Overs and Innings, Silly Mid Off and Silly Mid On - A Guide to the Terms of Cricket

What is an Over?

An over is six balls bowled from one end of a cricket pitch excluding wide balls and no balls.

After an over, called by the Umpire, a different bowler comes online to bowl from the opposite end of the pitch - the batsmen however remain in their positions. Bowlers may not bowl successive overs, but may alternate.  In limited overs cricket, bowlers may be deployed for a maximum percentage of overs e.g. no more than 20% of balls per innings.

What is an innings?

An innings is a division of a match where one side takes turn to bat. First class fixtures have up to four innings, with each team getting to bat twice.

Other technical terms: a maiden over is one in which no runs are scored. Silly mid off and silly mid on are positions to the left and the right of the bowler respectively. The furthest point forward facing the bowler (or equivalently, directly behind the wicket keeper) is the Long Stop, and the furthest point behind is the Straight Hit. The extreme left of the bowler is the Deep Cover and the extreme right is the Deep Midwicket.

Air Hockey

Air Hockey is a two player where both sides try to push the puck into the opponent's goal. It is a played on a special low friction surface.  Its origins are in America in the early 1970s.

It was invented by employees of Brunswick Billiards.

Manufacturers include TekScore and Kostkowice-based Wik.

Ride Along 2 (2016)

Ice Cube and Kevin Hart are back for a bust up in Miami. The film starts with Finna Get Loose ends with KRS-ONE's Sound of Da Police. The film is directed by Los Angeles-born Tim Story.

Production houses involved include Santa Monica based Cube Vision and Universal Pictures.

Matt Manfredi and Phil Hay were involved in the writing for the film.

Zoolander 2 (2016)

Ben Stiller comes back as Derek Zoolander (a.k.a. Erek Toolander) and Owen Wilson returns as Hansel up against the wily Mugatu (played by Will Ferrell). Billy Zane plays himself.

Where do Kettlebells come from?

Kettlebells were developed in Russia in the 1700s for weighing crops.

Search 1,000 Years of History

The National Archives provides a search engine for one thousand years of history.

Solid State Physics - What is it?

Solid state physics is exactly what the name says, it's the study of the physics (physical properties) of solids and how they emanate from properties at the atomic level.

In other words, it is about how the micro impacts the macro.

Practically speaking, solid state physics is the theoretic basis of the very practical science of Materials. Materials science has led to the development, for example, of composite materials.

Many universities are pursuing research into solid state physics. Examples include Warwick University which has a research team focusing on ssNMR (solid state nuclear magnetic resonance).

Solid state physics aside, it is extraordinarily beneficial to understand physics in general to understand:

a) how the world works
b) understand the future of science