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by roryirvine 1 day ago
Not even the whole of the UK - really only England and Wales (as a singular entity, rather than individually).

The rest of us know it only for its impenetrable jargon ("They've risked a woggle on the silly midden!"), the grating public school chumminess of the commentators, and a rumour about a puerile "joke" which may or may not have been told on the radio coverage in the early 1980s.

Honestly, it's a sport I suspect I ought to like - full of stats and strategy - but it really does seem impossible to follow unless you've been inculcated since birth.
3 comments
indemnity 1 day ago
We started playing as kids, just trying to whack the ball and not getting out.

The rest of the jargon and strangeness was absorbed slowly over time until it because natural, like a language.

I still can’t explain how it works to my wife.

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gib444 1 day ago
> Not even the whole of the UK - really only England and Wales

"Only" England & Wales ... which is ~90% of the UK population. It's a fair generalisation in a casual context like this.

We get it, cricket isn't wildly popular in Northern Ireland (nor Scotland). Why chastise the parent for suggesting it is?

But come on - don't shoehorn an indirect political point into a casual conversation.

And as if cricket was unique in having jargon? Hurling doesn't have jargon? Gaelic football? Football? Of course they do.

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esperent 1 day ago
It's ok, no chastisement was felt by me and I was happy to be corrected.
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scott_w 1 day ago
> The rest of us know it only for its impenetrable jargon ("They've risked a woggle on the silly midden!")

You’re thinking of the fielding position “silly point,” so named because the chances of getting knocked out by the ball to the face are so high you’d be silly to stand there.

By “midden” you might be thinking of “maiden,” which is a bowler competing a “maiden over” by completing their 6 balls without conceding a run. An over is just a block of play consisting of 6 balls before switching bowlers.

It’s not as impenetrable as it first sounds, it just needs a bit of time to watch. Most sports have some jargon (offside anyone?)

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