a lot of people know that the game of cricket was invented by the English, who are not a very religious people, to give them some concept of eternity. What other game can continue for 5 days and end in a draw, where 9 members of your team retire to sit on the veranda and drink tea leaving only 2 on the field to represent them, where you cannot be 'out' until you're 'in' and where 'bad light' can stop play.

The truth of the matter is that cricket can only be properly understood after an apprenticeship has been served sitting at the edge of the village green drinking beer ,or even tea, whilst the titanic struggle for supremacy is acted out on the field of play. It doesn't really matter if there are any spectators but if one or two decorate the boundary with their presence and don't express themselves too loudly, that's acceptable.

At the end of the afternoon tea is served by the ladies in the pavilion and play continues until the light fades. The culmination of the day is to crowd into the village pub, drink a few jars of ale - no ice, no chilled beer - and revisit the highlights of the day.

• Baseball? Cricket! Louise 05/31/00
  • Baseball? Cricket! Bob 06/01/00
    • Baseball? Cricket! Barney 06/04/00
      • Baseball? Cricket! Louise 06/14/00