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[Politically Incorrect]

There's only one sport worth taking seriously.  Cricket.

You get four days worth of tense nail biting drama.

Arrh, the sound of willow thwacking against leather on a warm summers evening.....

Don't think I've ever seen that? I know what it is but never played or watched it.
Isn't that like high speed croquet with horses? sorry for my spelling! Just checked and I did spell it correctly!!

[Hagar]

Don't think I've ever seen that? I know what it is but never played or watched it.
Isn't that like high speed croquet with horses? sorry for my spelling! Just checked and I did spell it correctly!!

That's Polo you're thinking of. Nothing high speed about cricket except the speed of the ball from the quick bowlers - typically 90 - 100 mph. The idea is for the quck bowler to kill or severely injure the batsman standing 22 yards at the opposite end of the pitch. He in turn tries to hit the ball out of the ground with a mighty thwack of his cricket bat. All great fun for the spectators between long periods of boredom when they can drink quantities of ale & fall asleep. Nothing quite like it on a nice summer's day. An international "test match" can last for 5 days.

This is a typical scene taken during a cricket match.

[Craig.]

basically where you got the idea for baseball

[Hagar]

This is entitled "The Rules of Cricket for Foreigners".
[quote]A Foreigner will possess the essential knowledge of cricket when he fully understands the following:

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 both sides have been in and out including the not outs,
That's the end of the game.

[Wing Nut]

So it's basically baseball with a funky looking bat?  :)

[Craig.]

sort of yes.
However the bowler runs up as side arm is not allowed.
the pitch is either oval round or a rectangle shape depending on the stadium, the batters are in the center(roughly center) of the pitch. and there are no strikes, a batter could be essentially in for 2 or 3 days.
scorings differant to

[Hagar]

Nah. Baseball is more like what we call rounders. The principles are completely different. A cricket pitch is 22 yards (1 chain) long. It has 3 sticks (stumps) hammered into the ground at each end. These are called wickets. Each wicket has 2 more small sticks laid across the top named bails.

2 batsmen are in at one time. One stands at each end of the pitch. The defending batsman has to protect his wicket from balls bowled from the other end by the bowler. The bowler tries to hit the wicket & dislodge the bails. The batsman scores runs by hitting the ball with his bat & running between the wickets (still carrying the bat). His partner does the same from the other end. Fielders are placed round the pitch to return the ball to the bowler. If they catch the ball before it bounces the batsman is out. After 6 balls are bowled (an over) everything changes round & a different bowler does the same to the batsman at the other end. That's the basic idea anyway. Nothing like baseball at all.

PS. This is what the batsmen are up against. The ball is much like a small cannonball & almost as hard. When bowled by a good fast bowler it can be travelling at 100 mph. These days it's often aimed at the batsman's head or upper body rather than the wicket, hence the helmet & extra body padding. The helmets are a comparatively new development.

[Craig.]

lol true i suppose.
Anyone wonder why it hasnt become a big sport in america? I know some inner city groups are actually bringing cricket to the less fortunate. And its actually helping apparently

[denishc]

Hello again Hagar,

 Cricket sounds interesting, but I have a few questions.

1.  How are points scored?

2.  Does the 'bowlers' team ever get a chance to 'bat'?  If so, when?

3.  How do you know when a game is over?  I've heard of cricket games lasting for days!

4.  Why is it called "Cricket"?  Does it have anything to do with the insect of the same name?

 Thanks in advance for the answers.

[Craig.]

howdy Den,
1: Points can be scored many ways, the basics, around the pitch at the edge is a rope, if the batsmen hits the ball over that rope without the ball hitting the ground first, the batting team score 6 runs, if it does hit the ground first you get 4 runs. The other way to score runs is to run between the wickets, the striking batsmen is the run scorer, for every time he reaches the other end of the wicket, one run is scored, obviously the other batter runs the other way. you can also score runs through wide balls,, and various other fouls.

2:Yes the bowling team get to bat, depending on the game there are two ways, in international cricket(games of 3 to 5 days usually) the bowling team must dismiss the batting team, thats 10 players either caught out(like baseball) through the wickets being hit and the bails dislodged, or through leg before wicket. once they have dismissed all 10 players(11 on the team but you need to have at least 2 batsmen) the bowling team then goes into bat. also in one day cricket they have limited overs 50, should the batting team make it through all 50 overs, then they automatically switch with the bowling team.

3:Again various ways, a game can last 5 days yes. in international cricket each team has 2 innings basically each team bats twice(usually) once the team has had both innings the game is over
in one day cricket once each team has been dismissed or their 50 overs is up then game over. Obviously it all depends on score, if say team 1 scores 150 runs in their 50 overs, then team 2 needs to score 151 runs to win in 50 overs or less, same with international cricket. team 1 could score 200 runs in their first innings and then 250 in their second innings, so obviously team 2 would need to score 451 runs to win in their 2 innings

sorry so long but it can be a complex game.
it gets even more complex, maybe Hagar can make it clearer

[Hagar]

Denis. You obviously missed my earlier post "The Rules of Cricket for Foreigners".

A Foreigner will possess the essential knowledge of cricket when he fully understands the following:

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 both sides have been in and out including the not outs,  
That's the end of the game.  
 
(with acknowledgements to the Marylebone Cricket Club)

Craig is a comparative newcomer to this game. He's talking about professional cricket. Traditionally, cricket is played on a village green between local teams, usually on a Sunday afternoon. The boundary can be a white line on the ground or marked out by pegs or even imaginary. The area will vary according to the size of the field. Some cricket fields are tiny while others can have quite long boundaries.

I think that cricket is as unintelligible to the average American as baseball is to me. I don't think it would go down to well in the US as more often than not the game is abandoned due to the weather "rain stopped play" or the result is a draw.

If you're really interested the full laws of cricket are posted here. Note they are laws, not rules. http://www.lords.org/cricket/laws.asp

[Craig.]

lol comparitive newcommer? nah, been playing the game since i was 4:) just really crap at explaining the game, and my knowledge of the history of the game is just poor.

actually when you consider the age of the game and me your right i am new to it:) although back in your day when they didnt have helmets it may explain some things i suppose:);)

[Hagar]

my knowledge of the history of the game is just poor.

This is what so many people don't understand. You will never be a real cricketer unless you do. It's a typically British thing. "Playing the game & all that old boy". "It's just not cricket don'cha know".

In cricket the history & tradition of the game are the most important things about it.

[denishc]

 Baseball or cricket, which ever one you grew up with it all makes sense to you.  Thanks CraigL and Hagar for your responces, they make things a little more clear for me.    Although a five day long game is alittle too much for me, a double-header is just right.

[Craig.]

lol:) firstly i love how this topic has gone from being about a violent game like football, to a gentlemens game like cricket, brilliant:)
secondly, my knowledge is limited like i said when it comes to the history, i know of older players ian botham, Graham Gooch, and all these other older players that seem to comentate, and i personally find other like geoff boycott(is that correct?) a complete Pratt. My problem with the game was simple, it didnt matter how good of a player i was, because of where i went to school i would never have had a chance to play profesionally, and that made me just not care enough to study the game. sadly the selectors of the game have ruined it.