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I do not think any of my followers is from Niue.
As of 2018, only 1,620 people lived in Niue.
Of them, 290 people are registered Rugby Union players.
They are also ranked 94th (India is 104th on FIFA rankings).
So there is little room for cricket (or any second sport).
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As of 2018, only 1,620 people lived in Niue.
Of them, 290 people are registered Rugby Union players.
They are also ranked 94th (India is 104th on FIFA rankings).
So there is little room for cricket (or any second sport).
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But there is cricket in Niue. In fact, cricket is part of the annual week-long October Festival.
But not quite cricket the way we know it.
To begin with, matches are usually inter-village, and often the entire village plays.
So they play forty-a-side.
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But not quite cricket the way we know it.
To begin with, matches are usually inter-village, and often the entire village plays.
So they play forty-a-side.
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All of them bat and field.
Does this make bowling sides out difficult? No, for running is compulsory if ball hits bat (like baseball).
Does this make run-scoring difficult? Not quite, for the ball may go anywhere. Literally anywhere.
Here is Tony Munro from the 2006 Wisden:
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Does this make bowling sides out difficult? No, for running is compulsory if ball hits bat (like baseball).
Does this make run-scoring difficult? Not quite, for the ball may go anywhere. Literally anywhere.
Here is Tony Munro from the 2006 Wisden:
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"The fielder, high in a coconut tree, throws the ball to one of his 39 teammates at ground level, desperate to prevent his opponent completing the maximum sixth run."
Nothing in that description sounds like the cricket, and yet somehow everything does.
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Nothing in that description sounds like the cricket, and yet somehow everything does.
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Munro's piece is fascinating, by the way.
The ball is made of rubber. The bat is triangular.
The sport may be mistaken for kilikiti (sounds like cricket because it is derived from cricket). But no, this is not kilikiti.
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The ball is made of rubber. The bat is triangular.
The sport may be mistaken for kilikiti (sounds like cricket because it is derived from cricket). But no, this is not kilikiti.
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(Some day I shall do a long thread on kilikiti. It is a fascinating sport.)
But none of the above is the most astonishing aspect of Niuean cricket.
Suppose something low-probability happens. An incredible catch. Several ducks in a row. Anything.
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But none of the above is the most astonishing aspect of Niuean cricket.
Suppose something low-probability happens. An incredible catch. Several ducks in a row. Anything.
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One of the teams is obviously at the receiving end.
They call timeout under such circumstances and hold a conference – for such incidents can only mean ill omen brought upon by sins.
The players are then subjected to interrogation.
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They call timeout under such circumstances and hold a conference – for such incidents can only mean ill omen brought upon by sins.
The players are then subjected to interrogation.
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Cricketers are asked, for example, whether they have committed theft. Or adultery with the wife of a teammate.
Play does not resume until someone confesses and pays a fine.
I somehow cannot see ICC adopting this method.
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Play does not resume until someone confesses and pays a fine.
I somehow cannot see ICC adopting this method.
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All this was in 2006. Things might have changed since then.
In 2015, there was a call for reviving Niuean cricket.
They promised ten village teams with 25 members in each squad, which would have taken the count close to the rugby.
In 2015, there was a call for reviving Niuean cricket.
They promised ten village teams with 25 members in each squad, which would have taken the count close to the rugby.
>> sounds like *cricket
