The sport that stops for tea every afternoon is certainly not famous for being fast-moving, and in its purest form, games last five days and often end with no result.
And that's just what happened this month when England and Australia met for the first of a summer-long series of encounters known as the Ashes, a monumental struggle that has both nations and the rest of the cricket-loving world gripped for about two months every two years.
On Monday, on the fifth and final day of the second Ashes match, more than 20,000 Brits packed the home of cricket, a north London stadium called Lord's, and roared when England beat Australia in the second test - that's what games are called. It was the first time the inventors of the sport had beaten the upstart Aussies at this ground in 75 years.
The series started July 8 in Cardiff, Wales, where the two teams slugged it out for five days without either achieving final dominance. For cricket-lovers, the tie can carry as much weight as a victory or a loss.
The two teams then travelled to London, where the second game in the series began last Thursday, ending on Monday at lunchtime with a home victory.
The circus resumes in Birmingham and Leeds before ending up back in London at the end of August for the final Test.
So what's it all about?
Well, Test cricket is the kind least likely to wow crowds in the United States. Like jellied eels or Scotch malt whiskey, it's an acquired taste.
That's not to say cricket isn't developing in the colonies. Astonishingly enough, it is popular and is poised to get even bigger. A big clue about its popularity lies in its roots.
Originally spread around the world in the days of the British empire, cricket is huge in India, Pakistan, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and the Caribbean. Cricket leagues are found all over the South in the U.S. as well as the New York area and Los Angeles, mainly played by Indian, Pakistani or Caribbean expatriates.
With so many people from those countries now living in North America, it's clear why the United States was the second most popular Internet consumer of cricket news during the last World Cup, held in the West Indies in 2007.
That World Cup is made up of a one-day version of the traditional five-day game. Each team plays only one innings - yes, it's plural even if there's only one - and the match lasts about eight hours. In Test matches, they play two innings each.
The introduction of one-day cricket in the 1970s revitalized what was clearly a dying sport.
Now - and this is where the U.S. comes in - a new, snappier version of the game called Twenty20 has been introduced and is proving massively popular around the world. Played with true American hoopla - dancing girls, loud music and lots of fun - Twenty20 games last only a couple of hours and make up an ideal evening's entertainment.
After years of political infighting, a high-profile chief executive was appointed this year to the United States of America Cricket Association. Don Lockerbie, former track coach at North Carolina, last week submitted plans to launch a Twenty20 cricket league in the United States.
Back in London, England was beating Australia to go up 1-0 in the best-of-five series. And the prize for winning the cricketing marathon? A terra-cotta urn about 15 centimetres high that is said to contain the burned ashes of a cricket ball.
The story of the Ashes starts in 1882, when Australia's cricketers from the British colony had the audacity to beat England's aristocrats - teams were split into "Gentlemen" and ordinary "Players" in those days.
A mourning Englishman placed a satirical obituary in a newspaper. It read: "In Affectionate remembrance of ENGLISH CRICKET, which died at the Oval on 29th AUGUST 1882, deeply lamented by a large circle of sorrowing friends and acquaintances. R.I.P.
Thus were born the Ashes. But, in fact, the urn has never left England; it's thought to be too delicate to be handled by crowds of cheering Australians.
For not only has Australia drawn even with English cricket, the country has overtaken it and is now the world champion in most forms of the game. Brits have become used to depressing summers losing and long winter nights listening to tales of Australian dominance on radio and television broadcasts from the other side of the world.
Hence the unconfined joy when England's national hero, a powerful fast bowler named Andrew Flintoff but called Freddie because of his resemblance to Fred Flintstone, bowled out the remaining Australian batsmen on Monday to give England the victory in the second game of the series.
Flintoff, much like the top pitchers in baseball, hurls the ball in the 145 km/h range. And like the pitchers of yesteryear, he often aims at batsmen's heads.
Test cricket ebbs and flows with considerably subtlety. For example, England batted first Thursday and captain Andrew Strauss performed superbly to score 161 runs, while England managed a big total of 425. In reply, Australia caved in against fierce England bowling and scored only 215, giving the home team a first innings lead of 210.
England batted again for their second (and last) innings and scored 311 runs, meaning Australia needed to score 521 runs in total. Such a target has never been achieved in international cricket before.
Australia battled but could manage only 406 runs before all 11 players were dismissed, giving England the victory by 115 runs and sending the entire nation into rhapsody.
There's also a cultural element to the Anglo-Australian cricket clash. Although relations between the two countries are profound, Australians love to tweak the tail of their northern hemisphere cousins, calling them "whinging poms" and deriding the English weather, food and general stuffiness. The English, on the other hand, have become increasingly irritated that the big country with a small population continually beats their teams at sports.
That hasn't stopped millions of Brits from emigrating to Australia over the last 40 years, or just about every young Australian coming to England to enjoy post-college life.
England last beat Australia at Lord's in 1935, when Don Bradman, considered by most to be the greatest cricketer, was Australia's hero. Now, millions of English are dreaming that the Ashes - held by Australia since a humiliating 5-0 thrashing in 2007 - will sleep easily at their home in the museum at Lord's once again.
TEST CRICKET - A PRIMER
Two teams of 11 players each play over five days. Each team bats a maximum of twice each. Eleven players are in each team. As in all cricket, a bowler pitches the small, hard ball in overarm, straight-armed style (unlike baseball style throwing) at three pieces of wood known as the stumps, 20 metres away. The batsman, protected with a helmet and leg pads, attempts to stop the ball from hitting the stumps and scores runs by hitting the ball and running to the other end of the wicket, crossing with a second batsman.
Test cricket is played by England, Australia, South Africa, India, Pakistan, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and the West Indies. Zimbabwe is currently disqualified.
0 comments:
Post a Comment