Cricket - how likely is it?

[ryan_madden]

Hey folks,

I read a couple of other posts saying cricket happened every now and then.. But nothing new of late.

So, how likely are we to get some cricket happening? Granted, Winter is a bit on the unplayable side, but when it warms up and enough people are free, how likely do you reckon a T20 match might be?

Just to confirm my position on it - I'm keen as! 

[Aussie Mike]

Sorry man, a taxi driver has the cricket set and my Aussie rules football. 

[ryan_madden]

I had heard a tale about that.

Still, we can always use a makeshift bat and stumps - plank 'o wood and a garbage bin? 

[Aussie Mike]

We wanted to get a game going in Aussie so we grabbed a picket off the fence as the neighbour came out and hollered
"I don't mind you using a picket, but don't take o fence. (offence/ a fence).

It was hilarious at the time. 

[YetAnotherCanadian]

If I move to Hefei for a year, will that be enough time to learn how to play this game of 'cricket' you speak of? 

lol, I've actually tried to learn before (with little luck).  It's the only sport I know of where a game lasts longer than a day!

Do you guys play American football at all?

[ryan_madden]

If you've ever played baseball, then you can do well at cricket - there's no real skill involved; just patience

[Aussie Mike]

No skill is required to have a fun social game.  

Seriously, catching a wooden ball traveling at 100kmh requires a lot lot of skill.
Hence the helmet and other hidden protection.



Click the picture to link to www.cricket.com.au

Modified cricket is modified to have fun and develop skills.

[ryan_madden]

Plus the 'ole backyard shenanigans of duct-taping a tennis ball for added spin bowling 

[Aussie Mike]

I grew up with 5 brothers (6 boys), we found that a piece of 3" galvanised water-pipe can send a tennis ball a long way.

[ryan_madden]

Sadly, that probably won't fly too well here in China - being foreigners and carrying a "weapon for recreational purposes" 

[Aussie Mike]

That'll stump you,  You could do it if you had the balls,  You better not get caught bowling a maiden over, 

[ryan_madden]

That's lunch/tea/stumps 

That's just not cricket 

[kaibo 开 博]

I remember games played with pickets off the old fences. One game was played by Italian migrants, they were known to hang out in gangs; in a street brawl, I recall pickets getting used as weapons. Great game hey!

Another game that was popular was peeking at the girls next door through the pickets or poking sticks at their dogs.

Then again, I recall the ''war games'' as well, played with ''gings'' [also called a ''Shanghai'' or ''Slingshot''.] The pickets provided some cover from the sting of lilac berries that were our ammo. If you got a dirty nose, you could always picket as well.

Backyard cricket was synonomous with being Australian. We had a very high concrete wall siding on from our neighbours garage as a boundary fence in the backyard, so we painted the stumps on and it surficed by not requiring a wicket keeper. Also if they missed a bad ball, it quite often rebounded back to the bowlers' end. Over the fence was a ''six'' and ''out'' and hitting the fence on the full was a ''four.''

Playing in the front yard had merits as well. Over the road was a six, over the fence was a six, across the road or out of the boundary was a four. Other than that, just run like a rabbit between the wickets. A good trick was hitting it into the rose bushes as it was hard to recover and made runs easy to get.

Another trick was using a rubbish bin as stumps and using insulation tape on a tennis ball and attempt to bowl a ''maiden over'' or make a ''hat-trick.'' I seldom got a ''duck'', but then I never got a ''ton'' either.

By the way, I have an Aussie rules football, we can always go to the park this summer and play kick to kick. Have to be careful though, maybe some maidens will get bowled over in the mellee.

[ryan_madden]

Just to update:

I was browsing Amazon.com earlier, and noticed the following:

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/NEW-Wahu-Cricket-Set-Stumps-Stump-Stand-Bat-Ball-/110585262006?pt=AU_Cricket_Sporting_Equipment&hash=item19bf652fb6

It does look a bit "young" for adults, but it's still a cricket set - 2 bats, 2 sets of stumps, 2 balls - $100AUD.

Seeing as how summer is rapidly disappearing, we might be able to squeeze in some twilight games (when it's supposedly cooler).

Anyone keen on it?