Question from a baseball fan...

[Gilly Fan]

Thanks everyone! I'll check out those links.

max dillon2007: Ball and stick games, I've read, have been played in Europe since the Middle Ages. Cricket was the first to be formally recognized, then came baseball in New York and rounders in Ireland. My grandfather, who's from Norway, played bat and stick games as a kid (of course now as an old man he thinks baseball is completely ridiculous). I wouldn't say baseball is a poor man's cricket; it has it's own unique attributes that make it complex and wonderful. I've been doing a lot of online reading about the comparisons, and there's alot of back and forth regarding pitching/bowling, batting, fielding, etc. One thing cricket has that baseball doesn't is a 360 degree batting range. I'd guess alot of diehard cricket fans might look at the 90 range a baseball batter has and assume the sport is lacking in strategy and possibilities. But one thing baseball has that cricket doesn't is the inclusion of non-scored bases (wickets?). When a baseball batter gets a "base hit" (he runs to the first base, but decides it's not wise to proceed to the second), it may not score a run for his team, but it makes it more difficult for the fielding team to do its job because it means that there are suddenly two souls out there to get out, instead of just one (and the situation of having three on base plus the batter at home plate definitly places a burden on the fielding team's psychology). Baseball fans miss out on the fabulously crafted hits in the cricket field, but Cricket fans miss out on the drama of watching a base runner proceed from base to base until they get to home plate (or does the fielding team manage to get them out first?).

BTW, I was thinking of picking a cricket team to follow this year in Twenty20. The Surrey Brown Caps caught my eye (they have a very approachable website). Does that team have a positive reputation?

As to the question "Can you get them out before they get to the other end", yes you can. It's called a run out. When you run, if you are out of the crease and the wickets are hit, then you are out without scoring a run. If you make it to the other end and then go back for another run, if you are out then, you keep the first run but lose the 2nd(I think in baseball, the someone can be thrown out, but 3rd base can still make it home right?).

Search 'Run out Cricket' in youtube to see some.

 

[TheGreemSim]

I believe there's a site called Justin that has live streams of series when they are on.

If you like twenty20 you should look into the IPL League that's starting up again soon

 

[karnog]

I know your into twenty20s but there is this ODI (50 overs) between South Africa and Australia in i think 2006. Both innings went well over 400 runs. Won't say who won but thats one game you should look into. Check youtube. If your looking for awesome batting in the twenty20 then search Mike Hussey or Mccullum in the IPL. It might be premature but Nathan Astle's 222 in test matches and Sangakara's 192 in Hobart are awesome to watch too. If you find the right video. And see if you can watch the Edbaston 2005 Ashes test match though it is a tad long.

Thanks to Wii Baseball i'm into baseball now

 

[Broken Arm Bob]

Thanks everyone! I'll check out the IPL. In the meantime, I just played my first cricket game! (I downloaded an emulator and rom and played an old video game from the 90's)

I just read that England has its own cricket premier league coming. Will the current county clubs be participating in this, or is it all new? I was thinking I'd root for the Brown Caps this year; will they still be participating in Twenty20 when the premier league debuts?

Thanks karnog! I'll check those out on youtube. Baseball on Wii Sports is VERY simplified baseball, remember

 

[Inbox24]

Hey what cricket game is it bob?

 

[Gilly Fan]

Hey what cricket game is it bob?

I think it would be Super International cricket.

 

[TheGreemSim]

yeah surrey will be participating. If you'd like to try out some more modern cricket games you should trying buying a game like cricket 07 or Brian Lara international cricket 2007 from amazon or a site like that. There's also management games like International Cricket Captain 2008 and Cricket Coach 2007

 

[Leicester Fox]

Thanks everyone! I'll check out the IPL. In the meantime, I just played my first cricket game! (I downloaded an emulator and rom and played an old video game from the 90's)

I just read that England has its own cricket premier league coming. Will the current county clubs be participating in this, or is it all new? I was thinking I'd root for the Brown Caps this year; will they still be participating in Twenty20 when the premier league debuts?

Thanks karnog! I'll check those out on youtube. Baseball on Wii Sports is VERY simplified baseball, remember

You should go for Leicester. It's much more fun being crap. Not that we are. We're the most successful cricket team in the history of twenty20 in England. That's a fact too

Going to a test match in England at least is great though because you just get drunk and sing songs about players. You'll be a test fan before long

There is a twenty20 premier league in England soon with 2 extra teams (possibly 1 IPL team) and another team. It will be rubbish though, the whole point of the twenty20 cup is most cricketers in England have average careers and this is their great moment on the telly. The premier league will see them all become overpaid girls who play far too much twenty 20 games like every competition that has premier league in its name.

Unless Leicester win in which case it's great.

 

[Broken Arm Bob]

You should go for Leicester. It's much more fun being crap. Not that we are. We're the most successful cricket team in the history of twenty20 in England. That's a fact too

Going to a test match in England at least is great though because you just get drunk and sing songs about players. You'll be a test fan before long

There is a twenty20 premier league in England soon with 2 extra teams (possibly 1 IPL team) and another team. It will be rubbish though, the whole point of the twenty20 cup is most cricketers in England have average careers and this is their great moment on the telly. The premier league will see them all become overpaid girls who play far too much twenty 20 games like every competition that has premier league in its name.

Unless Leicester win in which case it's great.

I think I could definitely get into Test cricket, now that I have a better understanding of how the game is played I'll have to see if there's a modern PC cricket game that I can actually get my hands on here in the US

The problem with me choosing a team to root for is that I don't really have any personal connection to a location in the cricket-playing world. I have family who were with the Norwegian whaling industry in Stewart Island in NZ back in the 1920s, my grandfather was in the Norwegian navy and stationed in England during the War, and I have an old college friend I haven't seen in years who's from Kolkata... that's about it. The Brown Caps have the easiest-to-figure-out website (though the Derby Phantoms' site has a video that absolutely screams out to me). I'll keep an eye on the various teams (as best I can... I'm still not sure what free media is available to me in the US yet, although the Brown Caps' games apparently can be listened to via BBC online).

In the baseball world, the two teams I can't stand are the NY Yankees and the Boston Red Sox. Both teams feature fanbases that will actually boo their own players if they aren't playing well. NY fans will verbally abuse people at Yankee Stadium who are wearing another team's apparel. Red Sox fans have a hard time finding tickets, so many of them will buy plane tickets to visit other cities (like Seattle, where I am) and have the gall to boo those cities' home teams (if you ask me, cheering for your own team at another town's field is fine, but jeering that town's own team ain't cool). The Yankees also tend to lure away other teams' best players with bigger paychecks, so their many wins are artificial. I root for the Seattle Mariners (my local team) and the Chicago Cubs, an old fashioned club that stays true to the practice of playing ballgames in the afternoon instead of evening, and whose fanbase will cheer them on no matter how awful they might be playing.

When I look at the Surrey Brown Caps' website, I see a team that can keep me well informed through media. But are they the Yankees of English county cricket? (I don't mind the money machine so much as the nasty spirits of the NY fans).

 

[Gilly Fan]

Go for Australia. They're the best team in the world (...for now anyway). :o

Just watching anything from Australia on youtube. Check out this player called Shane Warne. Look for some called 'Supreme Slow Bowlers: Shane Warne'. He's known as one of, if not the greatest spinner to have played the game. He can spin it a mile. If you like cricket, try and get your American friends to like it. It's a great sport to play and watch.

 

[Highlander999]

Well Canada are a team which have been improving quite a bit over the past few years. Obviously they are not up to the standard of people like England, India, Australia etc but are still quite a good team (and they are your neighbours) Another team you might like are the West Indies. Once again quite close, with a very young team and some extremely talented players. Or you could just go for England, but then you'll have to accept we are the biggest bottlers going around

EA Cricket 05/07 should be sold in USA. I would recommend 05 as it is more realistic with the patches.

 

[Gilly Fan]

Well Canada are a team which have been improving quite a bit over the past few years. Obviously they are not up to the standard of people like England, India, Australia etc but are still quite a good team (and they are your neighbours) Another team you might like are the West Indies. Once again quite close, with a very young team and some extremely talented players. Or you could just go for England, but then you'll have to accept we are the biggest bottlers going around

EA Cricket 05/07 should be sold in USA. I would recommend 05 as it is more realistic with the patches.

Nah, the only good player they had was John Davison. He was a freak. And he was originally from Australia as well.

 

[Leicester Fox]

The problem with me choosing a team to root for is that I don't really have any personal connection to a location in the cricket-playing world. I have family who were with the Norwegian whaling industry in Stewart Island in NZ back in the 1920s, my grandfather was in the Norwegian navy and stationed in England during the War, and I have an old college friend I haven't seen in years who's from Kolkata... that's about it. The Brown Caps have the easiest-to-figure-out website (though the Derby Phantoms' site has a video that absolutely screams out to me). I'll keep an eye on the various teams (as best I can... I'm still not sure what free media is available to me in the US yet, although the Brown Caps' games apparently can be listened to via BBC online).

In the baseball world, the two teams I can't stand are the NY Yankees and the Boston Red Sox. Both teams feature fanbases that will actually boo their own players if they aren't playing well. NY fans will verbally abuse people at Yankee Stadium who are wearing another team's apparel. Red Sox fans have a hard time finding tickets, so many of them will buy plane tickets to visit other cities (like Seattle, where I am) and have the gall to boo those cities' home teams (if you ask me, cheering for your own team at another town's field is fine, but jeering that town's own team ain't cool). The Yankees also tend to lure away other teams' best players with bigger paychecks, so their many wins are artificial. I root for the Seattle Mariners (my local team) and the Chicago Cubs, an old fashioned club that stays true to the practice of playing ballgames in the afternoon instead of evening, and whose fanbase will cheer them on no matter how awful they might be playing.

When I look at the Surrey Brown Caps' website, I see a team that can keep me well informed through media. But are they the Yankees of English county cricket? (I don't mind the money machine so much as the nasty spirits of the NY fans).

There aren't really any nasty teams in county cricket, although I hear kev and Tom both take part in the Kent hooligans so I would take their opinions with a pinch of salt. Leicesershire always lose our players to bigger paychecks so probably best not to support us. There aren't really and big teams that everyone likes to hate. Lancashire have a lot of fans and good players but they never win anything so it's just quite funny really, Lancashire and Yorkshire have the fiercest rivary so if you want to have a team to dislike support one of them.

 

[ZoraxDoom]

Go for the Rajasthan Royals. The least expensive team with the smallest fanbase and no official coach, not to mention the greatest spinner to have ever played the game as the skipper.

 

[Highlander999]

There aren't really any nasty teams in county cricket, although I hear kev and Tom both take part in the Kent hooligans so I would take their opinions with a pinch of salt.

Who told you?