Wicketing and other past times...

[:FI:Snaphoo]

So I watched my first Cricket Match yesterday. Well, not the whole thing, just the first 25 overs and the last 25. That has to be the weirdest game, from a "Non-Cricketer" point of view. It's a very long game though, 8 hours or more, apparently. I was only watching a "Single Day Test." Apparently, from what the internets tell me, these guys will play for 5 whole days, 8 or 9 hours at a time!

As I saw it, to persons familiar with Cricket bear with me, there was this big oval field that everyone was on. When I say everyone there were 11-ish fielders, 2 batters and 2 Judges (Umpires to my fellow yanks). It was the 2 batter thing that threw me off. That and the fact that there's this guy running at the batter full tilt (unless he's a slow bowler) and hurling this white plasticky ball at the batsman. The bowler seems to hurl this thing for a certain number of times before they change pitchers (errr... bowlers, sorry). Then, after another guy has run at the batter full tilt and hurled the plastic ball at the batter a number of times, then the original bowler, or any one of the other 10 fielders can throw it at the batsman.

The batsman can hit the ball anywhere and usually did on most occasions. They hit the ball in any direction in an attempt to switch places with the second batter-guy as many times as possible before the fielders get the ball back to the catcher, who is wearing 2 gloves instead of one. In fact, the catcher (or wicketkeeper, I think) is the only fielder with any protective gear and gloves on at all.

It also seems to be a very polite game. If the bowler does not throw the ball just right, it's called a wide and the batting team gets points. Those points seem to depend on how far from the wicket the ball goes. I saw everything from a one point wide to a 4 point wide for the ball going over the boundary.

Which brings me to another thing that amazed me about this game. These guys are real proud of this rope thing that circles the entire field! If you can get your ball to pop over that rope, you get extra points! If it rolls over you get 4, if it flies over, you get 6! If the bowler rolls it over the rope wide of the wickets, then it seems to be 4 points as well.

Each team gets it's own innings rather than sharing the same inning in halves, as in baseball. So the first side gets a first inning, then the second side gets its first inning.

The whole purpose of the batsman seems to be to protect these sticks behind him. Everyone on the field gets real excited when any part of this contraption (as there are many parts to the wicket) falls apart, especially when the bowler does it. There are these vertical sticks, apparently called stumps and these horizontal bits, I think called bails. If these get hit by the ball, directly from the bowler, then the batsman is done for his inning and has to go sit down. Apparently each team (or side) gets 10 wickets (outs) per inning, leaving one batsman stranded. Cricket seems to use the buddy system when batting so once 10 wickets are counted the inning is over. The batsmen are dressed like summerweight hockey goalies with leg pads and these shin/knee greaves as well as padded arm and hand protection.

Although I'm sure there are many ways to be out, or dismissed, I only saw 2. One was when the bowler guy broke the wicket into bits and the other was when the batsman hit the ball into the air and it was caught before the ball hit the ground.

At its core, it seems a very simple game. Hit a ball away from the guys in the field and then run back and forth until someone tells you to stop. But there seemed to be some intricate strategery going on during the match. I couldn't tell you what it was, but there were times when the batsmen didn't move after hitting it far enough that they could have switched at least once and other times when they hit it pretty close that they quickly switched. I didn't see a 6 scored, but I'd bet that's pretty cool to see.

The match I watched was a rerun of India versus Australia. Australia won with 6 wickets remaining after scoring more runs. I think the score was something to the effect of India 249 - 8 and Australia 250 - 4. There's a couple of reasons why India doesn't have 10 wickets, even though they went first. What happened in this case is the guys limited the number of overs (ultimately, pitches) in the game. Once the overs were done, the side was retired and the next side got the same number of balls hurled at them. The other could have been that India "declared" or decided to go into the field without finishing their wickets, I think.

For those who might not know (not that I do either), the first number is the "score" but combined in the score is the number of wickets that the side (team) gave up. So India scored 249 runs and gave up 8 wickets. It would be similar to showing the outs in baseball next to the score, but since they use all of the outs in baseball, there's no need.

Over all, it seemed to be one of those games that might be fun to watch at the field, or play. But watching it on television seems to be a bit more than this yank can handle.


My appologies to those who might know, or play, the game of cricket. These are merely the impressions of someone who's always been curious about the game of cricket, but never saw a game until last night.

[:FI:Nellip]

Hey Snaphoo - for a non cricket person you seem to have got the right idea.

I played a lot of cricket when I was younger - for school, university and clubs - and it is as much about the culture and lifestyle as it is the game at grass roots level. I played a lot of village cricket a few years ago - each village in my area had a team and we played each other at weekends over the summer months - men in the bar and playing the game, wifes and girlfriends making the tea - a meal taken between innings - which is also a bit of a tradition. At that level ie non serious, it is a great way of spending a summers day. These days I don't get enough time to dedicate a day at weekends to cricket

These are the rules as described humourously!

The Rules of Cricket

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 thats been in goes out and tries to get those coming in, out.
Sometimes you get men still in and not out.
When a man goes out to go in, the men who are out try to get him out, and when he is out he goes in and the next man in goes out and goes in.
There are two men called umpires who stay out all the time and they decide when the men who are in are out.
When both sides have been in and all the men have out, and both sides have been out twice after all the men have been in, including those who are not out, that is the end of the game!

[AltarBoy]

Cricket is a 'Gentleman's Game' my friend.

I still play the game. That plastic ball you describe it is called a cork ball and believe me it's a miniature cannon ball. I got hit with one on my forearm and was in real pain for hours. Batsmen use shin pads, chest pads, arm pads- it's like bloody body armor! But you seem to have a basic idea of the game. One-day matches are the most exciting and the Cricket World Cup is being played here in the West Indies. When the ball goes over the rope the batsman gets 4 runs added to his personal as well as the team's score. If it goes over the rope (called boundary) you get six runs added. The batter is called a batsman. The guy pelting that ball is called a bowler (fast bowler, spin bowler, leg spin bowler, etc). The guys around the field are called fieldsmen. My favorite teams are Australia, South Africa, India and of course the West Indies- but they need a miracle to win the cup, even with Brian Lara.
I really hope America can get into this game, it's less physical contact but to me it's one of the finest games out there. I guess we have to thank our former Colonists, England for the game.

[:FI:Gurberly]

'tis a wonderful game

G

[AltarBoy]

Found some footage of cricket here in Trinidad.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIB65UADfJQ

And my fave Brian Lara scoring 400 runs (he broke the record for scoring the highest number of runs in a test match).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IW-NbPf8PY0

[:FI:Snaphoo]

Thanks guys! Good to know I can still pick some things up by watching them. At least the idea of things anyway.

Just a couple of questions for you guys.

Why do the batsmen helmets look like riding helmets with face gear on them?

Is there a rule that says a bowler can't wear a hat?

I ask this because every single person, in the match I watched, had a hat on of some kind. That is to say they did, until they bowled, then one of the judges would hold it for his over.

What's the second wicket for? It seems to me that they only ever used one wicket. Don't you just need one?

[AltarBoy]

Let's see:

1. That helmet is for protection. That cork ball I mentioned is really hard and if you get hit on your head you'll likely get a concussion. I used one and got a nasty bouncer (the ball hitting the pitch and suddenly flying straight up for your head) and even though the helmet protected me it shook me up pretty good. If you check out the first video you'll see why you need a helmet.

2. Bowlers (especially fast bowlers) hats will fly off their heads at the speeds they run (in some cases the ball velocity exceeds 150 mph!). And you don't want your concentration broken by worrying about your floppy hat saying goodbye to your head!

3. That second wicket is important. Batsmen alternate at strike when an Over (seven ball deliveries) is completed. If you notice that when one batsman hits a ball they both run in opposite directions. If the batsmen run and the non-striker ends up where the original striker was, then it's his turn to bat. Kinda confusing but if you watch a game long enough you can figure it out.

This may help you


http://www.abcofcricket.com/cfb1/cfb2/cfb3/cfb3.htm

Just imagine Snaphoo attains full technical knowledge of cricket. Gets a bunch of fellow Americans and form the very first all-American Cricket Team right from Ok. USA! You'll make history! (Although there was a team in NY but never from where you are!)

[:FI:Snaphoo]

Thanks for the answers AB.

Perhaps I should clarify my first question a bit. I understand it's for protection. As all helmets are for protection. But the batting helmets I'm used to appear to have grown out of a hardening of the ball cap that were worn when they played baseball. (Baseball helmets look, or used to look, a lot like ball caps... In fact, in the 1940's and 50's the guys batting helmets were almost indistinguishable from their normal cloth caps) Cricket helmets seem to look like, in some cases, equestrian helmets that I've seen in various riding clubs and equestrian events. Is there a reason for this, or is the similarity merely coincidental?

I know I'm asking a silly question, but it was a bit of a curiousity.

[:FI:Gurberly]

They play a funny game in Trinidad...

Most teams play 6 balls to an over (wides and no balls get re-bowled so that there are 6 legitimate balls in an over)

Fasest bowler is just over 100mph... some Pakistani?

Cricket helmets are a fairly recent addition. I think if you look back at clips from the 70's they all wore floppy hats/caps. Not really sure how they developed, but they don't look that far removed from a cap?




Getting familiar with the fielding positions may help

..though don't forget they are reversed if it's a left hander batting.

[:FI:Nellip]

Personally I never wore a helmet when batting - and never got hit on the head.

Gurb is right - fastest bowler is around 100mph, Shoaib Akhtar I think. A good fast bowler will be over 90mph consistently.

You do sometimes see slow bowlers wear a hat, but not medium pace or fast bowlers.

I was mainly a bowler rather than a batsman when I played and there are a number of different techniques - seam bowler, finger spinner, wrist spinner etc and then a number of different deliveries (Balls) that each type can try to do. It really is a pretty complex game!

And yes they do play a strange game in Trinidad, overs now are always 6 balls. I think there was an attempt at using 8 ball overs a few years ago but I have never heard of a seven ball over?

[AltarBoy]

Opps, sorry, I was more thinking along the lines of village matches (where we often bend the rules a bit) than test and one-day matches when it comes to how many deliveries in an over. But officially it's 6 balls an over. As for the helmets I'm not too sure but the ICC just decided on the style I guess. I've seen the helmets with or without the face guard.
I found some scientific study on the helmet though.

http://bjsm.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/37/4/325

Here is a list of fast bowlers and their speeds.

http://www.cricinfo.com/link_to_databas ... PEEDS.html

[:FI:Fenian]

I don't like cricket... oh no.... I hate it....

Actually, any sport where you get to sit in the sun for hours on end drinking bitter is a good one... so I will not revert to type....

Don't understand the rules, but then I'm Irish, and we weren't programmed well enough by our colonial masters to get a good grip on the game. We stuck with the 'ancient' games.... and consistently fractured lots of skulls in the process...

Cricket looks like a perfect way to spend a sunny day. Never thought I'd say that

Long live the sticky wicket!!!

[:FI:Snaphoo]

Getting familiar with the fielding positions may help

And how many are there exactly? I lost count when I looked at that page that AB posted. Silly point, that's a position? There was another Silly position as well. Several "Slip" positions and I'm not sure how you could cover those, or keep them in your head while playing the game, much less switching for a left handed batsman! You only get 11 guys on the field. How can you cover all those positions?

I don't like cricket... oh no.... I hate it....

Good song... I believe it, or a version of it, was on the Snatch soundtrack. "I don't like Jamaica... Oh no... I love her...", or something similar.

Don't understand the rules, but then I'm Irish, and we weren't programmed well enough by our colonial masters to get a good grip on the game. We stuck with the 'ancient' games.... and consistently fractured lots of skulls in the process...

Speaking as someone who's country has also changed the name of football to seemingly non-sensical word (have no idea where "soccer" came from). Additionally, "we" changed the game of Rounders to be it's national pasttime, I think I understand why "Amerika" has never picked up the sport of Cricket. It's not confrontational enough. The only thing that it has going for it, for an American audience, is the high scores.

But for sheer scoring, "we" have basketball.

[:FI:Gurberly]

Well yes you would only have eleven players on field at one time. If you had an agressive field setting you would have more players in close, add a couple of slips (especially if you have a bowler with a bit of swing) at the expense of some of teh long positions in order to pressurise the batsman... to try and limit the scoring you would have more fielders out in the long positions.

All part of the tactics

I remember reading basketball was specifically designed as a high scoring game... then they add a three point zone?

The girlies seem OK with Netball... or perhaps they just cant count in 2's and 3's??

G

[:FI:Snaphoo]

I am not sure, to be honest, because I don't keep up with Basketball. I know the games scores are high due to the fact that the sports channels read the scores during the season.

I'd much rather be watching/playing football... Both American and European (read: everyone else's), though I have not done so in many, many years.