I played fourth grade cricket as a teenager, L, fairly organised, on
Saturday arvos. Neither a batsman nor a bowler, I filled out the eleven, as
no doubt you were being asked to, as a fieldsman. And if you were not much
there, you got the worst field positions - fine leg for balls that flew
through the keeper's gloves or over the top of him, rarely as in test
cricket to cut off leg glances or the like. Miles from anyone, you'd walk
in as the bowler set off on his run and trudge back as 95% of the time the
ball headed anywhere but near you. At over's end, you either remained where
you were which became 'long on' or occasionally got called in to mid-off or
mid-on where you could at least hear other players chat. It never got into
my bones on that level but I loved seeing games transpire from a distance
and knowing that summers were enumerable all the time in terms of runs,
wickets, averages etc. Hurrying it up, as you say, is to miss the point.
Weird crescendos arrive in the slower form. And the argot is addictive,
getting 'sillier' and the like.
Bill
On Thu, 14 Sep 2017 at 3:13 am, Lawrence Upton <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:
> I used, as a child, go to cricket -- I lived very near to the Oval, Surrey
> Cricket Ground
> though I was never much interested in who won or lost
> I liked the ceremony of it
>
> and I cannot relate to the drive to speed it up et cetera
>
> a tiny place I go to *sometimes plays substantial-ish teams but more often
> whoever's around from the village, really a string of hamlets
> "You should play", they said; and I said that I would be worse than rubbish
> "Excellent," they said. "That's what we need."
>
> L
>
> On 13 September 2017 at 15:49, Douglas Barbour <[log in to unmask]>
> wrote:
>
> > Ah, that. Which of course I didn’t get, Bill.
> >
> > Some poems have obvious endings, & move toward them (& there we are,
> > Philip Larkin); some deliberate don’t, among the moderns…. What do we do
> > with the serial poem, many of which I really like & admire…?
> >
> > And cricket like baseball (beloved of some US & Canadian poets) go on,
> not
> > necessarily end after a set time…
> >
> > Doug
> >
> >
> > > On Sep 13, 2017, at 4:34 AM, Patrick McManus <
> > [log in to unmask]> wrote:
> > >
> > > you and your old cricket balls !!!
> > >
> > >
> > > On 13/09/2017 10:33, Bill Wootton wrote:
> > >> Can't help myself slipping into cricket vernacular sometimes, P.
> > >>
> > >> B
> > >>
> > >> On Wed, 13 Sep 2017 at 7:09 pm, Patrick McManus <
> > >> [log in to unmask]> wrote:
> > >>
> > >>> Bill or pull up stumps !!!! hope some have heard of cricket (not
> > >>> dentistry!!)!!thanks P for a smile
> > >>>
> > >>>
> > >>> On 12/09/2017 23:36, Bill Wootton wrote:
> > >>>> or pull up stumps
> >
> > Douglas Barbour
> > [log in to unmask]
> > https://eclecticruckus.wordpress.com/
> >
> > Recent publications: (With Sheila E Murphy) Continuations & Continuations
> > 2 (UofAPress).
> > Recording Dates (Rubicon Press).
> > Listen. If (UofAPress):
> >
> >
> > There was the usual amount of corruption, intimidation, and rioting.
> >
> > Sir Charles Petrie
> >
>
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