Wednesday, February 28, 2007


HOW TO CATCH A CRICKET MATCH


With the Black Caps leaving New Zealand today to head for the West Indies where they will compete for the World Cup of Cricket it is timely to mention a most charming book on the subject of cricket.
Harry Ricketts, a professor in the English department at Victoria University, has been playing, watching and reading about cricket since he was a kid and his deep love and knowledge of the game shine through in this entertaining and most stylish volume.
It is another in The Ginger Series from the small Wellington publishing house, Awa Press, which punches well above its weight.
Every question you have ever asked about this confusing and beguiling game is answered. Even the LBW rules now make sense to me!
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2 comments:

  1. Anonymous3:04 pm

    My husband is nuts about this game and I know he is going to be spending hours watching the World Cup so I'm off to the Paper Plus store at our local mall to get a copy of this book so that I might learn something about a game that at the moment I find totally mystifying.

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  2. Anonymous4:17 pm

    Hi fellow anonymous person,
    I found the book quite interesting, but I would not recommend it for beginners who want to learn the rules of cricket as it contains lots of commentary about cricket, rather than being a guide for "dummies", as it were. (It is the sort of book I would *give* to my husband, rather than recommending for a beginner.)
    Here are some Web sites which may also help you in your quest to learn the rules of cricket: (The second one refers to a book "Cricket for Dummies" - it does not seem to be held by many NZ Libraries (only Hastings and Wellington, I think), but you may be able to ask your local library to borrow it for you on Interloan (or buy it from a bookshop). The "Dummies" series are really easy to read and brilliant for beginners in many topics, if you have not seen them before) (You can copy and paste the links below into your Web browser to get to them quickly):

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cricket

    http://www.cricketworld.com/new_products/article/?aid=8293


    http://www.cs.purdue.edu/homes/hosking/cricket/explanation.htm

    http://www.icc-cricket.com/icc/rules/

    http://www.lords.org/laws-and-spirit/laws-of-cricket/


    http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/cricket/rules_and_equipment/default.stm

    http://library.christchurch.org.nz/Resources/Sports/Cricket/index.asp

    P.S.: I find just watching games on TV is a good way to learn the rules - best not to ask one's husband about the rules when HE is watching though, as it tends to make him tetchy, in my experience (breaks his concentration) ;-)

    Regards,
    Fellow anonymous person.

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