The quintessence of cricket

[BoyBrumby]

One for the cricketing romantics out there.

Which one feature, aspect or facet of our sport best defines or evokes it? What, for you, is most uniquely "cricket"?

Unoriginal a thought as it is, for me it's that gorgeous crack of leather pinging off willow. In my own meagre estimation it's the most evocative sound in all sport. No matter what the format, the venue or the conditions that wonderful noise is the same the world over.

 

[Prince EWS]

Kallis.

 

[Cabinet96]

A bail lighting up in the BBL after the perfect slower ball

 

[Agent Nationaux]

The sound of the ball crashing onto the stumps is music to my ears.

 

[Agent Nationaux]

One of the great things about cricket is that fans follow it even from a scorecard and still enjoy the match (thanks cricinfo).

 

[Cabinet96]

I've always found the moment the ball is traveling from an edge towards the slips to be perhaps the most tense part of cricket. Time seems to slow down at times as the ball travels from the edge towards first slip. Everyones known what's happened, and are just weighting for the inevitable, which often doesn't occur. When your favourite player's bowling it's a mixture of excitement and heart in the mouth time, as you weight for the ball to be caught. While when your favourite batsman is batting, it's a moment of despair with a tiny bit of hope that the ball will be grassed.

 

[jan]

Spending a whole day away from home dressed in whites.
Spending a whole night watching test cricket played 12 hours away.
The fact that one has to be a generally good guy to fit in a cricket club.
The Steyn face.

 

[Agent Nationaux]

 

[Coronis]

Any time a bowler or team appeals. Its beautiful man

 

[Agent Nationaux]

Don't find appeals appealing.

 

[the big bambino]

A cover drive. Particularly the one I saw Viswanath playing off Thomson.

When important things impinged on my time I stopped playing cricket but started playing indoor. Once I managed to middle a ball so perfectly it lasered off my bat with barely a tip from me. Oh what a feeling - that seemed to radiate from my bat and throughout my very pleased body. Forget quintessence it was ***essence. The only thing that snapped me out of my rapture was the opposition's successful appeal for run out as I was admiring my shot in my mind's mirror.

 

[Howe_zat]

I've always found the moment the ball is traveling from an edge towards the slips to be perhaps the most tense part of cricket. Time seems to slow down at times as the ball travels from the edge towards first slip. Everyones known what's happened, and are just weighting for the inevitable, which often doesn't occur. When your favourite player's bowling it's a mixture of excitement and heart in the mouth time, as you weight for the ball to be caught. While when your favourite batsman is batting, it's a moment of despair with a tiny bit of hope that the ball will be grassed.

Hadn't thought about it before but you're dead right - top post

 

[Furball]

A cover drive. Particularly the one I saw Viswanath playing off Thomson.

When important things impinged on my time I stopped playing cricket but started playing indoor. Once I managed to middle a ball so perfectly it lasered off my bat with barely a tip from me. Oh what a feeling - that seemed to radiate from my bat and throughout my very pleased body. Forget quintessence it was ***essence. The only thing that snapped me out of my rapture was the opposition's successful appeal for run out as I was admiring my shot in my mind's mirror.

Cover drives suck.

Also fully agree with Cabinet about nicking to the cordon.

 

[Jarquis]

Mine's the ball castling the stumps and bails flying

 

[watson]

Batsman overcoming fear by skill and bravery when facing 150 kph bouncers - then scoring a century.

 

[uvelocity]

stinking heat, setting up chairs.
putting the stumps out and bails on
screaming howzat
lonely walk back to the boundary
beers after

 

[Top_Cat]

First net of the season, fresh-cut grass smell but with that weird humidity which gets more pronounced as you run in to bowl. Couple that silence which seems to get louder between the umpire saying 'play' and letting go of the ball. That and sharply declining confidence in ability to keep out good bowlers as the season wears on but which often comes back in a rush from one good shot.

 

[benchmark00]

**** sake top ****, came here to post 'smell of freshly cut grass'.

In terms of watching cricket and knowing summer is here, the sound of the batsman scratching his centre marking and hitting the bat on the ground.

 

[SJS]

One for the cricketing romantics out there.

Which one feature, aspect or facet of our sport best defines or evokes it? What, for you, is most uniquely "cricket"?

Unoriginal a thought as it is, for me it's that gorgeous crack of leather pinging off willow. In my own meagre estimation it's the most evocative sound in all sport. No matter what the format, the venue or the conditions that wonderful noise is the same the world over.

The same for me. I can recognise the sound of a cricket ball on the business part of a cricket bat even if I was asleep in Mangolia There is absolutely nothing like it. And the pleasure of the game, watching it, playing it and loving it more than anything else is all encapsulated in that split second and that lovely unique sound. Of course it is the better for a well timed stroke off the sweet spot that is the most 'delicious'. The moment the shot is terribly off or the piece of willow is really too hard, it sounds like a musical instrument badly in need of tuning.

I love that sound and even when I am walking somewhere, lost in my thoughts, and there is the sound, from kids playing in a park maybe, I stop instantaneously to look and, unless in a tearing hurry to get somewhere, I will walk across and watch for sometime. It takes a lot of effort to stop myself from walking over to the kids and telling them , "May I join you guys?"

 

[Red]

When you play a shot, and it comes off exactly the way you'd hope it would.