Cricket is a game that traditionally has expected the highest ethical standards of its players and spectators, so much so that the phrase ‘not cricket’ has entered the vernacular as denoting something that, while not being technically illegal or contravening an explicit rule, is nonetheless seen as a form of gamesmanship, trying to gain an edge that was not based purely on skill or strategy or ability. But that sterling reputation has seriously deteriorated over time because of the on-field and off-field tactics adopted by players and spectators
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A month or so ago, I discussed how in cricket, especially when played at the highest level in the five-day version known as Test matches between national teams, the nature of the central playing surface (known as the ‘pitch’) is very important. The goal of the groundskeepers should be to produce a pitch that provides a good balance between bat and ball, providing batters with the opportunity to score runs while giving the bowlers enough help that they feel that getting the batter out is something that can happen at any moment.
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I am sure that all the cricket fans out there (yes, both of you) have been waiting for another post about his game.

One of the key things that distinguishes cricket from baseball is that after the bowler releases the ball, it bounces on the ground before it reaches the batter. This has enormous consequences because how the ‘pitch’ (which is how cricket aficionados refer to the central playing area between the wickets) is prepared can greatly affect the motion of the ball after hitting the ground. Pitches that result in the ball bouncing a lot and/or unpredictably or allows the ball to change direction sharply after bouncing makes life harder for the batters and easier for the bowlers. Conversely, pitches where the ball bounces a predictable low height and does not produce much turn are easier for the batters.
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In a post a few years ago, I mentioned how Australia and New Zealand had next to no players of color in their teams, even though both countries have quite a sizable proportion of immigrants from the cricket-mad Indian sub-continent. Usman Khawaja, the child of Pakistani immigrants who entered the country when he was five, is one of the few players who did make it into the Australian national team and in an article he describes the racism he experienced growing up, often in the form of ‘sledging’, the term given to verbal abuse hurled at players on the opposing teams.
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It’s been awhile since I wrote about cricket for the two or three blog readers who may care. But there has been some remarkable cricket in the last few days that deserves comment. (See here for my brief tutorial on this game.) In Test cricket (the long form that lasts five full days and in which each side has two innings), the team that bats first and scores over 400 runs is usually in the catbird seat, almost guaranteed to win or at least to not lose. But in two Test matches played concurrently on different continents, that conventional wisdom has been seriously challenged.
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Yesterday I predicted that the third and final Test match between Australia and Sri Lanka in Colombo was poised for an exciting finish on the last day with either team capable of winning and the result possibly going down to the wire at the end of the final day’s play. The final result, though, was that by the mid afternoon, Sri Lanka had won easily by 163 runs.
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The fourth day’s play in the third and final Test match between Australia and Sri Lanka being played in Colombo has ended, with the game poised for a fascinating final day that contains all the strategy and tactics that Test cricket aficionados live for. Although the outcome of the rubber has been decided with Sri Lanka winning the first two Tests, each team is highly motivated to win the third, Australia to avoid the humiliation of a clean sweep at the hands of a low-ranked team and risk losing their top-ranked status, and Sri Lanka to enjoy the taste of sweeping the top-ranked Test team. So you could be sure that neither team would be phoning it in.
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There has been some interesting cricket going on around the world. The most fascinating has been the tour of England by Pakistan. Fresh after completely dominating Sri Lanka earlier in the summer, England faced a more formidable opponent in Pakistan who won the first Test by just 75 runs in a tight game. But England recovered to dominate the second Test, winning by a mammoth 330 runs and then took the third Test as well, coming back from a first innings deficit of 103 to win the match. The third day of the fourth Test has just ended and Pakistan seem poised to even the series on the fourth day, with England still needing 126 runs to win make Pakistan bat for the second time but with only six wickets left.
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