Where/when to watch cricket?

September 7, 2012 4:57 AM

Help me and a friend find watch and learn about cricket in North America.

Me and a friend normally partake of run-of-the-mill North American sports (particularly baseball and College Football. We've recently decided we would like to give cricket a shot. I've learned a little bit here and there, and I think a few hours in front of a TV with a few beers could fill the gaps.

So, the thing we are missing is some cricket to watch. Are there any cricket matches of any particular significance in the next weeks or months we could watch to dip our feet in? Or at least any matches of no particular significance that would be on television in North America at a time when North Americans are awake and able to drink in public?

Bonus TorontoFilter points: Can anyone recommend a Toronto bar that shows such things?

posted by dry white toast to sports, hobbies, & recreation (4 answers total)

I can't recommend places to go, but as an in to cricket and all it's many splendours, you might want to start with the upcoming T20 World Cup. 20 overs a side, and lots of fun.

The teams to watch out for would be England (current world champions), India, Pakistan, australia and South Africa.
Although you can never rule out Sri Lanka (the tournament hosts), or West Indies (they have the best 20 over batsman in the world in Chris Gayle)

Watch for some big boys being taken out by the little guys when Ireland or Zimbabwe play.

The tournament starts on the 18th September and runs through til the 7th October
posted by the_epicurean at 5:06 AM on September 7, 2012

The World T20 starts in a few weeks (here's the Cricinfo site). That could be a good option - a reasonably significant international competition, and it's the shortest version of the game, so will hopefully be more entertaining.

The games look like they start at either 11am or 3pm UK time (so the latter would be 10am in Toronto). They last maybe 2 1/2 to 3 hours.

I can't recommend anywhere in Toronto, but it's worth pointing out that international cricket has been played there quite recently (teams like India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan have played each other there). So there is definitely some sort of cricketing community there.
posted by Infinite Jest at 5:11 AM on September 7, 2012

One other place to start on your voyage of discovery might well be the novel Netherland, by Joseph O'Neill, which is about (amongst other things) cricket and North America.
posted by hydatius at 5:46 AM on September 7, 2012 [3 favorites]

If you like Bollywood films, give "Lagaan" a try. It's about 3.5 hours long, and was a blockbuster in 2001. Set during the Raj, it features a village that owing to drought, cannot afford pay its Lagaan, a tax or tribute to the local British authority. But the Local brit is a sporting rake: they can put together a cricket team and if they beat the Brits, they don't have to pay. Thus, the village has to learn cricket from scratch.

Watching the movie got me, an American who doesn't follow sports, interested enough to read up on the rules online, and such. It's a simple-enough game, but there's clearly a tradition of trying to confuse cricket newbs with a lot of silly jargon that has evolved into the language of the game.
posted by Sunburnt at 8:00 AM on September 7, 2012 [1 favorite]