Urban Gardner: Howzat? Taking a Cricket Lesson on Shelter Island
Gareth Jones
The vast and unbridgeable gulf between two peoples, even those with a common language, can be summed up in one word: cricket.
I've never understood the sport. I find it impenetrable. No matter how much I've watched it. Not that I've watched that much.
I think part of the problem is I'm a chauvinist: U.S.A.! U.S.A.! U.S.A.!
Cricket bears a passing resemblance to baseball but, to an outsider, appears to lack the machismo. In baseball, the pitcher bends his arm at the elbow, whipping the ball at maximum velocity. In cricket, the ball is thrown with the arm straight, which looks vaguely girlish.
Also in cricket, as I understand it, points are scored and accolades earned just as easily by hitting the ball along the ground. In baseball, poetry is made when the projectile takes flight and travels as far as possible. Read More