Oddities, trivia and suchlike........

Not a quiz, but somewhere to ask obscure or odd trivia questions...........

I'll start >

Why do batsmen notch up runs, where does that saying come from?

Dot balls, why do they call them dot balls?

Originally posted by W.G. Dot balls, why do they call them dot balls?

No doubt because they are marked in the scorebook as dots.

edit: hasn't there been a thread like this before, where people asked stuff like "why when you score zero is it called a duck?"


Edited by NZ_Fast - 15 July 2007 at 7:48am

Originally posted by NZ_Fast No doubt because they are marked in the scorebook as dots.

Yes, but why dots?

Clue - this is related to the notching up question.

Originally posted by W.G. Why is a wicket made up of three stumps?

I read this somewhere, although I can't remember where. Something about when the game cricket was introduced the wicket was orginally a 3 legged stool, thus 3 wickets.

Originally posted by MP12 Originally posted by W.G. Why is a wicket made up of three stumps? I read this somewhere, although I can't remember where. Something about when the game cricket was introduced the wicket was orginally a 3 legged stool, thus 3 wickets.

I thought originally only 2 stumps were used - maybe a 3rd was introduced to stop the batsmen getting let-offs when the ball went through the middle?

yeah shut up cricket luva go an do some sheep farmin if you have to have a go at someone trying to do somethin fun.

WG, what are the answers mate??

I think -JP- is spot on with notching up and dot balls

JP's pretty much on the button with dots and notches.  In the 17th and early 18th centuries cricket was scored on village greens by people who were largely illiterate.  Individual batsmen's scores were kept with a series of notches for runs scored on a stick, hence notching up runs.  Bowlers' stats were similarly recorded as notched runs against and smaller indentations (dots) for runless deliveries, hence dot balls.  This scoring methodology is still with us today in the way runs are recorded on cricket scorecards.

Originally posted by W.G. Why is a wicket made up of three stumps?

Originally posted by The Tyke Clobber's pretty much right. There were originally 2 stumps but original (under arm) bowlers became more accurate and the ball kept going between the 2. To solve this they added an extra notch in the bails and cut them into 2 pieces and added a middle stump.

What he said.  With up to a 1000 guineas riding on a match in the 18th century, punters could be greatly angered at any sense of injustice.  Betting on the outcome of cricket matches rivalled that of horse racing and the design of the stumps favoured the batsman, thus in 1775 after much upset from punters following the outcome of a match between Hambledon and England at the Artillery Ground in London.  This was a single wicket match with a 100 guinea purse (we've got lots to learn about making cricket exciting) and Lumpy Stevens passed the ball through the wicket three times, with Hambledon going on to chase down England's total.

Oh the pressure of the gambling fraternity!

What was remarkable about the first Australian team to tour England?

What does a lady's dress have to do with the development of roundarm bowling and, therefore, the modern overarm technique?

Originally posted by Monty an ill have ya know that w.g is older than you (and fatter) so 2 reasons to shut up there

OI!

Less of the older!