Explain cricket to me. - by june gloom
Matthew on 29/7/2009 at 19:36
Well you see, you have a guy who stands at silly mid on ...
Basically, 2 guys with bats stand in the centre of the pitch. The one being bowled to has to protect the wooden assembly behind him (the 'wicket') from the ball that the bowler is throwing to him. However, if he puts his body in front of the wicket and uses it to block the ball then he is out. If he hits the ball away and one of the opposing fielders catches it before it hits the ground at least once, he's out. If the ball does hit the wicket, he's out. If he hits the ball away but a fielder strikes the wicket with the ball while the batsmen are in the process of running, the batsman running to that wicket is out.
The batsmen try to knock the ball away so that they can rack up runs, with each time they travel between the two wickets counting as a run. The batting team basically has 10 chances to score as many runs as possible, as there are 11 players on the team.
If the batsmen hit the ball over the boundary line they get 4 or 6 runs automatically depending on whether the ball hit the ground before crossing the line or not.
Once 10 batsmen are out (the end of their 'innings') the teams switch over. In Test cricket each team generally gets two innings to try to score the most runs.
And then they go in for tea.
june gloom on 29/7/2009 at 19:49
Oh. Okay. Thanks.
Sounds like a 2fort version of baseball to me. (not meant to be disparaging)
Medlar on 29/7/2009 at 19:50
You have to grow up with cricket to truly understand it dethtoll, there are many many comedy sketches about trying to explain the rules..... English cricket is even more complicated due to the weather, there are bowlers who can swing the ball in certain conditions so much that the tv tracking looks like a Beckham banana free kick, then the ball will hit the wicket (ground) and bend the other way!
(
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_IV5i61HAE)
june gloom on 29/7/2009 at 20:00
I guess it's true. I grew up with baseball. While I understand most of baseball's rules, football (both kinds) is still a bit of a mystery to me.
Hockey is the one sport I can show much interest in.
Matthew on 29/7/2009 at 20:01
Yes, those are the rules at their most basic. There are quite a few other factors and rules that will impact the game, but at its core it is about guys hitting balls with bats.
june gloom on 29/7/2009 at 20:01
I think I get it. Like anything else there's more to it, but I understand the basics now. Thanks!
Matthew on 29/7/2009 at 20:06
Glad to help!
Sulphur on 29/7/2009 at 20:06
I'm in an excellent position to explain this very thing!
Cricket is a game with four important ideas: a ball, a bat, two teams handling each, and the English penchant for drawing out a simple idea into the most horrifically long spell of drudgery you could ever imagine for everyone involved from the teams handling said bats and balls to the spectators watching them knock both together.
Basically, you have this brown strip of dirt called a pitch. One end of the pitch terminates in what we call the wicket, which is made up of 3 stumps; the batsman stands in front of this, within an area called the crease that's demarcated by white chalk lines. A batsman is also called a wicket, by the way, because if he's declared out, another batsman from his team will replace him, until all 10 of them are out, in which case all wickets are down and both teams exchange duties.
A batsman stands by the wicket in an effort to not look bored while a member of the opposing team runs up from the opposite end of the pitch and lobs a ball at him in a variety of differently described fashions that end up with the same result - a ball flying towards his general vicinity.
At this point, there are two possible outcomes: a) bat hits ball, or b) ball flies past bat.
If (a), then the errant knobs from the bowling team will run around like a bunch of headless chickens and try to catch the ball while two batsmen run back and forth on the pitch with each completed run scoring a - in what is a triumph for creative labelling -
run; now the said knobs running about from the opposing team are called 'fielders'. If one of the fielders manages to catch the ball, then the batsman is out, and the next one takes his place, out of a total of 10. If the ball is not caught, then there are two more possible outcomes: a) the ball touches the outer boundary of the field, or b) the ball flies past the outer boundary of the field. If (a), a total of 4 runs is added to the batting score. If (b), it's six runs.
Now, if it's a (b) as per the previous paragraph, then (a) did the ball hit the batsman's leg and was the batsman's leg obscuring he wicket, or (b) was the ball bowled 'wide', which is to say, too far away from the batsman, or (c) did it hit the wicket.
If (a), it's a possible LBW (leg-by-wicket) and the batsman may be declared out. If it's a (b) then one run is added to the score and the ball is re-bowled. If it's (c) then the batsman is out and is replaced by the next member of his team.
Balls are typically bowled in sets of what is called an 'over', which consists of a bowler chucking the ball at the batsman six times. The number of overs per match varies, especially now with Test matches, One-Day Internationals, and the recent trendy format of 20-over matches, the T20s.
The basic idea is the same, whatever the format: the batting team tries to tote up as many runs as possible within the 10 wickets they have, and once they're done, they switch places with the bowling team in an effort to dissuade them from reaching or exceeding the same score, in which case they (the previous batting team) win, or their opponents (the fellows who were bowling) win instead.
Please note that this is a very simple explanation of the game that omits a lot of the advanced points, like no-balls, innings, the umpiring system, fielding positions, batting styles, bowling styles, team compositions, what happens if it's one or two bails hit off a wicket and not the stumps, run-outs, what a wicket-keeper is, and the motherfucking Ashes.
If you want to know more, I'd recommend hitting up the wiki again - as a matter of fact, I urge you to do so, so you can avoid the embarrassing experience of a duck or a maiden over when you someday take bat to ball and the bowler lobs a spin at you instead of a pace.
