We're being invaded and it's cricket!

[AussieNeil]

There's this cricket match called 'The Ashes' that has come to town and it seems we are being invaded today by a 2,000 strong UK Barmy Army to support the visitors. Play will commence at our reputedly world famous oval that is in the finishing touches of a $500million revamp at great public expense and which includes a new, expensive ($40million) pedestrian bridge that will be temporarily opened for the first time today. We've even turned on the most rain we've had for over a month to make the visitors feel welcome (or is that so rain will stop play and save the English team from another loss?)

It seems to me that today half of my state's newspaper has been allocated to this event - from which I include the following excerpt titled 'Facing the Music'.

Ashes Anthem No1

God Save Your Team

England are boring us, their songs make us nauseous,

rarely victorious, God save your team

Barmy Army's rejoiner:

Convict Colony

(To the tune of The Beatles' Yellow Submarine)

In the town where I was born, there lived a man who was a thief

And he told me of his life, stealing bread and shagging sheep.

So they put him in the nick, and then a magistrate he went to see

He said "put him on a ship, to the convict colony"

You all live in a convict colony, a convict colony, a convict colony

You all live in a convict colony, a convict colony, a convict colony

For the record, please note that my state is the sole Australian state which was not settled by convicts. Further, the only reason convicts were sent to Australia was because the UK lost a war of independence with their western colonies.

Finally, I reckon that anyone with CLL that can watch cricket without falling asleep really can't complain about CLL related fatigue

Neil

The accompanying photo was taken well downstream from the cricket ground. Note that there is plenty of free public seating with great views...

[HAIRBEAR_UK Founder Admin]

Good to see we are fueling your economy and keeping you employed. So your state is the posh one then?

So nice of you to build all this for us

Cheers mate

[PaulaS Volunteer]

I like the songs... And the bench, with its great views....

[PaulaS Volunteer in reply to PaulaS]

Thinking about it, I probably shouldn't have liked the songs - not very kind. But they did make me smile.

[AussieNeil Partner Administrator in reply to PaulaS]

Perhaps I should have mentioned that in between reading, I was enjoying watching ducks diving under water to feed from this vantage point. A couple of ducks made such a large splash when diving under, I wondered if they'd actually flown into the water, but I think they were just making particularly deep dives.

This made me wonder where the term "Out for a Duck"- when the batsman is dismissed without scoring a run, came from?

Apparently it is short for out for a duck's egg, which is the large nought (0) recorded on the scoreboard.

The expression is recorded from the 1860s. The first duck in a Test match was made in the very first Test of all, between Australia and England at Melbourne in March 1877.

[PaulaS Volunteer in reply to AussieNeil]

I think your watching the ducks diving was probably more interesting than watching the cricket. Thanks for explaining the origins of "Out for a duck". Never heard that before.

[AussieNeil Partner Administrator in reply to PaulaS]

Well you can thank real ducks and Google for us both being enlightened!

[MsLockYourPosts Passed Volunteer]

What a perfect contrast - the picture and the commentary. Hope both sides play well. I've only seen bits of cricket in movies, and I don't know if I would ever figure it out. Looks very confusing to me.

[AussieNeil Partner Administrator in reply to MsLockYourPosts]

Join the club Pat; you are not alone in your confusion on how cricket is played. I retired hurt from a cricket game in primary school and I've never recovered

I much prefer the sound of crickets that that I can currently hear rejoicing after the recent rain than the sound of leather on willow. But I appreciate that some traditions die hard and the sport of cricket even inspires poets!

(From the 2006 Ashes Tour)

independent.co.uk/news/uk/t...

It seems that the appreciation of cricket is one of the ties between the UK and where I live, so I thought it might be of interest, despite having nothing to do with CLL!

Local on-line article about play starting:

indaily.com.au/sport/2013/1...

[MsLockYourPosts Passed Volunteer]

Someone posted about The Ashes before on the UK site or ?, which is how I learned about it. I googled it and found the traditions surrounding the exchange interesting, but I don't think I would make it for more than 5 minutes trying to watch a game (match?) - maybe 10 if I was watching with someone explaining the action.

[AussieNeil Partner Administrator]

Breaking news:

Live blog of Ashes Test

indaily.com.au/news/2013/12...

I have to admit that cricket is such a leisurely game that it does lend it self to blogging coverage

[Kwenda]

Cricket used to be described as a 'gentleman's game '.

The recent verbal mudslinging and now racial comments by cricket pitch announcers demean the game series.

Like many sports, we have too much money floating around it and too much press coverage.

Dick

[AussieNeil Partner Administrator in reply to Kwenda]

Yes, it is the measure of a true sportsman when they can still play a fair game despite the allure of big money. Sadly many fail and sport is the poorer for that.

[Berrytog]

Neil

To understand an Englishman's attitude to cricket and possibly CLL please look up and read the poem by Sir Henry Newbolt, " Vitai Lampada".

[AussieNeil Partner Administrator in reply to Berrytog]

poemhunter.com/poem/vita-la...

So will the sun never set on the British Empire while an Englishman is still at the crease?

[Berrytog]

I hope not, Neil. I fear the world may decay more rapidly if it did as it is this very attitude that many admire and attempt to mimic. We hope to retain the ashes but if not we will cheer the winner with as much applause as we would our own team recognising the better side on the day.m

[HAIRBEAR_UK Founder Admin]

"it's just not cricket"

Urban dictionary urbandictionary.com/define....

Australian slang:

Having something that is unjust or just plain wrong done to someone or something.This comes from the game of cricket which is regarded as a gentleman's game where fair play was paramount.

1st person:Did you see that guy punch that other guy.

2nd person:yeah,its just not cricket.

Now we have sledging? Is that a strategy new to cricket? Batsmen have always been whispered to by those in the slips. It's just a bit more obvious today and players have become so precious. Bless their little cotton socks.

Sledging it's just not cricket any more. stuff.co.nz/sport/cricket/9...

[AussieNeil Partner Administrator in reply to HAIRBEAR_UK]

I've lived with this saying all my life and always assumed it was of English origin. Amazing what you learn here

I agree that it is sad to see sledging is becoming more accepted and sorry to see that Australians introduced this into cricket. Perhaps we never forgave the English for their bodyline tactics:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodyline

Don Bradman is very much a local hero, retiring here. The main road from our airport into the city was renamed Bradman Drive in his honour. Perhaps his fame is fading as I see they've just renamed the replacement Bradman Stand at our oval the Riverbank Stand, but they have relocated the Bradman Collection to the oval; it used to be adjacent to the city lending library and I often walked past it until it (and the library) were relocated.

[HAIRBEAR_UK Founder Admin]

Isn't it interesting how games play such a part in day to day life even if you don't play the game. It is a nice looking river though.

No doubt it's an odd game perhaps the quirks of it are what appeals to so many? If you stay awake long enough you might get to catch a ball..

Reading a glossary of cricket terms made me smile espncricinfo.com/ci/content...

Now I know why I enjoyed playing in the slips. The ball always had my name on it.

Nick - A faint edge off the bat

[Mikey47]

I'm looking forward to the Australian Open Tennis next month.

All that sunshine on TV helps get us through January

[holly2]

Forget about cricket, what I am sad about is your Mark Webber retiring from Formula One! I suppose now someone will say that Formula One racing is not much less boring than cricket and, on occasions, they would not be far wrong! But I like it!!!