If you get some of the basics noted down and watch a test match you'd pick it up very, very quickly. It's not generally a sport that glues me to the television but on occasion it's pretty amazing, generally for me it's just good fun to follow along during a lazy summer's afternoon etc. The Ashes last year were a spectacle to behold though, some amazing cricket and some incredible moments, any newcomers to the sport would be and almost certainly were transfixed by a lot of it.
I think in test cricket the thing that always stands out is the endurance needed, not just the physical effort but the mental as well. Imagine being a batsman, slugging it out with some of the finest bowlers around like Warne for hours and hours on end in the burning heat, concentration never, ever letting up. The duels between batsman and bowlers can be brilliant. Oh and don't forget the amazing catches fielders have to make as well...
Thanks for the info Wilso, I learned a bit there too.
dadpad offered-
Quote:so I'm allocating fielding positions to a2kers.
so far I've got
wilso (captn) ......short mid wicket
Margo................fine leg
farmerman .......silly mid on
dadpad ............fielding in slips
spendius...........long on
joe nation.........wicketkeeper
LE....................sweeper (members stand wing)
I notice I have been put as far away from Margo as it is possible to get although it is the best position to rest the No1 strike bowler.As consolation I can sign autographs for my many fanatical followers during slow passages of play and
odd events such as when the wicketkeeper gets smacked on the head at catchable height with a thin edge off at 95mpher and is poleaxed
Here's my team-and fielding positions.
Vinsan (Captain)......Extra Cover.
spendius.(Vice Captain)....Bowler
Joe Nation....Wicketkeeper.
Wilso......Gully.
margo...deep fine leg.
fm....silly mid on.
dadpad....1st Slip.
Ashers....Third Man.
Gala.....Deep mid off
D'artagnan....Deep mid on.
Lord Ellpus....Point.
I'm bowling 90+mph stuff with the new ball on a line about 2 inches outside off stump with the occasional delivery nipping back off the seam to warn the batsman not to shuffle across in front of middle.
Latest Score.
President's Eleven 76 for 8.. spendius 8o 3m 6w 11r.
spendius has left the field due to a back strain and is drinking champagne in the dressing room whilst two trainee physiotherapists from the universty attempt to repair the damage.
Always good / sensible to put some distance between yourself and an Aussie cricket tragic!
margo-
Did you see any of the Durban match today?
Nope - they keep playing it through the night - and it's not on free to air TV - so I'm doubly snookered!
How we going? I haven't seen the news or a paper yet today!
We are going great. And I must say, the tension between the Aussies and Sefricans has almost reached boiling point.
