How to Play Cricket: Too much info

G'day mate!

I was told that the proper way to say that was to say it without moving your lips.  LOL!  Anyway,  that's what players say when they meet to play Cricket!

There's a cricket field in tiny Cambewarra village.  There's the village shop/post office, a community (primary) school with 3 - 4 teachers, a church, and a tennis court.  That's it.  But there's a big nicely kept cricket field. Apparently the players don't all live near here.  They have to drive in.

A cricket match is played between 2 teams of 11 players.  Most of the action occurs on the pitch which is a strip in the middle of the field about 20 meters long.  On either end are 3 upright sticks/stumps topped by 2 sticks/bails called wickets behind which stands the wicketkeeper.  Batsmen with protective leg padding stand in front of the wickets.  The bowler throws the ball at one of the batsmen, the striker.  If the striker hits the ball, he runs, with the bat, towards the other wicket while his team mate runs towards his set.   If they both make it free and clear, they will have scored a run.  A batsman continues to bat until he is "dismissed" or out.  Ten of the 11 team mates bats before the side retires and the fielding team is up to bat.

The bat (about 1 meter long) consists of a flat blade (100 mm wide) with a cylindrical handle.  The ball is about 225 mm (9" circumference) of hard leather and cork and should weigh about 160 grams (5.5 ounces)  Batsmen and wicketkeepers wear pads to protect themselves from the ball which can be thrown at speeds up to 140 kmh (90 mph).  Only the keeper has gloves.

So those are the basics.  The very abbreviated basics.  There are a whole bunch of ways a batsman can be dismissed.  And a bowler only bowls 6 balls (an over) at a time.  Then another bowler takes over on the other end.  That's why there is a batsman on each end.  The fielders including the keeper and the umpires change ends each time.  Confused yet?

 So, how can the batsman  get dismissed?  The simplest way for us to understand is for a fly ball to be caught. Then there are ways involving the wicket.  One of the striker's primary goals is to prevent the ball from hitting the wicket.  If the bowled ball hits the wicket  and at least one of the bails falls off or if the batsman somehow knocks a bail off while at bat or after hitting the ball, or if he uses his legs to block the ball from hitting the wicket (as judged by the ump), the batsman is dismissed.  If the fielding team gets the ball to one of the wickets and tags it before the running batsman does, that's an out.  The batsman is also out if the wicketkeeper tags the wicket with the ball after the batsman has missed the bowled ball.  There are a bunch of other ways to get dismissed but they're less usual.

 Besides the 2 umps, there's usually a scorekeeper that keeps track of the overs ( 6 balls thrown by the bowler) and the runs.  I think the scorekeeper is kept pretty busy because up to 6 runs can be earned each time the ball is hit.  The batsmen have to touch the ground (crease) near the wicket with his body or the bat (the striker keeps the bat as he runs) to earn a run.  They can run as long as they think they can beat the ball back to a wicket and not get thrown out.   If the ball reaches the field boundary on a bounce, 4 runs are scored.  If the ball clears the boundary without touching the ground, 6 runs are scored.  The batsmen don't have to run for these points.

In Australia, a team's score is reported in terms of the number of batsmen that have been dismissed and  the number of runs scored. For example, if five batsmen are out and the team has scored 224 runs, they are said to have scored "five for 224" or 5/224. When 10 of the 11 members of the batting team is dismissed, their innings is over and the other team's innings begins.  Innings is singular and plural.  Depending on the type of match, each team might have one or two innings.  Other game lengths depend on the number of overs, weather, or time.

Players have to abide by Spirit of the Game.  The standard of sportsmanship has been so high that the phrase "it's just not cricket" is still used to describe any unfair or underhanded behavior. In the last few decades, cricket has become increasingly fast-paced and competitive.   Players are expected to abide by the umpires' rulings without argument and for the most part, they do.

It seems confusing and complicated to me.  Especially keeping track of the overs and the runs.  But the game's been widely played for a long time and there are lots of fanatics. I wouldn't mind actually watching and trying to understand the game.  At least once.

That's cricket!
Cyn

Update:  I've since watched several cricket games, including the Ashes Test matches.  What a shock I got when I saw the first ball bowled.  It bounced!!!  Nowhere on the several web sites where I researched about cricket did it mention that the ball could bounce!  I was wondering what the big deal was since American baseball features fast pitches too.  Ah.... Well, the fact that the ball can bounce changes the whole ball game.  Who knows where that ball will bounce.  That's the reason for the big pads on the batsmen's legs.  It's becoming more clear.  Well, as clear as it can be to an American novice.  Cheers!  Cyn