I would be negligent if I didn’t try explaining the game of cricket, a very popular game in Australia and several other former British colonies. You play with a bat and a ball and that is where the comparison with baseball ends. You bowl (not pitch). The bat is flat on one side which is the side used to hit the ball. Whereas pitchers in baseball bend the elbow when delivering the ball, in cricket the bowler leaves the elbow rigid while delivering the ball like a catapult up to 150 kilometres per hour. The ball is hard and red coloured with a central raised seam. Batsmen protect themselves with pads on the legs, padded gloves on the hands, a box to protect you know what, a helmet, and often chest pads as the ball can and often raises chest and head height (all legal). The ball is bowled at stumps generally bouncing in front of the batsmen. Confused yet?
Cricket is played on an oval approximately 160-200 metres in diameter. A pitch is mowed in the middle of the oval and is approximately 20 meters long. The bowlers rotate from one end of a pitch to the other and consequently so do all the fielders. At each end of the pitch is a wicket, three sticks (stumps) approximately 75 centimetres high and about 30 centimetres wide. There are 11 people per side and there are never more than two innings per game. More confused?
Scores over 300 are common. Batsmen (batters) score by hitting the bowl over the fence for 6 runs, hitting the fence for four runs or running between the wickets to score 1 or 2 or 3 runs. This can be very tiring considering the typical cricket game could last five days and playing six hours per day. Games can result in a tie (draw) if the teams run out of time which is often the case. Given up?
You can be giving out in several ways; bowled where the ball hits the wicket, LBW (leg before wicket) where the ball would have hit the wicket but you put your leg pad in front to stop it, caught which is the same as baseball, stumped where the wicketkeeper (catcher) knocks your wicket down while you are outside the designated hitter’s area (the crease), and run out (similar to baseball). Batsmen can hit the ball in any direction consequently fielders are placed in front and behind the wicket as well as to the right and left. Are you still with me? There are questions at the end!
Cricket terminology requires a degree in languages. Some common terminology; over (the six balls bowled by a bowler), maiden over (an over where there are no runs scored), duck (a batsmen is out without scoring a run), a golden duck (batsmen is out on the first ball received), cover, gully, slip, silly leg, mid-off, deep line leg are all fielder positions and there are many more, googly, full toss, cutter, swinger, bouncer are types of balls bowled.
I used to play cricket in Brisbane for a minor league team. We played two weekend afternoons to complete a game often under a sweltering sun with 35 degree temperatures, hence the need to wear a white uniform and a hat. It is way more fun playing the game than watching it or listening to it on the radio. One saving grace is you can quaff a lot of beer during a day’s cricket making the game quite palatable. As you can see playing on the beach is even more fun.
Cricket is played on an oval approximately 160-200 metres in diameter. A pitch is mowed in the middle of the oval and is approximately 20 meters long. The bowlers rotate from one end of a pitch to the other and consequently so do all the fielders. At each end of the pitch is a wicket, three sticks (stumps) approximately 75 centimetres high and about 30 centimetres wide. There are 11 people per side and there are never more than two innings per game. More confused?
Scores over 300 are common. Batsmen (batters) score by hitting the bowl over the fence for 6 runs, hitting the fence for four runs or running between the wickets to score 1 or 2 or 3 runs. This can be very tiring considering the typical cricket game could last five days and playing six hours per day. Games can result in a tie (draw) if the teams run out of time which is often the case. Given up?
You can be giving out in several ways; bowled where the ball hits the wicket, LBW (leg before wicket) where the ball would have hit the wicket but you put your leg pad in front to stop it, caught which is the same as baseball, stumped where the wicketkeeper (catcher) knocks your wicket down while you are outside the designated hitter’s area (the crease), and run out (similar to baseball). Batsmen can hit the ball in any direction consequently fielders are placed in front and behind the wicket as well as to the right and left. Are you still with me? There are questions at the end!
Cricket terminology requires a degree in languages. Some common terminology; over (the six balls bowled by a bowler), maiden over (an over where there are no runs scored), duck (a batsmen is out without scoring a run), a golden duck (batsmen is out on the first ball received), cover, gully, slip, silly leg, mid-off, deep line leg are all fielder positions and there are many more, googly, full toss, cutter, swinger, bouncer are types of balls bowled.
I used to play cricket in Brisbane for a minor league team. We played two weekend afternoons to complete a game often under a sweltering sun with 35 degree temperatures, hence the need to wear a white uniform and a hat. It is way more fun playing the game than watching it or listening to it on the radio. One saving grace is you can quaff a lot of beer during a day’s cricket making the game quite palatable. As you can see playing on the beach is even more fun.
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