Cricket

[Belegriel]

Would one of you Brits/Aussies/Kiwis please explain this game to me? I got to watch the second day of the England-Australia match and while I did enjoy it simply b/c it was different I was pretty much lost throughout the entire 5 hours or so before I went to sleep.

[Marc]

There are 2 forms of the game, the ODI, or One Day Innings and the test match, which is what you were watching as it lasts 5 days.

The ODI is played over one day, and each team gets 50 overs to score as many runs as possible. In the test match each team gets 2 innings to try and score as many runs as possible.

OK, lets get down to basics,

Each team has 11 players. Each team gets a turn at batting and bowling. The bowling team aligns their players on the field as they see fit. There are 2 batters from the opposing team in at one time. The bowler bowls the ball at the facing batter and he tries to hit it (obviously).

Runs are scored as follows, every time the 2 batters make a run between the creases, it counts as 1 run. If the batter hits the ball to the edge of the field then it is 4 runs, if the batter hits the ball to the edge of the field without it bouncing, then it is 6 runs.

Now the object of the bowling team is to get the batting team all out as soon as possible. This is achieved when they take 10 wickets (taking a wicket is a different way of saying getting someone out) Wickets can be taken as follows: The bowler can hit the wickets when he bowls. If the batter hits the ball and a fielder catches it without it bouncing, and if the batsman is out of his crease while running and a fielder hits the wicket with the ball.

EDIT: The batsman will also be out if the ball is going to hit the wicket, but hits the batsman's leg instead, this is called LBW (Leg Before Wicket)

Each over is 6 balls, although it can be more if wides and no balls are bowled, a wide is when the ball goes too far to the left or right, and a no ball can be multiple things, usually the bowler stepping over the crease when he bowls.

When the over is up, another bowler bowls from the other side.

Umpires call the decisions as they do in any other sport.

Any questions?

[Iusedtobesomebody]

just a tad less confusing than the quartback rating system.

[Streetfighter]

Or the BCS ranking bull crap.

[myrek]

The BCS is easy: Make OSU number 1; randomly select everyone else.

[Aulian]

"It is not true that the English invented cricket as a way of making all other human endeavours look interesting and lively; that was merely an unintended side effect. I don't wish to denigrate a sport that is enjoyed by millions, some of them awake and facing the right way, but it is an odd game. After years of patient study (and with cricket there can be no other kind), I have decided that there is nothing wrong with the game that the introduction of golf carts wouldn't fix in a hurry."

-Bill Bryson from Down Under

And that gentlemen, explains it perfectly.

[Chayesh]

All it needs is some full contact and it will do just fine.

[Aulian]

Full contact in golf carts? By god Chayesh, I think you might be onto something there..