Cricket

Cricket is a very popular sport in Europe, India, and Australia.  It is not a popular game at all in the United States, and many find it a very strange and odd game.  For instance, it is the only sport that allows meal breaks.  It is also the only sport that shares its name with an insect.  Imagine this: a pitcher, after each delivery, collects the ball from the catcher and walks slowly to centerfield.  There, after a minute to collect himself, then runs full speed towards the pitchers mound before hurling the ball at the ankles of the batter.  The batter is wearing a riding hat, very heavy gloves, and very large pads are strapped to his legs.  If the batter fails to hit the ball, he can basically stand at the plate all day, as the rule book allows him to do.  If the batter is somehow convinced to swing at a pitch that leads to him being put out, all of the fielders throw their hands in the air and hug each other.  Then, a tea break is taken.  This could go on for days.  That's cricket for you.  We, as Americans, do not normally understand this sport, but most Europeans find it captivating.  In some ways, it is their version of our baseball, but it other ways it is not.  In any case, it is a very important sport and is very culturally important to Australia.

Bryson, Bill.  In a Sunburned Country.  New York: Broadway Books, 2000