| The
Bluffer's Guide to Cricket |
| By
Nick Yapp |
| |
| Extracts
from the book | |
| |
| Rubbers |
| Test
matches, like safe sex, come in what are called Rubbers. This means a series of
up to six games. The aim of both captains is simply to stop the other team winning.
You should point out that this is achieved by wasting time. |
| |
| Deep
truths |
| Fast
bowlers like to put all their fielders near the batsman. This is because fast
bowlers rely on brute strength and do not expect a batsman to do more than defend.
Slow bowlers like to put all their fielders as far away from the batsman as possible.
This is because slow bowlers rely on guile and cunning, and expect the batsman
will thrash their bowling all over the place. There is probably a deep truth about
the human condition here. There are deep truths about the human condition throughout
cricket. |
| |
| Judgement
call |
| One
of the duties of an Umpire is to check that the light is good enough for cricket.
It is only in the last couple of years that umpires have been equipped with light
meters to do this. Previously they had to rely on their own judgement, and their
individual eyesight, and were to be seen on many a grey English evening, squinting
at the clouds, and trying to imagine what it would be like to be young and have
good eyes and be facing a fast bowler running in with a dark pavilion in the background. |
| |
| Legs |
| Never
call anyone 'backstop'. There is no such position in cricket. There is, however,
a 'longstop' but this position is only occupied when the fielding side has an
appallingly bad wicket keeper. Since it is considered a disgrace to need a longstop,
what you do is put someone in the longstop position, but call them 'very fine
leg'. |
| |
| Reviews |
|
| |
| I
laughed till I cried when I read The Bluffer's Guide to Cricket.
|
| Reading
Evening Post |
| |
| Ideal
reading if you want to spout off without actually knowing about the game. |
| Oldham
Evening Chronicle |
| |
| A
fiendishly handy little book which offers anybody the chance to sound convincing
on the sport's finer points. |
|
Evening Advertiser Swindo |
| |
| I
bought this book to genuinely bluff my way into my, now, fiances conversations
as he talked of little else with his friends. I was surprised that reading about
cricket was so enjoyable but the author made the subject very humorous. This is
a great gift for cricket widows (as we're called) for an introduction to cricket
but also for its players and lovers for its funny take on the game. |
| A
reader from Liverpool, England |
| |
| Table
of Contents | |
| |
|
Origins
The Marylebone Cricket Club
The Ashes
The Bodyline Tour
What
Happens in Cricket
Appeals
Making Runs
Fielding Positions
The Laws of Cricket
Umpires
Scoring Kinds
of Cricket
Test Matches
County Cricket
One-Day Cricket
Overseas Cricket
League Cricket
Club Cricket
Schools Cricket
Beach Cricket
French Cricket
The World Cup Styles
of Cricket
Nations
Counties Talking
about Cricket
Statistics
Names
Odd Facts
Famous Cricketers
Attending a
Match
Impedimenta
Grounds
Fans and Spectators
Essential
Supplies
Things to Say at Cricket Matches
Things Not to Say at Matches
Things Not to Do at Matches
Weather History
The Golden Age Glossary
Note: 'Batsman'
embraces batswoman Æ but never in front of, and only rarely behind, the sightscreen.
|
| |
Fortune
Telling
