The Shires of Somery - Sports

SPORTS

STUMPWICKET ~ FOOTBALL ~ HOCKEY ~ ICE HOCKEY
WINTER SPORTS ~ TENNIS ~ GOLF ~ VEX SUMMER GAMES 301


STUMPWICKET

The national sport of Somery is called stumpwicket, commonly known as stumps. The game is played on a oval grass field of no fixed size (usually about 150x120yds) in whose centre there is 22 yds long and 10ft wide pitch, with a "wicket" (three wooden stumps, 28 in high, with two wooden bails on the top) at each end. Two teams of 11 players each alternate as bowling and batting team.

The aim of the bowling team, of which the main part is spread over the field, is, by letting a player, called the bowler, throw the ball from one end of the pitch to the other for the main purpose of knocking down the wicket, to dismiss 10 of the eleven players of the batting team. This can be done in various ways. One way is to hit the wicket with the ball. This is called "bowled". The wicket is guarded by one of the batsmen, whose job it is to stop the ball from knocking it down, and to change places with the batsman standing at the other wicket as many times as possible, while the ball is in play. Another way is for one of the players in the field to catch a ball struck by a batsman before it touches the ground. This is called caught. A third way is for the wicket keeper (the player of the bowling team who stands guard by the wicket) to knock the wicket down while holding the ball in his hand, while the batsmen are still running between wickets. This is called run out. A fourth way, and a very difficult thing for the umpire to judge, is leg-before-wicket, mostly abbreviated as l.b.w. If a ball thrown by the bowler, without hitting the bat, hits the batsman on his body is such a way that the ball would otherwise have hit the wicket, he is out l.b.w.

The aim of the batting team is for the batsmen to change places as many times as possible while the ball is in play. Each run (one switch) gives 1 point. If the ball makes it outside the marked boundary of the field, the batting team scores 4 points. If it does so without touching the ground inside the boundary, they score 6 points.

An innings lasts for 50 overs, one over being 6 bowled balls. Each team has one innings of batting. Each bowler cannot bowl more than 10 overs. Once the batting team in the second innings has reached their target, getting more runs than the other team did in the first innings, they win the game and the match is over. If they do not reach that target within the 50 overs, they have lost the game.

The biggest tournament in the country is The Golden Wicket.


FOOTBALL

Somery took part in the Vexillium Cup 300, for the first time participating in an international football championship. Read more on the Somery Shiffles Vexcup page and the team's official homepage.

There is also an Allsomerish League.


HOCKEY

Hockey is a popular sport in the Shires, with several teams competing in the All Shire Hockey League.

UNDER CONTRUCTION!!


ICE HOCKEY

Ice hockey is not that big a sport in the Shires. Most teams in the league are in the Angel Mountains area.

UNDER CONTRUCTION!!


WINTER SPORTS

Winter sports in Somery is mainly concentrated to the Lathes Troy region in the southeast and the higher regions of the Rimn Hills, the only parts of the country that get a real winter season. The Somerish wintersports team has taken part in the first Winter Vexgames in Sanx 301 and will take part in the 2nd ones in Seepaeyguey 302.


TENNIS

The Airtree Mid Laikyard Tennis Courts, in Airtree ME, is the heart of Somerish Tennis, and also the scene for the Somerish Open, for men and women. This January (302) the first Somerish Open for men was played, and won by Iturro Trovenho of Eastern Delgamia. The official report from the final on January 11, 302, and the final results can be seen below.

AIRTREE, Somery (MWE) -- Iturri Trovenho walks away from the court at Airtree today with 75,000 dollars. He became the first man to win the IMC series title.
"It was a close match" Trovenho said, "But when Yannick double-faulted the first tiebreak, I knew I was going to win."
The hard-luck Yannick ven de Kendervaal, fell 7-6 (7-5), 6-3 to Trovenho in the IMC Somerish Open finals. "His volley was unbelievable. His backhand volley, so long, so strong, and I beat one lob and I think was out or very close to the line" Kendervaal said. "I tried to come back in the second set but I kept making mistakes." At 5-5 in the tiebreak, Kendervaal double-faulted. Then he missed a backhand volley that decided the set. Trovenho stretched the run to 10 consecutive points to mount a 2-0 second-set lead. Trovenho took the set with a 6-3 victory. Kendervaal couldn't convert any of his seven break points today, four of them in the second set. “Iturri came up with great shots when he needed them,” he said.
The next IMC event will be the Territories Cup at Douglas on Feburary 9th. The top ten players of the IMC tour are as follows:

1st Iturri Trovenho (Eastern Delgamia) 50pts
2nd Yannick ven de Kendervaal (Westria) 35pts
3rd Yitzak Valensi (Whitlam) 25pts
3rd Quincy Poddle (Davenport) 25pts
4th Carlos Miguel Rattenpfeiffer (Deucoland) 12pts
4th Tonnes Granqvist (Vingarmark) 12pts
4th Fred Fielder (Christiana) 12pts
4th Xaver Bournissen (Sanx) 12pts
5th Son Lunderville (Armatirion) 5pts
5th Marin Lacoumenhe (Eastern Delgamia) 5pts

Somery's Ather Shere was eliminated in the quarterfinals by Trovenho himself, 7-5, 6-4, while Shimmy Canather did not quite reach that far, defeated by Hannes Kleyn in the eighth, 7-6, 7-5.


GOLF

Golf is a popular sport in Somery, and there are several golf courses all over the country. The biggest event is the Badger Bowl International Golf Mastership, played at the Dillish Avonshire Golf Grounds, which some consider the finest golf course in the country.
Among the best Somerish golfplayers, four so far have had some success on the international scene, namely Emerill Shonaugh, Sedgmer Coswyn, Shon Queal and Laird Rosebridge.