Now - I'm British -- my dad was an army officer and cricket was HUGE for him -- I remember having a small black and white tv when I was about 8 and my dad pinning blankets up at the window to make the room dark enough to see the images.........he was NOT to be disturbed during test matches.

I remember taking a cricket ball in the eye when I was about 4 - can still feel it - ouch.......

After years of living in the US my (American) husband and I returned to England for five years -- he felt that he really ought to understand the game and really tried. He took books out of the library that assumed you understood the basic rules....he didn't. Unfortunately, neither did I - some problem with genetics perhaps?????