Cricket and Englishmen - English sporting traditions

Cricket and Englishmen - English sporting traditions As an Englishman I love sport but particularly football. However, in England football is mostly played in the autumn/winter periods.  Summer is cricket season and although it is not a game easily understood by non-natives it is  everything that summer should be. Warm days, slow lazy actions, picnics and dreaming.A day or afternoon watching cricket can be a really enjoyable way to spend your time. In addition cricket has given us a few metaphors. What is a metaphor? Well, simply it is a group of  words not used in their literal meaning but used as a figure of speech to transfer the meaning to  something else.For example:  he is over the hill  does not mean somebody has successfully  climbed some hill and is now on the other side. No, it is a figure of speech to tell you someone is no  longer able to do a job, or is too old to do a job and beyond his best years.My cricketing metaphors that I can apply to normal life situations include:That’s just not cricket!  When you do not like the way somebody does something or you are annoyed  when somebody acts in a sly way and they should have been more honest, you can say that’s just  not cricket!Example: I had agreed to buy a car from a guy I knew. We agreed a price and I asked for  a day to think it over. When I got back to him he told me he had sold it to someone else.. That’s just  not cricket! We had a deal and he should have honoured it.Caught out.  In cricket when you catch the ball without it hitting the ground first then your opponent  is out of the game.In real life to be caught out is when someone catches you trying to be sly or  sneaky (underhand) without anyone knowing about it.Example: I left my jacket on my chair in the  office. My boss thought I was working hard. Instead I had gone to lunch and sat in the park enjoying  the summer weather.However I was caught out when I returned to the office because my face was  all sunburnt!Bowled over.  This is a very technical cricketing term. The bowler bowls the ball to the man with the  bat (similar to a pitcher in American baseball who throws or pitches the baseball to the guy with the  baseball bat!). The bowler bowls six balls and this is referred to as an over. (simple really!!) This is  the literal description. However, metaphorically to be bowled over means to be surprised or  shocked.Example: My wife organised a surprise birthday party and my fr iends presented me with a case (box) of fine French wine. I was bowled over by the surprise and their generosity.Hit for six!!  In cricket when you score they are referred to as runs. The highest score you can make  with a single hit of the ball is a Six. To score a six you must hit it over the playing area without  touching the ground. Metaphorically to be Hit for Six means to be affected by something quite  devastating or destructive.Example: He has really been hit for six by the collapse of his company. He was  doing so well but the failure of the new product launch cost him a lot of money!