A Musical Cricket Match Trivia Quiz

Answer: Drive

"Drive" was a successful single taken from the REM album "Automatic for the People". The album reached number one in Britain in 1992 but "Drive" only reached number eleven.
In cricket the drive is a forcing shot usually played off the front foot. Most players can manage to play a reasonable off-drive but an on-drive requires a higher level of skill (it was certainly beyond my rather limited batting aspirations).
The sweep is a cross-batted shot in which the batsman attempts to hit the ball square or behind square on the onside.
A swipe is not a recognised shot but a general swish of the bat in the direction of the ball.
A forward defensive is exactly as it sounds; a purely defensive stroke played off the front foot.

Answer: Hook

Ray Sawyer was a founding member of Dr Hook (and The Medicine Show). He shared vocal duties with Dennis Locorriere. "When You're in Love with a Beautiful Woman" was a number one hit for the group in 1979. Ray lost the use of his right eye following a car accident in 1967; his black eye-patch became a recognisable trademark for him.
A hook is a shot played to a short-pitched delivery in which the batsman plays the ball from around shoulder height square or behind square on the onside.
The pull, the glance and the cut are three different kinds of cricket shot.

Answer: Meat Loaf

Meat Loaf's multi-million selling album "Bat out of Hell" surprisingly only made it to number nine when first released in 1978. The single of the same name fared slightly worse getting to number fifteen. "Two Out of Three Ain't Bad" was a minor hit for the larger than life entertainer.
Fish, whose real name is Derek Dick, was the lead singer with Marillion.
Sting's real name is Gordon Sumner.
No batsman likes to score a duck; it means they are out without getting any runs.

Answer: The Chain

Well who remembers learning these imperial measurements?

Twelve inches in a foot,
Three feet in a yard,
Twenty-two yards in a chain,
Ten chains in a furlong,
Eight furlongs in a mile.

Unfortunately I am old enough to still remember them. A cricket pitch is exactly twenty-two yards (or one chain) from wicket to wicket. Generations of groundstaff have dragged a measured chain out to the middle when preparing a pitch although these days more hi-tech equipment is usually employed.
"The Chain" by Fleetwood Mac was never released as a single in the UK but is a popular track from the hugely successful 1977 "Rumours" album.

Answer: Roy Orbison

In cricket the play changes ends each time a bowler has bowled six balls; this is called an over. The umpire keeps count of the number of deliveries the bowler bowls and after the sixth ball will call "over". Several umpires have their own methods of calling over, so I guess Roy Orbison might well have called out "It's Over", the title of his 1964 number one hit single if he were umpiring. Ray Charles and Stevie Wonder are both famous blind musicians. Anyone who thinks that a blind person could not be a cricket umpire has never played cricket in the Birmingham and District Premier Cricket League where most of the umpires seem to be visually impaired (only joking fellas).

Answer: Third man

"The Third Man" was a 1950 Academy Award-winning movie based on a book by Graham Greene. The theme tune to the movie became known as "The Harry Lime Theme" and was an international hit.
In cricket, third man is an area behind square on the offside: it is a defensive tactic to position a fielder there as his job is to save runs.

Answer: Chas and Dave

In cricket a rabbit is a batsman who doesn't face fast bowling too well (the reference is to that of a rabbit caught in the glare of a vehicle's headlights and seemingly unable to move out of the way). To call a batsman a rabbit is mildly derogatory. Sledging occurs in most forms of cricket from park games to the highest level; it is often meant to be humorous but sometimes can be very ribald. The basic idea is to interrupt the batsman's concentration.
"Rabbit" was a number eight hit for Chas and Dave in 1980. The pair and their band were from the East End of London and many of their lyrics contain examples of cockney rhyming slang. The song was about a girl who talked too much; 'rabbit' is a shortened form of 'rabbit and pork', rhyming slang for talk.
Sam and Dave were a 'sixties soul duo; their best known song is probably "Soul Man".
Simon and Garfunkel were a hugely influential folk duo who had many single and album hits including "Bridge over Troubled Water" which hit number one in the album charts on both sides of the Atlantic.
Peter and Gordon had a number of hits in the 'sixties including a number one with the Lennon/McCartney song "A World Without Love".

Answer: Bruce Dickinson

Bruce Dickinson is lead singer with metal band Iron Maiden. The band took their name from a medieval torture device but in cricket a maiden is an over from which no runs have been scored. Bruce is a very good sportsmen and is a keen fencer.
"Can I Play with Madness?" was a number three hit for Iron Maiden in 1988. Madness are a good-time ska band from London who chalked up a string of hits mostly in the early 'eighties, members have included Daniel Woodgate, Chas Smash and frontman Suggs (Graham McPherson).
Ozzy Osborne is famous for being lead singer with Black Sabbath and for an association with bats, but not of the cricket kind!
Robert Plant was lead singer with Led Zeppelin and Ian Gillan has fronted several bands including Deep Purple.

Answer: Sandy Posey

A single in cricket is one run; most singles are taken by the batsmen when the ball has only been hit a short way. There is always a danger of being run-out so running singles relies on good co-operation and communication between the two batters.
Sandy Posey's biggest hit in the UK was "Single Girl" reaching number fifteen in 1967.
Sandy Denny was a solo folk singer who first came to wider public appreciation singing with folk-rock pioneers Fairport Convention. Sandy sadly died in 1978, a tragic loss to music.
Sandy Cash is an American folk singer born in Detroit.
Sandie Shaw had many hits in the 'sixties including a number one (and Eurovision winner) with "Puppet on a String".

Answer: The Edge

David Evans is probably better known as 'The Edge', the guitarist with Irish rock band U2. There is much speculation about how David acquired his nickname: some say it is because of his habit of standing close to the edge of buildings, and others claim it is a reference to his angular features.

The truth is now out: he is called 'The Edge' because of his inability to use a cricket bat correctly. You heard it here first! To hit the ball with the edge of a bat often means a batsman will be caught out behind the wicket by one of the close fielders.

The bowler for his part is trying to deceive the batsman into giving an edge.

Answer: Howzat

Sherbet had their only UK hit record with "Howzat" in 1976, the song reached number four. It is probably the only song here with a direct cricket reference as 'howzat' (a contraction of 'how is that') is what bowlers usually shout when appealing for a batsman to be given out.
The song was about a man who finds his girl is cheating on him.

Answer: John Lennon and Paul McCartney

The lyrics are taken from The Beatles hit "Hello, Goodbye" originally credited to Lennon/McCartney but now credited just to Paul.
Calling between batsmen is always fraught with danger. The basic premise is that the batsman facing the bowling calls for runs unless the ball is hit behind square when the non-striker is supposed to call. "Yes... No" is the classic formula for one batsman to be run-out by the fielding team.
Mick Jagger is a huge cricket fan and tries to watch cricket whenever he is in the UK, not joking this time, he really is.
Trent Bridge is an international cricket venue in Nottingham, unfortunately songwriter Jackie Trent never married a Mr Bridge.

Answer: Des O'Connor

Des O'Connor's first UK hit was "Careless Hands" back in 1967.
The greatest gift that Ken Dodd possessed in 1964 was "Happiness", and going back to the hopeless fielding link he claimed in 1972 that the ball was "Just Out of Reach of My Two Empty Arms".
Val Doonican recorded "Elusive Century" in 1966 but the title was later changed to "Elusive Butterfly".
Australian Rolf Harris had a string of hits in the 'sixties and 'seventies including "Two Little Boys" who each had a wooden bat. Who can forget Rolf's "Jake The Peg" (with his extra leg) who didn't get to play cricket but was actually used as a wicket, poor chap?

Answer: Jimmy Jones

Jimmy Jones had a number one hit with "Good Timin'" back in 1960 it was a follow-up to "Handyman" which was also a number one.
Jo Jo Gunne had their only hit "Run, Run, Run" in 1972. It sounds more like a frantic single being run than a flurry of expertly timed shots.
Bee Gee Maurice Gibb always claimed that it was a "Run to Me" if the umpire signalled a bye (a run when the batsman has missed the ball).
Saul Hudson does not have "Good Timin'" as his nickname reveals; he is perhaps better known as Guns and Roses and Velvet Revolver guitarist 'Slash'.

Answer: 10cc

10cc's song about an incident-packed trip to Jamaica reached top-spot in Britain in the Summer of 1978.
Buddy Holly was a keen cricket fan and wanted to call his backing band The Cricketers but aware of Americans' unforgiveable ignorance of the game decided to shorten it to The Crickets. Buddy Holly's 1960 hit "Learning The Game" was about his attempts to become a cricket umpire (and if you believe any of that...).
A hat-trick in cricket is when a bowler takes a wicket with each of three successive balls; it is a great achievement at any level of the game. The Canadian band Men Without Hats shortened their name for much the same reasons that Buddy Holly did; their big hit "Safety Dance" was about the antics of a batsman after being hit in 'the box'.
I believe T Rex's song "Ride a White Swan" was originally entitled "Score a Golden Duck" after Marc Bolan's inability to score any runs (a golden duck is when a batsman is out first ball).