Wow... so much to respond to. Spent a half hour just watching the videos. Have to start with Warne. I've heard of him, of course, and heard him in the commentators' box even, but I didn't know the specifics. Plus I assumed he was a seamer. Foolish or not, I picture great Aussie (or English) bowlers as seamers, and the great spinners seem to be predominantly subcontinent. (As with everything else, please correct my misconceptions.) So when I saw the Gattling ball, I was all the more shocked. Maybe it wasn't properly a leave, since Gattling weakly waved at it, but it's the most amazing delivery I've ever seen. The leave by Strauss was an amazing spinner too (and fascinating that those two famous deliveries were Warne's first and 100th wickets in England!), but what makes the Gattling delivery so unbelievable to me was the swing before the spin. The angle the ball made, before and after pitching, has to be the largest (measured obtusely) or the smalled (measured acutely) ever, no? Btw, I've sent a copy of the 4 minute video to my two sons who have gotten into cricket with me, along with the wiki article on it (
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ball_of_the_Century).
As for 70 seconds of talk, that was great. Hell, the actual full speed clips I can hardly keep up with. I can't typically figure out what happened unless they do a slow motion, or I replay the clip 4-5 times. The discussion gives an idea of what's coming, as well as context. Much easier to appreciate than the Test highlight reel, which I was constantly rewinding 2-3 times per clip I wanted to see. We old folks don't have fast eyes, alas. Anyway, kudos to harsh for appreciating that.
Where to go next? Well, briefly, I still don't know what the "lol Jonny Bairstow" reference means.
And one more comment on fielder positions: during the 3rd WI-Bang ODI (I think; but may have been an English county playoff match or one of the women's match) I heard a commentator mention another position I hadn't heard before, and which also is not on the cricinfo diagram: short mid-wicket. Easily understandable, but I'd never heard it before. Is it uncommon to hear that term?
Also, I've figured out Howe_zat is English.
As for Steven Smith, is TPC a forum thing only? I did a lot of googling and couldn't find the phrase anywhere in relation to him. And 17 pages for a picture thread? Wow. But I can see why Aussies would like him. His "boyish" good looks, and sort of goofy expression (no disrespect intended by that). In fact, he reminds me quite a bit of "Nuke" LaLoosh in the baseball movie Bull Durham, and that's a complement too. Don't know if many cricketers know of the movie, since it's entirely centered on American baseball. (It did get one Oscar nomination, for best original screenplay.) I don't particularly recommend it here, since you really need to have some feel for baseball to understand many parts of it, and if you do know baseball, you probably already know the movie, lol.
As for backward leg fielding restrictions, yes, I'm familiar with them and the original of the rule from the Bodyline controversy in 32-33. In fact, there's a great anecdote about the rule in the little book I've read, The Wit of Cricket (Johnston). Don't know what the rules are for quoting, but I'll quote a bit. If it has to be deleted, it's on page 9 of the paperback edition (Hodder & Stoughton Ltd, 2010. Well, just read the copyright paragraph at the front, better not copy it here. But if you don't know it, check out page 9. It's an anecdote by Dickie Bird.
As for long stop and the fielding restriction, I'd think it would depend if the fielder was on the leg or off side. If directly behind and so on both sides, I would guess he'd be counted as one of the two permissible, no?
As for Fire in Babylon, thanks for mentioning it! In fact, it lead me to start another thread about cricket movies. Of course, that may require nothing more than a redirect to some other thread that's already covered that, but either way I'll try to find the movies that are recommended and watch them. As for Fire in Babylon, any film that belittles players like Sobers is seriously flawed, but I know I'll like it--I've found it on YouTube, but haven't had time to watch it yet. I'll enjoy it for what it shows of the great Windies players of the 70s and 80s. By the way, which series is "arguably the greatest series ever played" (Windies vs England? in the 60s)? Perhaps I can find video of that one too, although from back then, it would probably be of poor quality alas.
Anyway, thanks again for all the info! You guys are great!
