Ashes

[OneForTheRoad]

ooooh i liked this bit...
"the Auzzies are bastards to play sport against and beating them is among the highest acheivment any man can do."

He should have also added;

"You all live in a penal colony" sung to the tune of Yellow Submarine...

[OneForTheRoad]

Sir Niall, that's not a bad explanation without confusing the guy too much. I was going to have a crack at doing that last night but in my half cut state I gave it a miss...

[cantona7]

Right dude, im going to try and make this as simple as possible without going into too much detail. In cricket you two teams, at one point a team will have a chance to bat untill they are bowled out, or declare ( basically the team thinks they have enough runs to beat the other team so want to try and bowl them out.) After the first team has finished their batting, the other team bats.

There are two batsman, one stands at one wicket, the other man at the other end of the bowling pitch. The bowler will bowl the ball at one, and the batsman will attempt to stop it from hitting the wicket he is protecting and score runs. If he runs to the other wicket the 2nd batsman is standing at, basically swapping places with him, that counts as one run. If he hits the ball over the boundry ( the edge of the ground, much the same as a wall going around the ground in baseball, except its not a wall but marked out with a rope ) without the ball bouncing, it counts as 6 runs, if the batter hits the ball over the boundry with the ball hitting the ground before it crosses it, it is 4 runs.

If the batsman hits the ball up in the air and its caught without it hitting the ground then he is out. If the bowler hits the batsman wicket its an out for the batsman, if the batsman uses his leg to stop the ball hitting the wicket its an LBW ( leg before wicket. ) And is also an out. There is a line marking where the crease begins on the bowling pitch, the crease marks a distance from the wicket towards the centre of the bowling pitch, if the batsman is outside of the crease, e.g while running for a one, and someone hits the wicket, the batsman is out.

The winner in cricket is the one with the most runs. As you said its an all day, in fact a 5 day game. Seeing cricket live is amazing, its an all day drinking session and such a good atomsphere. Or, if your watching it in the West Indies, then its a case of sitting round with the West Indian puffing on joints drinking Red Stripe. What makes cricket is the fans, this is our fan base





Known as the barmy army, so called because they are either crazy,, probably due to the amount of drinking done. Or, because they follow a shit team ( England ) all the over world watching them lose. The Ashes is a game between England and the Auzzies, and is highy competitive, because basically, the Auzzies are bastards to play sport against and beating them is amoung the highest acheivment any man can do.

But as with most sports other than football in England, its a good natured rivarly, well these days it is.

thanks for the explanation sir neil. there are one day test matches and then multi day ones correct? some can last several days or more than a week?

sounds like fun to watch one live. how much is a beer at a match? if its anything like it is here it could get expensive. a beer at a hovkey,basketball,baseball or football or mls match can be like $8 for a premium beer..maybe less for a budweiser or coors. red stripe is one of my faves.

[Sir Niall of Essex-sire]

Sir Niall, that's not a bad explanation without confusing the guy too much. I was going to have a crack at doing that last night but in my half cut state I gave it a miss...

Cheers man, cricket is one of those sports thats easier to point out while its being played, rather than just plain explaining. Same with Rugby.

Catona - Yep theres a few different types of matches, test series which for example with the ashes, is 5 matchs, each consisiting of 5 days ( i think?!?) maximum, but its possibe for a team to get beat before the maximum time is reached. Then theres one day internationals, and 20-20 cricket, 20-20 cricket is when each team has 20 overs ( an over consists of when a bowler bowls 6 balls to the batsman ) to score as many runs as possible. These games are shorter, have alot more 6's and becoming very popular. There are also 50 over compititions.

Beers run about 2.25 a pint at Essex cricket ground, you have to remember that the standard beer here is stronger on average than you guys get in the states, in comparision to Miller Light, Bud Light etc. And a pint is quite a bit bigger than your average bottle of beer, so its might be a bit cheaper than you imagine man. They also do real ales at most grounds, which can get silly strong, my faveourite real ale is from lancashire and called cunny funt.

[cantona7]

Sir Niall, that's not a bad explanation without confusing the guy too much. I was going to have a crack at doing that last night but in my half cut state I gave it a miss...

Cheers man, cricket is one of those sports thats easier to point out while its being played, rather than just plain explaining. Same with Rugby.

Catona - Yep theres a few different types of matches, test series which for example with the ashes, is 5 matchs, each consisiting of 5 days ( i think?!?) maximum, but its possibe for a team to get beat before the maximum time is reached. Then theres one day internationals, and 20-20 cricket, 20-20 cricket is when each team has 20 overs ( an over consists of when a bowler bowls 6 balls to the batsman ) to score as many runs as possible. These games are shorter, have alot more 6's and becoming very popular. There are also 50 over compititions.

Beers run about 2.25 a pint at Essex cricket ground, you have to remember that the standard beer here is stronger on average than you guys get in the states, in comparision to Miller Light, Bud Light etc. And a pint is quite a bit bigger than your average bottle of beer, so its might be a bit cheaper than you imagine man. They also do real ales at most grounds, which can get silly strong, my faveourite real ale is from lancashire and called cunny funt.

yea iv drank alot of beer in the uk..mainly boddingtons and john smith's. tried carling as well and didn't like it. i like a good apple/pear cider as well.

miller, coors,bud, etc may be the most popular here but they arent great. i personally only buy it when im low on cash. dont drink a ton in general either. if i buy beer its usually a good stronger locally brewed beer, pyramid, widmer, redhook extra special bitter, etc. alot of good eer to be had from the microbrewerys.

[Sir Niall of Essex-sire]

Carlings not a bad beer if your simply out to get trashed, its a weak tasting fizzy glass full of booze that does the job. But you sound like your into the more bitter, full tasting proper beer.

Its a beautiful thing in England that you can go to local pubs and try a load of different local beers, kind of like the mirco bewerys in the states. Theres a load of different types to suit all tastes, some stretching back to 1798, so your drinking history. The same beer that was being drunk by our forefathers, in fact in England water used to be so badly polluted that people used to drink beer instead of water.

Ciders becoming more popular here, the fruit ciders are really taking off. In fact, i drink this more often than beer when in the pub now.




Fasted growing cider in Ireland and the UK.

[OneForTheRoad]

£2.25??? Last time I went to Old Trafford Friends Provident Semi final earlier this month it was £3.50 a pint of err generic larger. Trent Bridge isn't cheap either £4.00 a pint for the last England international.

Just to confuse you even more Cantona, in the domestic game they play a 4 day format as instead of a 5 day format, a one day (50 over tournament), a 20/20 tournament and a Pro40 league, which as you can guess from the name is 40 overs a side and usually played as a day night game.

On the international scene there are 10 test playing teams although one (Zimbabwe) is currently suspended. These teams will contest the five day format.
There are other cricket playing nations even the Dutch have a side and recently beat England in this years 20/20 world cup.

[OneForTheRoad]

Ciders becoming more popular here, the fruit ciders are really taking off. In fact, i drink this more often than beer when in the pub now.




Fasted growing cider in Ireland and the UK.

I really like the pear one if fact the are 5 bottles chilling in the fridge right now.... .. ... ... .. . ... ..

errr make that 4...