Cricket - I get it.

[popsjumper 2]

We have an Aussie here that has been the first one to be able to explain the game of cricket to me so that I can understand it.

I like Cricket. Believe it or not there is indeed some cool strategy to the game that starts even before the match is played.

We watched a streaming video match with Australia and they clobbered the other team.

My reality and yours are quite different.
I think we're all Bozos on this bus.
Falcon5232, SCS8170, SCSA353, POPS9398, DS239

[JohnnyMarko 1]

It looks interesting when the Indians play it at the university. But I can never get close enough to the field because there's a weird odor associated with the game or something.

[Squeak 17]

One day matches are Ok, "Test Matches", they go for 5 days, they suck

You are not now, nor will you ever be, good enough to not die in this sport (Sparky)
My Life ROCKS!
How's yours doing?

[SpeedRacer 1]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Gm8wIEhoRw&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Speed Racer
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[mutumbo 0]

Wanna explain it to me then? Cus it still confuses the hell out of me. i do like the bat tho. That thing looks funny!

Thanatos340(on landing rounds)--
Landing procedure: Hand all the way up, Feet and Knees Together and PLF soon as you get bitch slapped by a planet.

[sundevil777 93]

The batsmen of the Kalahari

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khqxEFH90IU

People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

[Meso 38]

I love cricket. It's the only reason I got satellite TV, to watch away games which aren't broadcast on public television.

Having been brought up playing it and exposed to it, I always struggle to understand how people can't see how easy it is - been trying to explain to my girlfriend for months. But she's slowly picking up things.

I like explaining so let me give this a try... It will be in depth but should be easy to understand.

First, one needs to understand the way games are played.

Game Formats, Teams and Conditions

A team either plays at home or away and depending where in the world they are playing and matches take place in what are called 'Tours'. Basically a tour is a series of games against a single other opponent. There are 3 different general formats of the game T20 which is the shortest, ODI (one day international) which last about 8 hours and then Test Matches which last 5 days. Now a tour will be made up of for example: 2 T20 Games, 3 ODI Games and 3 Test Matches, which would likely span over a month or so. There are usually breaks around 3 days or so between matches.

Second you select your team, there are 11 people on a team that play in any particular game. But the squad itself consists of 13 if I'm not mistaken, this is so that if there are different options of players depending on the conditions.

Now you are probably wondering why conditions play such a huge part. Cricket is all about the pitch, the pitch being the area where they bowl the ball on and each batsman stands at either end. Now the pitch controls how the ball behaves, and the pitch is influenced by the climate and weather as well as how it's prepared. The pitch with a lot of grass on provides a lot of bounce, which is turn makes it easier to get batsmen out, a pitch that is harder and more like a desert strip means the ball bounces more predictably and makes it easier to score runs. But it is important to note that drier pitches tend to break up after day 4 or so during a test match, meaning the ball is able to grip more on the surface (And now we get into why changes in the team are important depending on conditions)

If you are playing in South Africa for example, we get some good rains and there is some moisture in the air often. So these are conditions our locals have grown up on, so the person who prepares the pitch, will usually have it slightly grassy to assist our style of bowling - that is, faster bowlers who require that bounce to get the batsmen out. So when a team tours here, they know to prepare a squad with some good fast bowlers in. The same thing goes for when South Africa tour India, India is extremely dry and so are their pitches. These baron pitches mean that we can't use the same bowlers we'd use in South Africa, sure we can use some - but we should also take some spin bowlers with in the squad. Spin bowlers are more likely to make the ball turn on a dry pitch instead of a grassy one.

Now the management will build the best 11-man team for those particular conditions from the 13 man squad they have. The ratio of batsmen to bowlers in a team is up to the team management as well, most tend to go for something like (4 batsmen, 3 all-rounds[bat and bowl], 4 bowlers) though this can change depending on what they want to try, do they want to score more runs, or get the other team out quicker.


Basic Rules and Gameplay

Let's use the example of an ODI game, this is the one that lasts about 8 hours.

An ODI game consists of each team playing 50 overs and seeing who can score the most in that time.

Now you're probably wondering what the hell an 'over' is. An over is a set of 6 balls that a bowler bowls. Once he bowls an over, he hands the ball to another bowler. You will usually have about 5 or 6 bowlers sharing overs. Each bowler may only bowl 10 overs in an ODI, so you need at least 5 bowlers. The rest of the bowling side will be fielding, trying to catch the balls and stop them from getting runs. When a bowler isn't bowling his over, he is in the field like the rest of the team.

With batting, you have 2 batsmen in at any single time. One that is facing the balls being bowled and the other one waiting until he is 'on strike' (facing the bowler) and still running between the wickets. In a 50 over game, the batting team will be able to try hit 300 balls (50 overs x 6 balls in an over). As a batting team you want to try get through as many overs as you can so you can score more runs, but at the same time - you only have 10 batsmen that can get out (once the 10th is out, there is no more to join the 11th on the pitch and thus there are 10 'wickets' that can fall in an innings)

*An innings is the 50 over period for batters.


Scoring

Scoring runs is easy to understand. So now team A is at the pitch batting and they can face 300 balls to try score (assuming their 10 guys don't go out).

A run is scored by hitting the ball and both batsmen crossing across the pitch. This naturally means that every time a single run is taken, the other batsmen who wasn't playing the shot, will be playing the next one. You can run as many times as you can before the fielder throws the ball at your stumps.

You may ask what stumps are, your stumps are your wickets and if you are in the middle of running and a fielder hits your wickets with the ball - you're out.

Other ways of scoring which are preferred and real crowd pleasers are 4s and 6s. The 6 is almost like a baseball home run, for a 6 to be scored the ball must pass over the boundary rope (a rope that runs along the field just infront of the advertising boards). This means the batsmen don't have to run and score 6 runs automatically. Similar with 4s, except instead of going directly over the boundary, it may bounce or roll over it (it can hit the ground prior to going over).

Everyone on a team has to bat if the person who batted above them is out, even the bowlers. It's not an option.

Getting Wickets

Naturally, as the fielding/bowling team- it is your job to get all 10 batsmen out as quickly as possible, ensuring they score as little runs as possible, making it easier for your team to score those runs.

The ways in which you can get a batsmen out is as follows:

* Bowl the ball so that he misses it and it hits his wickets behind him.

* Bowl a ball that hits him in line with the wickets on his leg. This is called LBW (leg before wicket) and is only out if it's inline and if it didn't hit the bat first.

* Catch the ball that a batsman has hit.

* Throw and hit the wickets with the ball while the batsmen were busy running and hadn't passed their crease (line that determines where they stand when they bat)

* Stump the batsman. Similar to above, except it happens when the batsmen looks to walk down the pitch to hit a ball and misses and doesn't attempt to run, but is still outside of his 'safe' crease.


In an example, let's say Team A bats first, they get 260 runs before they are all bowled out after 42 overs. Now Team B will come and bat, but they will still have the 50 overs each team gets to achieve the total. As such they can realize that they have some more balls to face than the other team and can play accordingly.

Batsmen generally go out when they try to score runs too quickly. It's about perfectly pacing your scoring with the amount of overs/balls remaining.

And while that's a pretty basic shortened version...

Here is the shortest...For an ODI game.

* Each team can bowl 300 balls. Each team must try to score the most runs from their 300 balls they face without having 10 batsmen go out. Team with the highest amount of runs wins. 300 balls are bowled in 50x 6 ball limits known as overs. At the end of each over a different bowler than the one that was currently bowling will bowl. Batsman must try hit the ball as much and as far as possible. Bowlers must try get the batsman out.


I used to play baseball and I find cricket easier to understand and after watch a full game or two one can easily pick up what goes on and soon become pretty enthralled ;p

[mutumbo 0]

Wow. Thanks for the in depth explanation!! But sadly im still just as clueless. ill re read it later from my computer (on phone now) and try to gather a better grasp, maybe i just need to WATCH a few games and that would help.


While your at it, ya wanna explain the difference between rugby and aussie rules football??? Haha

Thanatos340(on landing rounds)--
Landing procedure: Hand all the way up, Feet and Knees Together and PLF soon as you get bitch slapped by a planet.

[Squeak 17]

Quote

Wow. Thanks for the in depth explanation!! But sadly im still just as clueless. ill re read it later from my computer (on phone now) and try to gather a better grasp, maybe i just need to WATCH a few games and that would help.


While your at it, ya wanna explain the difference between rugby and aussie rules football??? Haha

Cricket is easy.
Think Baseball on a straight strip.
instead of bases you have wickets (3 vertical stick with little sticks balanced on top), one at each end of the strip (called a pitch, but not to be confused with throwing a ball in baseball)
A bowler (pitcher) bowls the ball (throws it) towards a batter, the batter stands in front of 3 sticks( stumps), the bowler is trying to hit the stumps, if he does the batter is out.
If the batter hits the ball, he can choose to run to the other end of the stip, and the waiting batter at that end will run to the other end too. Each time they run from one end to the other its a point. if a fielder catches the ball in full flight the batter is out. if the batter runs to the other end but does not make it there before someone hits the sticks (wicket) with the ball he's out (like getting tagged in baseball)
you have a limited amount of balls that can be bowled (innings).

When both teams have batted and bowled the scores are checked.
If you bat first and your score is 150, the other team only has to score 151 then the game ends.

You are not now, nor will you ever be, good enough to not die in this sport (Sparky)
My Life ROCKS!
How's yours doing?

[obelixtim 100]

I'm waiting for someone to start explaining the fielding positions.....that will really confuse anyone....

Slips, point, silly mid off, cover, long on.....to name just a few....etc etc.....then the names for different types of bowling.....the doosra, googly and cutter....

One thing you can't dispute, facing a rock hard cricket ball coming at you at high speed with only bare hands to catch the ball takes some guts....

My computer beat me at chess, It was no match for me at kickboxing....

[Meso 38]

Some of the fielding positions are difficult to remember haha. But most make sense.

Slips - The guys next to the wicket keeper relying on the balls to slip off the outside edge of the bat.

Silly Mid On - Position very close to the batsmen on the on-side (side which the batsman's bat would head if he took a generally swing), usually wears a helmet. Named silly because it's a dangerous position.

Cover - Think a 2'clock position.

Long on - On the on side, and far away from the batsman near the boundary.

etc

Most of em are actually pretty self-explainatory :P Though they caused me more problems than anything else.

Yeah the different spins used on the ball can get quite confusing haha.

Yeah people often overlook how dangerous cricket can be. Seen my fair share of blood and dislocated limbs watching it haha. 140+km/h ball to the body can hurt.

[Meso 38]

Concisely, and well put comparison.

[popsjumper 2]

Quote

I'm waiting for someone to start explaining the fielding positions.....that will really confuse anyone....

Slips, point, silly mid off, cover, long on.....to name just a few....etc etc.....then the names for different types of bowling.....the doosra, googly and cutter.....

That's part I'm still having trouble with...I kinda lost it when he mentioned something about playing with a long on.

My reality and yours are quite different.
I think we're all Bozos on this bus.
Falcon5232, SCS8170, SCSA353, POPS9398, DS239

[popsjumper 2]

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Yeah people often overlook how dangerous cricket can be. Seen my fair share of blood and dislocated limbs watching it haha. 140+km/h ball to the body can hurt.

Yes. And part of the strategy is how good, or bad, the pitch is.
after Australia go so far ahead they declared and part of that decision to declare was that the pitch was getting so funky that they were sure that their bowlers could make good use of it to quickly get outs.

With the bad pitch the danger to the batsman went way up.

My reality and yours are quite different.
I think we're all Bozos on this bus.
Falcon5232, SCS8170, SCSA353, POPS9398, DS239

[obelixtim 100]

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With the bad pitch the danger to the batsman went way up.

The batsmen wear pretty good armour but there are still quite a few unprotected areas which will take dameage if they get hit hard by a fast ball. The batsman has to keep his eye on the ball and have very quick reactions to keep him out of trouble. The fielders have no protection at all, apart from the wicket keeper (like the catcher in baseball.), and the aforementioned fielder at silly mid on who might have shin pads and a helmet.

My computer beat me at chess, It was no match for me at kickboxing....

[MikeJD 0]

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Yeah people often overlook how dangerous cricket can be. Seen my fair share of blood and dislocated limbs watching it haha. 140+km/h ball to the body can hurt.

Hence the 'bodyline' controversy.
I guess cricket isn't quite considered the gentleman's game it once was.

I don't know if the phrase 'it's just not cricket' originated during the 'bodyline' series, but I love the quote from the Australian captain when the England manager went to sympathise after he'd been repeatedly injured by the England bowlers:

"I don't want to see you, Mr Warner. There are two teams out there. One is playing cricket. The other is making no attempt to do so."

[Meso 38]

Let's not forget the umpires....

www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jMUkGSUA0k

[kallend 1,623]

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Wow. Thanks for the in depth explanation!! But sadly im still just as clueless. ill re read it later from my computer (on phone now) and try to gather a better grasp, maybe i just need to WATCH a few games and that would help.


While your at it, ya wanna explain the difference between rugby and aussie rules football??? Haha

Cricket is easy.
Think Baseball on a straight strip.
instead of bases you have wickets (3 vertical stick with little sticks balanced on top), one at each end of the strip (called a pitch, but not to be confused with throwing a ball in baseball)
A bowler (pitcher) bowls the ball (throws it) towards a batter, the batter stands in front of 3 sticks( stumps), the bowler is trying to hit the stumps, if he does the batter is out.
If the batter hits the ball, he can choose to run to the other end of the stip, and the waiting batter at that end will run to the other end too. Each time they run from one end to the other its a point. if a fielder catches the ball in full flight the batter is out. if the batter runs to the other end but does not make it there before someone hits the sticks (wicket) with the ball he's out (like getting tagged in baseball)
you have a limited amount of balls that can be bowled (innings).

When both teams have batted and bowled the scores are checked.
If you bat first and your score is 150, the other team only has to score 151 then the game ends.

And the beer tent. Don't forget that.

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[kallend 1,623]

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I'm waiting for someone to start explaining the fielding positions.....that will really confuse anyone....

Slips, point, silly mid off, cover, long on.....to name just a few....etc etc.....then the names for different types of bowling.....the doosra, googly and cutter....

Like "Nose Tackle", "Tight End" and "Wide Receiver" make more sense.

[BillyVance 34]

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Wanna explain it to me then? Cus it still confuses the hell out of me. i do like the bat tho. That thing looks funny!

Yeah I don't understand the game, but the bat looks like something Skymama would use for her paddling.

"Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban

[popsjumper 2]

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I'm waiting for someone to start explaining the fielding positions.....that will really confuse anyone....

Slips, point, silly mid off, cover, long on.....to name just a few....etc etc.....then the names for different types of bowling.....the doosra, googly and cutter....

Like "Nose Tackle", "Tight End" and "Wide Receiver" make more sense.

"Tight End" and "Wide Receiver" are poler opposites.

My reality and yours are quite different.
I think we're all Bozos on this bus.
Falcon5232, SCS8170, SCSA353, POPS9398, DS239

[airtwardo 6]

Quote

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I'm waiting for someone to start explaining the fielding positions.....that will really confuse anyone....

Slips, point, silly mid off, cover, long on.....to name just a few....etc etc.....then the names for different types of bowling.....the doosra, googly and cutter....

Like "Nose Tackle", "Tight End" and "Wide Receiver" make more sense.

"Tight End" and "Wide Receiver" are poler opposites.


Yeah...like "Wife & Girlfriend"

~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

[popsjumper 2]

You playing on the end of the line like you did, I thought you should know...I did not misspell "poler".

My reality and yours are quite different.
I think we're all Bozos on this bus.
Falcon5232, SCS8170, SCSA353, POPS9398, DS239

[Trae 1]

in reply to "One day matches are Ok, "Test Matches", they go for 5 days, they suck"
...........................

And you call yourself an Aussie????

Its called a "Test Match" for a reason.
Its a TEST not just a wee little short game for softies that have to finish up early and get home before dark.

& whats wrong with 5 days of kickin back suckin coldies with your mates watching our herochamps annihilate the pommies or the packies ...... AGAIN?

It used to be a reward for the whole country for working so hard all bloody year mate.
Still is for some of us.

best thing is, after one test there's another .

[Scratch 0]

At a glance SA and Aus only potentially meet up in the T20 World Cup this year........where we will, in all likelihood, choke again