L.B.W.
Me, tearing gloves off in a fury:
"Silly old fool! Ought to retire, or get some glasses."
Skipper, doubtfully:
"Were you out, there? Looked dodgy to me, from where I was standing."
Me:
"No way was I out, there! Pitched outside the line, turned a foot, and went away down the leg side.
Skipper:
"Bad luck old chap!"
.............................................................................
Few will understand this nonsense, but Old Egg will be 'with it', and come up with something to say no doubt.
Written with fond memories of Dick Pamplin.
Those were the days when cricket meant gentlemanly behaviour. You left the field had a whinge to the captain and lived for another day. Now batsmen stand their ground, behave like spoiled brats and have brought the game into disrepute as have TV and the public that want sport to be war. P.S. I am so fed up with bowlers chucking the ball!
ReplyDeleteAhh, now I understand! :-)
DeleteGood lad! You didn't let me down.
ReplyDeleteI don't know much about old Dickie..except of course that he no longer is with us to explain cricket to us non-players..
ReplyDeleteDick Pamplin was one of my early cricket captains. He got married on a Saturday morning; took his new bride to watch him play in the afternoon; taught her how to score the game in the team book - and she scored every match he played in for over 30 years after that! Wonderful pair.
DeleteWhat a sweet love story!
DeleteCricket has since adopted some of the worst qualities of baseball, I take it?
ReplyDeleteThanks for looking in Ann. Yes, I'm afraid you are right, even my beloved 'village cricket' is now organised into a league system in most places - much to my sorrow.
DeleteLoved your very clever use of "out there" in the story! And I so agree with the premise that players have become ill-mannered brats!
ReplyDeleteThanks for going deeper into my little piece thsn I would have expected. Yes, the Pamplins were a lovely couple.
Deleteis a sticky wicket part of playing cricket? I had it figured out but not nearly as well as Mr. Egg did. Of course I've never even seen the game played. Alway nice to learn a few things
ReplyDeleteThanks for commenting, gsb. Yes, a 'sticky wicket' is what I used to pray for as a slow, left-arm spin bowler. It is when the surface of the pitch is slightly damp, and maybe broken up a bit, and allows the spin-bowler to get a lot of 'turn' or other peculiar behaviour on the ball. No good for fast bowlers, because the ball would slow down after hitting the ground thus giving the batsman more time to play his shot. Now disagree with me - Old Egg!!
ReplyDeleteI daren't! However the term 'sticky wicket' has stuck in the English language as being a very difficult situation to be in! But for 'gsb' facing a slow bowler in such a situation is terrifying as you have very little time to decide whether to play defensively or push it out into a gap and maybe steal a run and give your partner at the other end a go and hope he sits there for the rest of the over. Is that clear?
Delete...and while you are dithering, you judge your shot slightly incorrectly and snick the ball which goes through to the keeper and you're out.
DeleteQuite! And the bowler who can send down 'googlies' or 'chinamen' can send a nervous batsman to the 'funny farm'.
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