Where are you: phase two

You people are amazing.

Okay, I'll admit that these are not superstar national landmarks like, say, Big Ben or Tower Bridge. But sheesh! They are quite famous. And, if you don't mind a neutral observation, it wouldn't hurt if you would stop feuding North and South and visit each other occasionally. Just sayin'. Like it would KILL a Yorkshire man to be caught after sundown in Cornwall. Anyway.

So here is what I'll do for phase two. I will tell you all the 12 cities. But I still won't match them with the numbers. Or maybe I will. No I won't. At least you can narrow it down. And, frankly (hint #2 here btw) they are 12 of your largest cities and I just looked up some of the famous landmarks in those cities.

And... some of the guesses so far may have been right, maybe not. Okay, Lady Godiva was pretty obvious - an American could've gotten that one for Pete's sake. But I am not telling you the others that may have been right.

And if you try to google I will know it and you will be disqualified.

Here are the cities, but not in correct order by number:

Birmingham

Coventry

Plymouth

Sheffield

Newcastle

Liverpool

Truro (Cornwall)

Bristol

Southampton

Winchester

Leeds

Leicester

Repeat, if you google, you are nothing but slime.

Why do I think you aren't going to do any better?

Cricket, part 2: Brian Johnston

Photo from Flickr user E Cashell

[Note: this is the second of a two-part post on cricket authored by my good friend A., currently summering in France. I have come to respect her knowledge of all things British, and this post on cricket is no exception. I suspect she will answer comments on these posts when she returns from her holiday this weekend.]

A discussion of cricket would be incomplete without the immortal words of Brian Johnston, one of the great cricket commentators. They need no further introduction.

"Now Fred Titmus is coming into bowl. He's got two square legs."

Glenn Turner was hurt by a fast ball to the box but eventually picked up his bat and returned to the wicket for the last ball of the over. "Turner looks a bit shaky and unsteady," Johnston announced, "but I think he's going to bat on - one ball left."

In one famous incident during a Test match at the Oval, Jonathan Agnew suggested that Ian Botham was out hit wicket because had failed to "get his leg over." Johnston carried on commentating (and giggling) for 30 seconds before dissolving into helpless laughter. You can hear here.

"There's Neil Harvey standing at leg slip with his legs wide apart, waiting for a tickle."

"The bowler's Holding, the batsman's Willey" allegedly occurred when Michael Holding of the West Indies was bowling to Peter Willey of England in a Test match at the Oval in 1976, but there is some dispute as to whether it really happened.

"Ray Illingworth has just relieved himself at the Pavilion End."

South African Peter Pollock, who sprained his ankle on his run-up: "He's obviously in great pain. It's especially bad luck as he is here on his honeymoon with his pretty young wife. Still, he'll probably be all right tomorrow if he sticks it up tonight."

"Welcome to Worcester where you have just missed seeing Barry Richards hitting one of the Basil D'Oliveira's balls clean out of the ground."

Cricket, lovely cricket

[Guest post by A.A.A.]

The players: two teams of eleven men, made up of roughly equal numbers of specialist batsmen and bowlers with perhaps an all-rounder, plus a wicket keeper. Whereas only 4 or 5 players will bowl, all are expected to take their turn batting. The bowlers appear late in the batting order and rather tend to fancy themselves as batsmen.

Photo from flickr user kadj.

The field: a roughly oval field with a boundary often marked by a rope. In the centre is the pitch, a rectangular area 22 yards long with wickets at each end. The wickets consist of three uprights, the stumps, with two bails balanced across the top.

Photo from flickr user shimgray.

The game: consists of one innings per side for one day matches, or two innings per side for county or test (international) matches. The aim is to score runs. The fielding team has all eleven players on the field and the batting side has two batsmen, one at each wicket. The bowlers bowl six balls (called an over) from each end. The batsmen can score by running between the wickets, or by hitting the ball so that it reaches the boundary. If the ball touches the ground before it reaches the boundary the batsman scores four runs. If it clears the boundary it is six runs. An over without runs is a maiden over. The batsman can be out by being caught, by having the bails knocked off his wicket, or being hit leg before wicket.

Clear so far?

Diagram from Wikimedia.

The fielding positions: these names give rise to much hilarity and mirth. They aren’t fixed positions. Apart from the wicket keeper and bowler, you can take your choice from, and not limited to:
Silly mid-on
Mid-off
An almost infinite number of slips or a leg slip
Gully
Point
Square leg
Backward short leg
Fine leg
Long leg
Third man
Extra cover

I could go on, but you get the picture.

If anyone has any questions, do leave them in the comments. I probably won't answer.