Those Aussies ! :(

[Ian Gentles]

First day of Ashes was a complete disastor, if your a Brit! :(

[Hans Deventer]

I'm sorry to hear, Ian. I guess there can be no two winners, it's definitely the problem with sports.

[Marilyn Lawson]

I guess that is why B. was so happy today.

Opps

Marilyn

[Roland Hearn]

It was pure sweet justice. I was working all day but have a 3g phone so I was able to watch it from time to time while out and about. From the first ball, which will go down in history as the most embarrassing ball in 130 years of international cricket, to the last it was a wonderful day. I predict a declaration at around 600 and a follow on when England bats. Better luck in Adelaide Ian. I actually think that the Adelaide wicket will help you guys a lot more than the gabba one.
I can tell you it was an absolutely fabulous day today. There was hardly a cloud in the sky. It was a perfect 29 C (84 F), the grounds were perfect and the stadium full. Summer is here at last. C'mon Aussie, Come on, come on.

[Ian Gentles]

Being getting ribbed by Aussie friends a lot lol

[Bob Evans]

I am willing to root.

I do need a compelling case as to who to root for.

Go Team Go

[Dave McClung]

Roland

I have to be honest. I didn't understand anything you wrote except the part about it being summer in Australia. What are the "ashes" all about?

[Jim Franklin]

Roland, our local TV channel reported a snow storm in Aussieland last week. Have a good on ya summer.

[Brad Mercer]

Roland

I have to be honest. I didn't understand anything you wrote except the part about it being summer in Australia. What are the "ashes" all about?

Okay, as a very recent immigrant to Australia, and a non-sports fan in any culture, let me take a shot at translating for him and see how well he's teaching me.

First, the ashes is a cricket competition between England and Australia. It consists of four 5-day matches and two or three 1-day matches, I think. It has been played every year or two for a hundred years or so. The visiting team used to take weeks or months to travel by ship to the home field, so they played a bunch while they were there. Australia was the upstart colony when they first beat the English, who declared their defeat the death of cricket. Someone with a sense of humor presented them with a small urn of ashes on their next arrival for a rematch, declaring it to be the ashes of the deceased sport. Each competition since then has been played for that small urn of ashes as the trophy. "The Ashes" has also become the name of the recurring competition itself. The English won last time for the first time in years, and have been quite jubilant about it since, making this years Ashes competition a very highly anticipated event in both countries.

It was pure sweet justice. I was working all day but have a 3g phone so I was able to watch it from time to time while out and about.

He can watch TV on his phone over the internet. Yesterday at a work function at a park, he was using his phone to watch the first day of the ashes. The cricket match takes 5 days to play and Australia had a very good opening day.

From the first ball, which will go down in history as the most embarrassing ball in 130 years of international cricket, to the last it was a wonderful day.

Baseball is derived from cricket. Like baseball, one player throws a ball and another player tries to hit it with a bat. The batter is called a batsman and the pitcher is called a bowler. In cricket the ball has to bounce once before it gets to the bowler and the bowler has a chance to hit it. In this case, the opening pitch went off to the bowler's right instead of going straight toward the batsman. Then when it bounced, it went even further to the right, so that it never came anywhere close to the batsman. It was yards off to his right. It looked like one of those opening day pitches by a politician. The bowler was on the English side, so the Australians loved it.

I predict a declaration at around 600 and a follow on when England bats.

Okay, this one is a much more complicated statement about strategy. He thinks the Australian side will score 600 runs, then declare their half of the inning over even though they haven't been struck out the required number of times for their half of the inning to be over. Then they will require the English batters to play two innings of offense (batting) in a row without the Australian side batting in between. It wears the other side out while the Australians have a comfortable winning margin. If the English don't get more than 600 innings in their two sets of attempts, they lose. If they do get more than 600, the Aussies still have another opportunity at bat to get ahead again. It's a wierd game, and the more you learn, the less it's really like baseball. Apparently the above strategy all makes perfect sense within the sport of cricket, though.

Better luck in Adelaide Ian. I actually think that the Adelaide wicket will help you guys a lot more than the gabba one.

The first five day match is played at a stadium in Brisbane called the Gabba. The second five day match will be played at a stadium in Adelaide. Roland thinks something about the playing field in Adelaide will be more favorable to the English team.

So, there you go. I may not care much, but I have at least been listening. Fans can correct me on any points I've misrepresented.

Brad

[Meghan Schoonover]

Thanks for the translation, Brad! I had NO idea what he was talking about. LOL! :D

[Hans Deventer]

Each competition since then has been played for that small urn of ashes as the trophy.

We actually had a picture of the urn in our local newspaper. Seems cricket is gaining some ground, or at least, getting more recognition.

[Roland Hearn]

Roland, our local TV channel reported a snow storm in Aussieland last week. Have a good on ya summer.
About a thousand miles to the south of us in hills near Melbourne they did indeed have a snow storm with about 10 inches of snow on the ground. The following week it was 102 degrees. That's Melbourne for you.

[Garth Lahana]

We actually had a picture of the urn in our local newspaper. Seems cricket is gaining some ground, or at least, getting more recognition.

I really hope so Hans, I always enjoyed watching cricket back in South Africa. It would be great if cricket could gain ground here in the Netherlands.

Garth

[Roland Hearn]

Okay, as a very recent immigrant to Australia, and a non-sports fan in any culture, let me take a shot at translating for him and see how well he's teaching me.

You’ve done very well, with a little tweaking it will be perfect.


First, the ashes is a cricket competition between England and Australia. It consists of four 5-day matches and two or three 1-day matches, I think. It has been played every year or two for a hundred years or so. The visiting team used to take weeks or months to travel by ship to the home field, so they played a bunch while they were there. Australia was the upstart colony when they first beat the English, who declared their defeat the death of cricket. Someone with a sense of humor presented them with a small urn of ashes on their next arrival for a rematch, declaring it to be the ashes of the deceased sport. Each competition since then has been played for that small urn of ashes as the trophy. "The Ashes" has also become the name of the recurring competition itself. The English won last time for the first time in years, and have been quite jubilant about it since, making this years Ashes competition a very highly anticipated event in both countries.


Actually it is five 5-day games. There are twelve 1-day games following but they are not part of the ashes series. The first one was played back in 1877 and makes Australia and England the two teams that have been playing the longest out of the current world test sides. (A test is the name given to the 5-day game between two of the top international teams). However the two teams that played the very first international game were, wait for it... USA and Canada.


He can watch TV on his phone over the internet. Yesterday at a work function at a park, he was using his phone to watch the first day of the ashes. The cricket match takes 5 days to play and Australia had a very good opening day.

What a wonderful world we live in when you can watch live sporting events on your phone in full television coverage.


Baseball is derived from cricket. Like baseball, one player throws a ball and another player tries to hit it with a bat. The batter is called a batsman and the pitcher is called a bowler. In cricket the ball has to bounce once before it gets to the bowler and the bowler has a chance to hit it.

Well it doesn’t have to bounce once but 99 times out of 100 times it will. It makes it so much easier to hit if it doesn’t bounce that it usually is a mistake on the bowler's part if he fails to make it bounce.


In this case, the opening pitch went off to the bowler's right instead of going straight toward the batsman. Then when it bounced, it went even further to the right, so that it never came anywhere close to the batsman. It was yards off to his right. It looked like one of those opening day pitches by a politician. The bowler was on the English side, so the Australians loved it.


The ball in cricket is very similar in size, weight and composition to a baseball. The bat however is broad and flat on one side. It is a lot easier to hit a cricket ball with a cricket bat then it is to hit a baseball with a baseball bat. Hence the “strike” zone is much bigger. There is still a limit however to how far from the batsmen you can bowl (pitch) the ball. Out side of that area it is called a “wide”. This ball started outside the wide area and went a couple of yards farther away. Imagine a pitcher pitching a curve ball that started two yards away from the batsmen and ended up about four yards away and you would have something of the picture.


Okay, this one is a much more complicated statement about strategy. He thinks the Australian side will score 600 runs, then declare their half of the inning over even though they haven't been struck out the required number of times for their half of the inning to be over.

And here we are on day two and the Australians declared their innings closed at 602 runs scored for nine outs. You need ten outs to force a side out. So my prediction could hardly have been closer, I know my cricket.


Then they will require the English batters to play two innings of offense (batting) in a row without the Australian side batting in between. It wears the other side out while the Australians have a comfortable winning margin. If the English don't get more than 600 innings in their two sets of attempts, they lose. If they do get more than 600, the Aussies still have another opportunity at bat to get ahead again. It's a wierd game, and the more you learn, the less it's really like baseball. Apparently the above strategy all makes perfect sense within the sport of cricket, though.
Of course it makes sense and with England now at 53 runs for 3 outs it looks like the second part of my prediction will come true too.



The first five day match is played at a stadium in Brisbane called the Gabba. The second five day match will be played at a stadium in Adelaide. Roland thinks something about the playing field in Adelaide will be more favourable to the English team.

Brisbane’s wicket or pitch, as the 22 yard strip of grass between the bowler and batsmen is called, plays a huge part in the game. How much grass is on the strip, the amount of clay under the surface, the amount that it has been compacted and a number of other factors affect the way the ball bounces and thus how you bowl and bat. Brisbane is very different from the pitches on which the English usually play. Adelaide is a little closer to what they are use to.



So, there you go. I may not care much, but I have at least been listening. Fans can correct me on any points I've misrepresented.

Quite an impressive performance Brad. You amaze me how much you have picked up given the huge gulf between you and interest in sporting matters.

[Roland Hearn]

We actually had a picture of the urn in our local newspaper. Seems cricket is gaining some ground, or at least, getting more recognition.
Actually Hans cricket is played at quite a good level in the Netherlands. They are one of the few non English commonwealth teams that can play at a reasonable level. Some semi-professional players trying to break into the big time will use teams in the Netherlands to get to the next step. I don't know where in the Netherlands it is played but I do know it happens somewhere.

[Hans Deventer]

Actually Hans cricket is played at quite a good level in the Netherlands. They are one of the few non English commonwealth teams that can play at a reasonable level.

I checked and found that the Royal Dutch Cricket Federation was established in 1883. Seems they've been playing it for a long time. And right now the national team is playing against Bermuda. Interesting.

[Ian Gentles]

Ouch what a score on second day, this is definatly embarrasing for us. :(

[Roland Hearn]

I checked and found that the Royal Dutch Cricket Federation was established in 1883. Seems they've been playing it for a long time. And right now the national team is playing against Bermuda. Interesting.

And here is some more interesting information: Utrecht formed the first cricket club in 1855. At times there have been more than 100 clubs in the Netherlands. German occupation is blamed for much of the slowing of the growth of cricket - that is why the war simply had to be won by the allies. In 1964 came the proudest day of Netherlands cricket when they beat a touring Australian team that was in England for an Ashes series and popped across the channel to check out the talent. They were quite surprised.
Cricket in Dodrecht is played at Sportpark, Schenkeldijk Dordrecht.

[Roland Hearn]

Ouch what a score on second day, this is definatly embarrasing for us. :(

Here is what I am hoping for today Ian - Bell gets 50, Pietersen gets a century and Flintoff gets a good quick score perhaps even another century. That will put you at avoiding the follow on early tomorrow morning. This game can only have a result if you guys our all out before tea tomorrow. So if that were to happen tomorrow morning and you were to avoid the follow on then that puts the pressure on Australia to play for a result. Ideally your guys should make 450 - 500, but that will be tough. The wicket will start to crumble from today on and it will make it tough to bat. Australia will then have to balance the time left against a score that isn't too big to chase. Who knows Harmison and Hoggard might start to fire and you will bowl Australia out for under 200. If you have 300 to chase and two and a bit sessions to chase it in - game on. Of course if your guys are bowled out today below the follow on mark it could all be over by tomorrow night. Still it will be a learning experience as they head to Adelaide. Remember you lost the first test at Lord's by 239 runs and went on to regain the Ashes in 2005. There is a lot of cricket left in this summer.

[Ian Gentles]

Yup, but i aint holding out to much hope mate :(

[Ian Gentles]

It gets worse, at rugby Scotland 15 Australia 41 :(
Oh this is a very bad week :(

[Donna Adams]

I wonder how many times we American NazNetters post things that make no sense to our non American friends.

[Roland Hearn]

It gets worse, at rugby Scotland 15 Australia 41 :(
Oh this is a very bad week :(

I beg to differ Ian :basic05 it has been a very good week. Australia beat New Zealand last night in Rugby League as well. 16-12 in overtime. It was one of those games for the ages.
Australia is once again standing at the pinnacle of the sporting world. We take total dominance easily in our stride. We are such good people:).
Of course the truth is that in Rugby we are actually are not doing very well. Ireland embarrassed us pretty badly last week and I doubt we will look very good when it comes to the World Cup but you never know. At soccer we are nobodies but we did better at the last World Cup of soccer than we have ever done before. At least we went further than the US that claimed we were there just to make up the numbers.
But to the cricket, I am actually disappointed with the result even though we will walk away with a win sometime today or early tomorrow. I was hoping for a close contest. I think it will be a different story next week though.

[Roland Hearn]

I wonder how many times we American NazNetters post things that make no sense to our non American friends.

Actually not too often because American issues are so much in the news and American culture dominates the television everyone watches everywhere. However, there are lots of discussions here that in order to get involved in requires non Americans to have an opinion and information about that doesn't directly impact our lives. But that isn't a problem we come to Naznet for the community enjoy the discussions because we enjoy the people.
Cricket is a big part of English culture and it is a big part of Australian culture and for that reason Ian and I can't help but talk about it when the Ashes are on. Last time around we almost went to discussing it by email but found that people enjoyed looking over our shoulders. If it gets too much let us know.

[Roland Hearn]

I'm not sure if I'm watching cricket or a reenactment of Dunkirk but Pietersen and Collingwood are making a mockery of the game so far. A few more minutes and Collingwood will have a well deserved century. This will help bring the barmy army back to life.

[Hans Deventer]

Australia is once again standing at the pinnacle of the sporting world. We take total dominance easily in our stride. We are such good people:).

I did hear Ian Thorpe quit swimming? Not trying to spoil the party of course, but I know a guy from the Netherlands who might profit from that decision. :basic03

At soccer we are nobodies but we did better at the last World Cup of soccer than we have ever done before.

You picked a good coach :basic03

[Hans Deventer]

I wonder how many times we American NazNetters post things that make no sense to our non American friends.

Well, as Roland pointed out, not all too often, since we're invaded by US culture so much. But that invasion has some backdrops. I still can't get used to the theft of the word "football". Even the FIFA, the international football federation, uses the word in their name. From their website:

With 207 associations affiliated to FIFA today, world football’s governing body has rightly been dubbed the "United Nations of Football ". Between 1975 and 2002 alone, more than 60 associations were accepted as members.

And they're not talking about American football here.


Something else, I know about Thanksgiving, but I don't know when it is until everyone here starts talking about it and I've figured out that this year, it was the 22nd of November?

[Ian Gentles]

I'm not sure if I'm watching cricket or a reenactment of Dunkirk but Pietersen and Collingwood are making a mockery of the game so far. A few more minutes and Collingwood will have a well deserved century. This will help bring the barmy army back to life.

I sadly agree with the Dunkirk bit. :(

[Roland Hearn]

I sadly agree with the Dunkirk bit. :(
It may have been a defeat but at least it reflected English resolve. That is what we have hoped for in this series and it looks like we may get to see some yet.

[Ian Gentles]

I sincerely hope nexr test is a close fought concern.

[Meghan Schoonover]

I wanted to mention that I read some of Ian's and Roland's conversation to my husband and he translated it pretty accurately...I thought for sure I would stump him!! :D

[Gary Swartzlander]

Something else, I know about Thanksgiving, but I don't know when it is until everyone here starts talking about it and I've figured out that this year, it was the 22nd of November?

Actually it was November 23rd. It is always the 4th Thursday of November.

[Hans Deventer]

Actually it was November 23rd. It is always the 4th Thursday of November.

Thanks Gary, I'll try to remember it this time.

[Roland Hearn]

Well game 1 is done, Australia is now 1 up. Four to go we need to win two more to guarantee the Ashes comes back to us. The attention now moves to Adelaide and the game starts this Friday and goes through until the following Wednesday. Are you up for it Ian?

[Roland Hearn]

I did hear Ian Thorpe quit swimming? Not trying to spoil the party of course, but I know a guy from the Netherlands who might profit from that decision. :basic03

Well we have a couple more standing in line behind him but he was one of the best of all time. It will be interesting to see what happens next in the pool.



You picked a good coach :basic03

Of course Guus is now coaching Russia but he hasn't ruled out a move back down under. He did a great job with limited resources.

[Ian Gentles]

We are gonna whip ya aussies in next test ;) !

[Roland Hearn]

We are gonna whip ya aussies in next test ;) !
That's the British Bulldog we know and love.
Since you guys sent the original settlers out here, hand picked by the best judges in England, to create a nation dressed in a uniform decorated by little arrows, we have loved nothing more than beating you guys at anything. There is no sweeter sporting experience then beating the pommies at cricket though. However it is only really enjoyable when you come out fighting. That was missing from the last ashes series in Australia and from the first test (except for Sunday - I loved when Peitersen went after Warnie). I sure hope its a full on snarling struggle in Adelaide. To tell you the truth Ian I would love for you to win. That would make winning the next three even sweeter :) .

[Ian Gentles]

Dont worry brother,we are gonna walk all over you ;)

[Ian Gentles]

Ths ashes are so fantstic, you just dont know what is going to happen next, sadly an fantastic experiance our American brethern nont have

[Dave McClung]

When I was in Guyana, I saw people playing cricket a time or two as we drove by the field. The main thing I noticed was that there seemed to be a lot of people just standing around (like baseball). I just can't comprehend an inning with 600 runs!! All those guys standing around in the field must get pretty tired of just standing around in the field.

[Roland Hearn]

When I was in Guyana, I saw people playing cricket a time or two as we drove by the field. The main thing I noticed was that there seemed to be a lot of people just standing around (like baseball). I just can't comprehend an inning with 600 runs!! All those guys standing around in the field must get pretty tired of just standing around in the field.

In cricket the field is a 360 degree field. The entire field is in play. That means when you take out the bowler (pitcher) and wicket keeper (catcher) you have 9 men to watch an area that is probably 300-400 feet across and the same deep. In addition to that there are usually 3-4 fielders that are standing within 30 feet of the bat, some as close as 2-3 feet. That means if you are patrolling in the outfield and the batting team has scored 600 you have done very little standing around and you have done a lot of running. On top of that the bowler is rotated every six balls with another bowler who has been fielding. Unlike in baseball when the pitcher is changed he is changed for a relief pitcher who has been watching from the side line, the only people that can bowl are people that are out on the field the whole time. Bowlers usually patrol the outfield so they can get a little rest and batsmen field close to the bat where they have to react quickly and run a lot. On top of that instead of there being the 9 different fielding positions in baseball there are actually over 60 different designated fielding positions, everything from silly square leg to deep long off. There is an enormous task of knowing how the batsmen bats and the bowler bowls and setting a field accordingly. Every time there is a change of bowler or batsmen, which may happen every ball, as a fielder I may have to change position - so there actually is a lot going on. While I remember being bored occasionally playing the game, it doesn't happen very often if everyone knows what they are supposed to be doing.

[Roland Hearn]

Good first day Ian, should be a great second test.