I would appreciate it if someone were explain the game of cricket simply in bout two paragraphs.
Please no links. i tried wiki and all that other stuff.
Printable View
I would appreciate it if someone were explain the game of cricket simply in bout two paragraphs.
Please no links. i tried wiki and all that other stuff.
Just found this thread by googling. I'll take a crack at explaining cricket using baseball terms. There are three versions of the game and I'll explain the only one (Twenty20, the 3-hour version) that will likely be shown on American TV. There's no point in getting confused trying to learn the other two.Quote:
Originally Posted by PETE
Short explanation: 11 v 11 players. Two halves/innings. A team bats in the first half and fields/pitches in the other. The goal is to get more runs than the opponents. A half/inning consists of 20 overs. An over = a set of 6 pitches thrown (so about 120 pitches per team). Two 'bases' in the field, loaded to start with 2 batters. If a batter is out the next batter in order takes his place. The batting team is allowed 10 outs. The half/inning ends when all 10 outs happen or all 20 over is played, whichever comes first.
Runs happen when the 2 batters run between the 2 bases (1 complete switch = 1 run; up to 4 can be scored on a single play), when he hits one out of the field on a fly (6 runs), hits it out of the field on a ground roll/bounce (4 runs), and on illegal/unfair pitches thrown (1 run per incident). No foul territory; 360 degree hitting allowed. A batter is only allowed to be out once.
Outs happen: 1)when the batter fails to make contact with the ball and it goes on to hit the stumps (3 sticks), 2)when the batter blocks the ball with his legs/pads and umpire decides it was going to hit the stumps, 3) when a batters hits the ball in the air and a fielder catches it, when a batter or his batting partner fails to reach the base before a fielder tags the stumps with ball in hand or before he throws the ball at the stumps and breaks it. 4) An out also happens when the batter is caught out of his safe line trying an aggressive swing, misses, and the catcher tags the stumps with ball before batter makes it back.
Pitchers are allowed to bounce the ball on the hard surface (usually about 90% of them are bounced). The 'strike zone' is bigger than in baseball but pitchers are not allowed to chuck them like in baseball (arms can't bend more than few degrees). 'Beanball' is allowed as long as the ball is bounced first. No gloves/mitts allowed for the fielders except the catcher. That's about all.