#1

will be forever remembered in Yorkshire, not just for his skills as a c

in Introduce Yourself As A Pony! Mon Sep 30, 2019 9:53 am
by dasg234 • 815 Posts

Cricket is a great sport to not watch.That sounds suspiciously like an insult but is far from it. Cricket is, of course, the greatest sport in the world to watch. In several ways, though, it is a sport that well suits the non-watching spectator - an oxymoronic rather than moronic term.Cricket is a game that by its very structure lends itself to reductive analysis: ball by ball, over by over, innings by innings. In the same way, however, that music relies as much on the rests as on the notes themselves, the intervals between deliveries are just as much a part of the game. Steven Smith bringing up a short leg for Mitchell Starc; Joe Root giggling at second slip; Steven Finn trudging back to his mark after another dropped catch: plenty happens in the gaps.The same applies to watching the game - its just as much about the time between deliveries. When attending a match in person, the pauses yield opportunities to relax, to argue with ones companion, to make new acquaintances and to revive old ones - literally, if they have dropped off in the Hove sunshine. Those determined to introduce the squalid note of business into proceedings may even engage in a spot of mild networking. The ultra-purist may well be able to sit and watch three sessions without exchanging a word with anyone else, eyes soaking up every nuance of the on-field drama, but that is not the only option available to the genuine enthusiast.The power of the game is such that even when there isnt actually any cricket going on, being at the cricket can be an experience in itself. At a Middlesex T20 at Lords last year, with nearby lightning preventing any play, a family member struck up a friendship with two other families seated nearby, leading to an impromptu tri-generation, tri-nationality knockabout in the upper tier of the Tavern Stand. One of the fathers later emailed to say that his young son was telling everyone that it was the best day ever at Lords, which was a mild worry to him, as no cricket had actually been seen.Even when the weather permits play, for many followers of the game in the UK, non-watching is, unfortunately, a state of affairs inflicted by the lack of free-to-air coverage. As cricket is used by Sky and BT as another chip to lure more users to their broadband services, those who will not, or indeed cannot, pay for the luxury are forced to the radio, to the web, or in extremis, to the newspaper - though the reduced print coverage these days makes the latter a harder task. It is therefore fortunate that cricket shines when it comes to radio commentary. Its surprising how even many non-lovers of cricket will nevertheless admit to having Test Match Special on for background noise. The venerable programmes place in cricket culture seems secure; nevertheless, having become an institution, it has come in for the criticism that organisations viewed as part of the establishment, rightly or wrongly, will attract. Listeners are less captive than before, as well, and can vote with their ears: on the other side of the boundary, online offerings such as White Line Wireless and Guerilla Cricket provide valuable alternatives. It is perhaps, however, the BBCs online county coverage that performs the most undersung service, gently lifting listeners all over the world to the Quantocks, the Yorkshire seaside, the South Downs, and beyond. The multihued variety of crickets audio commentary is surely something to cherish.Even when there is access to moving pictures, the pauses between deliveries, overs, innings, make cricket an ideal sport for multitasking - for instance, attending to some domestic chore, perhaps, if one needs to convey the impression of work to any suspicious family member who looks in. Matching socks is a good option. Ironing is a possibility, but a high-risk one, as being mesmerised by R Ashwins guile can fry your hand as well as your brain. Reading is safer; extensive testing has revealed that books that themselves reflect crickets structure of discrete items - compilations such as Martin Smiths Not in My Day and Charlie Connellys Elk Stopped Play - are particularly well-suited to this application.With a little practice you can soon learn to identify the cadences of the bowlers delivery-stride, back-foot leap coming within range of the bowlers-end stump microphone, glancing up to the screen with split-second precision. Eyes perform their trigger movement, ball is delivered, batsman plays, fielder gathers, and its back to your book. This way you can spend most of the day nominally watching cricket without any feelings of guilt. After all, the chances are that youll have spent most of the time not looking at the screen, which means, after rounding, that you havent been watching it at all.In a game that is so obsessed with statistics, and that is increasingly becoming preoccupied with the need for instant entertainment, there is a danger that we focus so much on the measurable on-field activities that we forget the game provides a basis for so much more. Its value cannot be quantified in only sixes and fours, dots and wickets. The game can pervade the atmosphere and background in a way that may only be fully appreciated when the eyes are taken, counter-intuitively, off the game.Cricket: not a bad sport to watch, but an even better one to not.Adidas Ultra Boost España .S. hockey team after paying his dues as an NHL general manager for more than three decades and giving up a lot of his free time to help USA Hockey. Adidas Ultra Boost 19 Rebajas . Kuznetsov, who was selected by the Capitals in the first round of the 2010 NHL Entry Draft, has been playing for his hometown team Chelyabinsk Traktor of the KHL. http://www.baratasnmd.com/adidas-nmd-r1-baratas.html . -- Arizona raced out to a big lead and did not back off, hitting the accelerator instead. Adidas NMD Mujer Baratas .com) - The Montreal Canadiens embark on their first road trip of the season as they head out west to battle the Calgary Flames on Wednesday night. Comprar Adidas Gazelle Baratas . -- Former San Diego Chargers safety Paul Oliver was found dead at his Atlanta-area home Tuesday night, and a medical examiner said Wednesday that the ex-player committed suicide.Somerset 390 (Gregory 73*, Trescothick 73, Allenby 50, Sidebottom 5-51) and 44 for 0 beat Yorkshire 145 and 286 (Lehmann 116, Plunkett 73, Lyth 49, Leach 6-64) by ten wicketsScorecardThere was to be no heroic resistance from Yorkshire to protect their claims to a third successive Championship title: Jack Leach saw to that. Instead, Somerset completed a victory by 10 wickets that left all eyes turned to events at Old Trafford. If Middlesex defeat Lancashire by Thursday evening, the title is as good as theirs. If Lancashire do not succumb, however, then Middlesex, Somerset and Yorkshire will contest what could still be a wonderful climax to the Championship season next week.Somerset, by virtue of a win achieved with a day and 8.3 overs to spare, have cut the margin to second-placed Yorkshire to a single point. Middlesex could lead by 20 points if they beat Lancashire. The advantage, variously, would reduce to nine points if they drew, and four if they lost. Somerset, still without a Championship title in their history, feared relegation in early season. Now Tauntons pubs and cafes, the streets and the shops are full of chatter about whether this can be their year. This is not an exaggeration: in no county - not even in Yorkshire - is cricket more widely discussed as part of the daily currency of life. And the man they will be chattering about more than anyone will be Jack. Taunton-born, he is fast achieving first-name status in the West Country.Leach led Somerset from the field at Headingley, slightly stiff-legged, with figures of 6 for 64 in a season that has been beyond his wildest dreams. He now has 58 Championship wickets at 22.60 and has harvested five wickets in an innings in four successive Championship matches.He took six of the seven Yorkshire wickets to fall on the third day, including Jake Lehmann, whose 116 was chiefly responsible for making Somerset bat again, but even here there was disappointment as Lehmann confirmed he has been summoned back to South Australia and misses the final game.Lehmanns first Yorkshire century came on the ground where his father, Darren, remains revered. He possesses a gun-toting drive through extra cover and a moustache that would make him a natural as Charles Bronsons sidekick in an old-time Western. Leach might have claimed Lehmann earlier, on 60, but he was merely winged as Tom Abell could not hold on at short leg.Leach continues to dominate the season in a way not even he can have imagined in April. In civvies, walking through the gates of Taunton, he would not easily be spotted as a professional sportsman. People might wonder if he had come from the council to check on Health & Safety requirements, or had popped over the road from Coopers Associates to discuss the small print of the ground-naming rights with the chief executive.There have been many times at Somerset when both the player himself and his county wondered if he would make the grade. In his schooldays, he was a contemporary of Jos Buttler who rather dominated attention and, on his first-class debut for Cardiff UCCE, Somerset hit him to all parts. He does not fit the mould of the physically-imposing modern cricketer and he is all the more watchable for that: Somerset have a talent for producing character cricketers.Thin of hair, tidy of beard, with few claims to athleticism and one of the few professionals to play in spectacles, he rruns in with a little hop of his left foot and a slightly apologetic air.dddddddddddd But when a wicket comes - and he took the last six - he celebrates a wicket with the individuality of an offbeat comedian at the Edinburgh fringe.He has found himself under serious discussion for a place on Englands Test tours of Bangladesh and India - and England should certainly find room for one out-and-out specialist in the squad. The advent of turning pitches has shown that England can produce spinners as long as they are not subjugated by the wrong sort of surfaces.At 57 for 3, still 188 behind, and with two days remaining, Yorkshires chance of recovery was slim. A misty morning brought hope for Somersets bowlers, but early swing or seam did not materialise and, after Adam Lyth left in exasperation to a leg-side strangle against Craig Overton, it was the spin of Leach that became more prominent as the day developed.Leach had been allowed one exploratory over before Lyths dismissal, turning one sharply enough down the leg-side for Ryan Davies to concede four byes, and although Somerset returned to an all-pace attack after Lyths dismissal, it soon became evident that his self-deprecating spin was the way forward.Leachs dismissal of Adil Rashid encapsulated his fine season, as he drew Rashid into a hunched advance, and found the turn to beat his outside edge for Davies to complete the stumping. Abell atoned for his earlier error by catching Andy Hodd off bat and pad and Tim Bresnans strokeless resistance, which communicated Yorkshires determination to put the batting excesses of the first day behind them, ended when he was bowled, playing back.That was to be Somersets last success for two hours as Liam Plunkett joined Lehmann in an eighth-wicket stand of 101. The second new ball brought no benefit and Plunketts handsome straight drive against Overton put Yorkshire into the lead. Somersets frailty chasing small targets gained a passing mention. But Leach responded once more, removing Lehmann lbw, snaffling a return catch from Jack Brooks and, finally, ending what with the last pair at the crease had become Plunketts all-or-nothing hitting with the aid of Marcus Trescothicks slip catch.Abell and Trescothick knocked off the 41 required and, as Yorkshires fielders trooped vanquished from the field with disgruntled members rose from their seats, the scoreboard flashed up Thank you Dizzy, complete with a smiling picture of their coach, Jason Gillespie. The office staff lay in wait for a few celebratory drinks. It had the makings of an awkward evening, but Gillespie will be forever remembered in Yorkshire, not just for his skills as a coach but for his basic human decency.If Lancashire thwart Middlesex on the final day, the final week is full of delicious tension. Middlesex, afraid of a Somerset victory at home to relegated Nottinghamshire, would be ill-served by a draw pitch against Yorkshire at Lords and both counties would have to risk defeat in order to obtain a victory. But Somerset, who have rushed towards the summit in the second half of the season on low-scoring pitches, would need something flatter than usual because they could not easily afford to concede maximum batting points. Much to enjoy. Unless Lancashire blow it. ' ' '

Scroll up






Visitors
0 Members and 89 Guests are online.

We welcome our newest member: Betty
Board Statistics
The forum has 4957 topics and 5323 posts.

0 members have been online today:


Xobor Einfach ein eigenes Xobor Forum erstellen