Cricket & Hurling

Field Games

Cricket

Friday evening on the Piper's Circle

Hands-On cricket with player Tom Melville

You have two sides, one out in the field and one in. Each man that's in the side that's in goes out, and when he's out he comes in and the next man goes in until he's out. When they are all out, the side that's out comes in and the side that's been in goes out and tries to get those coming in, out. Sometimes you get men still in and not out.

When a man goes out to go in, the men who are out try to get him out, and when he is out he goes in and the next man in goes out and goes in. There are two men called umpires who stay all out all the time and they decide when the men who are in are out.

When both sides have been in and all the men have out, and both sides have been out twice after all the men have been in, including those who are not out, that is the end of the game! Tom will teach you the ins and outs.

Hurling

Saturday evening on the Piper's Circle

Hands-On hurling with the Michigan Hurling Club

Hurling, a lightning-fast Irish sport, is like a chaotic ballet of athleticism and aggression, where players wield sticks called hurleys to smack a hard ball (the sliotar) around a field, aiming for either a goalpost or the crossbar above it. It's a game of near-constant motion, with players sprinting, leaping, and battling for possession, all while dodging flying sliotars and the occasional wild swing of a hurley.

Imagine a field game where the players are simultaneously playing hockey, baseball, and a bit of rugby, all while wielding what looks like a giant, wooden spatula. That's essentially hurling.

The Michigan Hurling Club will teach you the basics and let you try your hand at hitting the sliotar with the hurley.