A Quick Single

On another poetry list, tatjanalukic (from Canberra) asked -
> andrew, is there any way to explain very briefly, in two lines,
and in the best tradition of your clear and to the point poems:

what are all these man in fact doing when they play cricket?
my basketball-soccer-volleyball-handball mind just can't get it.
what is this all about? <

So I wrote 'a quick single'. (Chris Mansell picked up on it being a six-ball over.)


Cricket

1
I like a dark mystery
in the sun for five days

2
there is a book of rules
and lots of people have read it

3
my friends and I
don't talk about each other
but about the men out in the centre
who we attribute various character faults to

4
it has the wonder of chess
with a touch more athleticism

5
australia is good at it
and we beat the poms and kiwis
on a regular basis

what more could you ask?

6
once upon a time
i could hurtle down balls
at boys who were bullies
in the playground but
were hopeless batsmen