What is Cricket?!

Written and pictorial records of cricket may go back to the Plantagenet period. The firmest pictorial evidence is an illustration of a man demonstrating a stroke with a stump to a boy, holding a straight club and a ball, in a Decretal of Pope Gregory IX that was illuminated in England. In 1844, Canada played the United States. Yet, 150 years later, the game still remains an enigma to most Americans. However, after Canada’s impressive performance in the past World Cup and with the next World Cup to be hosted in the Caribbean in 2007 (with a distinct possibility that a few matched will be played in Los Angeles), cricket has managed to evoke a certain curiosity among the North American populace.

The second most popular game in the world (behind soccer) has over hundred countries as affiliates but only ten (United Kingdom, Australia, India, West Indies, Pakistan, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh & New Zealand.) are considered worthy enough to compete in the elite five day test championships. Fourteen teams vie for World Cup, held every four years. (Ten permanent members in addition to four selected from the pool of the affiliate members by a knockout competition.)

I have attempted to put together a basic description of the game for those that believe cricket refers to an insect. The following refers to the One Day game, which is the simpler and shorter version of the game. A cricket field is a roughly elliptical field of flat grass, ranging in size from about 90 to 150 meters (100-160 yards) across, bounded by an obvious fence or other marker. At the center of the cricket field is a rectangular area, called the "pitch", which is 22 yards (20.12 m) long and 10 feet (3.04 m) wide. At each end of the pitch, 22 yards apart, are placed two wooden "wickets", 9 inches (22.86 cm) wide and 28 inches (71.1 cm) above the ground, each having three "stumps" and two "bails". Four feet (1.22 m) in front of each wicket (that is, in the direction of the other wicket), a line called the "popping crease" is marked across the pitch.


A game is played between two teams, with eleven players each. Two batsmen are on the field at the same time during play, one at each wicket. The cricket bat is paddle shaped, with a ridge on the back. This allows the batter in cricket to aim his hits more accurately than in baseball, and even angling the face of the bat for deflection hits to either side.All eleven members of the opposition team are also on the field. Although two batsmen are on the field at the same time, only one of them is batting at a given time. He stands in front of his wicket and receives the ball from the bowler (pitcher) at the other end of the pitch.

The cricket ball is made of leather with a wrapped cork center and weighs about 5-3/4 ounces. The cricket pitcher (bowler) can get varying degrees of movement in the air, such as shallower or deeper curves or sliders by changing the angle of the seam in his hand. The bowler is required to "bowl" the ball, not throw it, which means that his elbow is not allowed to straighten just before he releases the ball. Most bowlers take a "run-up", a running start before delivering the ball; when the bowler releases the ball, his front foot cannot land completely in front of the popping crease at his end of the pitch; some part of the foot must be behind this line. Cricket is scored in runs. A "run" is complete when a batsman, reaches from one popping crease to another. More than one run is allowed, as long as each batsman makes his ground before turning for the next run. A hit that reaches the fence scores four runs while a hit that flies over the fence is a six, scoring 6 runs. A batsman can continue to bat as long as he doesn’t get out. He can get out in any of the following ways [there are others but these are the four most common]:

  • Any of the three "wickets" are hit by the bowler.[Bowled]
  • The batsman uses a body part other than his bat, to deliberately stop the ball from hitting the wicket [Leg before wicket/Handle the ball]
  • The ball hits the "wicket" while the batsmen are completing the "run" and are not inside the pooping crease. [Run Out]
  • They get caught by any of the 11 fielders, after the batsman hits the ball and before the ball touches the ground. [Caught]
The match goes on until there have been 300 pitches (50 overs) or ten outs. Each bowler can bowl no more than 10 overs. Neither can they bowl one over after another. Thus after six balls bowler #2 takes over. The two pitchers keep alternating like this, until one or both of them are relieved. Now the team, which has been fielding, gets its chance to bat. Say the team batting first scored 300 runs. If the team batting second scores only 200 runs in its 50 overs, it has lost by 100 runs. BUT, if it reaches 301 runs for (say) only 6outswithin its allotted 50 overs, it wins by 4 "wickets" (meaning, the number of outs it had left when it passed the first team's score). If both sides score identical number of runs, the match is called a "tie."


 

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