As Jrod says, for a couple of days you're "in the hands of Miriam". It's not a bad place to be.
NOTE: this post is not about Daniel Vettori.
A while ago I read a post on my favourite non-cricket website (just edging out net-a-porter and icanhazcheezburger), www.jezebel.com , which was all about why smart women love baseball. In fact, here's that post.
Now, any number of people have already waxed lyrical about similarities and differences between cricket and baseball, but I don't think anyone's done it from a lady perspective, and I am a lady, whatever you might have heard.
How does the Jezzie article hold up when applied to cricket? Let's take a look and see, children.
[b]1. "It's about family"[/b]
The writer's message here is that baseball brings people together, and that in baseball crowds conversation is not only possible but encouraged.
I go to cricket quite a lot on my own. Although it has to be said that people rarely initiate conversation with me, if I start speaking to someone then invariably a session of sparkly repartee ensues.
The Jezebel writer also says this:
"The game's demands of loyalty and teamwork creates (or, perhaps, attracts)men who appreciate the beauty of routine and the rewards of commitment,qualities many a woman can appreciate".
Many women might agree, but I'm not quite down with this as I'm not so much about the "beauty of routine". Beauty routine, yes.
[b]2) There's Method Behind The "Monotony"[/b]
Does the following quote from the Jezebel post sound familiar to anyone?
<p align="justify">"Many women tell me they don't understand the appeal of baseball becauseit's "slow", or "boring", that "nothing happens", that it "takes too long". They "get" how the game is played â€" understand that three strikes equal an out, that the way to home is via the basepaths â€" but they don't appreciate that the devil is the details, that entire athletic operas are being performed through glances exchanged and glances avoided, seemingly neurotic adjustments in gear, in balls dropped and misthrown".
You knew all this anyway, of course.
I also love the following quote, with the word "cricket" substituted in.
"The game of baseball is not unlike a lifelong, well-worn, comfortable love affair: After a time, you know what to expect, but you can never predict what will happen. You also learn how to forgive".
Although I still haven't forgiven England for the Adelaide Test.
[b]3) It's Full Of Sex Appeal[/b]
"For many women, the sex appeal of baseball players is what brings them to the majors."
At this point in the article I got a bit worried that the article was going all fangirl and would start talking about Derek Jeter's ass or something. (See, I know a baseball player). And it does a little, but then it says this:
"Through close attention to the game, women begin to appreciate a
masculinity defined not by muscles or money but by hard work and humility. Baseball players are men, after all, who sublimate the more primitive characteristics encouraged in other sports â€" aggression, rage, dominance â€" in favor of something approaching grace, whether that be the lift of a soaring, well-hit, left-field single or the determination of a batter who fouls off one nasty slider after another".
Now I can't pretend to understand for a second the funny baseball terms that she uses, but apart from that, I understand perfectly. www.cricketwithballs.com... fighting the war on tony greig
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