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6d - I'm not a chemistry expert but Chambers says that both the answer and "caustic" can mean 'corrosive' so it seems OK (good) 😉

grum, I believe the defn. in 6 is correct, see https://tinyurl.com/yab5w86m

Ah, got the wrong cricketer! Thanks

Oh okay then. Thanks. I've always thought it was what you called a corrosive substance with higher pH.

Thanks, Brendan. That makes a lot of sense..

It often happens in baseball (details omitted). I no longer follow the sport, but since my childhood a selfish player was often said to "be able to calculate his batting average to three decimal places while running from home plate to first base."

Barry Bonds (home run record holder and infamous PED user) was long referred to as "Stat Man". 🤣

Thanks Geeker,

I was unaware of the parallel between the two sports but, now you mention it, I see it.

I remember, years ago, watching the NY Yankees in either a play off game or the World Series itself, and Paul O' Neill came to the plate needing to get runners on base. After his second strike it looked like a lost cause - he then proceeded to hit foul ball after foul ball, seriously, I think it was in the double figures, until the 3d "ball" was finally signalled and he proceeded to First - fulfilling his mission.

Some years later I was watching an interview with either Joe Torre or the NYY owner, and he described it as one of the greatest 'at bats' he's ever seen.

Brendan, I remember that. It was during the Yankees' glory years when I was a fan.

Another case is when a right-handed hitter can advance a runner from second to third base by "going the other way" and hitting the ball in the direction of the second baseman or right field. Selfish players don't like doing that, as it often means making an out.

"... when I was a fan" - not anymore?

I've given up paying attention to US pro sports. I stopped watching TV in 2010, and watching sport on TV (indeed, watching TV in general) turned out to be easy to drop.

My big sport was hockey, which I quit playing just before the turn of the century. That led to watching less of the NHL, and a couple of player strikes resulting in cancelled seasons led to the realization that watching was not essential.

Baseball and US grid football are too time-consuming with little action. Games can easily take four hours with innumerable mind-numbing advertisements.

If I was to take up watching a sport it'd be big-time Euro football: continuous flow, no commercial interruptions, game over within two hours. But I lack the background and understanding of the sport.

Geezer,

I didn't know you were a hockey player!

My ex partner is from Montreal and so when I was over there I used to watch a lot of it (although, truth be told, I could never keep up with the puck). The players I remember most are Pavel Bure, Christian Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr - even a newbie like me could appreciate their skills:-)