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>>>Stumps? They aren't what remains of a tree after it's been cut down. It's more like a long peg pushed into the ground.
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>Well, stump actually has 3 meanings. Of the "long pegs" you describe, there are 3. The off stump, the middle stump and the leg stump. Collectively these are (obviously) called the wicket.
Don't forget the 2 cross-pieces, the bails!
>A batsman can be put out if he/she is "stumped", which means the wicketkeeper ...
(or any fielder)
>...is able to strike the wicket with the ball when the batsman is not behind the crease or otherwise has failed to take proper precautions. Oh, and Stumps also describes the eventual end of play.
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>So what's confusing about all that? ;-)
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>>>Do cricket players have to chirp?
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>Loud chirping at crucial moments is likely to be considered unsportsmanlike.
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>Cricket is an acquired taste but once you "get" it, it offers a lot. Because it is a game of skill and patience rather than brawn, tiny players from India can be devastating batsmen, bowlers or fielders. It is a truly international sport so that a "world cup" means that teams from more than one country will participate. Imagine your own favorite sport except that fearsome teams from Sri Lanka, South Africa and the Caribbean visit regularly to beat your local team one year and be thrashed in turn the next. That's just one of the novelties offered by cricket!
- Whoever said that women are the weaker sex never tried to wrest the bedclothes off one in the middle of the night
- Worry is the interest you pay, in advance, for a loan that you may never need to take out.