I have had it explained to me by an Indian, a trio consisting of two Englishman and a South African, and a Caymanian, and I attempted to watch a championship game, or test, or whatever they call it, and read Wikipedia at the same time.

I may try again someday, but every attempt has left me utterly and hopelessly lost about the objectives, order of play, and scoring.

The bowler aims toward the crease, a central part of the pitch, to attempt to hit the wicket which is guarded by a batsman. An unreasonably large field surrounds them all and nothing seems to be out of bounds. Upon the occurrence of mysterious events unknown, I believe two alternating batsmen attempt to capture the Penguin and free Gotham City in a sequence of overs. A game, match, test, or whatever the contest is called, can theoretically proceed for days, and the most exciting games are apparently the longest ones in which nothing much actually happens, punctuated by breaks for tea.

Oh, and the "score" at any time is an incomprehensible string of numbers from which I cannot ascertain who is winning the game, if indeed there is some sort of "winnning" involved.

I hope someday I do manage to figure it out.

I'll try to teach you

I've heard that before.

I think the main stumbling block is trying to analogize to baseball, or attempting to read Portuguese aloud if one knows Spanish. It "looks" kinda the same, but it really isn't.

Netball? No problem. It's like "Ultimate" with a basket. Two minutes and I was set.

I think I've got the main points of rugby nailed down, but cricket is like watching some avant garde pantomime depicting the place of humankind in the universe or something.

The Australian captain, Michael Clarke (aka Pup) has me bawling like a baby - what a beautiful tribute.

Honestly, I spent about five hours one day doing nothing else but watching a tournament game of some importance one evening. Part of the fun was the random sequence of events, and the things the announcers would get excited about. No idea who was winning.

I did learn how to play Ludi one fine evening...

https://twitter.com/Berryhillj/status/490644669219749889

But if you are itching to teach me something - teach me how to make that stuff with what seems to be scotch bonnets, onions, and something orange in vinegar that is in the mason jars. Does it have a name and do you have to let that sit around for a long time?

That's the escovich sauce for the fish. Love it.
Lovely finish with Elton John - Don't Let the Sun go down on me

Actually the cricket world cup is coming up and that will be a great time for you to learn.

http://www.kabaddi.org/

We had a very politically incorrect name for it growing up ("smear the *****&quot . It's a pro sport in India, nearly as popular as cricket or field hockey.

I watched some youtube videos on that.

The officials, assuming the gentlemen in sweaters are not one of the teams, should get those guys to stop doing whatever it is they keep fighting about and encourage them to play a game of some kind.

Actually I understand there's some kind of "puck" used in regulation hockey, but I've only ever noticed dudes slamming each other into plexiglass walls at 40mph.

It's looks like Red Rover meets Sumo.

That is, you have to get to the other team's end zone and back without inhaling. To prove you're not inhaling, you have to constantly say "Kabaddi kabaddi kabaddi..." and if you stop saying it the umpire calls you out.

What are the other four guys doing? And under what conditions does one peel off and try to tackle the runner?

And whatever happened to the Wide World of Sports, eh?

This developed out of IIRC a kind of south Indian martial art.

And under what conditions does one peel off and try to tackle the runner?

I think that's a tactical/strategic decision the team plans out beforehand. The teams take turns being offense/defense.

but cricket is like watching some avant garde pantomime depicting the place of humankind in the universe or something.



I love it

What other game would make an entire country town shut down to mourn one of their own. I mean people put up notices in shops that they would be closed as staff would be lining the street for the funeral procession.

And that was just a retirement

just to make him reach 200 test matches. That was real Tendy madness.
Still he was a classy batsman - lovely to watch.
American Mike Marqusee moved to England during the Vietnam war and fell in love with the game. He wrote several books on cricket including my favorite - Anyone But England.

1. Take baseball.

2. Remove 1st and 3rd base.

3. Start with a runner on 2nd. There will always be a runner on 2nd.

4. Change the theoretical strike zone for a physical wicket.

5. Remove all foul territory.

6. Remove the force to run on a hit (the batter and runner advance at their discretion).

7. A batter continues to bat until he is out, even if he advances bases.

8. The half-inning continues until 8 of the batters are out. There is only one inning.

9. An RBI is worth 2 points; a home run is worth 6.

10. Put in a time limit (in some matches, at least) and require that the visiting team put out the entire home team even if they are ahead in that time.

Not a chance

Does the guy with the cheese board have to hit the ball in order for anyone to run?

But there's never a force.

It doesn't seem like they are sliding in to beat the tag.

And I gather that a caught batted ball is also an out?

And also if the ball knocks the thingie off the wicket?

OK, fair enough, that's another difference. You put a runner out by hitting the wicket with the ball when he is outside of the "batter's box".

It doesn't seem like they are sliding in to beat the tag.

Depends. They'll often dive to beat a throw. And they run with their bats, which counts as part of "them", so they just have to touch their bat to safe territory.

And I gather that a caught batted ball is also an out?

Yes

And also if the ball knocks the thingie off the wicket?

Well, generally, but there are some rules about what we would call "foul tips" in baseball. There's also a rule about blocking the wicket with your body, but these things approach "infield fly rule" levels of complexity that casual fans don't usually understand.

I really hoped he would pull through. Sorry to hear he has passed.

I love cricket, when they introduced the 50 overs, that was great but when they introduced the 20 overs, I thought cricket had reached a new and exciting level. I loved the 20 overs.

We don't get to see cricket here in BC.

My condolences to Mr. Hughes family, friends and fans.

I think most of us knew he was never going to make it when he needed CPR on the pitch. The ball hit his neck and shattered an artery. Truth be told I suspect that he was brain dead on impact. That was one freak accident, but I suspect there will be new standards required for helmets.