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Modern cricket is a team sport originating in England and popular mainly in
areas that formerly made up the British Empire. The language of cricket is
particularly idiosyncratic and tends to reflect the somewhat complicated and
eccentric nature of the game itself. The game is played between two competing
teams of eleven players on each side, on a large expanse (usually grassy) ground
called a pitch.
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The teams are usually comprised of players with a mixture of
abilities, some who specialize at batting, some at bowling, occasionally some
who excel in both capacities, and one highly specialist player who acts as
'wicket-keeper'. In the centre of the pitch is a length of grass, (usually 22
yards long), called 'the wicket'. At each end of the wicket are placed three
sticks adjacent to each other in an upright position: these are the 'stumps'.
They are separated by a gap not greater than the diameter of a cricket ball. On
top of each set of stumps are placed two smaller sticks, or 'bails'. A chalk
outline is drawn in front of each set of stumps called a 'crease'. The game is refereed by two
'umpires'. | |
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The length of games can vary in duration of time, and number of
balls bowled. One side will 'bat' first, the other side will bowl to them.
Batsmen play in pairs, each equipped with a bat, one at each end of the wicket.
The object for the batting side is to score the optimal number of 'runs' (points) before the bowling side
have dismissed them. The object for the bowling side is to dismiss the batsmen
as economically as possible. Once the process is complete the roles are
reversed, i.e. the side which were batting then bowl and the bowling side then
bat. This reversal may happen only the once (typically in 'one-day' or 'limited
overs' cricket) or twice, as in county or international test match cricket. Runs
can be scored in a number of ways: each time that the batting pair is able to
run between the wickets after a ball has been bowled a run is scored. If the
ball travels outside of the playing area, and it has touched the ground prior to
leaving the playing area, 4 runs are scored. If the ball does not touch the
ground on its way out, 6 runs are scored.
Dismissal of the batsmen can occur in a number of ways.
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Dismissal |
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The batsman
facing the bowler can be 'bowled' out, i.e. the ball will hit the stumps without
him being able to prevent it. If the batsman strikes the ball with the bat and it is
caught by the bowler or one of the bowler's side who are dotted around the
ground to field the ball before it hits the ground, then he is deemed to be
out. A batsman can also be out 'leg before wicket' or 'lbw': this is one of the
more complex and vexatious rules and usually involves the ball striking the
batsman's leg-protectors or 'pads' and the likelihood of the onward trajectory
of the ball striking the wicket has the player's anatomy not intervened. Either
player can be 'run-out' if the wicket towards which they are running during the
course of play is struck with the ball prior to their reaching the safety of the
crease.
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