International Challenge: Explain Cricket

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Matthew Schenker

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Jan 15, 2007
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All Right Folks,
Since this forum is quite international in nature, I would like to give our friends in the non-American parts of the world a unique opportunity to rise to a challenge.

The other day, I was reading a book about Cricket.  No, not the insect that frequents our back yards -- the game played in many places around the world.  I read the description of the game ever so closely, but still could not understand what was going on.

I began thinking...who could I call on to help me understand this game?  Then it hit me!  My beloved Festool forum, where else!

So, can anyone here explain the game of Cricket?  Not just the rules, but the sensation.  In the process, you will be illuminating American minds!  Of course, if there are Americans here who can explain the game, that would be nice as well.

Cheers,
Matthew
 
hehehehe...where to start on this.

The idea of cricket is you have a pair of batsman vs the opposing team. The opposing team has several people who are "bowlers" ( pitchers for everyone in the US ) Each bowler has 6 goes before the next one can be used ( called an "over". As there are two batsmen the bat from opposite ends of the wicket( this is the putting green type area in the centre) The wicket has two areas where the batsman stand. At the end of each area is the stumps. The stumps are 3 wooden poles taped into the ground with 2 "bails" across the 3. Think of it as 3 dowels with 2 dowels balanced on the top.

If the batsman hit the ball, they can choose to run to the opposite end. They can continue to run back and forth as many times as possible as long as the opposing team aren't in a position the get them out. A batsman can be "out" be one of three methods. 1) The ball is hit into the air and is caught 2) The bowler beats the batsman with speed and hits the stumps knocking off the bails 3) The batsman is running between ends and the opposing team throws the ball at the stumps and hits them before the batsman reached the safe line. If the batsman is out he is then replaced with the next member of the team.

The batting side continue to play until either 1) the game has a limit of overs 2) No more batsmen are left ( you have to have 2) The opposing side then takes over and repeat all the above.

Hope that explains it a bit more
 
Cricket is like me, very simple. The following was told to me many years ago and I tell it to all of my friends from NA when they come over to visit.

Cricket.

1.    There are two sides, one out in the field the other one in. Each man
that's in the side that's in goes out, and when he's out he comes in and the
next man goes in until he's out. When they are all out, the side that's out
comes in and the side that's been in goes out and tries to get those coming
in, out. Sometimes you get men still in and not out.

2.    When a man goes out to go in, the men who are out try to get him out, and
when he is out he goes in and the next man in goes out and goes in. There
are two men called umpires who stay out all the time and they decide when
the men who are in are out. When both sides have been in and all the men
have been out, and both sides have been out twice after all the men have
been in, including those who are not out, that is the end of the game.

You see there's nothing difficult or strange about Cricket and I hope this has covered all the bases.

Excellent answer Neoshed!
 
Have you read any Douglas Adams, Matthew? ;D

I haven't gone to any Cricket matches yet, but they're played in the same places Footy is here. Now that the Footy season is over (Geelong Cats take the premiership for the first time in over 40 years!), Cricket is the summer sport.
 
Llap

I think your answer was better though.

Eli,

What place was Essendon at. They never show it around here.
 
Sounds like American politics.  Of course, in American politics, you're not really out if you can convince everyone that you're back in!  And sometimes when your out, you still have a toe in.  If you have enough toe in, that's can be really dangerous.  Sort of like a car, except that it affects more people.  And if everyone thinks you're out, but you're really in, then you've broken the rules.  And therein is the source of the old adage, "That's not Cricket!" 

Clear now?

Dan.

Llap Goch said:
Cricket is like me, very simple. The following was told to me many years ago and I tell it to all of my friends from NA when they come over to visit.

Cricket.

1.     There are two sides, one out in the field the other one in. Each man
that's in the side that's in goes out, and when he's out he comes in and the
next man goes in until he's out. When they are all out, the side that's out
comes in and the side that's been in goes out and tries to get those coming
in, out. Sometimes you get men still in and not out.

2.     When a man goes out to go in, the men who are out try to get him out, and
when he is out he goes in and the next man in goes out and goes in. There
are two men called umpires who stay out all the time and they decide when
the men who are in are out. When both sides have been in and all the men
have been out, and both sides have been out twice after all the men have
been in, including those who are not out, that is the end of the game.

You see there's nothing difficult or strange about Cricket and I hope this has covered all the bases.

Excellent answer Neoshed!
Click to expand...
 
neoshed said:
What place was Essendon at. They never show it around here.
Click to expand...

Bombers dropped out of the eight after a loss to Carlton. The Grand Final itself was a crushing loss for Port Adelaide, a hundred something to thirty something. That day was my boys' birthday party as well, so I was shnockered by the end of the game. You can follow Oz sports on ABC sports
 
There are 10, and perhaps 11, ways of getting out:

The 5 well-known ones:

1) Caught
2) Bowled
3) Leg Before Wicket
4) Stumped
5) Run Out

And the 5 less-frequent ones. Generalized summaries only.

6) Hit Wicket: Striker breaks the wicket while batting
7) Handled The Ball: without consent of the opposite side.
8) Obstructing The Field: - Duh.
9) Hit The Ball Twice: unless he is protecting his wicket.
10) Timed Out: Next batsman due takes longer than two minutes to appear on the field.

Now the 11th out is pretty ambigious. It is not listed with the other outs but can be found in the law dealing with substitions (Law 2)

In general, any batsman who refuses to bat when he is able to do so or is refused permission to bat by the opposing captain (he had left the field when he was able to bat on) is for the purpose of the records deemed to be "retired, out".
 
hehe I forgot about lbw....I haven't watched cricket since moving over to the states in 2k. That's plenty of info to confuse everyone mate.

Shame about the bombers....but I'm glad they were out and not on the end of that lopsided grand final.
 
Eli,
There's another method of taking a wicket, which has now been discarded. It is a form of run out as per "Rule 38 of The Rules of Cricket" The means to which I refer is "mankad".

A batsman is out Run out if at any time while the ball is in play no part of his bat or person is grounded behind the popping crease and his wicket is fairly put down by the opposing side.

A batsman is out mankad if he is backing up and therefore out of his crease and the bowler, rather than following through with his delivery breaks the stumps, thus running the batsman out. ??? ??? ???

Regards,

Rob

 
Whoa. You lost me finally on that one. I'm going to have to see it.  :-\

So twelve possible outs.
 
Matthew,

You got some very good write ups here.  But if you are a visual type of guy, and have about 3 hours to kill watching an entertaining Bollywood movie (in English) rent the movie "Lagaan" from Blockbusters or Netflix.

You will learn all you need about cricket and enjoy a movie with your family.

Vijay.
 
an american millionaire (multi millionaire) has in the last couple of months put a proposal to set up a cricket premier leauge in england along the lines of the india's new cricket league

there is an american cricket association although it doesnt play many international games
 
cricket is a game of tactics (defensive and attacking) as complicated as any american pro football game

its also ancient.  http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/11/22/1037697879383.html

as a result some of the rules are archane so it is easy to knock it (cricketing metaphor)

where a single man can change the course of or win a game single handed

where a fast bowler can deliver at around 80 - 90 mph, one guy was recorded at over 100

(85mph might seem slow to a baseball audience but you cannot bend your elbow to chuck or throw a cricket ball)

styles of bowler are many and varied http://www.banglacricket.com/html/article.php?item=345

some bowlers can get a ball to move one way in the air (like a baseball curve ball) and reverse its direction by over a foot on the bounce (thats over a foot in less than a yard) 

modern bowling was introduced to the game by (edwardian?) ladies whos skirts made traditional under arm bowling impossible, under arm bowling is now illegal

some of the names of the fielding positions are inpenetrable ....... silly mid on, silly mid off, silly point

a few make a bit more sense...... square leg, mid wicket, gulley (clearly the fielding has to be reversed for a left handed batsman)

 
hell............................... total silence  ::)

non conprendez

dont worry, im the same with baseball, it looks like rounders played by big men with hard balls    ;D
 
Matthew,
The article you read was in reference to the Indian Premier League (IPL) competition currently running in (obviously) India.
The game of cricket traditionally is a 4-5 day game between two sides allowing two innings for each team. The result can be a win or a draw, or very rarely, a tie.
In recent years, two new forms of the game have been introduced, ostensibly to boost attendances. These two new forms are
The One Day game, where each team has one innings and the team with the highest score (or sometimes run rate) is the winner. Each team has 50 overs (each over consisting of six deliveries). So the game takes about 8 hrs to complete.
More recently, some enlightened Kiwis developed the 20/Twenty game, where each team has one innings of twenty overs (again of 6 deliveries per over) to score as many runs as possible. This leads to very high scoring as a result of very cavalier batting. The whole game is finished in three hours.
The IPL series is a 20/Twenty competition, where rich Indian team owners bid for international players to make a team for the contest. Some players earned up to A$1.5 million for their commitment to this series.
It is a reflection of the transfer of power in the game from traditional countries, such as England and Australia, that such a series was able to be put together in India.
The 20/Twenty game appeals to people who want fast, furious action and will probably stay in favour. But you must not, under any circumstances, confuse it with the 4-5 day game, where as DD has said, tactics and ability to create opportunities through sheer talent are the true test of a man's and team's abilities.

Regards,

Rob. (I'll get off m'soap box now.) ::)

 
rob is correct

the newer forms of the game (limited over cricket) are exciting and fast and guys good at one form are not always good at the other

but neither does it mean that the tactics are VERY differnt in limited over cricket,  they just happen at a faster pace
 
Even though I'm English I look at it this way.....limited overs = England lose quicker.....4 -5 day test means England lose over a agonising period....gah
 
very quickly sometimes

we entered the record books a couple of years ago with the lowest score ever.........  45 all out

to a bunch of people we "taught" to play cricket  ::)

AND i think that was a five day test
 
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