This is a metaphor. Something does not happen as it should. The bails atop the wickets did not fall as expected.

No. As explained above, it's nothing to do with the bails, but rather the pitch.

GSteed, in an earlier post I provided two references that explain the term "sticky wicket".

Brewers Dictionary of Phrase and Fable: "An allusion to the game of cricket when a soft pitch causes greater difficulties for the batsman when the ball is delivered."

Longman Dictionary of English Idioms: "Refering to a situation in cricket when the state of the ground or the weather conditions make it difficult for the batsman to hit the ball."

For my cricket loving friends. These are some of the antics you might see in the game of baseball. Enjoy.

http://tinyurl.com/2w8feb


thereyet

We do Rounders already, until the age of about 10.

hi, thereyet,

let's hope that a certain football manager doesn't get the opportunity to watch this- referees look out!

your experience at lord's should not feature such behaviour - it's just "not Cricket".

regards, ann

Right on! After all, Cricket is a gentleman's game :) Now, you-who-is-about-to-flame-me or Cricket, don't you do so :)

Thereyet, Are you...... there yet ?:)

Not yet.

thereyet

I love your nom de plume! Reminds me of my kids! Great for a travel site.

thereyet was definitly me as a kid. I have this oooold picture with me in shades, both hands on the open window of the family stationwagon, tongue poking out of the corner of my mouth and ready to go! About two hours before we actually leave!!! Think dog in the back seat with the window down. :)

thereyet

waring, I hesitate to ask... what is Rounders?

thereyet

thereyet asked: "what is Rounders?"

It's a precursor of baseball. Without all the silly bits.

We used to call rounders 'base ball' (see Jane Austen's 'Northanger Abbey', the final version of which dates from the eighteen-teens).

But we decided that was a silly name, and 'rounders' described this girls' game better.

thereyet,
You must have enjoyed the game today, as your beloved A's shut out the Giants.

Husband and son returned from the game with sunburns. If you weren't thereyet for the game, hope you were out enjoying are glorious weather.

To all interested parties in the UK,
In Cricket if there is a tie, do they go into extra innings as in baseball?
Or flip a coin, or call it a tie?

In Cricket do they have what we call baseball fights--players charge the field, puff out their chests and bump into each other,(rarely coming to blows)while yelling at full volume? Or is this reserved for the pubs?

specs, unfortunatly I was at work. But it was absolutely beautiful weather today. I did get to see the end of the game though and my son wanted to change the channel as the game was "in the bag". No way I wasn't going to savor every last minute of the usual thrashing the A's deliver to the Giants. In other words, we have their number!

According to waring, the brits stop behaving like that at age ten, unless they are Ruggers that is.

thereyet

Ties in cricket are not a very frequent occurence, and unless there is some special rule I am unaware of I think a tie is a tie.

Just this week my boys were playing a 25 over match. The other team batted first and were 192-8 at the end of their innings. It was a good score to beat. We went in, started slowly but soon started racking up the runs, and it was very exciting when we realised we could win - if we got 40 runs off 4 overs. It came down to needing 2 runs off the last ball! We only managed a single though. Our score was 192-4. Therefore the match was a tie, because the scores were the same, even though we lost fewer wickets.

I just found this definition...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_result_in_cricket

... and it seems that sometimes in one-day or 20/20 games the result CAN be determined by a bowl-out. So there you go.

Given that a team might score anything between about 20 runs and about 500 runs in an innings (more typically, between about 100 and 400) and a full match involves two innings for each side, a tie is statistically improbable. It is a little more probable in a limited-overs match.

Unless the competition requires that there be a winner that day, a tie is left at that.

There is also a draw, which is far more common. That arises in full matches where the play is not completed in the time allowed for the match (3, 4, or 5 days). Frequently that happens because time is lost because of rain or bad light. I am not aware of any circumstance where steps are taken to force a result.

This difference between American games and European games might actually reflect a cultural difference: we Europeans might be less concerned with creating winners -- and, therefore, losers -- than are Americans.

And no, there isn't usually much group shouting and carrying-on, unlike some professional football matches, where it seems obligatory to dispute some set percentage of the referee's decisions.

But there is something called 'sledging' which seems to be more about one-to-one psy-ops between the bowler and the batsman, albeit not at a very sophisticated level:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/funn...me/3068365.stm

To all interested parties in the UK,
In Cricket if there is a tie, do they go into extra innings as in baseball?
Or flip a coin, or call it a tie?>>>>>>

As has been said these are very rare - and they are left as ties. As has also been said draws (ie unable to reach a result) are more common.

In one day games there is a mathematical formula called the Duckworth/Lewis method that will split teams. In the very unlikely event that no result can be determined in a tournament that requires a result (ie a knockout cup) then there is a bowl-off at an undefended wicket.

>>>>In Cricket do they have what we call baseball fights--players charge the field, puff out their chests and bump into each other,(rarely coming to blows)while yelling at full volume? Or is this reserved for the pubs?>>>>

Certainly not! Any player thumping another player would be looking at a very long ban indeed. And pubs are for drinking in. Both sides will have a drink with each other after a game.

You guys are much to civilized. I much prefer the savage aproach to dispute settlement. Fixing things right here and right now (even if it is a bit ritualized). Think of it as the Haka method of conflict resolution.

And what are they thinking drinking with each other after the game! Such fratrinization is rarely tolerated here. That would be enough to ensure a shaving cream pie in the face upon return to the clubhouse.

thereyet