Every year, around October, begins the dreaded time of sport-doldrums known as cricket season. The two forms of football are over and it's just too hot to play anything else. Everyone has heard of the old British sport of cricket, but most know nothing about it save it's kinda like baseball and it's really boring. I can't dispute either of these perceptions.
Cricket was invented in 1600's by the Brits. It remains quite popular there, but over the years the former members of the once great empire have really taken it to new levels; now, the Brits often have one of the worst national cricket teams in the world.
The game is typically played in an oval, though it's not an uncommon beach or gymnasium game. The oval is at its narrowest point about 130m and at its longest, 150m. In the middle of the oval are two sets of wickets, which are three sticks pounded into the ground with another two that rest across the top. The wickets are set 20m apart; this area is known as "the pitch".
A cricket team has eleven members. Typically, players are either good fielders/batters or good bowlers. It is rare to have players who excel at both. The general object of the game is to score as many runs as possible. The bowler starts at one end of the pitch and "bowls" the ball around 80-100mph towards the opposing wicket; bowling is like pitching in baseball, but they get a running start and are unable to bend their elbows; it's quite silly to watch. There are two batsmen on the field at a time. One to bat and one to just stand there, ready to run. After the ball is bowled, the batsman must hit the ball underhand to gaps in the field where nobody can catch the ball. Many times, the batter is just keeping the ball from hitting the wicket. If he hits it far enough, both batters run back and forth between the wickets, each time this happens, they score a run. If one of the two starts running, then both have to run and cross to the opposite wicket before the ball is fielded. Whenever the ball is hit to the outside of the oval without bouncing, it is an automatic six runs, if it bounces, four. Another way to score a run is if the bowler throws the ball outside the crease (essentially a ball in baseball).
There are a few ways to get out. It is an out when the ball is caught. If the fielders return the ball and touch it to the wicket while the batsmen are in the middle of the pitch, the batter who hit the ball is out. When the ball is bowled a hits the wicket, breaking one the top sticks, this is known simply as a "wicket"and the batter is out. Sometimes a sneaky player will either purposefully or accidentally prevent a wicket by using a body part to block the ball. If this happens when the trajectory of the ball is heading directly towards the wicket, it is an out by (LBW or Leg before wicket or my favorite cricket term, a "googly".). It's a pretty simple game.
Each side takes turns batting through the order of ten batters all at once in an inning. This makes the game seem very long because the same side can be batting for hours. When the inning is over, they switch positions. The team with the most runs wins. Here is where it gets a bit more confusing.
There are a three main types of cricket games: 20/20's, day matches, and test matches.
20/20 are by far the most interesting of cricket matches. Each team has twenty overs, an over being six bowls. So, the teams have 120 chances to score runs. In the world of cricket, this is not a lot of bowls. Therefore, the batters bash the hell out of the ball to score as many runs in a short amount of time. They don't last long and it seems as if they are trying really hard to make things happen as opposed to other forms of cricket where the do the exact opposite.
The day matches are similar, except there are 50 overs on each side. The batters are bit more conservative, since 50 overs is more than enough chances to get all ten batsmen out. These are a bit entertaining as well, but they last for hours! The batters still bash the ball around, but in general, the strategy moves more in the direction of not getting out.
The most boring and most well-known type of cricket are test matches. This is the form of cricket where it gets its notoriety for being the most dull spectator sport this side of golf and Nascar. A test match lasts for up to five days! Each team has four innings of unlimited overs and even though the match is decided by the team with the most runs, the general object is to not get out. If four innings are not complete, the game is a draw and it proves a complete waste of five days for the players and spectators. The batters typically play defensively, just deflecting the ball from the wicket and scoring as many runs as possible in the meantime. Despite its stupid length, this form of cricket is the ultimate test of team and surprisingly, lots of people watch entire matches. Typically, it is merely background at pubs or worth a quick score check every commercial break. For those who have the endurance to watch the whole match, it is often accompanied by periods of mild hypnotic coma or napping. I hate test cricket...give me a 20/20 any day. Since there is no baseball here, I have watched my fair share to satiate some of my need for some ball bashing, but overall, I won't be too sad to leave cricket behind.
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