Can someone explain "Cricket" to me?

Question

Howdy. I'm moving to India to marry my fiance next year and he LOVES cricket. I think it would mean a lot to him if I learned about it so I can understand what he is telling me. Can someone give me some idea about the game so I can follow it? I read today something "YuYuvraj Singh [Images] hit six sixes in an over en route to a 14-ball 58 as India beat England [Images] by 18 runs to keep alive their hopes of a berth in the semi-finals of the Twenty20 World Cup, in Durban, on Wednesday night." I have NOOOOOO idea what any of that (or the rest of the article) means at all! ha ha ha HELP! Grin. Thanks! (P.S. I know what a wicket is and I know what a bowler is...I guess the man standing in front of the wicket is trying to keep the ball away from it but I'm not sure...that's about all I know ha ha ha).

Answer 1

I wrote this myself,so please read this....

OK.Firstly,cricket is somewhat similar to baseball.Two teams try to score as many runs as they can.The team which scores more runs wins the match.

-There are 11 players on each side.There are two Umpires on the field(who make most decisions) and two off it to se replays.

-Cricket is played in a circular(or oval) field of grass with a pitch in the middle(which has dried grass for the most part).
The pitch has 3 wooden sticks(stumps) erected at each end.These stumps have two small bails placed on them.These(3 stumps and 2 bails together) are called wickets.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Cricket_field_parts.svg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Cricket_-_Stumps.png

-Before the game starts,the two captains flip a coin(the toss).The captains that wins the toss gets to choose if he wants to bat or bowl first.

-The team which fields or bowls spreads out its fielders(who try to stop the ball) across the field.In addition there's a bowler(similar to a pitcher in baseball-except for the fact that he runs for a short distance before throwing the ball).There's also a wicket keeper(catcher in baseball) behind the batsman's(see later) stumps.
http://cache.eb.com/eb/image?id=63476&rendTypeId=4

-The team which bats sends out two "batsmen"(batters).Of these,the batsman who's playing the ball is said to be on "strike"(not to be confused with strike of baseball).The other batsman stands at the other end of the pitch.Batsmen ,based on their style of play are of two types
-Right-handed batsmen
-Left-handed batsman

-The bowler runs in and throws the ball.6 legal balls or deliveries(6 throws) constitute an "over".A "One day" match has 50 over for a side.A "test" match has 450 over(atleast) spread over 5 days.A "Twenty20" match has 20 over for each side.

-The batsman facing the bowler has two choices-
1)he can attempt to hit the ball
2)he can leave the ball
Remember,batsmen are NOT penalised for missing the ball(unlike in baseball,there are no strikes in cricket).

-When the batsman hits the ball, he runs to the other end of the pitch and his partner(at the other end) runs towards his end.When they have both reached the crease at opposite ends,it means they've completed or run a"run".If they do the same thing twice,then they score two runs.....

-If the ball crosses the edge of the field(demarcated by a rope),then:
a)4 runs(this shot commonly referred to as a four) are awarded if the ball had bounced before crossing the boundary.
http://ie.youtube.com/watch?v=gRWH3xXHVUc

b)6 runs(this shot is commomly called a six or a sixer)are awarded to the batting team if the ball crosses the boundary without hitting the ground.
http://ie.youtube.com/watch?v=7MPbMsW2yo4


-If the ball(after being hit by the batsman's bat or gloves) is caught by a fielder before it touches the ground,the batsman is said to be out caught.
http://ie.youtube.com/watch?v=FjhJmZ46Fjw

-When a fielder, bowler or wicket-keeper removes one or both of the bails with the ball by hitting the stumps whilst a batsman is still running between the two ends,the batsman is said to be run out.
http://ie.youtube.com/watch?v=dK3BBjfwdM0

OTHER MODES OF DISMISSALS(getting a batsman out):
- Bowled- When a delivered ball hits the stumps at the batsman's end, and dislodges one or both of the bails. This happens regardless of whether the batsman has edged the ball(with his bat or body) onto the stumps or not. The bowler is credited with the dismissal.
http://ie.youtube.com/watch?v=OEpgv5sIXFE

-Leg before wicket (lbw) — When a delivered ball misses the bat and strikes the batsman's leg, pad or body, and the umpire judges that the ball would otherwise have struck the stumps.The bowler is credited with the dismissal.
http://ie.youtube.com/watch?v=8EOCpk2-saI

-Stumped — When the batsman leaves his crease in playing a delivery, voluntarily or involuntarily, but the ball goes to the wicket-keeper who uses it to remove one or both of the bails through hitting the bail(s) or the wicket before the batsman has remade his ground.This generally requires the keeper to be standing within arm's length of the wicket, which is done mainly to spin bowling(for more info on spin bowling,see later)
http://ie.youtube.com/watch?v=NDNTaV5kPpA

-Hit wicket — When the batsman accidentally knocks the stumps with either the body or the bat, causing one or both of the bails to be dislodged, either in playing a shot or in taking off for the first run.
http://ie.youtube.com/watch?v=M3emL5c4LVU

-Handled the ball — When the batsman deliberately handles the ball without the permission of the fielding team. No player is credited with the dismissal.

-Hit the ball twice — When the batsman deliberately strikes the ball a second time, except for the sole purpose of guarding his wicket.

-Obstructing the field — When a batsman deliberately hinders a fielder attempting to field the ball.

- Timed out — When a new batsman takes more than three minutes to take his position in the field to replace a dismissed batsman.

When the batsman is dismissed,the batting team is said to have lost a "wicket".The next batsman then comes out to play.This is continued till all overs are played out or till there are no batsmen left.A SINGLE BATSMAN CANNOT PLAY ON HIS OWN.There MUST be two batsmen on the field during play.Thus a team can only lose ten wickets(the eleventh batsman is left "not out" at the end)

BOWLERS:
These are are of different groups:
1)Fast bowlers:They run in from a longer distance and throw the ball faster(at75-100 miles/hr)
http://ie.youtube.com/watch?v=Kz1MVQjXPQw&mode=related&search=
2)These bowlers bowl slower but spin(turn the ball).These are further divided into "Off spinners" and "Leg Spinners".
Off-spin:Off spin is a type of bowling in the sport of cricket which is bowled by an off spinner, a right-handed spin bowler who uses his or her fingers to spin the ball from a right-handed batsman's off side to the leg side
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/18/Chinaman_small.gif
Leg-spin:Leg spin is a style of spin bowling in cricket. A leg spinner bowls right-arm with a wrist spin action, causing the ball to spin anti-clockwise at the point of delivery. When the ball bounces, the spin causes the ball to deviate sharply from right to left (as seen by the bowler).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Leg_break_small.gif


THE SCORE BOARD:
-If the score board reads 217/4 ,it means that the batting team has made 217 runs and lost 4 wickets(had 4 of its batsmen dismissed).
-"Edwards b McMillan" means that McMillan bowled Edwards out.
-"Edwards c Hayden b McMillan" means that Hayden(a fielder) caught Edwards off the bowling of McMillan.
-"Edwards st Adams b McMillan" means that Edwards was stumped by Adams(the wicketkeeper) off the bowling of McMillan.
-"not out" symbolises that the batsman hasn't been dismissed.
-If team A scores 254 runs(while batting first) and team B scores 255/6,then team B is said to have won the match by 4 wickets(10-6=4)
-If a team A scores 254 runs(while batting first) and Team B manages to score only 200 runs,then Team A will have won the match by 54 runs(254-54=200).

That just about does it.You can learn more as you watch the game.

Answer 2

When a bowler bowls the ball, the batsman has to hit the ball and run between the wickets before the ball is fielded and returned to the bowler. The number of times the batsman run between the wickets before the fielder picks up the ball and thrown to the bowler or wicket keeper are considered as runs.
However, if the ball crosses the boundary rope through ground before the ball is fielded, 4 runs are awarded to the batsman and he need not run between the wicket to secure the runs. If the ball crosses the boundary without touching the ground, the batsman gets 6 runs. Such a thing happened when Yuvaraj Singh was batting as he hit all 6 balls of an over bowled over the boundary ropes and got 36 runs, which helped india to win the match.

Since it will be difficult to explain all about cricket in few wordsw, I suggest you check the following link, where complete details about cricket are described.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cricket

Answer 3

Hey Jazmin......

Thanks for showing interest in this wonderful game called cricket...

it is played between two sides.

The bowling side : Their job is to to bowl - obviously. One of the players who has specialised in bowling bowls a ball to target the stumps. His aim is to hit the stumps or make the batsman play the ball in such a way so as to inflict a catch.

The wicketkeeper is a specialized fielder who stands behind the stumps and his job is to collect the ball bowled, take a catch or clip the bails off with the ball should the batsman leave the crease.

The fielders have to stop the ball from going to the boundaries or to catch it.

The batting side : Their job is obviously to bat meaning to defend the ball from going to the stumps, striking the ball to score runs making sure they don't get caught....

The scoring system:
when the batsman strikes the ball they run for taking runs ( am i sounding weird :-))
when the ball crosses the boundary with at least one bounce its declared FOUR runs
When it crosses it over the ropes - its a SIX ............and thats Yuvi - Six sixes in Six balls.....a world record....


Now both sides try to reduce each other to lowest possibe scores and the side which scores more runs WINS......

Answer 4

In addition to oxtailsoupy's answer, I've also added a short link to explain T20 cricket and how it differs from normal cricket. Good Luck in India!

Answer 5

ok so singh (the batter) hit the ball so far it went over the boundary on the full (without bouncing) which meant he got six points - he did that 6 times so he got 36 runs off 6 hits of the ball. An over is ok wow this is hard to explain - bowlers bowl in groups of 6 called overs umm you might want to look it up on wikipedia for a better explanation than mine!!

Answer 6

Ask your b/f to take you.. to a match...and explain how the game is played. Youre not going to learn anything here. Words are hard to digest, especially knowing that you know nothing whatsoever about cricket. Like you just typed...you have nooo idea...just dont be that person standing in front of the wicket, I can guarantee it wont be a ha ha for you..

Answer 7

I asked that question once in a pub, and after the explanation I realized I had finally found a game more boring than American baseball.

Answer 8

the link below describes the way the game is played, with the use of diagrams. Also provides strategies, trivia, bowling styles, and more.

Answer 9

no