Hmmmmn... there may be a slight hiatus in my cricketing education. Overnight rain means that the start of the third Ashes Test has been delayed. They want to examine the pitch at noon... ok, it probably isn't called a pitch, but no-one mentioned that bit.
Not quite sure why, in a country famed for rain in Summer, an outdoor sport played in Summer has to stop because the grass is a bit wet... No doubt this will be explained in the Parish Club after Rosary & Benediction tonight.
Because, dear girl, in cricket, they bounce the damn ball and the batsman would soon be swinging at a mudball the size of a basketball.
ReplyDelete:-D
Even a yankee doodle dandy girl like me knows that. :-D
[FWIW, "the powers that be" don't let baseball games continue either in a steady rain. A slight bit of drizzle is tolerable, but when they start gathering the aminmals two by two.... it just affects the play too much and frankly, on a baseball diamond, too much water would render the field of play simply unplayable.]
If I'm not mistaken, there is a "pitch", but it specifically refers to the area between the stumps with practically no grass on it.
ReplyDeleteYes, the bit in the middle is the pitch.
ReplyDeleteBut the problem was with the outfield, which was, er, more than a bit wet - as we can see!
Dear Mulier Fortis. Not a "Pitch", but a "Wicket". [By the way, magnificent coverage and pix of the unbelievable Mass to celebrate Fr Tim's 25th Anniversary as an Ordained Priest.]
ReplyDeleteDear Mulier Fortis.
ReplyDeleteAfter listening many times to the Sage of Australia, Richie Benaud, who often refers to "the wicket" when discoursing on "the pitch", I just had to refer to Wikipedia to get a ruling. It stated:
"The pitch.
The word wicket is also sometimes used to refer to the cricket pitch itself. According to the Laws of Cricket, this usage is incorrect, but it is in common usage and commonly understood by cricket followers. This usage probably derives from the days when the outfield was kept short by grazing sheep on it and the playing surface, which was specially prepared, was protected from them by a light wicker fence around it. Since many regular grounds had resident bat-makers it is quite possible that the branches cut off from the willow wood used for the bats formed all or part of this fence.[citation needed] Much willow is employed in making wicker-work.
The term sticky wicket refers to a situation in which the pitch has become damp, typically due to rain or high humidity. This makes the path of the ball more unpredictable thus making the job of defending the stumps that much more difficult. The full phrase is thought to have originally been "to bat on a sticky wicket." Such pitches were commonplace at all levels of the game (i.e. up to Test Match level) until the late 1950s."