A Googly Cricket Quiz
Knowledge of cricket won't help you much
06 June 2019
Q1: In cricket, scoring no runs is called getting a duck. This is because:
(a) Harold Duck of Hampshire was renowned for scoring no runs.
(b) A duck flying over a cricket ground is a sign of bad luck.
(c) A batsman who failed often had to "duck" to avoid things being thrown at him as he walked back.
(d) Duck used to mean "incompetent" in the same way that chicken now means "cowardly".
(e) The number nought is roughly the shape of a duck's egg.
Q2: Which of the following comedians is not a cricket fanatic?
(a) Lee Mack
(b) Mark Steel
(c) Michael McIntyre
(d) Frank Skinner
(e) Miles Jupp
Q3: What interrupted a cricket match between Lancashire and Derbyshire in June 1975 ?
(a) The ball went down a rabbit hole and the batsmen kept running until the umpires stopped the game.
(b) There was a blizzard and snow stopped play.
(c) The players fled the field to avoid a swarm of bees.
(d) A drunk supporter fell off the pavilion balcony and landed on a barbecue.
(e) The first ever streaker appeared at a cricket match.
Q4: Who (allegedly) was quoting the book What is a googly? when they said: “Cricket is to baseball as chess is to checkers”?
(a) Robin Williams
(b) John Paul Getty II
(c) Hilary Clinton
(d) Victoria Wood
(e) Bill Bryson
Q5: In the award winning 1987 film "Hope and Glory", what important cricket skill has the son learned by the time his father returns from the War?
(a) How to make the sandwiches
(b) How to judge an lbw
(c) How to catch the ball properly
(d) How to bowl a googly
(e) How to get green stains out of white trousers
Q6: Why was the first scheduled cricket match between a team from England and a team from France called off ?
(a) The England captain was murdered the evening before
(b) The French team was deemed "not gentlemanly enough" by the MCC
(c) The French team wanted to "boule" the ball rather than bowl it
(d) Five members of the French team were imprisoned by Napoleon
(e) The French Revolution started
Q7: Which singer revealed her love of cricket during an interview on BBC Radio's Test Match Special?
(a) Tina Turner
(b) KT Tunstall
(c) Madonna
(d) Lily Allen
(e) Katherine Jenkins
Q8: What notable thing happened to the first edition of What is a googly? in 1992?
(a) It was nominated for the Booker Prize.
(b) BBC cricket commentator Jonathan Agnew threw his copy in the bin.
(c) The British Prime Minister gave a copy to the US President.
(d) A copy of the book appeared on Coronation Street.
(e) The England selectors ordered eleven copies, so they could explain cricket to the England team.
Answers below
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ANSWERS
1. (e) A duck's egg
2. (a) Lee Mack
3. (b) Snow stopped play in Buxton.
4. (b) John Paul Getty II. Getty was a cricket fanatic, and in 1992 he bought ten copies of 'What is a googly?' for his friends. On page 20 the book says: 'comparing cricket to baseball is like comparing chess to draughts'. In 1993, Getty used this description in an interview, and the quote is now attributed to him.
5. (d) How to bowl a googly
6. (e) The French Revolution started
7. (d) Lily Allen loves cricket (as does her father, Keith)
8. (c) Cricket-loving Prime Minister John Major gave a copy of the book to baseball fan President George Bush (Snr) at Camp David in 1992.
Rate your score: 8 points Don Bradman
5-7 points Alastair Cook
2-4 points Keaton Jennings
<2 points Phil Tufnell