Thanks for informing me, dear Andre! I knew it was only a matter of time before it is resurrected. We're no strangers to seeing Langcafe Going Down. _________________ Hillary Clinton is an acquired taste which I have clearly yet to acquire.
Hey, my Polish mate! It's really nice to see you in the cricket thread!
Speaking of cricket, I just watched Pakistan hammer England by 7 wickets. I don't know what to say except to say (well, I just contradicted myself) that England are woefully inadequate in any format of cricket that deviates from the original.
And yes, to think that England invented Twenty20. _________________ Hillary Clinton is an acquired taste which I have clearly yet to acquire.
One of the fastest-growing games in the United States is, surprisingly, cricket.
The game flourished there for a while in the 19th century, but a combination of war and baseball sent it into decline. That is, until now.
Atlanta, Georgia is not a place you normally associate with cricket. It is famous for a fizzy drink and a baseball team called The Braves. So I was pleasantly surprised, on a recent visit, to hear the distinctive "thock" of leather on willow.
"Shot, Mouse!" shouted the tall, silver-haired West Indian standing next to me, as a batsman lofted a ball over the fence for six.
It was the semi-finals of the Atlanta regional play-offs between Tropical Sports Club and North Atlanta.
It was not a real cricket ground - just a piece of matting laid out in the middle of a schools softball field near the Atlanta airport.
Long history
But it felt like Sunday in Antigua. Under an awning, a large-hipped lady in a bandana barbecued jerk chicken in an oil drum. Men sat under the trees drinking Red Stripe and reminiscing about home. A copy of Ovid's Metamorphoses lay open on the ground.
The silver-haired man standing next to me was not any old bystander. His name was Desmond Lewis and in his cricketing heyday he had opened the batting for the Windies with Sir Garfield Sobers.
Cricket, he told me, has grown exponentially in America. When Des arrived in 1978, he could not find 11 players to make a team.
Today, Atlanta boasts 23 teams, with 600 players competing in a well-organised league.
Though few people either side of the Atlantic know it, cricket has a long history in the United States.
It was once the national game and the annual fixture against Canada, which was first played in the 1840s. It is the oldest international sporting event in the modern world, predating today's Olympic Games by nearly 50 years.
The earliest account of a cricket match in North America comes from a plantation owner in Westover, Virginia, named William Byrd.
"I rose at six o'clock and read a chapter in Hebrew," he noted in a diary he kept between 1709 and 1712.
"About 10 o'clock Dr Blair, and Major and Captain Harrison came to see us. After I had given them a glass of sack we played cricket. I ate boiled beef for my dinner."
The outbreak of the War of Independence in 1776 temporarily queered cricket's pitch. Like tea and taxes, it was associated with Britishness.
But by 1860 an estimated 10,000 Americans were playing the game. Presidents turned out to watch. When Chicago hosted Milwaukee in 1859, Abraham Lincoln was among the spectators.
Three years later, disaster struck. The American Civil War uprooted men from their homes, pitches fell into disrepair, and a new sport adapted from an English girls' game called rounders, took America by storm.
Baseball suited war. It was quick, easy to learn, and required little in the way of equipment or facilities - just four gunnysacks thrown on the ground, a simple bat and an equally simple ball.
Today, thanks to a huge influx of immigrants from India, Pakistan and the West Indies, cricket is bouncing back.
There are 29 leagues nationwide, with an estimated 700 clubs and 50,000 active cricketers. As well as traditional bastions like Philadelphia and New York, where Mayor Bloomberg recently announced a $1.5m investment for a purpose built pitch in Queens, cricket is now being played in such unlikely places as Dallas, Texas, and Wichita, Kansas.
In Los Angeles, a team called Compton Homies & Popz uses cricket to teach "boyz from the hood" old-fashioned virtues like discipline and manners.
'Too complicated'
So can cricket do what soccer has done, and once again become a contender in the US?
A student I met at a charity game in Atlanta was more than a little sceptical. "It's way too complicated for Americans," he said. "And too slow."
But that doesn't stop Des Lewis from dreaming.
"My dream is to get a piece of property," he told me, as the sun began to set over Georgia.
"Twenty acres or so. And build a proper cricket field. With a real pavilion."
I found this article on the BBC. Like the american student interviewed, I think cricket has an uphill task trying to supplant any of the Big Three in the States. Nonetheless, a commendable effort by the West Indian immigrants. _________________ Hillary Clinton is an acquired taste which I have clearly yet to acquire.
Thought I'd like to highlight the fact that Shane Warne has been making disparaging remarks of John Buchanan on TV. If I thought the England side had been stripped bare of their firepower for the coming Ashes series, I'd say that there are certain elements in the Antipodean squad who are bent on self-destruction!
I'd like to remind all cricket fans here, well, basically Andre :( :
69 DAYS UNTIL THE FIRST TEST
PS: Three Cheers for Freddie! Hip hip Hurray!
_________________ Hillary Clinton is an acquired taste which I have clearly yet to acquire.
Time for the Ashes again? Where is Candy now that we need her? :cry: _________________ Toe ek jonk was, het ek al die antwoorde geken. Nou verstaan ek nie eens die vrae nie.
True. I think we need to advertise our availiability in countries where Test cricket is played.
Right now, a triangular series is unfolding in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia between the West Indies, Australia and India. They were supposed to hold the first half in Singapore before some administrative cock-ups prompted the organisers to hold the entire event in Malaysia. Damn it. I was looking forward to buying some tickets. _________________ Hillary Clinton is an acquired taste which I have clearly yet to acquire.
Incidently, I found your earlier post about cricket in the US very interesting. I shudder to think of them starting to play cricket (and for that matter rugby) seriously... :cry: _________________ Toe ek jonk was, het ek al die antwoorde geken. Nou verstaan ek nie eens die vrae nie.
I know certain big wigs in the ICC would dearly love to see cricket take off in countries like the US or China, but I somehow feel that the situation would seem a little incongruous if cricket begins to be taken seriously in these countries.
Like you, I have a few reservations when it comes to the americans playing cricket. Of course, there is a distinction between immigrants from Test cricket countries and american americans. If America starts becoming good at the sport and begins to flex its muscle, they may demand that rules be changed to suit their whim, e.g. 5 balls per over instead of 6 because it's easier to count.
Alternatively, they may make it compulsory for everyone to wear helmuts and fielders to wear gloves. I thought finger injury is part of the hazards of cricket. _________________ Hillary Clinton is an acquired taste which I have clearly yet to acquire.
DLF Cup at the Kinrara Oval, KL: India bt Windies by 16 runs
I came back home just in time to see the Windies opening their bat strongly with 40 for 0. I saw Chanderpaul caught out a few minutes later and that seemed to have sparked a collapse with Brian Lara coming in at an unusual number 9 when the Windies were gasping like a fish out of water in the region of 120 runs.
So Agakar ripped through the middle order and saved India's neck for the time being. I thought it was an awfully short one-dayer but my mum must be rather pleased about its brevity. I have been admonished for being glued to the TV for over 8 hours two days ago watching the Windies beating Australia by 3 wickets.
And so I end the ramblings of a cricket addict. _________________ Hillary Clinton is an acquired taste which I have clearly yet to acquire.
The Windies beat Australia? I missed that! Excellent!! :D :D _________________ Toe ek jonk was, het ek al die antwoorde geken. Nou verstaan ek nie eens die vrae nie.
What a waste! I watched the Windies open their innings against Australia. The Australian bowling line-up was clearly frustrated by the resilient third wicket partnership between Chris Gayle and Brian Lara which combined to score over 100 runs. Watson was shouting "Oh my God!" and his eyes lolled heavenwards and I thought it was pretty amusing. His bowling was good - his line and length were there, but Brian Charles Lara was da man.
Cullum was knocked all over the field. Full stop. He's a young lad and I hope his confidence hasn't been knocked as well.
But the Windies are very unpredictable. They imploded against the Indians. Brian Lara opted to bat at number 9 in order to give the middle order some confidence and an opportunity to shine. Unfortunately for him, the middle order did not seize the day.
PS: I caught a few minutes of the one-dayer between South Africa and Zimbabwe as well. Saw the Zimbabwean wicket-keeper dropping a lobbed catch from Mark Boucher. I am not saying that I would have caught it in similar circumstances, but I couldn't help but think that any other Test country would have dropped such an easy catch like that. _________________ Hillary Clinton is an acquired taste which I have clearly yet to acquire.
Andre, following the Champions Trophy that is unfolding in India? _________________ Hillary Clinton is an acquired taste which I have clearly yet to acquire.
Andre, following the Champions Trophy that is unfolding in India?
Whoops, I forgot! :shock: Actually read about it earlier, but I've been concentrating on our Currie Cup rugby final, which is the big sport news here right now! What's happening? _________________ Toe ek jonk was, het ek al die antwoorde geken. Nou verstaan ek nie eens die vrae nie.
Nothing new. Your neighbour up north (read: Zimbabwe) just had its ass pawned by Sri Lanka, as we'd say in DOTA speak. _________________ Hillary Clinton is an acquired taste which I have clearly yet to acquire.
Nothing new. Your neighbour up north (read: Zimbabwe) just had its ass pawned by Sri Lanka, as we'd say in DOTA speak.
He, just saw a report on the m :lol: atch on Sky. No surprises there! :lol: Why is Zim still allowed to play in this kind of company? They can't even beat our provincial teams. :roll: _________________ Toe ek jonk was, het ek al die antwoorde geken. Nou verstaan ek nie eens die vrae nie.
I think it's really a waste that Zimbabwe have been allowed to regress like that. I still remember Andy Flowers and more recently, Heath Streak. They surely stand shoulder to shoulder as one of the world's finest players.
If you remember, the Windies won the trophy 2 years ago. It'd be interesting to see if they can retain it - they have to play at 110% and Brian Lara has to hit a rich vein of form in order to prevent a collapse of the middle order and the tail-end, as the Windies are wont to do.
They should progress to the knock-out stage, but I am crossing my fingers for that: the West Indies are consistent about being inconsistent and defy the expectations of any educated punter.
_________________ Hillary Clinton is an acquired taste which I have clearly yet to acquire.
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