second bite of cherry

[MikeNewYork]

Originally Posted by Shad

Ok that's fine Thank you Bob

Stick with the "explain to me" version. "Explain me" is not correct English.

[Shad]

THank you Mike

[MikeNewYork]

Originally Posted by Shad

THank you Mike

You're welcome, Shad.

[mykwyner]

I'm still kind of curious about cherry-biting and the game of cricket, Bob.

-MikeW

[BobK]

I thought no one was going to ask

There is an advantage to the bowling side in having a new ball (for various reasons which you can discuss if you like at cricinfo.com). Apart from the characteristics of the ball, there is the fact that the two strike bowlers (specialists with a new ball) are fresh.

The bowling side bowls 6 (legal) balls from one end of the pitch and then 6 from the other (alternating bowlers); 6 balls make an 'over'. After a certain number of overs (90, I think) the bowling side can choose to use a new ball. Normally, the captain will choose to 'take the new ball' as soon as it's available. But if a break in play is approaching (lunch, tea, or the end of play for the day) a captain will often delay the decision until 15-20 minutes before the break, so that his strike bowlers will be fresh on two occasions when bowling their first 2 or 3 overs. This is where I think the idea of hesitating may come from. The captain is said to be having "two bites of the cherry".

Perhaps coincidentally, the new ball is often spoken of as "the cherry" - but this could just be for the obvious reasons (shape and colour).

b

[mykwyner]

Now I see what Wilde meant when he talked about the language barrier between our two countries.

[englishstudent]

Mykwyner, I know the quote attributed to
GB Shaw - "England and America are two countries
separated by the same language."
I did not know that Wilde also refered to this same thing.


I like Wildes' quotes.
"I never play cricket. It requires one to assume such
indecent postures."

[Tdol]

Bob- Thanks, the idiom finally makes some sense.

Wilde gets credited with anything funny said in the last twenty years of the 19th century.