That's cricket

I love the expression "that's not cricket."  The closest equivalent expressions in American English would be "that's not kosher" or "that's not cool" -- but that's not cricket has a particular emphasis on the injustice or ungentlemanly/underhanded nature of doing something a certain way, even if it's not technically against the rules.  Good sportsmanship of the old school variety is the key here.

Why this little phraseology lesson?  Because in fact I've been doing something that is cricket -- namely, I've been playing cricket in the gorgeous summer weather during the last couple weeks.  Having had no time for it during my captaincy, I decided to improve my skills through increased experience this summer.  So, I got myself put on a bunch of email lists and have ended up playing with some teams that consist of grad students and/or fellows of Jesus College and Trinity College.  Especially in the case of the latter, I take extra pleasure in knowing that I'm playing with some people who are extremely eminent in their fields but whose biggest concern for those 3-5 hours is where to position the fielders.  I'm happy to report that while I'm not exactly a superstar (okay, I'm always the weakest link), my teammates respect my energy and find me more competent than they probably expected from someone raised across the Pond.

The Ashes urn is one small trophy

Meanwhile, the world of professional cricket has been abuzz with the ongoing drama of the Ashes.  This is a showdown between England and Australia.  It's named the Ashes because the first time that Australia beat England on their home turf in what should have been an easy win, a newspaper quipped that English cricket was dead and the ashes were being sent to Australia.  The captain of the England team commented, as they headed down under shortly thereafter, that they were going to bring the ashes back.  In reference to that, his future wife gave him a little urn (just a few inches high) with some ashes inside -- and that's what they play for.  You gotta love the wonderful absurdity of tradition in sports: Stanford and Cal play for an axe blade; England and Australia play for a Victorian perfume bottle.

Spot the heat spot

Just as with baseball, the Ashes is (are?) played as a sequence of matches.  England won the first one, but just barely, after blowing a pretty good lead.  It also depended on a video review that used a heat signature to prove that the ball just barely tipped the bat before being caught -- therefore getting the batsman out.  Talk about a close shave!

And did I mention the weather has been amazing?  It seriously feels like I'm in California -- in fact, the numbers show that it has been warmer than home this week.  I'll be able to test that comparison myself in a few days, but I decided to stay in Cambridge for most of July in order to make a big push on my dissertation.  I did manage to get a revised Chapter 1 to my supervisor, and I got plenty of feedback on it...  It's interesting speaking to other Trinity Hall PhD students who started when I did, because we're all coming onto the straightaway, and we're all starting to feel a bit bored with our projects, very ready to just get them done  and out of our lives.  But meanwhile, summer evenings are for savoring, and I can't think of any better way to spend one than out in a field catching a ball.