By: Lindor Reynolds
\nIf you say cricket to most North Americans, they think Jiminy.
\nStart talking wicket keepers, bowlers and cow corners and the average person will back away slowly. Ask a rabid fan an innocent question about the rules and expect to be there for at least an hour as an increasingly larger group of men stand, gesticulate and say things such as “a maiden isn’t a lady. If you bowl six in a row, it’s called a maiden lady.”
\nWell, of course it is.
\nI once spent five days in a sailboat in the Caribbean. The crew were cranky enough that if they’d believed we had any money, they would have killed us for it. But when we asked them about cricket, the rum couldn’t come out fast enough.
\nSeveral hours later, with large hangovers on the way, we were friends. I still had no idea how the game was played but I was no longer afraid for my life.
\nCricket is huge in Manitoba, says Keith James, a player, ump, scorekeeper and aficionado of the sport. There are roughly 500 players in the province, ranging from school kids to adults. If you’ve driven through Assiniboine Park in summer, you’ve seen the players in their elegant whites. This week, you’ll see young players competing in the International Cricket Council’s under 15 championship.
\n
\nThere was only a small crowd gathered under the blistering sun Tuesday afternoon, many of them players. Some of the fans, judging from their accents, were expats who grew up cheering for football as played with a soccer ball. Their passion for cricket was obvious.
\nOur cricket pitch was built for the 1967 Pan Am Games. Recently, the clubhouse was modernized thanks to money for the overall improvement of the park.
\nPeople have played cricket in the park for more than 100 years, says James. At one time, every community within 100 miles of Winnipeg had a pitch. In the 1930s, this newspaper printed international results on the front page.
\nHere are some of the basics you need to know as related by James, cricketer Keith Deonarine and a handy website dedicated to teaching cricket to dummies.
\nThat would be me.
\nCricket doesn’t have rules. It has laws. Those laws, as stated above, are incomprehensible to novices. It’s played in an oval, which can also be a circle. Or shaped like a circle. Or something.
\nThere are 11 players on a team. The wicket is also known as the strip. Unlike baseball, you can’t tag someone out. Unlike hockey and football, rough play is discouraged. Players don’t wear numbers, so the scorekeepers have to be very good at their jobs.
\nWhen players are displeased, they do not charge the mound — and not just because there’s no mound. They say: “how’s that umpire?” in a mild tone that is not accompanied by spitting or chest bumping.
\nNow here’s some of the complicated stuff: “Mid-range positions are ‘mid-off’ and ‘mid-on,’ ready for a straight drive from the batsman on either side of the wicket,” reads the dummies’ website. “Their counterparts on the boundary are ‘long-off’ and ‘long-on.’ If the ball gets past point, ‘cover-point’ or ‘cover’ will pick it up and opposite them on the leg side are ‘square leg’ and ‘mid-wicket.’ If the ball gets past the keeper, ‘fine leg’ and ‘deep fine leg’ will stop it and anything through or over the slips cordon will go to ‘third man.'”
\nDeep fine leg. That’s right.
\nThe sport is becoming increasingly popular in Canada. Deonarine says many players are first-generation Canadians who learned in their home countries. Four Winnipeg high schools have cricket pitches. There are grounds at Elwick and Burton Cummings community centres.
\nIn September, a new facility will open in Gimli.
\nCricket is played indoors in the winter so our players can stay sharp.
\nIf you’re interested in the sport, stop by and watch a match. They last for hours so don’t worry if you’re not there on time. Members of the Manitoba Cricket Association will likely wander over and explain the rules.
\nDeonarine says he can do that in two minutes flat. Don’t believe him.
\nGet there before it’s over and feel free to use my name. That’ll be good for an hour of arm-pointing and a few giggles.
\nAt my expense, of course.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By: Lindor Reynolds If you say cricket to most North Americans, they think Jiminy. Start talking wicket keepers, bowlers and cow corners and the average person will back away slowly. Ask a rabid fan an innocent question about the rules and expect to be there for at least an hour as an increasingly larger group […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[12],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.canadacricket.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2219"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.canadacricket.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.canadacricket.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.canadacricket.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.canadacricket.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2219"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.canadacricket.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2219\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2220,"href":"https:\/\/www.canadacricket.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2219\/revisions\/2220"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.canadacricket.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2219"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.canadacricket.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2219"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.canadacricket.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2219"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}