BRS

Trying to find some flip tops so that I can use the bottles for some homebrew. Based only on their respective websites, they do not have flip-top Grolsch at Argonaut or Applejack. That information could always be wrong though. If you are sure you have seen them somewhere in Denver recently, let me know.

I am fairly new to test Cricket (The England-SA test last week was the first that I have followed from start to finish), and I have what is probably a fairly basic question, but I hope the answer will help me understand strategy a little bit better.

As I see it, there are, in theory, aside from bizarre acts of God or the ICC, four ways for a test to end (scores are hypothetical):

1) Team A bats first, scores x runs. Team B bats second, scores x-200 runs. Team B bats its second inning, scores less than 200 runs, all out, team A wins.

2) Team A bats first, scores x runs. Team B bats second, scores x-200 runs. Team B bats its second inning, scores 200+y runs, all out (or declare). Team A bats its second inning, scores y+1 runs, wins by a number of wickets.

3) The match is drawn

4) Team A bats first, scores X runs. Team B bats second, scores x-200 runs. Team B bats its second inning, scores 200+y runs. Team A bats its second inning, and fails to score y+1 runs, all out, team B wins.

(sorry for the variables there, but I think you can understand)

My question is this: how often does result four occur? Never? Rarely enough that it is remarkable? Or is it a regular enough occurrence that I should expect to see it happen one of these days? This is important, because it would let me know if a team would ever declare its second inning unless a draw was inevitable.

Hopefully that made sense. Helpful answers appreciated. Helpful does not include “Test cricket sux, watch 20/20” or “Cricket sux, watch Football.”

If you ask astronomers, the solstices are the first days of summer and winter. If you ask an average person, they fall about three weeks into summer and winter. If June 21 really was the middle of summer, we would be in fall by now (August 17). Is there some kind of Middle Engilsh that I am missing here? What digs?