Sporting Q&A
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Your support makes all the difference.Q. England were eliminated from the cricket World Cup on net run rate. How is this calculated?
A. Unlike the Duckworth-Lewis system, net run rate is actually quite simple to calculate. It is simply the difference between the runs per over scored by a team and their opponents. So if England had scored, say, 250 runs in 50 overs their run rate would be 5.00 runs per over. If their opponents replied with 225 in 50 overs their rate would be 4.50 runs per over. England's net run rate in this case would be +0.50 (5.00 -4.50) and their opponents would be -0.50 (4.50 -5.00).
ANDREW CURSTON
Leeds
Q. In athletics jumping events why do long-jumpers and high-jumpers take off using only one leg? It seems to me that a two-footed take-off would impart more power and enable greater distances and heights to be achieved.
A. The answer in last Sunday's edition may well be true for the long jump, but it is not the case in the high jump. A two-footed take off would certainly give greater heights, but would become a gymnastics feat rather jumping. Look at the heights obtained during tumbling in "floor" exercises. I was disqualified from my school sports because I could run up and dive over the winning height using a two-footed take-off (which did not amuse the games master).
DEREK HUTCHISON
Via e-mail
Answers please
Q. After the breathtaking conclusion to the South Africa v Australia World Cup semi-final, it strikes me that a tie in cricket is an extremely rare event. How many other international matches (either Test or one-day) have finished in such a fashion and have any ever had more significant consequences.
JAMES CRADDOCK
Skipton, Yorkshire
Q. The matter of the quickest to 1,000 runs in a cricket season has been discussed in some detail. But which bowler was the quickest to take 100 wickets in a season? My guess would be Alfred Percy "Tich" Freeman, who played for Kent in the 1920s and 1930s.
DONAL DONOVAN
Schull, Co Cork
Q. In the cricket World Cup, two first-round matches were played in Ireland and Holland, even though these countries were not represented in the tournament. Have any other sports had a country host an international event and yet that country did not compete in the event?
NEALE ROACH
Mellor, Lancashire?
Q. Is tennis unique as a professional sport in that it is played on so many different surfaces - grass, clay, cement, carpet etc? I remember football had artificial pitches, but now every professional club has reverted to grass.
ARCHIE McFADDEN
Edinburgh
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