Most amazing achievement 99.9% of Americans won't care about - Page 4

DonkeyKongSr · #31 10-25-2006, 03:58 PM

What's crazy is I've watched cricket a couple times and I've read all about how to play and I still have no [censored] clue what is going on. Has there been a more complicated game in the history of the world?

metsandfinsfan · #32 10-25-2006, 04:01 PM

anybody have a link to see cricket in a video>?

skp · #33 10-25-2006, 04:15 PM

Here's a couple that I plucked from Youtube. I am at work right now so I haven't actullay viewed them so I don't know if the quality is any good.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpQrTgCTYds

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CSNyaVPmuA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRXmPe8I7QQ

gusmahler · #34 10-25-2006, 04:47 PM

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The tea break in test cricket is aptly named as traditionally, it is tea that the players have (along with cucumber sandwiches for reasons unknown to me). A test match has 6 hours of play in a given day - 3 sessions of 2 hours each. There is a 40 minute lunch break after session 1, and a 20 minute tea break after session 2. A test match is scheduled for 5 days meaning that there is a maximum of 30 hours of play.

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Is the whole 30 hours televised, or do they just show highlights?

skp · #35 10-25-2006, 05:40 PM

Every minute of the 30 hours is on the boob tube.

I grew up in India in the early 70s when television was available in only cities like Mumbai and Delhi. We had no television where I grew up. Most people (including our family) did not even have a good radio. We would all be listening to cricket commentary on a little transistor radio for the whole 30 hours. Man, even I have to admit that that is a colossal waste of time but nevertheless, I look back on those days fondly.

Lori · #36 10-25-2006, 05:51 PM

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
The tea break in test cricket is aptly named as traditionally, it is tea that the players have (along with cucumber sandwiches for reasons unknown to me). A test match has 6 hours of play in a given day - 3 sessions of 2 hours each. There is a 40 minute lunch break after session 1, and a 20 minute tea break after session 2. A test match is scheduled for 5 days meaning that there is a maximum of 30 hours of play.

[/ QUOTE ]

Is the whole 30 hours televised, or do they just show highlights?

[/ QUOTE ]

The WS baseball is a similar timeframe, it's not that ridiculous.

Lori

Lori · #37 10-25-2006, 05:57 PM

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What's crazy is I've watched cricket a couple times and I've read all about how to play and I still have no [censored] clue what is going on. Has there been a more complicated game in the history of the world?

[/ QUOTE ]

It's a really simple game.

There are three sticks in the ground called wickets. These are the strike zone.
The difference here is that if the pitcher (called a bowler) hits the strike zone, you're out.

Your bat is huge, so hitting the ball is easy, unlike baseball where the bat is tiny and so it's hard.

Hitting a HR is 6 points (called runs, just like in baseball). Hitting a ground rule double is 4 runs.

If you hit it and it stays in the park, you have to run to the base, except it's 22 yards away not 90 feet, (it's not that much different really) If you want to reach second base, you have to run back to here you started. There are only two bases.
Reaching a base is worth a run.

Most runs after each team has batted twice wins.

What makes it look messy is that someone stands at first base. If you run, they have to run to your end. Effectively meaning there are two people batting at any one time.

Pitchers (Bowlers) can be used more than once, and rested and stuff, but it's the same concept.

Lori

jstnrgrs · #38 10-25-2006, 06:00 PM

What's up with the rules restricting where fielders are allowed to play? Do they really think that scoring runs is too dificult in this game?

Also, the 30 hour time limit seems somewhat arbitrary. Why not just let them keep playing for as many days as it takes to finish?

In test cricket, if the bowling team is defending a target that is so small that they don't think they have a reasonable chance of winning, why don't they just bowl unhittable balls until the match is declared a draw?

As for one day cricket, the game length is determined by the number of overs (balls), instead of the number of wickets (outs). What prevents the bowling team from just delivering 300 unhittable balls. You would never get anyone out, but you would still end the game without allowing any runs.

jstnrgrs · #39 10-25-2006, 06:03 PM

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
The tea break in test cricket is aptly named as traditionally, it is tea that the players have (along with cucumber sandwiches for reasons unknown to me). A test match has 6 hours of play in a given day - 3 sessions of 2 hours each. There is a 40 minute lunch break after session 1, and a 20 minute tea break after session 2. A test match is scheduled for 5 days meaning that there is a maximum of 30 hours of play.

[/ QUOTE ]

Is the whole 30 hours televised, or do they just show highlights?

[/ QUOTE ]

The WS baseball is a similar timeframe, it's not that ridiculous.

Lori

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The world series is 7 games * about 3 hours per game = 21 hours (much less when you consider that the series doesn't usually take all 7 games).

A cricket test series is 7 hours per day * 5 days * as many as 5 matches = 150 hours. They play all 5 matches regardless of if one team has clinched the series.

Lori · #40 10-25-2006, 06:04 PM

[ QUOTE ]
What's up with the rules restricting where fielders are allowed to play? Do they really think that scoring runs is too dificult in this game?

[/ QUOTE ]

That's only in the one day matches, it's to make scoring runs easier and supposedly more exciting.

[ QUOTE ]
Also, the 30 hour time limit seems somewhat arbitrary. Why not just let them keep playing for as many days as it takes to finish?

[/ QUOTE ]

This is annoying as hell, they used to do this and miss their boats home and stuff. The modern excuse is that the TV stations don't like it. The real reason, as with many baseball type things is that you don't mess with stats geeks.

[ QUOTE ]
In test cricket, if the bowling team is defending a target that is so small that they don't think they have a reasonable chance of winning, why don't they just bowl unhittable balls until the match is declared a draw?

[/ QUOTE ]

An unhittable ball adds one to the total.

[ QUOTE ]
As for one day cricket, the game length is determined by the number of overs (balls), instead of the number of wickets (outs). What prevents the bowling team from just delivering 300 unhittable balls. You would never get anyone out, but you would still end the game without allowing any runs.

[/ QUOTE ]

Not only does an unhittable ball add one to the total (see above) but it has to be bowled again.

Lori