Hi Stephen,
Oh, we got those kinds of crickets too. I think they're native but I could be
wrong there. Did you know they've got tough little jaws and can bite? Years ago
I was escorting one from my abode (it was keeping me awake with its song) and
it got a bit grumpy with me, understandably. I hope it enjoyed the garden. I
like them but they can get very noisy once they take up residence indoors.
But cricket actually is more than a sport in this country and many others (not
the US or Canada to any extent but you do have teams that play internationally
on a small scale). It's not just British actors in Hollywood making up an
eleven for a bit of hit and giggle. Involves, amongst other things, bat and
ball, a pitch, stumps and bails, stump-cam, two teams of eleven each blokes, or
blokettes (plus a 12th 'man'), batting (thus, 'keeping a straight bat'),
bowling (quicks, leggies, etc), fielding (and wicket keeping) plus umpires,
screens, drinks, lunch, tea, scoreboards, statistics for every single aspect
you could ever want to name or hadn't even thought of, sledging (Australians
are best at this), crowds of tragics, the odd streaker, Mexican waves, that
kind of thing. I won't go into lbw (a very dark mystery), gullies or silly mid-
on, boxes (a bit private), or when the covers have to be drawn and all that
kind of caper. Andrew can tell you far more about it.
Crickets don't play cricket - they are too busy singing.
I'm a quiet cricket tragic (not wishing to align myself with Little Johnny
who's a loud one). Cricket tragics cover the entire political, cultural and
gender spectrum. As it's summer, it's in the headlines at the moment - such
that the Sri Lankan team returned from its New Zealand tour to help with the
tsunami clean-up. And two big fund-raising matches will be played.
You see, it's big, unlike crickets which are small.
Hope all that is clear.
Cheers,
Jill
> Jill, your tongue must be too far inside your cheek! "Crickets" are the
> nocturnal insects - who at 'the outset of evening darkness' begin chatter
> incessantly with that very sound, "cricket, cricket, cricket.' Only in North
> America?? I think the sound relates to the way they 'sport' with each other.
>
> What are 'crickets' called in Australia? I cannot believe some of them way
> back did not migrate there on some sailor's duffle bag, or such.
>
> Is cricket a sport or something in your country?
>
> S
> Blog: http://stephenvincent.durationpress.com
>
|