Calendars - Part 24

 Burscough Cricket Sports and Social Club Calendar 2014

While creating yesterday's post on the game of cricket, I found that the English (and Australian) love of naked calendars extends to cricket clubs.  Today's photos are from the 2014 calendar of the Burscough Cricket Sports and Social Club in England.

Rolling the pitch.  The pitch (the area between the wickets) is not dirt; it's covered with very short grass.  The pitch is rolled to keep it compacted.  This is important because the bowler (pitcher) may throw the ball so that it bounces on the pitch on its way to the batsman.  If the pitch gets wet, the ball may bounce very erratically as the pitch dries, becoming almost impossible to hit.  This is known as a "sticky wicket."

Enjoying a laugh on the sidelines.  Might as well, since a cricket game can go on for days.

We saw this photo yesterday of a batsman defending a wicket, with the wicket keeper ready to catch the ball.  I think the batsman is holding the bat for modesty in the calendar photo.  It doesn't look like a very effective position for hitting the ball.

The December calendar page shows club members enjoying a drink at the Rod Clayton Lounge.  They're dressed in holiday g-strings to preserve their modesty, although the g-string on the guy on the right is not so modest.  I think the reindeer's nose is part of the costume, not his own generous endowment (click to enlarge), but in either case, it might give a whole new meaning to "Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer."

This photo was on the club's Facebook page to promote the calendar.  Bottoms up!