 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Last Summer, I was witness to a game of Cricket here in The Bitterroot Valley of Montana. I really could not understand the rules and I only think I grasped what I was watching. There will be another series of games this Summer not far from my home and I'm sure I'll stop and watch again. (Probably the biggest surprise was that Cricket was even being played in Montana, I suppose.) But, can the game be explained to us Americans from (presumably) one of our members from The U.K. or India? Thanks.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
Posted: |
Jun 4, 2014 - 3:04 PM
|
|
|
|
By: |
Tall Guy
(Member)
|
You have two sides, one out in the field and 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. 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 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.
(old joke)
Wonderful game to play. Beware that games can last five days and still be a draw.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
You have two sides, one out in the field and 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. 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 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.
(old joke)
Wonderful game to play. Beware that games can last five days and still be a draw.
I read and re-read your explanation 4 times and then it occurred to me that you were having-me-on, as it were. It made less sense every time I read it. I now have the beginnings of a headache I think. But, I did ask, didn't I?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
We actually had a controversial One Day game yesterday between England and Sri Lanka when an English batsman was given out for going Jay walking at the bowler's end. Serves 'em right I say, he was already warned. England lost the series by the way
Perhaps around 2000 or 2001, I went to a screening of 'Lagaan' in New York. On the big screen, Cricket was incredibly exciting and involving. (though I didn't understand it). In the film set in The 1890's in Colonial India, it was about a British bet against an Indian Village and the outcome was....marvelous!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
OK, here's a sort-of serious response. Let's see how we do!
Basically, you have two teams of players: one team at bat, and the other team fielding. The team at bat sends out their first two players to either end of the "crease", which is the area in the center of the field. The batsman's job is to protect his "wicket", which consists of three vertical wooden "stumps", and two horizontal "bails" which sit on top of the stumps.
The bowler is trying to hit the wicket with the ball. The bowler bowls at the batsman, who then tries to deflect the ball away from the wicket with his bat. If he successfully hits the ball then has several options - he can simply choose not to run, if the ball hasn't gone far enough. This is perfectly fine, reset, and go again. If he chooses to run, then he and his at-bat partner run the length of the crease (just over 20 yards) and back again - if he successfully makes it back before the ball comes back, he has scored one "run". However, if he hits it hard enough where the ball reaches the boundary of the field he doesn't have to run at all - if the ball reaches the boundary having touched the ground, you get 4 runs. If it goes over the boundary without touching the ground (essentially a home run), you get 6 runs. This continues until one of the two batsman is out, at which point he leaves the field, the next batsman in the team comes out; this entire process continues until the entire team is out, or the captain of the team decides that they have accumulated enough runs that he doesn't think the other team will be able to get the same amount (this is called "declaring").
You can be out in several ways. If the ball hits the wicket and knocks the bails off (or if you accidentally knock it over yourself), you are out. If you hit the ball and it is caught on the fly, you are out. If you are caught running between the two ends of the crease when the ball comes back, and the ball hits the wicket before you make it back to your end of the crease, you are out. And then there's "LBW", or "leg before wicket". Basically what this means is, if the ball is bowled towards you, you swing and miss with your bat, and the ball hits your leg instead - if the ball would have hit the wicket had your leg not been there, then you are out -- this is an umpire's call, based on the trajectory of the ball, where it bounces, and the angle it was coming at you.
Once everyone on one team is out, or the captain had declared, you switch. The fielding team takes it's turn batting, the batting team goes out to field. Repeat the above process, and the team with the most runs wins.
There are lots of other ways to end the game too - for example, there are "limited overs" games, where the game is limited to a certain number of overs (one over = 6 bowls/pitches) before you have to declare. This is called T-20 cricket, and is the fastest and most exciting form of the game. Then there are Test Matches, which can last several days, including meal breaks, where each team goes into bat several times -- and it still ends in a draw!
But that's the basic gist of it.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
OK, here's a sort-of serious response. Let's see how we do!
Basically, you have two teams of players: one team at bat, and the other team fielding. The team at bat sends out their first two players to either end of the "crease", which is the area in the center of the field. The batsman's job is to protect his "wicket", which consists of three vertical wooden "stumps", and two horizontal "bails" which sit on top of the stumps.
The bowler is trying to hit the wicket with the ball. The bowler bowls at the batsman, who then tries to deflect the ball away from the wicket with his bat. If he successfully hits the ball then has several options - he can simply choose not to run, if the ball hasn't gone far enough. This is perfectly fine, reset, and go again. If he chooses to run, then he and his at-bat partner run the length of the crease (just over 20 yards) and back again - if he successfully makes it back before the ball comes back, he has scored one "run". However, if he hits it hard enough where the ball reaches the boundary of the field he doesn't have to run at all - if the ball reaches the boundary having touched the ground, you get 4 runs. If it goes over the boundary without touching the ground (essentially a home run), you get 6 runs. This continues until one of the two batsman is out, at which point he leaves the field, the next batsman in the team comes out; this entire process continues until the entire team is out, or the captain of the team decides that they have accumulated enough runs that he doesn't think the other team will be able to get the same amount (this is called "declaring").
You can be out in several ways. If the ball hits the wicket and knocks the bails off (or if you accidentally knock it over yourself), you are out. If you hit the ball and it is caught on the fly, you are out. If you are caught running between the two ends of the crease when the ball comes back, and the ball hits the wicket before you make it back to your end of the crease, you are out. And then there's "LBW", or "leg before wicket". Basically what this means is, if the ball is bowled towards you, you swing and miss with your bat, and the ball hits your leg instead - if the ball would have hit the wicket had your leg not been there, then you are out -- this is an umpire's call, based on the trajectory of the ball, where it bounces, and the angle it was coming at you.
Once everyone on one team is out, or the captain had declared, you switch. The fielding team takes it's turn batting, the batting team goes out to field. Repeat the above process, and the team with the most runs wins.
There are lots of other ways to end the game too - for example, there are "limited overs" games, where the game is limited to a certain number of overs (one over = 6 bowls/pitches) before you have to declare. This is called T-20 cricket, and is the fastest and most exciting form of the game. Then there are Test Matches, which can last several days, including meal breaks, where each team goes into bat several times -- and it still ends in a draw!
But that's the basic gist of it.
Jon - I'm slowly 'getting it'. In your first paragraph you mention 'the bowler'. Who is the bowler - my guess is he's like an Amercian Baseball's 'Pitcher'? And these stumps and bales, where are they, near or at the batsman?
And you left England for Thousand Oaks?!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
I heard this recently on a BBC Radio comedy.
An American is explaining to some Brits and Indians what he knows about cricket:
"It's a slower, duller, more polite form of baseball, with everyone dressed like dentists.
And you stop for a cup of tea whenever you get bored, and it takes three days to play. Then, it's often a draw."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Jon - I'm slowly 'getting it'. In your first paragraph you mention 'the bowler'. Who is the bowler - my guess is he's like an Amercian Baseball's 'Pitcher'? And these stumps and bales, where are they, near or at the batsman?
And you left England for Thousand Oaks?!
Look at this photo:
This gives you an idea: the guy in green is the bowler, he's throwing the ball. The guy in blue is the batsman, he's trying to hit the ball. His wicket is immediately behind him, guarded by the wicket keeper (crouching). To get a "run", he has to hit the ball, then run to the other end of the crease (the light brown area) and back again before the ball comes back.
And - yes I did leave to live in Thousand Oaks!
|
|
|
|
|
|
Why would any team captain call DECLARING? Why take a chance as any American who watched the 1986 WORLD SERIES between the NEW YORK METS and the BOSTON RED SOX know. A game is never over till it is over.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
