Rain delayed it 24 hours but I finally had my first cricket practice. And I wasn't half-bad!
In a few weeks, the folks from our rival publication Nature will train up to Cambridge for the annual match with Science. My office head wanted me to get in some hitting, fielding and pitching (known as bowling) practice before we lost yet again (Nature has a much bigger staff to draw on in the UK than Science does). So he, his son, another father-son, and about 3 more kids taught me how to play. It's a bit like baseball but the rules and terminology take some time to master--after about an hour or so, I largely had the basics down. My colleague's teeange son got me out on my first pitch (I swung and missed and the ball knocked over the wickets behind me). But they took pity and gave me another chance--I then scored about 30 runs before they declared me out so others could bat. I still don't have the hang up bowling. One whips the ball overhand but can't bend the arm to throw--plus one usually bounces the ball into the batting box, because a ball that doesn't bounce is easy to hit.
Stay tuned for futher exciting cricket updates--jt
