r/Cricket • u/AutoModerator • 5d ago
Discussion Weekly Free Talk - 13 October 2026 - 17 October 2026
A thread to talk about anything you want, because sometimes (rarely) there's more to life than cricket.
Please keep discussion limited to non-cricket areas here (while still following the subreddit rules). Cricket discussion can be posted in the Daily Discussion Thread instead.
1
u/Fad_du_pussy 1d ago
does anyone have any experience taking a GPU with them on a long flight?
2
u/Extra-Swordfish-927 Harry Brook's Brian Cell 1d ago
Is it in a box? I don't see how it is that different than when it is inside of a laptop
1
u/Fad_du_pussy 1d ago
it is not. it is also a desktop GPU and is kinda big and heavy. I am moving so unplugging it from my computer and will probably bubble wrap it but i heard mixed things about their long distance transportability
2
4
u/A-British-Indian London Tyrrell's 3d ago
I swear so many companies with roles in the UK use American formats, like no I don’t have a major or GPA, and no I don’t want my phone number to be converted to an American one with an area code 🙏🏽
1
u/Fad_du_pussy 2d ago
GPA
what do you guys use instead?
2
u/A-British-Indian London Tyrrell's 2d ago
70% and higher is a 1st (First class)
60-69.5 is a 2:1 (Upper second class)
50-59.5 is a 2:2 (Lower second class)
40-49.5 is a Pass (Third class)As usually they round up assuming you’ve been working at a level high enough in most modules. For reference around 30% graduate with a first and about half graduate with a 2:1.
2
u/JBPlayer48 2d ago
Absolutely hated the GPA question, one time it was mandatory and it just straight up wasn't accepting when I tried to just give it my degree classification lol. Don't even remember what I ended up doing too but wouldn't be surprised if I just ragequit at that point lol.
3
u/Relative-Doubt3343 South Africa 2d ago edited 2d ago
Software defaulting to US English/format (or only having US English/format) despite being designed for UK specific frameworks is a particular level of frustration.
5
u/TrollerThomas ICC 3d ago
The way the world defaults to Americanism really bothers me
Outside of having the largest gdp in the world (not even per capita) I don’t think they’re first in anything else, at least anything good
3
u/ILikeRaisinsAMA USA 4d ago
I've posted here a few times as I've continued to learn the sport and the culture around it, thank you everyone for kindly answering my questions and seeming good sports about it, and now I have something tangentially related to cricket to share with the class. It's playoff baseball season, and the MLB is currently in its semi-finals with 4 teams left; the winner of the Milwaukee Brewers and the Los Angeles Dodgers will play the winner of the Tampa Bay Rays and the Cleveland Guardians in the World Series (a really funny name for a championship to pitch to a mostly international audience...), set to begin at the end of the next week.
I don't know how many cricket fans are even aware of baseball or follow it, so I suppose that's my overall discussion question for anyone willing to engage - how much do you know about baseball? Do you have any interest in it, or any lingering questions I can share my knowledge to help answer? How close do you think it is to cricket, in terms of both literal game rules/mechanics and strategy?
The storyline for these baseball playoffs is currently David vs. Goliath - the Los Angeles Dodgers have won the World Series the last two years, have the highest payroll in baseball and 2nd highest professional sports payroll in the world, second only to the team that Cristiano Ronaldo plays on. They also currently have what is widely considered the best baseball player to ever have lived in Shohei Ohtani (who is hurt right now, and is clearly playing through it to poor results). The Dodgers brought in a 26-man playoff roster whose annual salary is over $300 million, more than the rest of the teams remaining in the playoffs combined as of Saturday.
The rest of the baseball world is rooting against them. They face their biggest test now in the Milwaukee Brewers, who had the best record in baseball with 103 wins out of 162 games (their best season ever as a club) with only the 19th highest payroll in the league out of 30 teams, and the Brewers are up 2-0 in the best of 7 series. There's also great stories on other sides of the bracket, but this post is running long. Thanks for your attention 🫡
2
u/Stuff2511 1d ago
Dodgers swept. Beautiful!
1
u/ILikeRaisinsAMA USA 1d ago
There is, it seems, some justice in the world! Almost all of the baseball world is rejoicing, the baseball subreddit is quite funny atm lol
2
u/JBPlayer48 2d ago
My first and more or less only introduction to baseball was playing a baseball game on Friv during primary school ICT lol
2
u/ILikeRaisinsAMA USA 2d ago
Haha! And how did you find it? It's a little complicated, so i imagine most of it was lost playing only once 😂
2
u/JBPlayer48 2d ago
Nah I actually did play it quite a few times. Pretty fun actually. Don't think I ever really understood much but we did also play rounders in PE in secondary school too and so the basic idea of it is similar tbh. In fairness, I occasionally also do see it when watching an American show or movie too but yeah that's pretty much it lol. Does seem fun tho tbf.
2
u/ILikeRaisinsAMA USA 2d ago
Yeah, rounders is like a really clear middle ground between cricket and baseball. Baseball is a ton of fun, my only problem with baseball when I look across the ponds at cricket is that compared to cricket, baseball is much harder to play as an amateur adult. Adult leagues either have way too much talent with former pro/collegiate level players, or not enough in the sense that pitchers can't throw strikes and/or batters can't put the ball in play. I live a little too far away from any large metropolitan area to be able to connect with any amateur cricket clubs here in the states, but I'd like to try one day to try and scratch the itch I've had since I've stopped playing baseball!
2
u/xcsnkzcpbn Delhi Capitals 2d ago
Made a friend from the American Embassy and I was introduced to Baseball, if I have to pick then I would choose Boston Redsox.
2
u/ILikeRaisinsAMA USA 2d ago edited 2d ago
A good choice, probably the most honest of the big market teams. The Red Sox are known for an incredibly long championship drought, 85 years between 1918 and 2004. They have one of the most iconic stadiums in the west, Fenway Park with its Green Monster, the large left field wall that is considerably closer to home plate and taller than other fences around the league. They've had a tumultuous history recently, being known for a 3 poor trade and free-agent decisions that left star players on other teams with little to show for it, and Boston fans, not known for their kind demeanor, haven't been very happy with ownership. Regardless, this year they made it to the first round of the playoffs before being absolutely smacked around by the New York Yankees, their bitter rival. Hopefully they'll have a better year next year!
1
u/xcsnkzcpbn Delhi Capitals 2d ago
absolutely smacked around by the New York Yankees
Now I am sad 😞
I started supporting red sox because my friend is a red sox fan, she was a Nationals fan before that.
1
u/ILikeRaisinsAMA USA 2d ago
Your friend has good taste, the Nationals are definitely one of the most honest teams bar none to support in current era. I have a soft spot for them myself, as I was living in the Washington, D.C. era when the Nationals first came to the city. The Nationals occupy a fun spot; their owners broke the bank to acquire a powerful young team in 2019, using the technique of deferred salaries to save money in the short term, and the Nationals won the World Series that year. They're still paying players from that season, some of those players are now retired and/or play for other teams. Their fans are still satisfied, however, respecting the strategy that got them a championship while many teams (2 of which are still in the playoffs today) have never won a World Series before. The burden of these contracts dictates an austere stance for the rest of this decade and the results have shown accordingly, but almost all Nationals fans say it is worth it.
The Red Sox had a disappointing post-season performance, but it was an overall positive result because the beginning of their season was DISASTROUSLY bad; many (including myself) had written them off after the first month of a six-month regular season. They ended up salvaging it, finding a fun new face of the franchise in one of their starting pitchers, Peyton Tolle, and ended up making the playoffs. Can't count it all as bad!
1
u/xcsnkzcpbn Delhi Capitals 2d ago
My friend also used to live in DC and that's why she used to be a Nationals fan 😅 Apparently it was easy to get tickets so she used to go to the stadium often.
1
u/ILikeRaisinsAMA USA 2d ago
Yeah, it took a hot second for the Nationals to build up a fan base, so tickets were cheap for quite a few years. It's a nice park though, great place to see a game, and DC is an amazing city to visit. Definitely still has a place in my heart - one of my favorite games ever took place at that park, Max Scherzer's 20 strike-out game, tying the major league record: https://youtu.be/4E6ZA1P-aiA?si=Lzidg9f8Je8Bljb0
2
u/i_usearchbtw Ireland 3d ago
As a mariners fan don't really care who wins. I mean one is stolen team other is fucking dogers so whatever.
2
u/ILikeRaisinsAMA USA 3d ago
Lol shouldn't there be a little solidarity between Mariners fans and Brewers fans? Seattle roots, neither team has won a series... i like the energy though lol
1
u/i_usearchbtw Ireland 3d ago
I wasn't born but rivalry use to really toxic back in days. We really hated each other. This one is a classic Fight . Recent fans might cheer for brewers though.not comparable but it's like cheering for okc imo.
1
u/ILikeRaisinsAMA USA 3d ago
Lol a bit of an extreme example but I totally get what you mean. Thanks for sharing!
2
u/A-British-Indian London Tyrrell's 3d ago
I was interested in the rules as it seemed to have some overlap and I know enough that I could watch a game. I have watched bits and could definitely see myself follow a game. I definitely got the impression that this is a game where the pitcher should succeed more often than the batter. I did appreciate the graphics telling you what type of pitch was delivered, because live I find it difficult to differentiate slider, fastball etc
Also I felt like there were loads of ads compared to what I was used to? Maybe because innings breaks happen so frequently but I feel like even in breaks in play in cricket they would often do analysis or look back instead of always showing ads. Possible I have just picked the wrong channel though
2
u/ILikeRaisinsAMA USA 3d ago
Nah there have been more ads these days compared to the past. They have mid-pitch ads, ads in-between at-bats, there are logos on jerseys, betting odds are shown on the screen... there are a lot of ads. Americans hate it too, but are practically powerless to stop it.
And yeah, I think the definitive strategical difference in baseball versus cricket is that baseball is considerably more pitcher favored compared to cricket; the likelihood of each pitched ball resulting in an out is much higher than the likelihood of each bowled ball resulting in a wicket taken in cricket. The things you can do with a baseball in terms of pitching it is truly crazy, makes it really hard to hit. Smaller bat too, lol
2
u/Stuff2511 4d ago
As a Canadian, the majority of my knowledge of the MLB comes from the Blue Jays' run last season. Fuck the Dodgers, let's go whoever they're facing
3
u/ILikeRaisinsAMA USA 3d ago
Totally understandable lol the Jays were RIGHT there. Great series though, one of the best ever - 7 great games!
4
u/DillyGoatGruff Harry Brook's Brian Cell 4d ago
Binged the whole of Silo the TV series over 2 weeks. It's quite good.
4
u/JokesFromTheCrease Harry Brook's Brian Cell 4d ago
Apple TV? I have to get the subscription.
3
u/warp-factor Hampshire - Vipers - WA 3d ago
There's a lot of good stuff on there to subscribe for a few months and binge through. Just of things I've watched - Silo, Dark Matter, Ted Lasso, For All Mankind (a bit less so the most recent season) and its spin off Star City, Pluribus, Severance, Widow's Bay - are all excellent.
And there's more I'm interested in but haven't got to yet.
5
8
u/JokesFromTheCrease Harry Brook's Brian Cell 4d ago edited 4d ago
There's only so much suspension of disbelief I can manage when I watch some movies. Case in point: The Love Hypothesis. Fine, he’s tall, he’s handsome, relatable. But tenured at 34 at Stanford and has his own office? Sorry buddy.
5
4
u/Extra-Swordfish-927 Harry Brook's Brian Cell 4d ago
Only like physical books but one of my friends convinced me to read e-books. Is he TA?
4
u/DillyGoatGruff Harry Brook's Brian Cell 4d ago
You nta
4
3
u/5missedcallsfromBCCI Delhi 4d ago
whats wrong in reading e books ?
People who take public transport for commuting between office and home do it all the time. Saves a lot of space. Atleast that's what I have observed when I travel.
6
u/Extra-Swordfish-927 Harry Brook's Brian Cell 4d ago
The last part in my comment was a joke but I prefer physical books
1
u/5missedcallsfromBCCI Delhi 4d ago
hehe its tough for me to judge when a user is sarcastic or not even though you wrote it in typical r / AITA question in last part
6
u/JokesFromTheCrease Harry Brook's Brian Cell 4d ago
Yes they’re TA I’d divorce them they seem toxic
6
2
u/TheCricDude 14h ago
Indian music composer Deva passed away today! Great loss to Indian music.. To create a separate path amidst the peak of Ilayaraja and AR Rahman itself is a massive achievement. 400 films 😲
Baasha, Arunachalam, Kushi (Tamil version), Amruthavarshini, Simhadriya Simha, Tholiprema, Master.. to name a few...
Amruthavarshini will probably be etched in the hearts of Kannada music lovers till eternity..
RIP sir. Your music stays forever. 🙏