An Introduction To Cricket

[Salmacis]

Considering a large proportion of our members are from the U.S.A, Canada and other non cricketing crazy nations, I thought it would be a good idea to post some general, easy to understand information about the world's second most popular sport!



Introduction:

Cricket is a bat and ball sport, and a match is played between two teams with 11 players each. The main objective is to score more runs than the opposing team. The game is split into a variable number of innings, where one team bats and the other bowls. At the conclusion of the first innings, the teams swap roles (The team that batted first will bowl and vice versa) for the following innings. The captain that wins a coin toss will decide if he wants to bat or bowl first.

The Surface
Cricket is played on a grass oval, with a section near the middle 20 metres by 3 metres designated as the pitch. Turf pitches, like the one above, are composed of flat hardened dirt. Artificial pitches are often used in amatuer competitions, and they consist of a concrete slab covered in a synthetic mat. At each end of the pitch, three stumps are placed into the ground, and two small pieces of wood called "bails" are placed on top. This makes up the wicket. Painted close to the wicket are lines that represent creases:



The batting crease is the line a batsman has to cross to complete a run.

The return crease denotes the widest part of the pitch a bowler can land his foot when bowling, and also denotes the widest trajectory for a legitimate delivery. (see below, "extras")

The popping crease is the line that a batsman has to have some part of his body or bat behind to avoid being stumped. (see below, "methods of dismissal")

The bowling crease is the line that a bowler musn't place his foot over when delivering the ball. If no part of the foot is behind the bowling crease, a no ball is called. (see below, "extras")

The end of the pitch the bowler delivers from is known as the bowling end, and the other is known as the batting end.

Weapons


The Cricket Bat: Cricket bats are pieces of willow wood that batsmen use to hit the ball with. The blade (Everything below the handle) of the bat can be no higher than 38 inches, and no wider than 4.25 inches. Before being used, bats are treated by adding raw linseed oil, which protects the bat from splitting when the ball impacts it at speed.

The Cricket Ball: Cricket balls are made from a core of cork, which is layered with tightly wound string and covered by a leather case with a slightly raised, sewn seam. Cricket balls are notoriously hard and potentially lethal, hence today's batsmen and close fielders often wear protective headgear. And for this reason we have...

Armour





Batsmen wear various different types of protection from the ball, which when bowled fast is dangerous. They are as follows:

Helmet: As protection for the head, modern helmets have a metal grill to protect the face as well as the head. The helmet itself is made of hardened plastic and is lined inside with foam and fabric.

Gloves: Gloves protect the hands not only from the ball, but from the course bat handle causing blisters. The fingerguards are made from tightly packed cloth sewn into leather columns and the palm of the glove is made from leather.

Abdominal Guard: Commonly known as a box, it is made from high density plastic, and the edges are padded. It is used to protect the most important part of the batsman's body...

Shin Pads: Probably the most important protection, the majority of impacts hit the batsman's legs. The front panel of the pad is constructed in the same way as the fingerguards on the gloves. The back is one big block of softer cloth.

[Salmacis]

Players And Officials:

Batsmen


Batsmen try to score as many runs as they can without getting dismissed. They do so by hitting the ball in a variety of ways, known as shots or strokes. Batsmen have many different styles, some are eccentric and unorthodox while others are slow and solid stalwarts. Batsmen play as a pair, one at each end of the pitch. The batsman being bowled at is called the striker, and the batsman at the other end is called the non-striker.

Bowlers



A bowler's aim is to get the batsmen out any way they can. There are many different types of bowlers who can deliver a vast array of different deliveries. Fast bowlers try to beat the batsman with the speed they bowl the ball at, which is generally 150 k/ph (93 m/ph) and above in international cricket. Swing bowlers bowl slower (130 k/ph) but more accurately, and when available, they exploit where the pitch or weather causes the ball to move. Spin bowlers are the slowest; their main aim is to bowl the cricket ball with rapid rotation so that when it bounces on the pitch it will move greatly, making it difficult for the batsman to hit the ball.

All Rounders


All Rounders are players who are capable of both batting and bowling well. There are three different types of all rounders: Batting all rounders are better batsmen than they are bowlers, bowling all rounders are better at bowling than batting and pure all rounders are considered to have equal skills in both.

Wicket-keepers



Wicket-keepers are the nuttiest, loopiest, most insane men on the cricket field. But there is no doubt they're the most vital. A wicket-keeper's jobs are to stop any balls that go past the batsman, (If they fail to stop the ball, and runs are scored they go down as byes) to take catches if the batsman edges the ball, and if a spinner is bowling they'll usually get within arms length of the wicket in case an opportunity for a stumping arises. (See "methods of dismissal" below)

[Salmacis]

Fielders


Fielding is the action of players collecting the ball after it is struck by the batsman, in such a way as to either limit the number of runs that the batsman scores or to get the batsman out by catching the ball in flight or running the batsman out. (See "methods of dismissal" below) A fielder can stop the ball with any part of their body. Because there is only 9 mobile fielders, captains place their fielders carefully and strategically. The fielding placements themselves have a reputation for silly and often downright confusing names, such as Square Leg and Gully!

The Captain


The role of the captain in cricket is bigger than in any other sport. Captains are responsible for every field placement, every bowling change, the batting order, every press conference, and captains play a part in all team selections. They are expected to be tactical masters, inspirational spearheads, intelligent businessmen and the team's top performer on the field. Such a daunting burden has become the downfall of many (particularly the West Indians of late) but others have thrived in the responsibility. More often than not, bad captaincy will mean a bad result!

The 12th Man


The 12th Man is the first substitute player, who only comes on to field when a member of the fielding side is injured. In Test cricket, (see forms of cricket below) each team selects 12 players before the match, and the reduction to 11 occurs just before the game starts on day one.

Umpires


Cricket matches have two umpires on the field, one stands behind the stumps at the bowler's end and the other stands near the middle of the oval directly facing the batsman. Umpires are in charge of making decisions related to the Laws Of Cricket (Don't even go there) during games. These decisions can range from determining if a batsman is out, if a delivery is legal, and if the conditions of the weather or ground are suitable to play cricket in. They give their verdicts with a wide variety of different hand, arm and leg signals, or in some situations by talking to each other or to the captains.

The Third Umpire


The Third Umpire is signalled when an on-field umpire is unsure of a decision. They then view replays of the incident, use various technologies and general conferring to reach a verdict, then they either relay the information to the on field umpire who makes the final decision or projects the result on the big screens placed in the stands. The Third Umpire is only present in International and Domestic cricket matches due to the cost of the various technologies.

[Salmacis]

Scoring:

Overs


Cricket is divided into overs. Each over is made up of 6 consecutive legitimate deliveries bowled at the batsman. When an over is finished, the next over is started from the opposite end of the pitch, by a different bowler.

Runs


Runs are scored by the batsmen, and the added scores of all 11 batsmen plus any extras determines the team's final score. The simplest way for a batsman to score a run is by the striker hitting the ball so that both batsmen can run from one end of the pitch to the other without either batsman getting out; the batsmen effectively exchanging positions. The batsmen may be able to run up and down the pitch more than once, to score two, three or more runs. If the striker hits the ball well enough to cross the edge of the oval, it is called a boundary and is worth four runs. If they hit it over the the edge of the oval without the ball bouncing, it is called a six, and is obviously worth six runs.

Wickets + Methods Of Dismissal


A wicket is when a batsman is given out. Taking wickets is the primary aim of bowlers, and they achieve this with an array of different strategies, tactics and variations to their bowling. When 10 wickets are taken the batting team's innings is over, which is referred to as being 'bowled out'.

Methods Of Dismissal:
There are 10 different ways a batsman can be given out, but since 5 of them make up 99% of all wickets, I'll only cover those:

Bowled - When the ball hits the stumps and dislodges at least one of the bails.

Caught - When the batsman hits the ball with either his bat or his hand, and a fielder catches it before it hits the ground.

LBW (Leg Before Wicket) - If the ball has no contact with the bat, hits the batsman and if the umpire judges that the ball would have gone on hit the stumps if there was nothing in the way, then LBW is given.

Run Out - When batsmen are running between the wickets, if a fieldsman hits the stumps with the ball before the incoming batsmen has crossed the popping crease, that batsman is out.

Stumped - As I'm sure most of you are by now! If a batsman moves out of the popping crease while playing a shot, misses the ball and the wicket-keeper knocks off the bails with the ball in hand, the batsman is stumped.

Extras


Extra runs are added when an illegitimate delivery is bowled, or when a batsman didn't hit the ball with his bat, but still took runs from it. There are four kinds of extras:

No Ball - When a bowler steps over the bowling crease or has one of his feet outside the return crease, it is called a no ball. The bowler and his team are penalised one run, and the ball needs to be re-bowled.

Wide - When a ball is bowled in any spot that the batsman cannot reach it, it is called a wide. The bowler and his team are penalised one run, and the ball needs to be re-bowled.

Bye - When the batsman misses a ball completely and takes runs from it it's called a bye or byes. Because of the wide rulings, Wicket-keepers are almost always at fault for byes.

Leg Bye - When the ball hits any part of the batsman (other than his bat and hands) and deflects in a way that the batsmen take runs, leg byes are called.

Milestones


Of all team sports, individual performances are no more important than in cricket, and there are many achievements that cricketers aim for every match they play:

Century: When a batsman scores 100 runs or more, it is recognised as a great achievement. Batsmen often celebrate their hundred with great joy and pride.

Half-Century: When a batsman scores 50 - 99 runs, it's recorded as a half-century.

5 Wicket Haul: If a bowler takes 5 wickets in one innings, it's regarded as a fine effort. Other than on the spot celebrations, at the end of the day's play, bowlers who have taken 5 wickets usually carry the ball off the field with them, before returning it to the umpires. The team often takes the stumps out of the ground and hands them around to the best performers as well, before returning them to the umpires. There are many different nicknames for 5 wicket hauls, though the most commonly used one is the shortened '5 for'.

Results:


Unlike most sports, Test cricket has four different outcomes possible, excluding ground or weather issues.

Win: When one team has bowled out the opposing team twice, and has scored more runs than them, they will have won the match.

Lose: Alternatively, if a team gets bowled out twice and has less runs than the opposing team, they lose the match.

Draw: If at the end of the 5 days allocated to play, neither team has been bowled out twice, the match is called a draw.

Tie: When one team has been bowled out twice, but they have an equal amount of runs as the opposing team, the match is a tie. Tied tests have only happened twice in Test history, in 1960 between Australia and West Indies (where the above picture is from) and in 1986 between Australia and India.

[Salmacis]

Forms Of Cricket:

Test Match


The oldest, longest and most traditional form, Test Cricket is the ultimate challenge and the utmost pinnacle of the game. Players wear specifically made cricket whites, and the traditional cap that in Australia is known as the "baggy green". Test cricket nowadays is played across 5 consecutive days, each day normally being played from 11am until 6pm with half hour breaks for lunch (1pm) and tea. (3pm) In this time, 80 overs are expected to be bowled a day, excluding non game interruptions such as the weather.

One Day International (often shortened to ODI)


One Day International cricket was introduced in the 60's, and obviously only lasts one day. Each team has a limited 50 overs to bat, unless they get bowled out earlier. Bowlers are limited to a maximum of 10 overs each, and for 20 overs of the match there is a powerplay system. The powerplay restricts the captain's field placements, allowing only two fieldsmen to be positioned further than 30 yards from the pitch. One Day matches are either played during the day and into the evening, or are day/night matches that start in the afternoon and last until well after dark. Because of this, a white cricket ball is used (as opposed to a red one in tests) to increase visibility, and all players wear coloured uniforms.

Twenty20


Twenty20 (also known as T20) is the shortest form of cricket. Naturally, each team only has 20 overs to bat, and a game will usually only last 3 hours. Twenty20 is very similar to ODI cricket, the only main difference is powerplays - there is only one in Twenty20 which lasts for the first 6 overs. Bowlers can only bowl 4 overs each as well. Because Twenty20 is so short, batsmen have had to create innovative, unorthodox and often plain ugly new shots to find runs where there normally isn't any. Although bowlers are almost guaranteed to go for many runs, the chance of them taking wickets is higher, because batsmen are taking more risks than they would in other formats in a hope to get their runs quicker.

[Salmacis]

Teams:



There are 107 countries (The map is out of date, but does give a general impression) with national cricket teams, and it's played in some form almost globally. I'll only be focusing on the 9 test playing nations for now though.

1. India played their first Test match in 1932, and have since become a powerful force in the cricketing world. So much so that they currently hold the highest statistical ranking of the 9. India are famous for their batting line up, including the all time leading run scorer and 20 year veteran Sachin Tendulkar.

2. South Africa played their first Test match in 1889, against England. They were suspended from cricket in 1970 due to their government's apartheid policy, but after that was abolished South Africa were reinstated in 1991. They hold the tiniest of leads above Australia in the rankings.

3. Australia is the equal oldest international team in cricket history, the first official Test match was played between Australia and England in 1877 which Australia won by 45 runs. They have been the most successful team of all time, despite currently sitting in third place.

4. Sri Lanka joined Test cricket quite recently, in 1982. Since then they've come a long way and are proven world beaters, with a world cup under their belts. Sri Lanka are well known for their brilliant spin bowlers and wicket-keepers, playing for them is the all time highest wicket taker Muttiah Muralidaran.

5. England are the other equal oldest team, but unlike Australia haven't recieved as much success.

6. Pakistan played their first Test match in 1952 and have been renowned for their consistently high quality bowling attack. However, they have been surrounded by cntroversy more than they have by wickets, and everything turned horrible in March of last year, when the touring Sri Lankans were ambushed by terrorists. The players were only injured, but some of the policemen defending them were killed. Since then, Pakistan have only been able to play away matches, or matches on neutral grounds.

7. New Zealand played their first Test match in 1930 and unfortunately for this thread they've had a pretty uninteresting career as far as I can recall.

8. West Indies are a once legendary team currently on the ropes. They joined in 1928, and from the 60's all the way up to the millenium were one of the world's greatest teams, even beating a dominant Australian team. But since the millenium, poor management decisions and internal arguments have lead to disaster, not just in the infrastructure but on the field as well.

9. Bangladesh are the proverbial noobs of the cricketing world. They played their first Test match in 2000, and in the 60 odd matches they've played since, they have only won 3 of them. However, they have always had an extremely young team, a large chunk of their current players were playing Tests in their teens. Over the last couple of years especially, Bangladesh have improved a lot, and who knows what kind of team they will become in the future.

[Salmacis]

Video Gallery:

So now it's time to see what cricket looks like in action! I'll be playing some of my favourite moments I've seen on a cricket field, and hopefully you guys can at least know what the hell is happening out there Here goes:



The one that started it all for me:


(Warning: This one gets a bit bloody...)












And finally, as my own personal celebration of everything about cricket:

[Lord Grendel]

Very nice Sal, you must really love this sport to put that much effort into your explanation of the rules.

(I will give it a thorough going over tomorrow morning.)

[Sunny]

Excellent write up Sal I enjoy watching cricket and my Dad and brother are cricket fanatics.

[TheFeldster]

[Salmacis]

Nice little song there Feldy!

The Twenty20 World Cup starts tomorrow, (May 1) and IMO is the perfect tournament to start watching. Twenty20, as well as being the shortest format is also the most popular; it's responsible for introducing millions of new fans to cricket and greatly expanding cricket's market worldwide. And any time when all the world teams get together, it's going to be a fun ride!

[TheFeldster]

Originally Posted by Salmacis Nice little song there Feldy! The Twenty20 World Cup starts tomorrow, (May 1) and IMO is the perfect tournament to start watching. Twenty20, as well as being the shortest format is also the most popular; it's responsible for introducing millions of new fans to cricket and greatly expanding cricket's market worldwide. And any time when all the world teams get together, it's going to be a fun ride!

Even I can watch Twenty20, so listen to the man!

[Fisha]

I would like to show my support of this thread

[Salmacis]

Breaking news everybody!

This weekend will be the first time two Test nations play each other on American soil, as Sri Lanka and New Zealand fight it out over two T20 Internationals, both held at Lauderhill, Florida. ESPN will be broadcasting the games all over the U.S and in 88 other countries around the world, so get on it!

[T_Dude]

Originally Posted by Salmacis Teams: There are 107 countries (The map is out of date, but does give a general impression) with national cricket teams, and it's played in some form almost globally. I'll only be focusing on the 9 test playing nations for now though. 1. India played their first Test match in 1932, and have since become a powerful force in the cricketing world. So much so that they currently hold the highest statistical ranking of the 9. India are famous for their batting line up, including the all time leading run scorer and 20 year veteran Sachin Tendulkar. 2. South Africa played their first Test match in 1889, against England. They were suspended from cricket in 1970 due to their government's apartheid policy, but after that was abolished South Africa were reinstated in 1991. They hold the tiniest of leads above Australia in the rankings. 3. Australia is the equal oldest international team in cricket history, the first official Test match was played between Australia and England in 1877 which Australia won by 45 runs. They have been the most successful team of all time, despite currently sitting in third place. 4. Sri Lanka joined Test cricket quite recently, in 1982. Since then they've come a long way and are proven world beaters, with a world cup under their belts. Sri Lanka are well known for their brilliant spin bowlers and wicket-keepers, playing for them is the all time highest wicket taker Muttiah Muralidaran. 5. England are the other equal oldest team, but unlike Australia haven't recieved as much success. 6. Pakistan played their first Test match in 1952 and have been renowned for their consistently high quality bowling attack. However, they have been surrounded by cntroversy more than they have by wickets, and everything turned horrible in March of last year, when the touring Sri Lankans were ambushed by terrorists. The players were only injured, but some of the policemen defending them were killed. Since then, Pakistan have only been able to play away matches, or matches on neutral grounds. 7. New Zealand played their first Test match in 1930 and unfortunately for this thread they've had a pretty uninteresting career as far as I can recall. 8. West Indies are a once legendary team currently on the ropes. They joined in 1928, and from the 60's all the way up to the millenium were one of the world's greatest teams, even beating a dominant Australian team. But since the millenium, poor management decisions and internal arguments have lead to disaster, not just in the infrastructure but on the field as well. 9. Bangladesh are the proverbial noobs of the cricketing world. They played their first Test match in 2000, and in the 60 odd matches they've played since, they have only won 3 of them. However, they have always had an extremely young team, a large chunk of their current players were playing Tests in their teens. Over the last couple of years especially, Bangladesh have improved a lot, and who knows what kind of team they will become in the future.

Plenty of success last weekend though