Games & Recreation The Backyard Cricket Thread

[ioppolo]

Anyone remember around 2006 when KFC bought out those inflatable Symonds, Clarke & Hussey things?

My masterfull coaching skills were put to good use with those guys patrolling the backyard.

 

[Lensen]

me & my brother actually picked teams and have full on test matches / one day games. 10 wickets a side, you have to mimic the actions of the bowlers you choose, bat left handed if you picked LHBs etc. bowling left arm was optional. my brother actually discovered his natural talent was more left handed after batting right handed all his life :O i had a rock solid defence that was considered "boring" to play against so one day games (15-20 overs - effectively T20 games these days) were the go

had to bowl 40% of the overs as spin, which would then cause arguments over what was too fast to constitute spin.

we also used to play with a cement sheet up against the deck as the auto wicky, but if you managed to nick it past the cement sheet either down to third man or fine leg it was play on - either a boundary if it reached the house or you could run as if you'd hit it anywhere else

 

[DustinsGuns]

I basically remember if you hit anything backward of square on the onsite you were out. You hit a cracking cut shot or late cut in to the ground, but you still out

 

[Gough]

For anyone who is interested, I'd recomend Steve Cannane's First Tests, great stories of our Test cricketers through time and their experiences in backyard cricket. The Hussey boys took no prisoners when they played.

 

[kfc1]

me & my brother actually picked teams and have full on test matches / one day games. 10 wickets a side, you have to mimic the actions of the bowlers you choose, bat left handed if you picked LHBs etc. bowling left arm was optional. my brother actually discovered his natural talent was more left handed after batting right handed all his life :O i had a rock solid defence that was considered "boring" to play against so one day games (15-20 overs - effectively T20 games these days) were the go

had to bowl 40% of the overs as spin, which would then cause arguments over what was too fast to constitute spin.

we also used to play with a cement sheet up against the deck as the auto wicky, but if you managed to nick it past the cement sheet either down to third man or fine leg it was play on - either a boundary if it reached the house or you could run as if you'd hit it anywhere else

Very similar to me and my bro

Used to love coming home from school and playing about 3-4 hours of "test" cricket out in the street

 

[Smoooothy]

me and my brother took our cricket very seriously too

had scorecards, scoreboards, and eventually, and excel spreadsheet tracking stats

 

[willba_victory]

We had a superb backyard setup. Long grass pitch with a good-sized run up. Parents decided to rebuild our house though so now all we have is a small backyard which is landscaped, but there is a 12 metre section of tiling to play on. Used to play most nights with my brother during summer, although he is 5 years older than me so he got a bit tired of backyard cricket before i did. We used to play 2 innings each, highest total wins.

 

[blueboy25]

When I was living in london with mates when we were in our ealry 20's, we had a stolen KFC 'slippery when wet' sign which fielded at batpad just like boony and if you hit it on the full you were out.

 

[Leper]

6 and out = bowler retrieves the ball. His punishment for dishing up tripe.

Batsman punished enough by being given out.

 

[Colin D'Cops]

Always enjoyed bowling with the Swing King and random taped tennis balls.

Could run in and "thunder" them down for hours.

 

[Scotland]

We had a long stretch of paving under a pergola along the back of the house. Property boundary fence behind the stumps, pool and pool fence through the on side, house including windows and glass sliding doors though the off side, long straight boundary.

Any shot square or forward of the wicket on the off side ran the risk of broken glass and a date with the wooden spoon. Any shot not lofted and timed through the on side ran the risk of 6 and out for going in the pool (only advantage being your first couple of balls as the bowler were with a sopping wet tennis ball). Consequently my shot range as an adult consists of straight drives and lofted hits over midwicket, so I'm about as easy to set a field for as Phil Hughes.

 

[PastiesPeake]

We had a mull plant growing at cover, about 5m from the bat. Hit that you are out, destroy it and you had to buy an ounce

 

[kfc1]

As an aside, how ****ing terrible is beach cricket

Even tried playing with a pitch mat but just ended up tearing it to shreds

 

[Smoooothy]

As an aside, how ******* terrible is beach cricket

Even tried playing with a pitch mat but just ended up tearing it to shreds

absolutely horrible

 

[The Passenger]

For anyone who is interested, I'd recomend Steve Cannane's First Tests, great stories of our Test cricketers through time and their experiences in backyard cricket. The Hussey boys took no prisoners when they played.

got that for newphew maybe last year or the year before for christmas... can't remember when it came out. needless to say the poor kid didn't get close to a sniff of a read till boxing day as me, my brother and our old man all fought tooth and nail to have a read. was really really good.

 

[Scotland]

the success/failure of beach cricket is dependent upon the beach.

Somewhere like Cable Beach with big tides gives you a large area of relatively flat compacted sand which is ideal. Other beaches give you a couple of metres of soft sand between the dunes and the water. You can only bowl full tosses and when belt the skin of the ball and it hits the sand and stops dead. Boo hiss to these beaches.

 

[kfc1]

^ Good points. Still pretty hard to keep the pitch intact tho

 

[Illinois Nazi]

In our old surf club games it was written in the rules that LBW appeals were allowed. But it was also written in the rules that the decision in any such appeal would always be "going down leg".

 

[Northworth]

we would assign fielders to the apple/pear/apricot trees.... I nice set of cover fields men

hit them on the full and you were out



Different context - school yard cricket - we always played "last man gets his tucker" so that you could bat without a partner at the end

 

[quin_stick]

In most format's I've played, 3 dots in a row = out. Also if you're playing with a group, the out batsman gets a revenge ball.

Rules growing up vs brother:
- Start around 6pm, finish when you can't see any more.
- Swap every dismissal, most runs at the end of the "match" wins.
- Home made swing kings, one ball per match.
- Over the fence = 6 and out. If it ricochets off something over the fence without hitting the ground, still 6 and out. However, if it hits the ground and bounces over, it's 4 and not out.
- All other scores are earned running (and wides). Bowler can throw to either end, batsman gets benefit of doubt. Batsman says "crease" to end the ball if he ends up at non strikers end.
- Retire at 30, but if it comes down to it, you get another innings at the end.
- Auto keeper/slips.
- LBW was in play, had to be plumb though.
- One hand-one bounce, hitting a tree or something counts as a bounce.
- Can't get out first ball, unless it's 6 and out.
- Must alternate spin and pace overs.
- 2 dots = must run next ball.
- Can't win the match on a 6 and out.

Played pretty much every night during summer when we were both home until we got into high school. Some absolute classics were had. Good times.

 

[Freofalcon]

Not much to add here. Seems like the rules are fairly universal.

One thing we did do was prepare the pitch. Mate used to mow the strip and prepare it as a turf wicket. Add a bit of water on a good length and we were playing on a sticky. Ball did all sorts of things.

 

[SugarShane]

With my mates we have an honour code too. If you're out, you walk. There have been some genuine feel good moments of the game where, with the game in the balance, a feather of an edge has gone through and the batsman has manned up and walked. Without trust, the game falls apart.

What's everyone's opinion on the old (usually female) walk ons who just want to have a hit and then leave? I'm pretty harsh on that stuff (especially if the game is serious, ie usually), and usually invoke the "You have to field and bowl before you can bat" rule for walk ons.

 

[The Passenger]

What's everyone's opinion on the old (usually female) walk ons who just want to have a hit and then leave? I'm pretty harsh on that stuff (especially if the game is serious, ie usually), and usually invoke the "You have to field and bowl before you can bat" rule for walk ons.

if it's a **** around game then whatever.

but a serious game of backyard cricket... i think someone needs to vouch for them and essentially becomes that person. so if they get out then you've had your go.

There is a unique feeling when a bunch of guys are in the backyard thinking they are playing test cricket. And the problem is when you're getting into a full serious game of BC and the beers are flowing it can only take a small break in play and everyone's concentration (like a special guest batsmen) to turn the game back into a **** around and it loses all the momentum it generated over the last 2 hours.

 

[Nothing]

As an aside, how ******* terrible is beach cricket

Even tried playing with a pitch mat but just ended up tearing it to shreds

Beach cricket (on soft sand) is all about the speccy catch. Trying to replicate McGrath's catch (or for the younguns Silk's catch the other week). Tip and run also means that after 20 runs you're just launching slogs because your legs are that tired. Bowling onto the sand adds plenty of variation off the pitch.

 

[Big Cox 88]

Great thread, brings back memories.