Chris Pearce's Blog, page 34

Cricket in fiction: A Weaver’s Web excerpt

After dinner Henry and Benjamin set off in the carriage with the other children and Martha for Dempsey’s Field where the game was to commence at one o’clock. They left the carriage a safe distance from the playing area and tethered the horses. Dozens of people had already gathered. The Wakefields walked past a trestle where the Artisans and their supporters had beer and muffins – dinner for many of them – and went to a marquee erected earlier by servants of the Gentlemen’s team. Inside were a bar and a table with a lavish spread. Waiters served drinks and food to men in top hats and tails. Henry, in similar dress, acknowledged them and took a drink and some savouries, despite having just eaten. He liked aristocratic food and his waistline showed it.

Like Benjamin, the other players in the Gentlemen’s team were young and had played cricket at school. Some were clad in special tight-fitting clothes that moved with the body. The Artisans, most of whom were inexperienced cricketers, had on the same garments they wore every day.

Several people shooed away some cows to the far side of the field. Somebody pushed three sticks into the ground for the wicket and took twenty-two paces to determine the spot where the bowlers were to bowl from, and drove a single stick into the ground at this point. The umpire, a master at one of the local schools, called the opposing captains to the centre of the ground and tossed a coin to see who batted first. The Gentlemen won the toss and their first two batsmen walked out and readied themselves. The fielders took up their positions and the game began.

A strapping young fellow for the Artisans tore in to bowl the first ball. He took a big back swing and slung it down hard, close to the ground. It bounced just in front of the batsman, who took a wild swipe, missed and almost fell over. This brought laughter from the Artisan supporters and gasps from those of the Gentlemen. The next ball was faster still and shorter. It jagged off at an angle after it bounced and went out of the batsman’s reach. The umpire checked the pitch and ruled the ball hit a cow pat and ordered the bowler to remove it, which he did, but he left a small piece, hoping to get the ball to hit it and deflect slightly before reaching the batsman. After the bowler sent down four balls, the umpire called ‘over’ and another bowler had a turn. A cheer went up when the first run was scored, a streaky shot that came off the edge of the bat and went just wide of the wicket-keeper.

Not long after, one of the batsmen hit the ball way past the fielders and it was lost in long grass a good seventy yards distant. Both batsmen kept running.

‘You can’t do that,’ a fielder shouted at them.

But the batsmen didn’t stop. The Artisan supporters hurled rubbish onto the ground and insults at the umpire. Finally the ball was found and returned to the middle.

‘That’s nine runs,’ the batsman said, puffing hard.

The Artisan captain, whose fielding position was nearby, came up to the umpire. ‘That shouldn’t count.’

‘Yes, it should,’ the batsman said. ‘It’s not our fault your rabble couldn’t find it.’

‘A ball could be hit into the creek and lost altogether,’ the captain said. ‘What happens then? Do you keep running till it’s dusk and time to go home?’

‘Umpire, it’s nine runs. You saw them.’

The umpire held up nine fingers to the scorer. Applause came from the Gentlemen’s team and supporters, including Henry, while raucous booing erupted among the Artisan group.

‘That’s not fair,’ the Artisan captain said.

‘Play!’ the umpire said.

‘How much are they paying you?’ the captain muttered as he returned to his position.

The umpire blushed. He did his best to look dignified and said nothing.

Two quick wickets had the Artisan group yelling and cheering and waving their arms for more. They thought they had a third wicket when the batsman appeared to nick a ball to the keeper, but the umpire, seeing the anger of certain Gentlemen barrackers on the sideline, gave it not out. A few deliveries later, a fielder caught the ball close in, low to the ground. Again it was ruled not out and the Artisans accused the umpire of bias. The next ball got through the batsman’s defence and knocked middle stump out of the ground. This time, the umpire gave him out.

Benjamin was next batsman in.

‘Good luck,’ Henry called to him.

The first ball he faced, Benjamin belted straight back over the bowler’s head and it came to rest at the feet of a cow, some eighty yards away. He ran two by the time the nearest fielder got to it. The umpire considered it had gone far enough to be called a four and signalled it as such. Cheers came from the marquee. Henry clapped wildly. The Artisans hooted.

Again the fielding captain came up to the umpire. ‘That should’ve been three at most.’

‘I deem the cows are outside the playing area and it should be a four.’

‘But …’

‘Play!’

The bowler steamed in again and this time Benjamin hit the ball along the ground to a fielder, but the other batsman had set off for a run and was halfway down the pitch. Benjamin hesitated before setting off. He was a yard short when the bowler caught the ball thrown by the fielder. To the amazement of the fielding side, the umpire ruled in Benjamin’s favour. Jeers came from the Artisans. Then, on fourteen, he scooped a ball to a fielder and was out.

Eventually the Gentlemen were all out for sixty, a total their supporters boasted would be twice what the Artisans could hope to score. Three quick wickets had the Artisans in trouble, until a tall, naturally gifted batsman hit a four off every ball of an over. The Gentlemen’s captain brought on his fastest bowler who, after whisperings and hand signals from his captain, heaved the ball straight at the batsman. It hit him full on the ankle and he hopped about in pain. He could no longer run and was forced to retire hurt, limping from the ground. This caused much shouting and remonstrating between the two groups.

A new batsman strode to the middle and hit the first ball for four. He belted the next one in the air and it fell just short of a fielder who stopped it and claimed a catch. It was hard for the umpire to see what happened as the grass was quite long where the alleged catch was taken. He sided with the fielder.

The Artisans made forty-six. It was time for refreshments before the second innings. Henry went over to the scorer, a large man sitting on a stool near the marquee. In front of him was a table with sheets of paper and a pencil. The scores were on one sheet while other pieces had names of people who had placed bets with him, together with details of the bet, the amount and the odds.

‘Scorer,’ Henry said, ‘what’s your price for an Artisan win?’

The scorer looked quizzically at him. ‘An Artisan win?’ He chuckled. He made sure no one was in hearing range and said: ‘You know that can’t happen.’

‘They’re only fourteen behind.’

‘It may as well be a hundred and fourteen.’

‘So you’ll offer me good odds?’

‘I can give you excellent odds on the winning margin by the Gentlemen, or who will top score for them, or who will take most wickets.’

Henry was unmoved. ‘What odds the Artisans?’

‘What odds do you want?’ The scorer threw his hands up.

‘How about ten to one on five pounds?’

‘It’s a deal.’

Henry gave a fiver to the scorer who wrote the particulars on some paper and tore part of it off and gave it to him. When Henry walked away, the scorer gaped at the note, kissed it, put it in his pocket and rubbed his hands together with delight.

‘My lucky day,’ he said to himself.

Henry returned to where Martha and the children sat around a tablecloth she had laid out on a grassy slope. They each had a plate with a piece of cake and Martha took a bottle from the basket and poured water into cups.

‘Benjamin,’ he said, ‘over here a moment.’

They moved to a quiet spot.

‘Son, who do you think will win this game?’

‘We will.’

‘Are we the better side?’

‘No, Sir.’

‘Some bad decisions?’

‘Yes, Sir.’

‘How would you like to help the better side win?’

‘I don’t understand.’

‘I’ll give you ten shillings if you get out without scoring, or for one or two.’

The Wakefields had lots of money, but Benjamin never saw any of it. ‘A whole ten shillings?’

Henry nodded.

‘Why?’

‘Don’t ask questions,’ Henry said, taking a wad of ten shilling notes from his pocket.

Benjamin wondered why his father had so many notes on him. ‘I’ll do it, but it hardly seems fair to the team.’

‘The entire game’s unfair.’

Next, Henry approached other Gentlemen batsmen – boys and young men who came from wealthy families, but who never had money themselves – and quietly enticed most for ten shillings to let the ball hit their stumps or to spoon up a catch very early in their innings. One by one the batsmen walked to the middle, got out quickly and trudged off the ground. The Gentlemen lost five wickets for eight runs. Meanwhile he spoke to the main Gentlemen bowlers, convincing each with ten shillings to bowl slower to the Artisan batsmen in their second innings.

Just then, a local priest happened to be passing by in his carriage. He stopped and got out and yelled at the players and the crowd. ‘This is the Lord’s day. I demand you stop.’

Henry walked over to him. ‘Father, I meant to put this in the plate this morning,’ he said, handing him a ten shilling note and winking.

The priest smiled and bowed and went on his way.

The Gentlemen were all out for seventeen, leaving the Artisans needing only thirty-two for victory. Henry sat with Martha and the children, grinning, dipping his hat to everyone who walked past. Just when the first two Artisan batsmen made their way onto the field, the sun went in for the first time that day. Henry wasn’t worried. It would be light for a few more hours. But he turned and noticed a dark grey cloud behind him. It climbed higher into the sky and got larger. His smile gone, he studied the cloud after each ball. The wind blew the cloud nearer and the Artisan batsmen struggled in fading light. Their ability to stand up straight and hit the ball was in question too. Many had been scoffing muffins and beer when they weren’t on the field and the drink was affecting them.

The match became a farce. Bowlers sent down gentle deliveries that bounced halfway along the pitch, while drunken batsmen swung their bats and almost fell over without making contact. By the time the Artisans lost four wickets for nineteen runs, rain was in the air and the wind blustery. On the hill, people packed their things, folded their tablecloths and held onto their hats. And then, down it came. Players ran from the field and everybody retreated, except Henry.

‘What’s wrong with you all?’ he called to the players. ‘Umpire, make them go back. A little rain never hurt anyone.’

‘Sorry, rain and bad light have stopped play,’ the umpire said.

‘It’s only temporary.’

‘It looks like it’s set in, to me.’

‘Nonsense. Where’s everyone going?’ He watched as the well-to-do set off in their carriages and the poor fled on foot as the rain got heavier.

‘Home, I suppose.’

‘What about the match?’

‘It’s abandoned, so it’s a draw.’

‘You’ve sided with the scorer, haven’t you?’ Henry said, poking an accusing finger at the umpire.

‘I beg your pardon, Sir?’

‘What’s your cut? A few shillings? A pound?’

‘Sir, I have no idea what you’re talking about.’

‘Yes, you do. You’ve called off the game deliberately.’

Rain poured down.

‘If you’ll excuse me, I must be off before I get soaked.’

‘Oh no you don’t.’ Henry grabbed him by the coat.

‘What’s all this about?’ the umpire said, trying to free himself.

‘How much did he give you?’

In his struggle to break Henry’s grip, the umpire fell to the ground. ‘Now look what you’ve done,’ he said. He got up and wiped mud from his trousers. ‘I should report you to the authorities.’

‘How much?’

‘Nothing. I put sixpence in the collection plate this morning and I’ve just enough for this week’s rent and groceries. I’m only a teacher. Good day, Sir.’ He pulled his collar up and hurried away.

Henry noticed a scrap of paper in the wet where the umpire had fallen. He picked it up. It was an IOU for ten shillings, signed JB, and he wondered if this was the scorer. He looked over to where the scorer had been, but there was no sign of him. ‘Damn! Fifty pounds.’

History of Canadian cricket

It is thought that cricket was first played in Canada by British soldiers after they beat French forces in the Battle of the Plains of Abraham, near Quebec City, in 1759. The first definite evidence was a match played in 1785 at St Helen’s Island in Quebec Province, on the site of Expo 67. In the early 19th century, cricket was played at the town of York, now Toronto, where young English teacher George A. Barber encouraged the game. He founded the Toronto Cricket Club in 1827 and arranged a match between this club and an Upper Canada College team, which has been played annually ever since.

Canada played a match against the United States in 1844 at St George’s Cricket Club, New York, where the medical center of New York University now stands. This was the first international cricket match anywhere, played 33 years before the first official test match between Australia and England. It attracted a crowd of between 10,000 and 20,000 people, and total bets of $120,000. Canada won the game by 23 runs. An English team toured Canada in 1859, the world’s first international cricket tour, although the visitors beat the locals easily.

Cricket grew so popular that by the time Canada became a country in 1867, first prime minister John A. MacDonald declared the game as the national sport. Soon baseball became predominant, but cricket teams still toured. The English team visited in 1872 and 1880, the Australian team in 1878 and 1893, and the Irish team in 1888 and 1890. The first Canadian team to travel overseas was in 1880, but it ended soon after captain Thomas Dale was arrested in the middle of a match against Leicestershire for deserting the British Army. Canada again toured the United Kingdom in 1887, winning two matches, drawing 12 and losing two against county and other local sides.

The Canadian Cricket Association was set up in 1892 and domestic cricket remained strong. Matches between Canada and the United States grew in popularity again with the emergence of two great cricketers, John M. Laing of Canada and John B. King of the US, who were regarded as world class players. The Australian team toured in 1913, beating the local Canadian teams badly. World War I interrupted the matches between Canada and the US.

The Australian team toured Canada in 1932. Among its ranks was Sir Donald Bradman, the greatest cricketer of all time. He scored 260 runs in one of the matches, a Canadian record that stood for 58 years, until Don Maxwell of York University Cricket Club scored 280 not out in 1990. A Canadian player emerged from this tour who went on to become one of his country’s best ever batsman. L.C. (Clarke) Bell made 109 not out against the Australians. He averaged 70 runs per innings in John Ross Robinson Trophy matches for the Toronto Cricket Club. Another great Canadian batsman from this era was W.R.G. (Reg) Wenman from British Columbia. He scored a record 37 centuries.

Cricket in Canada was bolstered after World War II by migrants from other British Commonwealth countries. An inter-provincial championship series started in 1947. A number of tours were arranged in the 1950s and 1960s. England’s Marylebone Cricket Club toured Canada in 1951, when the country played its inaugural first-class match. The club visited Canada again in 1959, and in 1967 as part of Canada’s centenary celebrations. On a tour of England in 1954, Canada played four more first-class matches. The historic annual match between Canada and the US was resurrected in 1963.

In one of the most remarkable matches in Canadian cricket history, Eastern Canada beat the Australian side by five wickets at Toronto in 1975. The touring team included captain and leading batsman Ian Chappell and legendary fast bowler Dennis Lillee. In 1979, Canada was runner up to Sri Lanka in a World Cup qualifiers series, which got them into the main draw. Here they played their first three one day internationals, but lost all three games and were eliminated from the tournament. Canada again played in the qualifying rounds in 1982 and 1986 but lost in the first round. It did better in qualifying rounds in the 1990s, although didn’t make the main World Cup draw.

A Canadian team started playing in the West Indies domestic competition in 1996. The team toured Sri Lanka in 2001 and in the same year qualified for the 2003 World Cup. Canadian batsman John Davison scored a century against the West Indies in 67 balls, the fastest in World Cup history before eventually being dismissed for 111. Unfortunately, Canada lost the match. Overall it lost five of its six first round matches and was eliminated. Since then, Canada has played in various one day international tournaments, including the 2007 World Cup, with mixed results. Canada qualified for the main draw of the 2011 World Cup but didn’t advance to the quarter finals.

History of the Cricket World Cups

There are four cricket World Cups: the Cricket World Cup itself, the new Twenty20 World Cup, the Under-19 World Cup and the Women’s Cricket World Cup.

The Cricket World Cup is a competition between the main cricket playing nations and consists of a series of one-day or limited overs matches. The event is played every four years and is governed by the International Cricket Council (ICC). It is the third most popular sporting tournament in the world after soccer’s World Cup and the Olympic Games, attracting more than 2.2 billion television viewers in over 200 countries.

Cricket was traditionally a game played over several days where each team had two innings. One-day cricket started in England in 1962. Before that, major matches, including international matches, were played over 3-5 days. The first international one-day match was held between Australia and England in 1971. This form of the game grew quickly in popularity and in 1975 the first Cricket World Cup was held in England, a competition that would have been impractical with Test matches due to their long duration (five days). The first three tournaments were held in England as it had the facilities to host a large event of this nature, and were called the Prudential Cup after its sponsors. The matches were 60 overs of six deliveries each per side, 10 more than the usual number of overs per side in a limited overs match.

The first cup in 1975 was played between England, Australia, New Zealand, India, Pakistan, West Indies, Sri Lanka, and an East Africa team as South Africa was banned from international cricket at that time due to apartheid. The West Indies, who had a very strong team of fast bowlers and flamboyant batsmen, won the tournament against Australia in the final. The second World Cup four years later included a Canadian team and was won by West Indies again, beating England. Zimbabwe qualified for the third World Cup, in 1983, which was won by India, from West Indies in the final.

In 1987, the World Cup was held in India and Pakistan. Games were reduced to 50 overs a side, mainly due to shorter daylight hours on the subcontinent compared with England. Australia beat England in the final. The 1992 World Cup was hosted by Australia and New Zealand, with South Africa competing for the first time. Colored clothing, white balls, and day-night games were introduced in this cup, although all these innovations had been adopted in other limited overs competitions for quite some time. Pakistan was the winner over England. The 1996 tournament returned to the Indian subcontinent, and Sri Lanka beat Australia in the final.

A strong Australian team won the Cricket World Cup in 1999, 2003 and 2007. The 1999 championship was held in England, where Australia proceeded to the final thanks to a run out in a semifinal, with a South African batsman left short when going for the winning run in that match. In 2003, the tournament was held in Africa where Kenya reached the semifinals. The 2007 World Cup took place in the West Indies, with Bangladesh and Ireland doing better than expected. Australia’s victory in the final was its third cup in a row and extended its unbeaten run of World Cup matches to 29. India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh hosted the 2011 event won by India over Sri Lanka. In 2015, Australia and New Zealand hosted the cup, with Australia beating New Zealand in the final attended by 93,000 people at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. England will hold the tournament in 2019 and India in 2023.

Nations that play Test cricket and one-day internationals automatically qualify for the World Cup. This includes England, Australia, South Africa, West Indies, New Zealand, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe and Bangladesh. Other countries have the chance to enter the main tournament through several qualifying tournaments such as the ICC Trophy. Six of the minor cricket playing nations can enter the World Cup draw from these tournaments. Currently, 91 countries are eligible to play World Cup.

Initially, the format for the first Cricket World Cup involved eight teams divided into two groups. A round-robin stage was played within each group, with the leading teams in each group making it to the semifinals and the two winners playing in the final. A number of changes have been made over the years as more and more countries vie to be World Cup champion. In 2011 and 2015, there were 14 teams divided into two groups and each team played the other six teams in its group. The top four of each group advanced to the quarter-finals.

The other cricket world cups are the Twenty20 World Cup, the Women’s Cricket World Cup and the Under-19 World Cup.

The newest cricket world cup is the ICC World Twenty20 or Twenty20 World Cup. This is a 20 overs a side match instead of the 50 overs in the Cricket World Cup. This form of cricket has only been played since 2003 and the first world cup was held in 2007 in South Africa. India won the tournament, beating Pakistan in the final. The second Twenty20 World Cup was hosted by England in 2009, with Pakistan winning the final over Sri Lanka. In 2010, the event was held in the West Indies, where England beat Australia in the final. The next tournament was in Sri Lanka in 2012, and the West Indies beat the hosts to win the cup. The latest in 2014 was in Bangladesh, with Sri Lanka beating India. The next Twenty20 World Cup will he held in India in 2016.

Whether the ICC World Twenty20 tournament becomes even more popular than the four-yearly Cricket World Cup remains to be seen. It has certainly attracted a strong following in its short history. Twenty20 is a popular format in all cricket playing nations, especially in India with its Indian Premier League.

There is also a women’s competition in the Twenty20 World Cup, first held in 2009. The event is played in the same country as the men’s cup. England won the first cup over New Zealand. Australia won the next three tournaments, over New Zealand and twice against England.

The Women’s Cricket World Cup is a 50 overs a side competition similar to the men’s cup. The first event was held in 1973 in England, two years before the men’s first world cup. There have been ten women’s cups, with Australia winning six of them, England three and New Zealand one. The event is now held every four years with the most recent one being in 2013.

The first ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup was hosted by Australia in 1988 as part of the country’s bicentennial celebrations. It was next held in 1998 in South Africa and has been contested two-yearly since then. Australia and India have each won the tournament three times, Pakistan twice, and England and South Africa once each. Players who competed in the under 19 world cup and who have gone on to star for their country at the senior level include Nasser Hussein and Mike Atherton (England), Cameron White (Australia), Venkatapathy Raju (India), Chris Cairns (New Zealand), Mushtaq Ahmed and Inzaman-ul-Haq (Pakistan), Sanath Jayasuriya (Sri Lanka) and Brian Lara and Jimmy Adams (West Indies).

The different types of cricket matches

In broad terms, the two main types of cricket matches are those where each team has two innings and are played over several days, and limited overs matches where each team bats once and the game is usually confined to one day. Both games have 11 players on each team plus a “12th man”.
Traditional cricket followers prefer the longer version, but the popularity of the limited overs versions, especially Twenty20, may eventually result in fewer Test matches and a greater number of shorter games played at a fast pace in an almost carnival-like atmosphere at night.
Other types of cricket include indoor cricket, backyard cricket, French cricket, beach cricket, and Kwik cricket.
Cricket – the long game
Most matches that are played over several days are first class matches and this includes “Test” matches between nations and also matches between counties, states or other regions within a country. Each team has two innings or bats twice. Test matches last up to five days, unless a result is reached before this time because one of the teams has been bowled out twice and the other team has a greater number of runs when the scores of the two innings are added together.
Test matches are usually played on five consecutive days. Until around 1980, teams would play for three days, followed by a rest day, and then two more days of cricket. There have been instances of timeless tests lasting up to nine days but this format proved unsuccessful as batsmen became too defensive, instead of scoring runs and trying to force a result.
Play lasts for six hours a day. The game usually starts around 11am, although it can be earlier in some countries. Early starts in England are not practical because of dew. The day’s play is divided into three sessions: morning, afternoon and evening, each of two hours. The morning session goes from 11am until 1 pm when players adjourn for lunch for 40 minutes.
After a further two hours of play, a 20 minute “tea break” is taken, where players traditionally drank tea. A final session lasts from 4pm to 6pm. This session can be extended if time has been lost to rain or to achieve a minimum number of overs in a day. A drinks break is taken in the middle of each session for about five minutes and there is a 10 minute break between innings. If a result is not reached in five days, the match is drawn, even if one team has clearly outperformed the other.
Five day test matches are played between England and its various former colonies which are now countries. These include Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, West Indies, Zimbabwe, and Bangladesh, though Zimbabwe hasn’t played test match cricket since 2006 for political reasons. The first Test match was between England and Australia in 1877, long before these games were actually called Test matches. The games are usually played in a series of 3-5 matches between the two teams.
First class cricket is played in all the leading cricket playing nations. England, Australia, South Africa, India and West Indies in particular have strong domestic competitions. These matches are usually scheduled over four days with the rules being the same as for Test matches. Good performances in these matches are the criterion for national selection.
Club cricket is very popular too. Matches are 2-4 days in duration and can be played over consecutive weekends as players at this level are not professionals and have to work during the week.
Cricket – the short game
The second main type of cricket match is limited overs matches, where each team bowls a certain number of overs, usually 50. An over consists of six deliveries and takes about 3-5 minutes to bowl. Each innings therefore takes about three and a half hours and the game is over in one day. A break of about 45 minutes is taken between innings. It’s often called one day cricket.
This form of cricket only started in 1963, in England. International one day matches began in 1971 and soon captured the public’s interest. The game is faster and scoring is generally quicker than in Test matches. The inaugural Cricket World Cup was held in England in 1975, a type of competition that is impractical for test matches because of their long duration. Domestic one day competitions are held in all the main cricket playing nations.
A new variety of limited overs cricket is Twenty20, where each team bowls only 20 overs. The big hitting associated with this format, as batsmen try and score as many runs as possible within the small number of overs, has grabbed the public’s imagination even more than 50 overs a side matches. These games take about three hours or slightly more and can be completed in an afternoon or evening. The Indian Premier League is a 20 overs a side competition and players are attracted from around the world with offers of huge payments.
This shortened version of limited overs cricket started in England in 2003, although the concept is not new. For example, 15 overs a side matches were played at club level in Brisbane, Australia for a few seasons in the 1980s. The first Twenty20 World Championship or cup was in South Africa in 2007.
Interesting and unusual forms of cricket
There are several other types of cricket.
Indoor cricket is played in a number of countries. Rules need to be different from outdoor cricket due to space restrictions. Teams of eight play two innings each of 16 eight ball overs. A batsman must score off each delivery or go out and a softer cricket ball is used. The only venue where conventional outdoor cricket has been played under a roof is at the Etihad Stadium in Melbourne, Australia, where a few international limited overs matches have been held. The ground is normally an Australian Rules football venue.
Another variety of limited overs cricket is beach cricket. A competition is held between retired international players at the Gold Coast, Australia, each summer. These matches are played on the sand of an ocean beach and use a tennis ball. Informal family cricket games are common on Australian beaches in summer.
Kwik cricket is a fast game played by children where the bowler can bowl the ball as soon as they can, even before the batsman is ready.
French cricket is an informal type of cricket played at the park or school ground. The batsman’s legs become the stumps and he or she is out if the bowler can hit their legs. Interestingly, its origins are not French but English. We used to play this one at school sometimes, using a tennis ball of course.
Backyard cricket is played in backyards, driveways and streets, and is particularly popular in the backstreets of India and Pakistan.

A guide to cricket terms and expressions

Cricket perhaps more than just about any other game has a large number of terms and expressions unique to that sport. People unfamiliar with the game are likely to find it hard to understand because of the terms used, especially as the meaning of many of them is not always obvious. In essence, cricket is quite a simple game where the aim of the batting side is to make as many runs as possible, while the fielding side tries to get the batsmen out.

Here is a guide to some of the many cricket terms and expressions and an explanation of their meaning to help make the game more understandable and enjoyable to watch.

Fielding positions

Some of the oddest cricket terms are those used to describe fielding positions. Logically, a person who knows nothing about cricket would think that “third man” is the third batsman or third bowler. Actually, it’s a fielding position at 10 or 11 o’clock from a right-hand batsman (when looking at the field from above) and fairly close to the boundary. By the way, the third batsman is often simply called the “number three” and comes in at “first drop” or when one of the two opening batsmen goes out. The third bowler is often called the “first change” bowler and bowls after one of the two opening bowlers is given a rest. There is no “first man” or “second man” in the field.

If you see a cricket match on television, you will see the wicket-keeper standing behind the stumps and a line of several fielders to his right, for a right-handed batsman. These players are fielding in “slips”, sometimes called the “slips cordon”, and are ready to take a catch if the batsman nicks the ball off the edge of his bat. There is no set number of slips fielders; it depends on the conditions and the state of the game. Moving away from the wicket-keeper, the slips positions are called “first slip”, “second slip”, and so on.

Further around from the slips fielders is the position of “gully”, between 9 and 10 o’clock from the right-hand batsman. It is also a catching position. At about 9 o’clock, and a bit further from the bat, is “point”. Continuing anticlockwise is “cover”, between 7 and 8 o’clock. Mid-off and mid-on stand at about 7 o’clock and 5 o’clock from the batsman respectively (a straight hit is at 6 o’clock). The position of “mid-wicket” mirrors cover, while “square leg” mirrors point. “Fine leg” is opposite third man and is often there to catch a batsman “hooking”.

The word “deep” or “short” is added to many of these terms when a fielder is closer in or further out than the conventional position. Thus a player might field at “short cover”, which is nearer the batsman, or “deep cover”, nearer the boundary. Or he might field at “extra cover”, a position between cover and mid-off. Other variations include the words “forward” or “backward” to denote a slightly different position on the clock-face. There are also some very close-in positions, including “silly point”, which is right next to the bat, “silly mid-off”, “silly mid-on”, and “short-leg”, which is at 3 o’clock from the batsman. The only two set positions in the fielding side are the wicket-keeper and the bowler. Any fielder that misses an easy catch is said to have missed a “dolly” or “sitter”.

You’d think with fielding positions, it’d be easier to use a clock face and something like inner/mid/outer rather than the traditional fielding positions.

Bowling terms and expressions

There are different types of bowlers and they can bowl a variety of deliveries. A fast bowler can bowl on a “good length”, which might bounce about 15 feet in front of the batsman and give him little time to adjust his shot. Or the bowler might bowl a “Yorker”, where the ball lands right at the batsman’s feet and is quite hard to play. Another deliver is the “full toss”, which doesn’t bounce before reaching the batsman. This delivery is usually accidental. A “bouncer” is where the ball lands about halfway down the pitch and, ideally, continues on in the direction of the batsman’s head. A “half-volley” is an easier shot to hit as it lands just a few feet in front of the batsman. Few bowlers would bowl this type of delivery on purpose.

A fast bowler can also bowl an “off-cutter” where the ball bounces and moves off the pitch in the direction of the outside of the bat, or a “leg-cutter” which moves the other way. An “outswinger” is a ball that moves through the air away from the batsman, whereas an “inswinger” moves towards him. A fast bowler can also use the “slower ball” to good effect.

A spin bowler or slow bowler can also bowl a variety of deliveries. The most commonly used delivery is an “off-break”, where the ball is spun clockwise. It drifts a little left and can move off the pitch to the right. Another delivery, the “arm ball”, looks like a spinner at release but travels straight. A “doosra” is where the bowler looks to be delivering a conventional off-break but the ball spins the other way. All these deliveries are bowled by an “off-spinner”.

In contrast, a “leg spinner” spins the ball anti-clockwise, causing it to drift right and then move off the pitch to the left. His usual delivery is a “leg break”, which is the opposite of an off-break. A “googly”, or “wrong ‘un”, looks like a leg break but spins the other way. He can bowl a “top spinner” where the ball dips sharply or a “flipper” where underspin is used, causing the ball to skid off the pitch and keep low.

If a bowler, fast or slow, bowls a good delivery, causing problems for the batsman, this is often called a “jaffa” or “corker”. Where a bowler thinks he has a wicket, he and other fielders will call out “howzat?” to the umpire, meaning “how is that?” When a bowler bowls an over and doesn’t concede a run with his six deliveries, he has bowled a “maiden over”. If he takes a wicket and doesn’t concede a run in an over, this is a “wicket maiden”. A bowler who takes three wickets from three consecutive deliveries has taken a “hat-trick”.

Batting terms and expressions

Just as a bowler can deliver a variety of balls, a batsman can play a range of shots. A “drive” is hit down the ground between cover and mid-wicket and is often played against a half-volley. The “cut” shot is hit to the batsman’s right and is a suitable stroke if the ball is at a reasonable height outside “off-stump”, or the stump on the left as you look straight down the pitch from the bowler’s end. “Hook” and “pull” shots are played to the batsman’s left and are usually appropriate for a ball heading towards “leg-stump” or wider. A batsman plays with a “dead bat” when he holds it straight and lets the ball fall to the ground is front of him, taking all the pace off the ball.

An opening batsman who is still there at end of innings is said to have “carried his bat”. If a batsman is dismissed for no runs, he is said to score a “duck”, with scoreboards often having a little picture of a duck next to the batsman’s name rather than a nought. Where a batsman is out first ball, he has scored a “golden duck”. If he fails to score a run in either innings, he is credited with a “pair of ducks” or just a “pair”. One of the ways a batsman can go out is “leg before wicket” or “lbw” if he hasn’t hit the ball with the bat but the ball hits his leg and the umpire deems that the ball would have continued on and hit the stumps.

When a batsman walks a few paces down the pitch and taps the end of his bat on the ground, levelling out any little bumps and divots caused by previous deliveries, he is “gardening”. Where a lower-order batsman comes in ahead of higher-order batsmen near the end of a day’s play, this batsman is called a “nightwatchman,” the logic being that if another wicket falls, it is better to lose a “tail-ender” than another specialist batsman. A cricketer who is a good batsman and a good bowler, or sometimes a good batsman and wicketkeeper, is known as an “all rounder”.

How the Ashes cricket series got its name

The first Test match in the 2015 Ashes cricket series between England and Australia starts tomorrow, 8 July, in Cardiff.

Cricket is a very popular game played in England and its previous colonies such as Australia, New Zealand, India, South Africa and the West Indies. Every couple of years, a series of five-day “Test” matches is played between England and Australia. The winner of the series wins the Ashes. It is perhaps the highlight of the cricket calendar, or at least for England and Australia. One of the main dreams of cricketers from both countries is to be part of a winning Ashes series.

England and Australia first played Test match cricket in 1877 when Australia was not even a country but a series of British colonies (until 1901), and therefore never expected to beat the mother country at its national game of cricket. This was to change when the ninth Test match between the two countries was played at The Oval, London on 28 and 29 August 1882. In a low scoring match, Australia made just 63 runs in the first innings. England took a handy lead when it reached a score of 101. In the second innings, Australia scored 122, giving it a lead of 85, which England was expected to achieve easily and win the match.

But the Australian team had other ideas when they came onto the field in England’s second innings. Legendary fast bowler Fred Spofforth, known as the “Demon Bowler”, was fired up and took a number of English wickets, 7 for 44, to add to his first innings haul of 7 for 46. When the last batsman strode onto the ground, England still needed 10 runs to win. This batsman fell cheaply and Australia won by seven runs.

The British press took the English cricketers to task and congratulated the Australians for having plenty of “pluck”. On 31 August, a mock obituary to English cricket appeared in Cricket: A Weekly Record of the Game. It read: “Sacred to the memory of England’s supremacy in the cricket field which expired on the 29th day of August, at the Oval …” A second and better known obituary, by Reginald Brooks, was published in The Sporting Times just two days later on 2 September: “In affectionate remembrance of English cricket, which died at the Oval on 29th August, 1882. Deeply lamented by a large circle of sorrowing friends and acquaintances … RIP … NB – The body will be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia.”

England was to tour Australia in 1882-83 and play four Test matches. Captain Ivo Francis Walter Bligh (later Lord Darnley) vowed to regain the “ashes” of English cricket. The first match was played in Melbourne on 30 December and 1-2 January. Australia scored 291 in its first innings. In reply, England made only 177 and was asked to “follow on” (that is, bat again straight away) because of the large difference. In their second innings, the visitors managed 169 runs. Needing just 56 runs to win, Australia easily reached its target with the loss of only one wicket and won the match. England reversed the result in the second Test, also held in Melbourne, and won by an innings and 27 runs, levelling the series at one-all. The third Test, in Sydney, was closer with the English winning by 69 runs.

Even though there was a fourth match in Sydney, which Australia won by four wickets, the series was deemed to be best of three matches and England had won two of them, thereby regaining the “ashes.” Legend has it that as a personal memento to the occasion, some women from Melbourne had burnt a cricket bail (which sits on top of the stumps), sealed it inside a small urn, and presented it to Bligh. He took it home with him. One of the women, Florence Morphy, was to become his wife.

More recent evidence suggests the urn was presented to Bligh at Christmas 1882 at a property owned by Sir William Clarke at Milton, just north of Melbourne, a few days before the first Test match. These claims are made in two books, Cricket’s Biggest Mystery: The Ashes, by Ronald Willis, and Beyond Reasonable Doubt: The Birthplace of the Ashes, by Joy Munns. Competing claims as to the contents of the urn have arisen over the years too. Bligh’s daughter-in-law said they were the veil of her mother-in-law. Some Aborigines believe they are the remains of King Cole who died of tuberculosis on the tour of an Aboriginal cricket team to England in 1868. X-rays in 1995 showed a 95 per cent probability that the contents were ashes of a bail.

At any rate, not much more was said about the “ashes” until a cricket book, With Bat and Ball, by George Giffen, was published in 1899. The true revival of the concept came in 1903. Reeling from a series defeat in England in 1902 by two matches to one with two drawn, English captain Pelham Warner said he would regain the “ashes” in the 1903-04 series in Australia. The Australian media used the term a great deal during the series, which England won 3-2. From that time, the term “The Ashes” was used to describe the regular series of cricket Test matches between England and Australia.

The urn with the original ashes was in Bligh’s possession until his death in 1927 when his widow gave it to the Marylebone Cricket Club, headquarters of English cricket at Lord’s Cricket Ground, London. The urn’s permanent home is in the club’s museum. A large replica of the urn is now given to the winning team after each Ashes series. The original terracotta urn, just six inches high and possibly an old perfume jar, is regarded as the most important icon in cricket.

Is it “a historic” or “an historic”?

Using “a” or “an” before a word starting with “h” usually depends on whether the “h” is sounded or unsounded. We say “a house” but “an hour”. Usage has differed over time and differs between countries and also dialects.

Before the twentieth century, the letter “h” wasn’t usually sounded in English. Thus any word starting with “h” took “an” as the indefinite article rather than “a”. This was at least partly due to the influence of French on the English language, which was very strong at certain times in history. It should be noted that “h” is still always unsounded in French.

When the British sounded their “h’s” more and more, words starting with “h” increasingly took the indefinite article, “a”, in line with the rule of using “a” when the next word starts with a consonant sound rather from a vowel sound.

There is, however, a group of words of three or more syllables with the stress on the second syllable, such as historic, historical, hypothesis, hysterical, habitual, harmonica and hereditary,  where people tended to still use “an” rather than “a”. The “h” is less well sounded in these words compared with certain other words starting with “h” where the stress is on the first syllable, such as history, histogram, hypothetical, holiday and hemorrhoid, or on the only syllable such as hand, host and hymn. Thus “an historic” is still often used.

The word “haphazard” is an interesting exception. Here, the stress is on the second syllable but we hardly ever see, for example, “an haphazard event” even though it fits into the same category of words as “historic” etc above. This is perhaps because the first syllable of “haphazard” is actually quite strong even though the stress is on the second syllable.

The stress on the second syllable of words like “historic” meant these words have been much slower to move away from the use of “an” to “a” after the letter “h” generally became sounded in the English language. The move has been slower in Britain than in the US where “an historic” is less common. Canada and Australia have been somewhere in the middle. Reasons for the slower change in Britain is perhaps due to the tendency to still drop “h’s” in many areas.

Also, British dialects tend to use a softer and quicker pronunciation of the first and third syllables of words like “historic” compared with American dialects. In other words, the “h” sound in “historic” in American English is stronger than in British English and is thus more likely to have “a” preceding it than “an”.

As the letter “h” is now sounded in English, the trend is away from “an historic” to “a historic”. Some sources such as the American Heritage Dictionary say “an historic” is outdated. What is acceptable is often determined by general usage. In 2008, a Google search found 5.43 million web pages using “a historic” (68%) and only 2.58 million using “an historic” (32%). By 2010, the proportion of pages using “a historic” had risen to 71%. By 2013, it was 75%.

All in all, it appears that “a historic” will win the day, although “an historic” will still no doubt be used where the “h” sound is weak. This could especially be the case in certain dialects of spoken English – “an ’istoric” can be easier to say than “a historic”, especially if talking quickly. Otherwise, “a historic” seems to be becoming the norm.

Punctuation tips

The purpose of punctuation is to clarify meaning and make a piece of writing easier to read. Correct punctuation can eliminate ambiguity and other confusion. The art of punctuation boils down to putting the right punctuation mark in the right place. There are two broad types of punctuation: word punctuation and sentence punctuation. Word punctuation includes the apostrophe and the hyphen. Sentence punctuation consists of all the other marks: brackets, bullet points, colon, comma, dashes, ellipsis points, exclamation mark, full stop (or period), question mark, quotation marks, semicolon and slash. Let’s look at word punctuation first.

WORD PUNCTUATION

Apostrophe

An apostrophe is used to show possession. Add an apostrophe and an “s” to a singular noun to indicate possession, for example, the department’s policy, a week’s wage, mother-in-law’s dress.

Add an apostrophe and an “s” to a person’s name to show ownership, for example, John’s house, Carol’s role, Amanda’s relationship. If the noun already ends in an “s”, either add an apostrophe at end or add an apostrophe and another “s”, for example, James’ lunch or James’s lunch.

Where a plural noun ends in “s”, add the apostrophe after the “s” where possession is shown, for example, students’ essays, judges’ comments, flight attendants’ uniforms. If a plural noun doesn’t end in “s”, add the apostrophe and then the “s”, for example, children’s books, women’s wages, people’s choice.

An apostrophe is not used for possessive pronouns, for example, its, yours, hers, theirs. Nor is one used in plurals when there is no possession, for example, computers, 1990s, apples for sale.

Where there is joint ownership, only the second owner needs an apostrophe, for example, Bill and Alice’s house. Where ownership isn’t joint, both take an apostrophe, for example, Sarah’s and Jane’s children.

An apostrophe is also used in contractions to denote the omission of a letter or letters, for example, she’s (she is), it’s (it is), they’re (they are), can’t (can not), rock ’n’ roll (rock and roll).

Hyphen

Hyphens tend to be a bit of a grey area, with few firm rules, and with variations between American, British and Australian English. The move is probably towards fewer hyphens rather than more.

In general, a hyphen is only used in certain complex words, e.g. twenty-five, ex-husband, re-cover (as distinct from recover), mid-Victorian, re-enter, co-worker, self-assessment.

A hyphen is sometimes used in compound words. Many adjective compounds have a hyphen, e.g. in-house training, low-key launch, well-known book (though note: the book is well known). Some verb compounds take a hyphen, e.g. I will gift-wrap it. Most compound nouns don’t need a hyphen, e.g. academic gown, interest rate, shopping centre. Adverb compounds usually have no hyphen and are treated as a single word, e.g. downtown, overall, upwind.

SENTENCE PUNCTUATION

These punctuation marks can be divided into several groups: terminating marks, marks within sentences, brackets, and quotation marks.

– Terminating marks –

Full stop

A full stop or period is mainly used at the end of a sentence. If a whole sentence is included in brackets, put the full stop before the closing bracket. If a sentence ends in an abbreviation that normally has a stop, such as etc., there is no need to put two stops.

A period is also used in certain abbreviations, although usage can vary between countries. Examples of abbreviations usually taking full stops are Tues., e.g., i.e., no. 5, pp. Examples where a full stop isn’t usually used include Mr, Dr, NY, USA, mph, kg.

A full stop isn’t needed at the end of book, movie and other titles, and also headings.

Question mark

A question mark is used at the end of a sentence that asks a direct question or where a question is implied. Examples: Are we going to lunch tomorrow? As soon as tomorrow? Sometimes a question mark can be used in the middle of a sentence. Example: How could he? she asked herself.

Indirect questions or requests don’t need a question mark. Example: She asked what the matter was. Could you please tend to this.

A question mark can be used to express doubt. Example: John Smith (1754?-1821) was a pioneer …

Exclamation mark

An exclamation mark is used to express surprise, annoyance, interjection or humour. Examples: How nice of you! Damn you! Watch out!

It’s often used in advertising too. Example: Act now!

– Marks within sentences –

Comma

Along with apostrophes, commas are probably the most misused and misplaced of punctuation marks. A comma is the smallest break used to divide a sentence into parts. We tend to use fewer commas than 50 or 100 years ago, but they remain essential punctuation marks in clarifying meaning.

Use a comma between coordinating clauses with different topics. Example: Copper prices rose to their highest level on the commodities market in 2011, yet lead prices peaked in 2007.

Add a comma after an initial phrase of a sentence if the absence of a comma would change the meaning, resulting in ambiguity or causing possible confusion. Compare the following sentences. In summer clothing she wore was minimal. In summer, clothing she wore was minimal. It’s easy to over-read the first sentence, whereas the meaning in the second sentence is clear.

Insert extra information with commas. Example: All of the sisters, except Joan and Helen, will be at the party. Make sure both commas in a “comma pair” are used. A common mistake is to omit the second one.

A comma is used to separate a main clause from a non-defining or non-restrictive clause, that is, a clause that enhances rather than limits the meaning of the main clause. Consider the following examples. The boats which broke from their moorings during the storm were damaged. The boats, which broke from their moorings during the storm, were damaged. The first example restricts the subject to those boats that broke their moorings. The second example doesn’t restrict the subject in this way and thus the clause within the commas in a non-restrictive clause. Note the entirely different meaning of the two sentences through the inclusion or exclusion of commas.

There are several common types of mistakes in the use of commas. One error is to use a comma to join two sentences together (or to use no punctuation). Example: The availability of childcare has risen, this allows more women to work full time. Options to fix this include the following. The availability of childcare has risen, allowing more women to work full time. The availability of childcare has risen and this allows more women to work full time. The greater availability of childcare has allowed more women to work full time. Other options would be to have two separate sentences or to use a semicolon instead of a comma.

Another error is to use a comma before a verb when the introductory phrase or clause is long. Example: Respondents who were contacted by the company during the pilot phase of the survey last month, will be included in the overall results. No comma is needed in this sentence.

A further mistake is a comma on the wrong side of a conjunction in the following example. We came back to the office late, and realising we did not have our security key, had to call the guard to let us in. The comma should be placed after “and” rather than before it.

Colon

A colon is used to define relationship or sequence. The second part of a sentence can be introduced with a colon if that part explains or elaborates on the first part. Example – Youth unemployment is high: structural changes and other factors have resulted in a decline in the number of jobs for young people.

A colon is used to introduce a list. A common mistake here is to use a semicolon. The list can be a series of bullet or dot points, or it can be part of a conventional sentence. An example of the latter is as follows. Three subjects were studied: economics, psychology and anthropology. A colon isn’t needed if the list runs on from the first part of the sentence. Example – The three subjects studied were economics, psychology and anthropology. Some people want to put a colon after “were” in the last example.

Semicolon

A semicolon provides a stronger break than a comma but weaker than a full stop. It can be used to compare two clauses. Example – The print quality of a laser printer is excellent; a jet ink printer isn’t quite as good. If a comma rather than a semicolon is used after “excellent”, a conjunction such as “whereas” would be needed. Or the two clauses could be made into separate sentences.

Another use for a semicolon is at the end of each item in a bulleted list, or in a list where one or more items have internal punctuation. Example of the latter – Growth industries last year included agriculture, forestry and fishing; mining; and accommodation, cafes and restaurants.

When a second clause is introduced by a connective expression like “however”, “that is”, or “therefore”, use a semicolon before it and a comma after it. Example – Most crimes have increased steadily in recent years; however, murder has fallen. Some writers incorrectly use a comma on both sides of “however” here, or a comma before “however” and no punctuation after it, or no punctuation at all. A further option in the example above would be to start a new sentence, “However, …”.

Bullet points

Bullet or dot points have become popular in non-fiction writing in recent decades, although they are not really used at all in fiction writing. They are used at the start of each item in a list if each item starts a new line. Bullet points always need an introductory sentence or paragraph before the bullet points themselves.

Three ways to punctuate bullet points are open punctuation (that is, no punctuation at the end of each point, except a full stop at the end of the last point) if the points are short, semicolons if at least one point is only part of a sentence, and full stops if all points are one or more sentences.

Dashes

Basically, there are two types of dashes:

– the shorter en dash or en rule (–) (use Alt 0150 or click on Insert and then Symbol) and

– the longer em dash or em rule (—) (use Alt 0151 or click on Insert and then Symbol).

En dash

An en dash is used in a span of figures, for example, 2012–13, 68–74 Smith Street (although in practice, hyphens are probably more common, and in my view acceptable).

It is also used to associate words while keeping their separate identities, for example, Australia–Japan trade agreement, cost–benefit analysis. Note that these examples should have no spaces either side of the en dash.

Where one or both components are two or more words, a spaced en dash is used, for example, United States – Canada trade relations, 29 August – 5 September.

Em dash

An em dash is used to mark an abrupt break in a sentence. Example: There could well be safety considerations — but this isn’t what I want to address today.

It can be used to explain or expand on a statement. Example: The effects are likely to be felt many miles away — this is why we need to relocate all residents.

An em dash can also be used instead of brackets. Example: All the countries included in the study — China, India, Singapore and Malaysia — grew rapidly over the period.

You can have a space each side of an em dash or no space, but be consistent.

There is an increasing tendency to use an en dash (with a space each side) in the above examples, because an en dash is what generally comes up in word processing packages when you type a hyphen with a space each side in the middle of a sentence. This is probably acceptable as there would be few occasions where it might cause confusion.

Slash

A slash is used to show alternatives, e.g. and/or, Dear Sir/Madam. It is also used in abbreviations, e.g. c/- (care of), b/fwd (brought forward). In mathematical expressions, a slash denotes division, e.g. ¾, (a+b)/(c-d). A slash can indicate “per” or “a” or “an”, e.g. 80km/h.

Ellipsis points

These are used to denote an omission of words from a quote. Example: Johnson found that “the number of children attending school … declined during the harvest as they had to help on the farm”.

Brackets

Brackets are used for information not essential to a sentence. There are several types of brackets.

Parentheses

Use parentheses or ordinary brackets to enclose additional information. Examples: The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is released tomorrow. He was told to bring all information (except work samples, which would be requested later) to the interview. The firm spent 40% ($2 million) of its budget on capital equipment. Betty Jones (1899–1968) left her fortune to the cat society.

Square brackets

Use square brackets to insert extra information in a quote so that readers have a better understanding of what is being said. Example: Jones stated that “the number of people succumbing to the disease in the area [Eastern Hills] fell during the cooler months of the year”.

Curly brackets

These are sometimes used in mathematical expressions. Also, a single curly bracket can be used in a table if a comment in one column refers to several items in an adjacent column.

Angle brackets

These are often used to enclose website and email addresses in references.

Quotation marks

Quotation marks or inverted commas are used to show direct speech. Examples:

“This is what I think we should do,” she said.

“Benjamin Wakefield,” she said, “Are you getting up today?”

The Governor noted, “All issues will have to be considered before we act”.

Do not use quote marks for indirect speech. Example:

She said she would go shopping after work.

They are also used when quoting a passage from another source. Example:

Campbell believes that “all too often, a sample is labelled ‘representative’ whether there is any sound reason for believing it is”. (Use single marks within a quote.)

Note that in fiction writing, the closing quotation mark is invariably placed after the comma or full stop regardless of whether the quote includes the whole sentence or only part of it. In other writing, the closing quote mark can go before the comma, and before the period (full stop) if the quote is only part of the sentence. This convention varies between countries, for example, the US generally puts the closing quote mark after the comma or period. Put the closing quote mark after the period if the quote comprises the whole sentence.

Quotation marks are often used for the title of a chapter of a book, an article, a conference paper, a lecture, or a short poem or song.

Use of quotation marks around a vogue or colloquial word or expression or a cliché should be minimised. Example: The schedule will be “set in concrete” once the president signs it. Overuse of quote marks in this respect indicates to the reader that you were unable to think of a better word or expression. In the above example, it would be better to write something like: The schedule will be final once the president signs it.

The US and Canada generally use double quotation marks. Both single and double marks are common in most other English speaking countries.

If you want more information on punctuation or other usage or style issues, there are a large number of general and specialised guides available electronically or in printed copy.

The different types of tennis playing surfaces

Tennis is played on a variety of surfaces, each having its own characteristics and advantages and disadvantages. Each surface affects the ball speed and bounce in different ways. Some players have a game more suited to a particular type of court. The playing surface of a tennis court can be made of clay, grass, a hard surface such as asphalt or concrete, and various softer surfaces such as carpet, rubber, wood and artificial grass.

Clay surface

A clay surface tennis court is made of crushed stone, shale or brick. Clay results in more friction between the ball and the surface, slowing the ball down when it bounces and causing it to bounce up high. This makes it harder to hit winners and results in longer rallies. The surface favors heavy topspin shots, which are difficult to return for winners on clay. A higher, slower bounce also makes it a good surface for smaller, quicker baseline players who may be less physically strong but are consistent and have a good defensive game. It is less favorable to players who rely on a big serve to win lots of points. Clay favors sweeping groundstrokes. Drop shots can be effective too, especially against a taller opponent who may have difficulty accelerating on the softer and more slippery surface. Players can skid into their shots rather than stop abruptly and this suits certain players. Another advantage of clay is that the ball leaves a mark on the ground, a factor that can settle disputes on whether the ball was in or out.

The two types of clay used for tennis court surfaces are red clay and green clay. Red clay is made of crushed brick that is then packed before laying the court. Other crushed particles are then placed on top so the surface doesn’t absorb moisture. Most of these courts are found in Europe and South America, where clay courts are common. Similarly, green clay is packed and then a topping is added. It is harder and faster than red clay and is used mainly in North America, where clay courts are less common. Clay is cheaper to construct but more expensive to maintain than other surfaces. It needs rolling to keep it flat, regular watering and, with green clay, the court needs to be sloped slightly to allow drainage.

The French Open is the only tennis grand slam to be played on clay. A player who is better on clay than other surfaces is known as a clay court specialist, such as Ivan Lendl, Yannick Noah and Andre Agassi. Other top clay court players include Rafael Nadal, Justine Henin, Bjorn Borg, and Chris Evert, although these players could be just as good on other surfaces.

Grass surface

A grass surface consists of earth and rye grass. The soil is hard packed before the rye grass is grown on it. This is the fastest of the commonly used surfaces. Minimal friction is created between the ground and the ball, so it skids quickly off the surface and keeps low. Players with a strong serve have an advantage. Rallies are shorter and more winners can be hit. A slice serve is favored on grass as it will skid through even faster and will be harder to return than a topspin serve. John McEnroe was an expert, and could be almost unplayable serving wide to the right-hand service box. Grass assists the serve and volley players, such as Pete Sampras, Martina Navratilova, Venus Williams and McEnroe. Flat shots are an advantage too, which is one reason Jimmy Connors did so well on grass.

There are fewer grass courts these days as they are expensive to maintain, needing watering and mowing, and take longer to dry, although these courts remain common in England. It is a slippery surface when wet. Officials quickly bring out the covers at Wimbledon as soon as there is a trace of rain. Bounce can be variable, especially later in a tournament when certain areas of the court have become more worn through heavier usage. Players cannot slide into a shot in the same way as on clay. Also, smaller steps are better due to slipperiness of a grass surface.

These days, Wimbledon is the only grand slam still played on grass. The Australian Open stopped using grass after the 1987 championships and now uses a synthetic hard court surface. The US Open, played on an acrylic hard court surface, hasn’t used grass since 1974. Rather than change its surface, Wimbledon has made a concerted effort to slow down its grass courts in recent years to encourage longer rallies and for different types of players to do well. This move has arguably been at least partly due to pressure from clay court players. The All England Club now uses 100% perennial rye grass and a harder, denser soil, resulting in slower balls and higher bounces. This has led to baseline players doing well, such as Roger Federer and a string of younger players. The modern rackets mean the ball can be hit much harder and faster and there are now few if any serve and volley players on the world tour.

Hard court surfaces

These surfaces are normally made of asphalt but sometimes concrete. Paint or resin is usually applied to the surface. Hard courts are reasonably fast, but not as quick as traditional grass. Players who hit the ball hard do have a slight advantage. Topspin strokes are effective on this surface. The speed of the acrylic hard courts can depend on the amount of sand added to the paint. Little sand will make a smoother and faster surface, whereas more sand, and larger particles, will create extra friction between ball and surface, slowing the ball down and making it bounce higher. Hard courts provide the most even, consistent playing surface.

Indoor courts and other surfaces

The surfaces of indoor courts can be made of various materials. Carpet is the most common. Playing conditions vary depending on the length of the pile, its texture and what sort of fiber is used. Less common is rubber. This surface contains fine rubber aggregates creating a cushioning effect and reducing injury. The Paris Masters is played on rubber. A wood surface is rare outside real tennis. It is even faster and bounces lower than grass.

Synthetic grass can be laid on a concrete slab or crushed rock and is available in various colors and grades. It has a more even bounce than grass, is easier and cheaper to maintain, and has better grip and good foot slide. Similarly, synthetic clay gives a truer bounce and needs less maintenance. AstroTurf is a short pile synthetic turf surface, incorporating technology such as antimicrobial protection and rubber infill. It can be used indoor or outdoor and is faster than grass. Tennis court tiles are sometimes used too.

Overall, tennis playing surfaces are moving away from grass and clay to hard courts and artificial surfaces. These newer types of courts play more consistently and can be more easily manipulated to alter the speed of the game. They are also cheaper and easier to maintain than the traditional surfaces.

How to hit topspin in tennis

Topspin is where the ball rotates forward as it travels through the air. Viewing it from side on, if the  ball is moving from left to right, it will rotate in a clockwise direction. Topspin is a handy shot in tennis as you can hit the ball harder and it will still drop into the court due to the downward force created by the spin. It can be used on both the forehand and backhand sides, including volleys and lobs. A topspin serve enables the ball to be hit higher over the net and still drop into the service box. Topspin shots make the ball bounce higher and they are harder for the opponent to return.

The usual grips for the topspin shot are the semi-western forehand grip and the eastern backhand grip. For the semi-western grip, place the underneath of the knuckle of your index finger and the palm on the bevel of the handle that is 45 degrees clockwise from the racket face, rather like holding an axe. For the eastern backhand grip, your index finger knuckle should be at top of the handle as you hold the racket head vertical ready to play a shot.

The best way to start learning to hit topspin in tennis is to stand square to the net, anywhere in the court. Throw the ball up in the air six or seven feet at about one o’clock and let it bounce. As it comes up towards its maximum height of three feet or so, hit the ball front on. The upward swing of your racket on this shot should naturally impart topspin to the ball. Watch the ball as it heads towards the net and passes over it to the other side. You should see it spinning end over end like it is rolling through the air away from you. Practice this shot a number of times, perhaps moving backwards and forwards to different spots on the court. Aim to make the ball fall within the court each time.

Try turning slightly side on and repeat the movement with the same upward swing as before. Again, play shots from different areas of the court. Note that your racket action is now a bit more side on and will consist of a sweeping upward and forward stroke. Move your body around a little further until you are at around two or three o’clock and repeat the shot from this angle. Keep moving your racket upwards and forwards as you hit the ball. You will probably notice your racket head facing slightly downwards as the action of the stroke will send the ball through the air a little higher than perpendicular to the racket. If your racket head is vertical, your topspin shot will probably go too high and is more likely to land beyond the base line on the other side.

Now practice this shot with someone hitting the ball to you from the other side of the  net. Get them to hit it very gently at first, and then to hit it slightly harder and from further away. Just aim to hit the ball back to them using the topspin shot you practiced on your own. Don’t try and hit the cover off the ball, not yet anyway. Trying to hit it too hard at this stage will probably result in the ball traveling too high over the net and sailing out the back of the court.

Once you feel you have started to get the hang of the forehand topspin shot, try and do the same on the backhand side. This time, face 11 o’clock and throw the ball up at about the same angle. Wait for it to bounce and hit it backhand, swinging your racket upwards and forwards. You should see the ball spinning in the same direction, that is, forwards, as you did with the forehand shot. If the ball goes too high or too far, tilt the racket face down a little. Move around to 9 or 10 o’clock and repeat the action. Then get your partner to hit the ball to you from the other side and practice the backhand topspin shot.

If you can hit the forehand and backhand topspin shots reasonably well, you could probably try some topspin lobs, first on the forehand side and then backhand. Angle the racket head slightly upwards for these shots. These strokes are typically played when your opponent is forward of the service line. Stand towards the back of the court and get your practice partner to hit the ball towards you. Swing the racket upwards and forwards as you hit the ball. Aim to hit the ball to a height of about 12-15 feet, so that it passes out of the reach of the partner and still lands in the court. This is an effective shot as the ball will bounce high and travel quicker and further away past the baseline than a shot with no spin, making it harder for an opponent to retrieve.

A topspin volley is a harder shot to play but can still be practiced at the basic level. Try hitting the ball by throwing it up a little way in the air and not letting it bounce first. It should be fairly easy to impart spin, especially on the forehand side. Next, get your partner to hit balls gently over the net. Return them on the full with the same action you learned when practicing conventional forehand and backhand shots.

Probably the hardest shot to play with topspin is the serve. Beginners usually toss the ball straight up and position their racket upright as they hit the ball. Keep throwing the ball in the same manner but bend your elbow out slightly and point the racket more towards one o’clock. Your racket face should still be above your head, but its position will allow you to run the racket upwards over the ball at point of contact so that it will rotate forwards as it travels through the air. Try it very slowly at first and don’t worry too much about where the ball is going. Just practice the action. You could even try throwing it up slightly to your left for an even more effective topspin serve.

Carry these shots into practice sessions and eventually into matches. But don’t expect perfection straight away. Some of these shots can take a long time to master. If you are having trouble with any of them, go back to the basics and hit some gentle practice balls with an upward and forward motion. The best bet might be to hire a coach to help iron out any flaws.