Cricket

[Draken]

Originally posted by The Gaffer
Freddy is cool. You can just tell that he likes the odd pint or three. He swings the bat like he's got a raging thirst and it's last orders at the clubhouse bar.

I've heard that quote too, GoG, but applied to rugby union, football and rugby league (in that order). I guess you just add whatever sports apply (like clay pigeon shooting, strangling animals and golf).

I like Aussie rules. You'd have to be helluva fit to play that, and not a little mental. I saw a game in Brisbane a few years back (Lions vs Crows: a zoological mismatch, you might think); I hadn't a bastard clue what was going on but my mates kept me right, telling me to shout MAGGOT!! and FIFTY! at various intervals. We won, apparently, whoever "we" were (Lions I think).

We used to play a version of Aussie Rules as a training game in our rugby league training sessions. Was useful cos you could play competitively and practice lots of kicking and catching skills without high impact tackles. Much like rugby union, come to think of it!

As to cricket, seems to me England are only just recovering from having so many 'result' pitches in the 80s. I can remember Derbyshire playing First Class games at Ilkeston, which was basically a field with a pavilion beside it. You didn't need genuine pace or crafty leg-spin to get batsmen out on those wickets. Pitches seem better these days, so we have bowlers who are used to working for their wickets and batsmen who are used to sticking around for a while.