It took three years....

... but I finally understand cricket. The sport, not the bug that makes funny noises. The sole reason for this is so that I can watch the Ashes and understand why people are cheering or jeering as we watch during lunch hour. I still do not understand or even know about all of the customs, traditions, rules (there are 42 laws of Cricket) or the massive amount of terminology. To give you a rought idea of what happens, think of it as baseball, except: there are only 2 innings per team per game rather than 9, in a test at least, which is what the Ashes are. Instead of 3 outs per team per inning, there are 10 outs per innings (innings is both singular and plural) per team. So when ten people get out, that teams innings is over, and it is time for the opponent to stand infront of the wicket. There is only one base, rather than 4. This means you have really high scores! You do not have to run if you hit the ball. So there you have it: a ball is "bowled" at you, you take a crack at it, if you hit it you can run, or not. You are up to bat until you are "dismissed" and then the next 9 people do the same thing. Ten people get out and the teams switch. If you are really good at batting you can bat for over a day straight. Then you have the bails that fall off the wicket, a maiden over which is really good for the bowler but not the batsman, and edge to the wicketkeeper with his funny looking gloves, a change of bowler every six bowls which is called an over, the "square leg," tea time, lunch time and so on. Confused yet?

Anyways, it's the Ashes right now, which is Australia vs. England. It happens every 18 months. It started Thursday and the series consists of 5 tests. A test is about 5 days of cricket. The name of the series comes from the trophy you get when you win: a tiny little urn that is believed to hold the burnt remains of the two wickets from the second series between England and Aussie. It is the only sport that happens between now and the holidays. Aside from First Division Footie and NBL.

For hilarity I recommend reading the section of Bill Bryson's "In a Sunburned Country" where he describes listening to a Cricket match on the radio. Once you have a decent understanding the game takes on a new meaning. I actually like it a little bit. And it is even more exciting than baseball! Sorry Bru.

Or you could just use www.wikipedia.org