"
I've never been in a stadium that feels like this one. Hindus and Muslims, Sikhs and Christians, people from different castes and classes, speakers of a dozen languages, all citizens in the Republic of Sachin. The stern cops give wide smiles and thumbs-ups. The chant goes from "Sachin! Sachin!" to "Hoo … ha … IN-DI-A!" They are interchangeable."
[more inside]
posted by vidur
on Mar 30, 2011 -
74 comments
For me, this was a first experience of seeing India play at home, and of Sachin Tendulkar playing in front of his own people. I chose a good game with which to start. I can think of few, if any, experiences in sport to match watching Tendulkar succeed in a home game. Roger Federer may occupy a similar status of universally-acknowledged greatness within tennis, but I think it is fair to say that Switzerland is not quite as passionate about tennis as India is about cricket. If Federer were to simultaneously play tennis whilst hoarding gold and providing banking facilities for dubious dictators, perhaps the fervour of his support would match that for Sachin. But the Swiss population is unlikely ever to top the one billion mark.
Don't know a thing about cricket? Wouldn't know a wicket from a googly? Don't worry, you won't have to know a thing to enjoy Andy Zaltzman's
World Cup Blog. He is traveling around Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka attending various games. Zaltzman is best known to the world for the fabulous podcast
The Bugle which he does with John Oliver. Therefore it should come as no surprise that he also does a
cricket podcast. And he
tweets about cricket too.
posted by Kattullus
on Feb 28, 2011 -
19 comments
England cricketer
Steven Davies has come out in an
interview with the Daily Telegraph, having come out to the England squad prior to the Ashes, making him the first openly gay professional cricketer. The Guardian tries to
work out what this says about cricket
posted by hoyland
on Feb 28, 2011 -
55 comments
Savita Bhabhi is India's First Virtual Pornstar (NSFW). A sexy,
buxom, and lusty almond-eyed femme fatale, Savita, bearing the title 'bhabhi' which means 'sister-in-law' indicating that she's married, is the quintessential Indian male porn fantasy 'toon.
Launched in March this year, the web site has proven to be a hit, incorporating South Asian themes such as sleeping with the
servant boy; with a
cousin; and, of course, the boys playing
cricket next door.
posted by Azaadistani
on Oct 6, 2008 -
33 comments
First, a bit of an
introduction to the game of
Cricket (youtube) for those of us who may not be
familiar with the
sport. Next, a few
clips (1, 2, 3, 4) on how
awesome the
Gentleman's Game can be (and you thought we didn't do anything but roam around in our white pants and cotton shirts...). But, if that wasn't enough for you, then here's a taste of
Twenty20 Cricket (the
fast,
fast paced version of the game), and the new
DLF Indian (pdf) Premier League. (This is in addition to the
One Day Matches, which were instituted to bring in a bit more excitement into the game during the 1970's, prior to which the match only consisted of
Tests. However, some purists still maintain that the game would've been better served had it not been
commercalized to the extent that it has, and still prefer the leisurely pace of the original format to its current incarnation.)
[more inside]
posted by hadjiboy
on Mar 20, 2008 -
56 comments
Murder at the Cricket World Cup. The world's most civilised game just took a turn for the sinister. Less than 24 hours after Pakistan (rated fourth in the world) was
roundly trounced by Ireland (first appearance at the Cricket World Cup), the almost universally-liked Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer was found unconscious in his hotel room and
died in hospital. Jamaican police have just announced that based on the autopsy results they're treating the death as murder by manual asphyxiation.
This isn't the first time in recent history that Pakistan has been
embroiled in
scandal, nor the first time that
Metafilter has discussed it, but this is in a whole new league. Is it a
match-fixing scandal connected to far-Eastern betting syndicates, or something else?
posted by Hogshead
on Mar 22, 2007 -
40 comments
Umpire offers to quit for cash payment. Cricket has been gripped by a scandal that
started at The Oval cricket ground last Sunday.
It started with an accusation of
ball tampering by one of the match umpires, Darryl Hair, during a match between Pakistan and England. Hair awarded England 5 runs and changed the ball, which is the sanction in the laws. Pakistan then refused to play, forfeiting the match.
Ball tampering is an
emotive issue for Pakistan, as is Darryl Hair who has previously been accused of bias against teams from the Indian subcontinent (i.e. racism).
In a bizarre twist, Hair has now offered to
resign as an umpire, in return for a massive cash payment. It shows the regard in which he is held, that his bosses decided to publicise this. It seems unlikely he will ever stand in a test match again.
posted by winjer
on Aug 25, 2006 -
21 comments
"If that's what's on, then that's what they watch. It's either that, or a cricket match between Scotland and Bermuda. Now, I am an educated man, Charlie, but when someone tries to explain cricket to me, all I want to do is hit him in the head with a teapot."
Cricket Explained (An American Viewpoint) for those, following a recent cricket thread, that want to get it, but don't quite yet.
posted by nthdegx
on Aug 3, 2006 -
41 comments
Cricinfo. The most extraordinary database and news site of the game of cricket, with records going back over 200 years. [much more inside]
posted by athenian
on Jul 14, 2006 -
17 comments
You say
bodyline, I say
leg theory. Either way, the origins of one of sport's most enduring rivalries (leading to a near diplomatic crisis) make for a fascinating read to the budding cricket enthusiast. No wonder people
turned out in their thousands to queue in the early hours for the final day of another nail-biting test. It's turning into a hell of an
ashes series.
posted by nthdegx
on Aug 15, 2005 -
44 comments
The Ashes Starts Today You can listen live
online and get more background
here, and in case all you folks in the US are feeling a little left out, here's an interesting
article about how, until the late 19th century, you used to play as much cricket as baseball!
posted by johnny novak
on Jul 21, 2005 -
68 comments
Biggest Hair in Sports. Ever. Australia and New Zealand recently played a
Twenty20 cricket match in Auckland - the first time this shortened version of the game (it
only take four hours to play) has been played in New Zealand.
To celebrate the occasion, the New Zealand team (for some unknown reason) spent the weeks before the game going retro: growing 70s style moustaches and sideburns, and wore their much-maligned beige uniforms that the one day team used to wear in the 80s. When the
team took to the pitch in front of a capacity stadium, the crowd was suitably rapturous in their appreciation of the
efforts made.
Has
a bigger mop of hair ever taken to a field or court in a professional sport, anywhere, ever?
posted by noizyboy
on Feb 24, 2005 -
55 comments
