Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with cricket

Help a British Ex-Pat Access Overseas Content (BBC, iTV, premier league football, etc...)

ghostpony — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 14:10:32 -0800

My father is a British ex-pat who is craving some good old fashion football/cricket/BBC. Please share some advice about best way to access this content while in the states. My father is a British ex-pat who has lived in the states for some 20 odd years. After many years of paying through the nose for pay per view football matches and the occasional cricket test match he gave up.

Can you give us some advice about the best way to access this content? He is interested in watching Premier League matches, cricket, rugby, and most everything the BBC puts out. He is particularly interested in live-streaming matches, but would take what he can get.

Also news to me Hulu has a UK only site that features content from Channel 4, ITV, and other UK only channels, and so access to that would be welcome.

Do you have any advice? Where do we start?

Understanding cricket

jfwlucy — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 10:59:18 -0800

Trying to understand issues around cricket as compared to baseball -- player drafting, financing, culture/conduct, etc. -- hoping an enthusiast can help me. Okay, I've been searching for a while (Wikipedia, Dangermouse, and ABCs of Cricket), and I think I get the basics, but I still have a few unanswered questions.

1) How do drafting/contracts/free agency work? How important are statistics in determining the value of a player to a particular team and does the previous year's performance of a team help determine the availability of their draft picks? Is this similar in each country?

1ai) According to Wikipedia, most of the financing behind cricket is international? So then does a nation pay for fielding its cricket team or does most of the money come from private backing?

1bii) What role does nationalism play? Are there rules or merely customs that limit the number of foreign players on each team?

2) I understand this diagram mostly, but what if I were batting and I did a quick 180 degree turn and popped up the ball right behind me OVER the stumps and past the long stop player? Illegal? Based on the position of my feet or the rules?

3) Wickets and bails. Do they ever get tampered with? Hidden magnets? Glue? Who checks?

4) I understand distractions by fielders (except "sledging") are discouraged. What about fan distractions? How rigidly is this enforced?

4a) What about unnecessary roughness in tagging the batter? Depends on the team and the venue?

Thanks so much for your help.

Data feeds for cricket and other sports

raghuram — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 16:18:31 -0800

Where can I get sports feeds, especially cricket? I am looking to build a hobby cricket sports site. I want data, both current and historical, for records, one day matches, test matches etc. Where can I get such data, preferably free or very cheap?

Also, are there sites for other sports feeds?

Help a clueless American understand what's so fascinating about cricket

craichead — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 22:40:05 -0800

Help me find good cricket literature for a total cricket neophyte. Upon returning from a business trip to India, my father expressed a desire to learn more about cricket: the sport, not the insect. Being a dutiful daughter as well as a crappy gift-chooser, I quickly realized that this might provide an answer to the perennial question of what to get as a Father's Day present for a guy who is, I swear, the hardest person to shop for in the world. I'm utterly clueless when it comes to cricket-related literature, so I'm throwing myself on the mercy of the global AskMe community.

Sports-type books about cricket would be awesome, but so would books that discuss the social, cultural, political or economic aspects of the sport. Academic books would be ok, as long as they aren't too jargony. The one thing, though, is that books have to be suitable for someone who doesn't know anything about cricket. If you need to know what a googly and a sticky wicket are to enjoy the book, then my dad is not going to enjoy the book.

Thanks in advance, MeFites!

Howzzat!

lassie — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 20:49:33 -0800

Where to watch televised cricket in Brooklyn? Any reliable venues (bars or wherever else) to watch televised cricket in Brooklyn? It doesn't matter too much what kind of match (but West Indies v. England on the 13th or 14th of February would be great). Thanks.

Reading Austen, seeing Frayn; its like watching the Saracens in full flow.

Cantdosleepy — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 03:09:15 -0800

Christmas gift ideas, please! For dad: sports or literature podcasts. For mum: tickets for a play in Leeds/London/Manchester in March/April. Suggestions for either very much appreciated! Hey team, looking for some gift ideas here. Dad's getting an ipod for Christmas so I'm looking for some podcasts he can subscribe to. He's a big fan of 'classic' literature (more Pepys & Austen than Ishiguro and Pynchon - if it's a Penguin Classic he'll read it), and intelligent rugby and cricket debate. I'd love suggestions of good podcasts discussing matches, teams, books, re-issues, anything with some good chat.

I've seen the two threads about intelligent podcasts and there are some excellent suggestions there. Got anything more book-y? Rugby-y?

For mum I'm after play tickets. We took her to see Much Ado at the National last year and it was ace - looking for something like that in any of the above cities (they've a child in each) so we can have a family gathering in Spring with food and then some cultural magic.

Thanks guys!

What the BUG?!

roundrock — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 19:13:35 -0800

The cold weather seems to have caused horrible, alien looking bugs to invade our basement. They are fairly slow moving (unless startled) and look like spiders and grasshoppers mated to produce alien children. They are brown in color, have enormous, Daddy-long-legs type legs (but only six of them), and get pretty far off the ground when they jump. Can anyone tell me exactly what is sneaking up on me when I'm working at my desk at night? I realize that a picture would help, but I freeze up every time I see the suckers (and then my husband throws a shoe at them and we no longer have a good specimen for a photo shoot). I tried a bug identification website, but my freakish office mate was not among any of the 28 results returned. I can't bear to do another search on my own ... I feel like they are crawling all over me when I look through the pictures. So WHAT is this thing?

If it helps, I'm in Virginia (DC area). I've never seen them anywhere outside. Apparently they just live in my basement (but NOT FOR LONG!).

Palm 700W Flashing/Internet

neolith22 — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 18:13:45 -0800

Help! Can't get internet to work - Palm Treo 700W (flashed, originally Verizon) on Cricket. Hello all. Once again, it seems like I might have better luck with the hivemind than with corporate drones. My situation is this: I've just purchased a Palm Treo 700W from another Cricket user (she upgraded to a different model, no problems with the Palm), and everything on the phone is working (calling, messaging, windows mobile functions), except for the internet. When I try to connect via the built in Internet Explorer, it indicates that the username/password is incorrect. Looking at the details, the phone is dialing #777, username (myphonenumber)@mycricket.com, password (same as login to mycricket.com through main computer to manage account), domain mycricket.com. I've also tried a password of "cricket" and have tried leaving the domain blank, based on a couple of other forum posts I've stumbled across. No luck.

I tried taking the phone back to the cricket store to get the appropriate settings; the people there stated they did not have this information and that this should have been taken care of by the (non-Cricket) service that flashed the phone. Here's my confusion on that - firstly, it's a username/password to Cricket; how would an outside service know what this is, and why would Cricket not know? Secondly, my understanding of the flash process is that this is analogous to flashing the bios on your computer; basically just updating the bootstrap program on the phone's EEPROM. Individual account settings would not be part of this. Thirdly, the phone had already been flashed (to the tune of $120) by the prior user and was fully working; the Cricket employees seemed to feel that it would be necessary to reflash the phone to get things working.

Now, I'm not entirely opposed to that idea, if it's necessary, but $120 is a whole lot of money (more than I paid for the phone) for essentially just loading a file that I'm probably capable of loading myself, if I had a source for the file.

So, bottom line, if there's anyone out there in the know that could tell me what the appropriate settings would be, where I might set the username/password on the cricket website if necessary, whether or not re-flashing the phone would even be relevant, and/or where I might get the appropriate files to flash the phone, preferably for a lot less than $120. I live in Portland, Oregon, if it's relevant.

Thanks all!

How do I port my number to Cricket from Vonage.

2oh1 — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 12:29:58 -0800

Cricket says it isn't possible to port my phone number from Vonage but there has to be a way, right? What's the cheapest way to accomplish this? I'm assuming I'd need to port it somewhere else first. Or not?

[englandfilter] what's so cool about cricket?

krautland — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 12:21:32 -0800

[englandfilter] what's so cool about cricket? I just moved to england and I'm spending a couple of weeks in an office with a bunch of guys from yorkshire. said guys talk about nothing but cricket and while I've tried my best to educate myself about this game via wikipedia, I have yet to grasp why this isn't a complete and utter waste of time (like baseball). I also keep on making an utter fool out of myself trying to follow any conversation these gents are having on this topic. that is a shame though - they know the best watering holes in a two-mile radius and I'm way too young to stop drinking.

so can anyone enlighten me what's so fascinating about cricket?
a primer on what's actually important to know (wiki launches an avalanche of information upon a casual reader) or what I should look for? bonus points for tidbids that I can use to blatantly show off. drunk men are so competitive.

Jimminy Cricket!

charmston — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 02:26:36 -0800

I'm looking for a cell phone plan similar to Cricket's Choice plan (emphasis on the lack of an annual contract,) that is available in the Twin Cities. Bonus points if it's a service portable to Phoenix, AZ.

Far from all resort of mirth, / Save the cricket on the hearth!

methylsalicylate — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 02:46:02 -0800

Obsolete Technology Filter: Please help me figure out what the problem is with my Roberts longwave radio! The radio is a circa late 50s/early 60s Roberts long- and medium-wave portable receiver. It runs off two of the rather large, old-style 9-volt batteries ("PP9s" apparently). These were new last time England won the Ashes.

Last week I couldn't get Radio 4 on longwave anymore, though Five Live came in fine. Medium wave was fine. I thought maybe it was the weather and forgot about it. Last night there was nothing on longwave at all, no Five Live, and medium wave still okay. This morning, I switched back to longwave and found that strong medium wave stations were bleeding through to longwave, but still no Radio 4 and no Five Live. The third test vs India is starting tomorrow, so I consider this a matter of urgency :)

I'm tempted to think it's not the battery, but could it be? The radio hasn't been dropped and while portable is rarely moved. Any ideas? I've checked out some online tips but they all seem to require a power meter, which I don't have, and hands-on knowledge of transistors, which I also don't have. Someone who can hand-hold through the process of fixing my baby would be very much appreciated...

Why Am I Unknown Caller with Cricket Cell Phone?

marxchivist — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 18:43:32 -0800

Why does my cell phone number show up as "unknown caller" or "unavailable" to EVERYONE I call? About two weeks ago I got cell phone service from Cricket. My phone is a Motorola w315. I show up as "unknown" caller with everybody I call. Land lines and cell phones. All different cell phone services. These people have me in their contacts. It's getting frustrating, I'm very happy with the service other than this. I've been all through the phone settings and the instruction book. The Cricket customer service people mumble something about me "not being in the other companies databases yet." I don't believe that.

Does anyone else have experience with this? Is there anything I can do? I don't know if it is a phone issue or a carrier issue. I'd like to eventually port my land line over, do you think that will make a difference? Thanks.

Cricket Crashing my Condo!

Tinen — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 11:01:26 -0800

An unwelcome guest resides in my home. A demon of a creature known only as a cricket. Now for years I have lived here and occasionally there has been a cricket or two. Luckly I can dispatch it quickly with a Sandal of Slaying and wipe it away quickly with a Sock of Sorrow. Recently though a devious cricket has come calling at my condo. The sucker is in my bathroom, in a wall and will not shut up all night long. *chirp* *chirp* *CHIRP*. I have heard cricket sounds before, at times they are pleasant. This cricket unleashes a cacophony of noise which can only herald the coming of the apocalypse.

So to the question. How can I get rid of it and prevent future cricket intruders? I am not sure how they are getting in. But they mostly hang out in my bathroom. I think there could be a crack in the dry wall from a flood that happened a year or two back. But that is inside of the sink cabinet and against the wall. Fixing that though will not prevent my current cricket problem. This cricket has been here for at least a month and is driving me slowly insane. Now I cant tent the place and I cant tear up the bathroom. So those two are out. What kind of sprays or devices or traps can I use to deter crickets? Also his location is difficult to pin point because when I step in the bathroom he stops chirping. As soon as I exit the bathroom he starts up again. Grrrr.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Where to watch the Cricket World Cup Final?

ruwan — Fri, 27 Apr 2007 17:59:04 -0800

Where can I watch the Cricket World Cup Final this Saturday in Westchester? Hopefully near White Plains, because I don't want to have to go into NYC. (Failing that what are some places in the city that will be showing the game?) (I know about 8 Mile Creek, but I'd be a little nervous supporting Sri Lanka in an Australian pub when that's who we're playing against...)

Radio Free Europe (Sport Section)

Gratishades — Thu, 14 Dec 2006 18:40:29 -0800

How can one listen to the Ashes and/or live UK football online in a country other than UK- given that the BBC screen out people abroad? The BBC does not allow anyone that they detect as being outside the UK to listen to their live commentary. I have tried and failed to play about with the proxy settings advised by someone with more tech savvy than I so looking for alternatives to the Beeb. Is there an Australian or other outlet not as stringent (I'm not in either Australia or UK) that I can listen to online commentary of the Ashes. Same question applies for Scottish soccer? Cheers.

Ashes to Ashes

popcassady — Fri, 24 Nov 2006 14:43:16 -0800

Cricket. Ashes. Where? So, the other night I had my iBook tuned to 5live, eagerly awaiting the first test, only to find that there's no Ashes coverage via the BBC's site. I can't find my LW radio, I haven't got a DAB receiver and, anyways, I'd rather see what was going on. No, I'm not giving my money to Sky.

Does anyone know of any live online Ashes coverage?

Where best to sit at the Oval?

Hogshead — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 13:23:40 -0800

Going to the Oval to see a floodlit game (Surrey v Gloucester) later this month. As far as I can tell pretty much all the seating is unreserved. Which bit of which stand will give me the best view, and also the best access to crucial facilities such as the bar?

Vintage Test Match Special recording.

Dr.Pill — Fri, 18 Aug 2006 09:51:18 -0800

Where can I find recordings of the Test Match Special radio program from the Seventies on MP3? I would love to get hold of a long uninterupted Seventies recording of TMS with discussion between Johnners,Aggers,Blowers et al about The Cake and a period when the covers are on to allow for flights of cricketing fancy.
Any ideas?

Atlanta cricket virgin seeks experienced partners.

viewofdelft — Sat, 22 Apr 2006 13:13:31 -0800

When I move back to Atlanta this summer, I'd like to learn how to play cricket. What do I do? I've never played cricket but I'm a good athlete in fine shape (if I do say so myself). I played baseball in high school and I've played softball since. The point is, I like bat and ball games but I'd like to branch out. What opportunities exist in Atlanta for a cricket virgin?

Cricket Sledging Quotes

inquisitive — Wed, 25 Jan 2006 23:12:16 -0800

I wanted to read the sledging quotes said by Pakistan cricketers to Indian batsmen in the recent ongoing India-Pakistan series ? Is there any website or blog where I can find them ?

the forest and the trees

klarck — Tue, 13 Sep 2005 03:51:42 -0800

I hear Crickets I was woken at about 4:30 this morning. Before returning to sleep I listened to the crickets outside for a while. Against a slow, rhythmic backdrop of dozens (hundreds? thousands?) of crickets that slowly changed from zzzz zzzz zzzz zzzz to zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz and back, I could always isolate 1, sometimes 2, soloists letting out individual chirps. The soloists seemed to take turns on center stage, stepping out then fading back into the background.

Is there cricket orchestration? Does some primitive cognition only allow me to count 1, 2 or many crickets? (Do others hear crickets the same way?)

cricket webcast

cadastral — Thu, 11 Aug 2005 02:14:48 -0800

Where can I listen to/watch live coverage of the Ashes 1) online 2) free? Searched all over the BBC website, and I'm pulling my hair out. They suggested "Channel 5" but when I tune in all I get is rational, informed discussion of world events. Please hope me.

I suspect that there's no non-subscription video feed, but if one is available, please do tell. Thanks in advance.

Physics: Is it cricket or just a law?

cadastral — Wed, 18 Aug 2004 19:23:39 -0800

Newtonian physics/Cricket question. [6kb GIF and full question inside]

I'm no pro at either cricket or physics, and this has me vexed.

Assuming that the blue and red balls have identical shape, volume, and 'elasticity' (meaning they return the same bounce), they should both be affected by air resistance equally (right?). So... I've ruled that out.

I also think that on a frictionless surface, the "rebound angle" (just what I'm calling it... not sure what the real name is) would be identical... (let me know if this is wrong).

Now, here's the question.

In a "REAL WORLD" setting, where there is a consistant amount of friction in common between the two (say... astroturf acting on a leather ball), which angle, "a" or "b" would be greater?

In other words... Does the heavier ball not bounce as high?

All help appreciated greatly, this has been working on me for a few days.