England win the Ashes

BBC ^ | 12th August 2013 | Sam Sheringham

[Maurya]

The cricket Ashes is one of the oldest Sport competitions in the world, much older than the world series. In modern times, the biggest non-international cricket competition is the Indian Premier League (IPL) which has much (though not too much) in common with baseball, being much quicker than the traditional 5-day version of the game.

Cricket is currently growing in America, particularly in states like Texas, where large immigrant communities from South Asia have set up hundreds of clubs. Given the importance of climate to the dynamics of the game, large-scale cricket in America, with its high climatic diversity, would be fantastic.

Join a club tomorrow, Americans.

[Resolute Conservative]

Sure. Let’s dilute our culture even more.

[SES1066]

Wicked!

[TheThirdRuffian]

Ha. The civilized species of the galaxy know that Cricket is the most violent game in the universe.

Anyway, I prefer Brockian Ultra-Cricket.

[TheThirdRuffian]

http://hitchhikers.wikia.com/wiki/Krikkit

Also, if reformed, everyone knows the ashes can be turned into a bomb that, when activated, would connect every star to every other star, cause them to all go supernova simultaneously and, thus, destroy the universe.

[llevrok]

The civilized species of the galaxy know that Cricket is the most violent game in the universe.

Playing "silly mid on" is not for the faint of heart - or the intelligent.

[JRios1968]

An inspired spell of fast bowling from Stuart Broad catapulted England to a 74-run win over Australia in the fourth Test and sealed victory in the Ashes series. Chasing 299 for victory, Australia were well placed on 168-2 but lost their next eight wickets for 56 runs as they collapsed to 224 all out.

[SES1066]

Allow me to welcome you (08/11/13) to the ranks of the Free Republic participants. Here is hoping that you will find more to comment on than just Cricket.

[mware]

Wow, been awhile since they took the ashes.

I was in the UK in the late 90's and got the autographs of most of the Aussies on the team, when they visited Lillywhites.

[1rudeboy]

Jeepers. Can I learn to play cricket? It looks like fun. Don’t be a stick in the mud.

[x]

Before the Civil War, cricket was competitive with baseball in the US.

Soldiers played it at Valley Forge, and even George Washington joined in once.

Baseball was quicker and didn't require as much preparation of the grounds so it won out, but there were cricket teams and fans in Philadelphia down to around WWI.

You could draw a parallel to soccer which was making headway in the 1920s but couldn't sustain the momentum into the depression, war and post-war period.

[Talisker]

LOL, exactly what I was going to post!

[Talisker]

Jeepers. Can I learn to play cricket? It looks like fun. Don’t be a stick in the mud.

No, you can"t learn Cricket - you have to be born with it.

I'm not kidding - go ahead and try. Knock yourself out. But you'll never understand it.

That's just the way it is.

[tomkat]

Cheers & Welcome to FR !

[SecondAmendment]

Are you guys talking about the game where that wizard kid named Harry with glasses catches a golden flying thing while zooming around on a broomstick ?

[1rudeboy]

I just like the concept of catching a hardball without a mitt. Mitts are gay.

[Talisker]

Basically, yes.

[Talisker]

Mitts are gay.

Mitts are not gay - mitts are ultracool. And real men run the bases - they are not "runners" and they most certainly are not "leg spinners."

[mware]

My area of South Jersey has both a Rugby team and a Cricket team.

Love to watch the rugby, especially on the days when the field is muddy.

Can't say I understand Cricket, but they guys sure look nice in their white outfits.

Oh almost forgot we also have a Polo Grounds, but I never get to any of those matches.

[1rudeboy]

Don’t get me wrong . . . I have a mitt (for 12in. softball). I just hate worrying about forgetting it somewhere when I’m drunk.