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bobspringett 30-Dec-24, 02:50	The greatest annual sporting event in the world? Every year there is the Boxing Day Test. This is at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, starting (strangely enough) on Boxing Day every year, and pits Australia against a top-quality international team. This year it was India. Australia and India are the top two nations in the cricketing world at the moment. For those who don't understand cricket, to win a team has to dismiss the other side twice, and ALSO score more runs. So scoring more runs by itself is not enough. You have to roll the other side out twice as well. Many cricket matches end in a draw for this reason. If a team can't match the other side's total, they can deliberately 'play for the draw' by running down the clock. But they have to not get out. International ('Test') matches allow five days of six hours play each day to make draws difficult to force. But they still happen sometimes. This year Australia defeated India with 30 minutes left on the clock. But cop this, guys; more than 373,000 spectators attended (not counting the best part of a billion watching in India every day). Try to fit THAT crowd into the Superbowl or into American homes! And what a game it was! I have never watched a Test that had so much every day!
baddeeds 30-Dec-24, 06:29	It's not hard for me to believe that boxing is one of the greatest sports of all time, either. And, I can see where people would like it and where it would be very popular. I do.
thumper 30-Dec-24, 09:17	Cricket? We sometimes use crickets for fishing and others use them as pet food. My first introduction to cricket was back in the day when our school principal used a cricket paddle, with appropriately drilled holes, for corporal punishment. I was a well deserving regular.
bobspringett 30-Dec-24, 13:10	Ah, the artistry, the skill, the sublime variations that a top cricketer has to master! You think a pitcher is clever if he masters a fast ball, a sinker, a slider and a slowball? Each of the three main clades of bowler in cricket (pace, finger-spin and wrist spin) has at least as many options, complicated even further by the fact that the ball doesn't have to reach the batter on the full. There is also length and width of where it bounces and the effect that any spin on the ball might have on the bounce. All done without bending the elbow!
jonheck 31-Dec-24, 18:41	bobspringett <greatest annual sporting event in the world>. Yep! The regular season is winding down so the final pairings for the play offs can be set. The play offs are followed by the greatest annual one game sporting event of um all, the Super Bowl. Through out the event I’ll be cheering for any team thats playing the Baltimore Ravens, but sadly I expect to see the Ravens, likely against the Lions, in the Super Bowl, with the Ravens taking the trophy. Hold on to your hat Bob, the NFL is about to put on their annual show.
bobspringett 31-Dec-24, 19:04	Jon 18:41 The Superbowl? Surely you jest! You're comparing an hour of colour and movement to a 30-hour, multi-dimensional game that attracted 373,000 spectators through the gates? More people attend funerals than attend Superbowls!
jonheck 31-Dec-24, 20:01	bobspringette 373,000 spectators? The “great one”, our mutual hero, “the Don”, routinely draws that at least that many! If a 500,000 capacity Am. Football stadium was available, it would be sold out for the Super Bowl.
jonheck 31-Dec-24, 20:50	Bob Do you agree that a typical retired MLB star could be expected do well as a pro cricket player? Sure, sure, the cricket teams would need to loosen up their check books a bit, but we’re talken superstars like the sport has rarely seen, age 40 to 55
bobspringett 31-Dec-24, 20:53	Jon 20:01 <The “great one”, our mutual hero, “the Don”, routinely draws that at least that many!> You're behind the times, mate! Don Bradman retired from international cricket in 1948 and died in 2001.
bobspringett 31-Dec-24, 21:17	Jon 20:50 <Do you agree that a typical retired MLB star could be expected do well as a pro cricket player?> Do as well at what? Bradman had a few international innings where he scored 300 or more, averaging 99.94. In first-class (i.e., top-level interstate cricket) had a score over 450. Do you really think a pro baseball hitter could maintain that concentration for that long? And remember, in cricket it's ONE missed ball through the strike zone (the wicket) and you're out. Bradman was so good that the 1932-33 English touring side led by Jardine invented a new tactic. Never mind bowling at the stumps; just get the fastest bowlers in your team to land the ball in line with the body about 8 yards short of the batsman. Enough distance so that natural variation from the pitch surface made it impossible to be sure of the height and direction of the bounce, and aimed at the body. This was 'Bodyline', before helmets and body padding was used. And just in case the batsman managed to fend the ball away, stack that leg side with fieldsmen for a pop-up catch. That tactic is now effectively illegal, with limits on how many fielders can be placed on the leg side of the wicket and a limit of two 'bouncers' per over. Bradman averaged only 57 runs per innings that series, which is still a good average for the very best modern professionals. Aside from which, Bradman was also a good enough bowler to roll the arm over at international level. How many top baseball hitters are also international-level pitchers? By-the-way, Bradman's entire career was as an amateur, and he missed his best six years due to World War Two.
jonheck 01-Jan-25, 02:05	Bob Why don’t the fielders use gloves? Is it some kind of a macho thing? Are serious hand injuries common? There would be many hand injuries if they had to catch the fireballs coming from MLB outfielders bare handed.
bobspringett 01-Jan-25, 03:59	Jon 02:05 <Why don’t the fielders use gloves?> Wicketkeepers wear gloves, usually inner padded gloves and outer hard gloves. This is because they face so many impacts and damage can be cumulative. But there are rules; the glove must not project past a 'reasonable' length as required to protect the fingers, and any webbing between thumb and fingers to prevent hyper-extension of the thumb must not project past the ends of the finger/thumb. General fieldsmen don't wear gloves because they are required to not have any 'apparatus' to assist them in holding a catch. Not a macho display, but a test of skill and technique. I generally fielded in the slips (the arc of fieldsmen beside the keeper when a fast bowler is operating) and I had no problems with hand injuries regardless of how fast the ball came. A cricket ball is 5.5 to 5.75 oz and 8.81 to 9 inches circumference, compared to a baseball 5 to 5.25 oz and 9 to 9.25 inches in circumference. The cricket ball is slightly smaller and heavier. I find a cricket ball easier to catch one-handed than a tennis ball. If taken properly at the base of the fingers, a cricket ball doesn't bounce out, and the impact naturally causes the fingers to wrap around it as the hand 'gives'. As a spin bowler I also took a few return catches smacked back at me by a batsman who didn't keep his straight drive on the ground. Hand injuries occur, but not often. Usually a fingernail might be torn back if not properly trimmed, or a fingertip split by a hot ball that was at the limit of reach. Never happened to me, though. I also took a few very hot returns from the field when bowling; once a bowler releases the ball, he becomes a fielder and his main duty is to act as if a wicketkeeper at his own end of the pitch. Some returns from 30 yards away would hit the hands as hard as a baseball thrown from a professional baseball outfielder. Air resistance slows a long throw pretty quickly. But as I said, it's a matter of having good technique. Do everything right and you'll perhaps get a tingle or a numb spot for a few minutes; but nothing worse.
jonheck 01-Jan-25, 06:10	Bob Fingernails torn back sounds like fun! Been there done that, thankfully not too often! I suggest that the technique and skill cricket players are apparently driven to demonstrate, <a test of skill and technique>, catching with ones bare hands, is widely understood by baseball players. While infrequently demonstrated or required, when it is, the skill and technique is commonly demonstrated in a spectacular manor. For amazing catches, shocking coordination and reflexes, and powerful and accurate throws, it’s hard to match the MLB. A 100MPH+ thrown ball that is not coming from a pitcher is usually coming from an outfielder. Third basemen are also known for really being able to burn one. Then there’s that glove, the Golden Glove, awarded to the best. Ya also need to be good with the bat! I only mention this, not to knock the skills of the cricket players, but rather to try to place the proper perspective on which sport demands the higher skills if one hopes to be found to be of professional grade. As a general rule, if ya weren't’t born with it, ya ain’t gonna make. The NFL guys also make what looks like impossible catches, usually with light weight, well fitting gloves. The more amazing catches are commonly assisted by a quarterback who has the touch.

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