Posted on 07/14/2023 4:07:15 AM PDT by Libloather
By 7.30pm in Grand Prairie, when Ali Khan set off on his run-up, temperatures in this corner of Texas hovered around 102 degrees. A warm breeze blew across the ground but there was barely a cloud in the sky or a patch of green on the wicket. Ideal batting conditions, all told.
Not that Khan – opening for the LA Knight Riders – would have thrown the ball to anyone else. This was a moment to cherish for the USA star. He was tasked with bowling the first ball of Major League Cricket: this country's newest professional sports league and this sport's latest attempt to break America.
'A giant leap across the Atlantic,' broadcasters called it. 'Cricket's American dream'.
No pressure, then. And so Devon Conway – of New Zealand and the Texas Super Kings – waited as Khan sent the ball into the pitch and towards the unknown.
The fast bowler believes that, in time, this T20 tournament will trail only the Indian Premier League.
The next two and half weeks should tell us if he is on to something. Or seduced by blind faith.
This was the first of 19 games split between this converted baseball ground near Dallas and a 3,000-seater stadium in North Carolina.
Deep pockets and grand plans mean top international talent is spread across the six teams – the Knight Riders, the Super Kings, the Seattle Orcas, the San Francisco Unicorns, Washington Freedom and MI New York. Jason Roy gave up his England contract to come over. Liam Plunkett is here, too.
Also among the foreign legion are South Africa's Faf du Plessis, Quinton de Kock and Kagiso Rabada, Australia's Marcus Stoinis, Adam Zampa and Aaron Finch and West Indians Sunil Narine, Kieron Pollard and Andre Russell.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
I've never seen a game nor do I know the rules. But if the longest cricket game in history lasted 12 days, they're going to have to set a time limit if they don't already have one.
Yes but maybe this form does: Brockian Ultra-Cricket
Brockian Ultra-Cricket is a curious game which involves suddenly hitting people for no readily apparent reason and then running away. “Let’s be blunt, it’s a nasty game,” says The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Mice love this game.
While a complete list of rules has only ever been assembled once (and the book containing the assembled rules promptly collapsed into a black hole), some of the rules are as follows:
Rule One: Grow at least three extra legs. You won’t need them, but it keeps the crowds amused.
Rule Two: Find one extremely good Brockian Ultra Cricket player. Clone him off a few times. This saves an enormous amount of tedious selection and training.
Rule Three: Put your team and the opposing team in a large field and build a high wall around them. The reason for this is that, though the game is a major spectator sport, the frustration experienced by the audience at not actually being able to see what’s going on leads them to imagine that it’s a lot more exciting than it really is. A crowd that has just watched a rather humdrum game experiences far less life-affirmation than a crowd that believes it has just missed the most dramatic event in sporting history.
Rule Four: Throw lots of assorted items of sporting equipment over the wall for the players. Anything will do – cricket bats, basecube bats, tennis guns, skis, anything you can get a good swing with.
Rule Five: The players should now lay about themselves for all they are worth with whatever they find to hand. Whenever a player scores a “hit” on another player, he should immediately run away as fast as he can and apologize from a safe distance. Apologies should be concise, sincere, and, for maximum clarity and points, delivered through a megaphone.
Rule Six: The winning team shall be the first team that wins.
If they can create excitement in televised poker and corn hole, they can televise darts too......
In general, a Test Match lasts 5 days. But if a day is rained out, they don’t make it up. So you have to factor in the weather. You can’t win a Cricket Test match if you don’t get your opponent out.
You can be up by 200 runs on the final day, but if you don’t get the opposing side out in time, the Match is considered a “draw”. Which is why you may have to decide to cut your batting time short, in order to give your team time to get the 10 outs (Wickets) required to win the Test Match.
What usually happens if a team is so far down, is they essentially “bunt” the whole time, so as to ‘run out the clock’ and salvage a draw.
They already do. If you want to see some great 9-dart finishes:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvukgCfnzFU
While stationed at RAF Lakenheath (years ago...), got into a debate with or Brit MOD Policeman about Baseball (”rounders”) vs Cricket. Turns out he played on the local Lakenheath Village Cricket Club, so challenges were issued and accepted. Nothing unexpected, we creamed the Brits in baseball, and they destroyed us in cricket. It did give me a little more respect for the game of cricket.
LOL, it took me years to discover what “Leg Before Wicket” meant.
LOL :-)
Are they here legally?
As far as I know, they must have money, it’s not a cheap neighborhood.
Where were you first exposed to the sport?
Major League Cricket: That reminds me... when I was a kid it was a cricket, not a rat, who was the voice of Disney. Jiminy Cricket. He was the embodiment of ones’ conscience, almost like the Holy Spirit. (Presumably coincidental, his name is minced swear for “Jesus Christ.”)
I love baseball but cricket is a great game too, similar to baseball in that a ball is thrown, the ball is hit, the batter runs, people attempt to catch the ball and throw out the runner. “Strikeouts” and “Home Runs” are in both games. Almost every pitch is hit and there’s no such thing as a foul ball.
In baseball you might play for 2 1/2 hours and the score might be 2-1 in some games. In cricket you might play for 2 1/2 hours and the score might be 180-175. There’s just more action, a LOT more action in cricket than baseball.
I’ve been looking for a team to support. Maybe I’ll find one. I was hoping to find a team that might be on TV from Cambridge or Norwich or Peterborough or Ipswich, but I haven’t found one.
To be honest, if any form of cricket has a chance in the USA, it’s T20.
Lol...
When we went to Australia a few years ago and watched it on TV in the hotel room.
If they keep expanding the H1B program, Major League Cricket will be a success.
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