is it really that complicated? I've been here in south asia for 3 weeks now and I try to pick it up by watching it on tv but am having no success.
I have a friend that spent time in India and he tried explaining it to me once. I don't really remember what he said, but it seems like I remember the possibility of games going on forever. And maybe the ball can't touch the little thingie behind where the guy with the paddle stands? Hell, I don't remember.
It isn't toocomplicated, its probably just the jargon that is making it difficult. I stayed in Melbourne for awhile... so I'll attempt a simple explanation, assuming you don't know much abt the game. There are two versions of the game, test and one-dayers. Each team has 11 men. In the one-dayers, each team takes turns to bat and bowl one innings each. Each innings has a set amount of balls to be bowled (usually 300 balls, but there are other factors that can cause this to fluctuate). To put it simply, the team with the highest score (called "runs") at the end of the day wins. Runs are scored when a batsman hit the ball into empty space and they run... or if they hit it to the boundary which will automatically yield them 4 or 6 runs. As long as the innings isn't over (the 300 balls to be delivered aren't over) the same batsman can keep on batting until they are dismissed. If a batsman is dismissed or "gets out", he will be replaced by the next batsman in the team. The catch is that once 10 batsmen are dismissed, even if the alloted 300 balls still have not been bowled/delivered, the innings will end... preventing the batting team from scoring anymore runs. There are different ways which a batsman can get himself "out". (1) the bowler hits the stumps with the ball on his delivery, (2) the batsman hits the ball but the ball is caught in the air by a member of the bowling team, (3) the batsman is run out (too tired to explain, hope u figured this part out by now). So each side when batting wants to score as fast as possible, but they also don't want to get their batsmen out (called losing wickets) by playing too aggressively. When bowling, they will try to prevent runs from being scored, and try to take wickets (taking wickets is a great way to slow scoring cos the other team has to be more cautious... among a few other factors). Phew! Maybe it is a bit complicated. Probably be easier if u post specific qns if u have any. I'll leave it to the australians to give you a more in-depth explanation. Its a really interesting game (and often though not always exciting) and worth trying to understand.
The maximum length for test matches in the modern era is five days. In a test match each team has 2 innings to bat and 2 innings to bowl. If they can't complete them in the set time (as the batsmen who aren't dismissed can theoretically continue batting from day 1 to day 5), the match will end in a draw. Hope I'm correct here, any cricket gurus pls feel free to correct my info.
So if I see a score that says "India, 153-5" or something like that what does that mean? Is it runs & outs or bowls?
153 for 5 means that they have 153 runs after 5 outs(10 outs total, but like in baseball, the bottom of the lineup is weak) Also, if this is a 5 day test, India is going to lose. That's not the worst for a one day test, but they'd have to get a couple of good batters out when they bowl. A good score(one where you can plan on winning) is around 270-300. Batters only get one out and they're done, so 10 outs total. Also, I will check this thread pretty regularly so I can help with any questions.
You are right about the innings thing, but it's a bit more complicated than that if my information is correct. Once a team reaches a certain amount of runs, they can forfeit the rest of their batters and try to get the other team 'ALL OUT' before they reach the score you've set. So, if you are 565-3 you might as well let the other team give it a try. Also, 5 day test matchs are boring. One day test is the most entertaining thing to watch.
About a month before I took a three-week trip to Australia, a good friend who I would be staying with in Oz sent me a "Rules of Cricket" book and two tapes full of cricket matches (games, sets, days, whatever). He even took the time to write meticulous notes and explanations on post-it notes and in spaces on the book pages. And I tried, I really tried, but I just didn't get it. Once I was in Sydney, I watched a day-long (10am-7pm) match/test/scrum/game/whatever, and still didn't get it. And apparently (after asking someone for a little perspective) I witnessed an Australian player set a record that was in line with Scott Skiles dishing 30 assists. Three things I did take from that day: *1st-degree burns on my face. *New appreciation for my ability to get drunk, hungover, drunk, and hungover again within one afternoon. *A mention in the Sydney newspaper (not by name) about drunken hooligans heckling the Indian players. My friend Steve tricked one right-fielder-type-player into coming over to him to give an autograph, and when his back was turned, Steve took his hat and grabbed his arse. A sidenote: when my friend and his little brother came over to America in 2003 for a trip, he picked up baseball's rules within days. By the end of the trip, he was pouring over baseball boxscores from the Chicago Tribune.
Being an Aussie...I obviously know understand cricket. Simple rule. The big number is the number of runs a side has scored. The little number is the number of batters that have been given out. Once the little number gets to 10.....the side switch from batting to fielding. One thing Im sure U.S. sports fans would find weird is the regular matches against countries like the West Indies, India and Pakistan. In Australia, Cricket is kind of like our baseball. Its not about sitting there and focusing on every single thing that happens on the field. Its about getting sh*tfaced, getting heat stroke for us Aussies.....getting a win.
I have a natural prejudice against cricket. When I used to play badminton at the university field house, more often than not there would be a group of assh*les who would set up and play cricket in the little space between the badminton courts and the big curtain. Every now and then, the stupid cricket ball would whizz into the badminton court, and if you weren't alert the damn thing would take your head off. I was wary of confronting them because there were so many of them and they looked like the OCP Indian rap-mafia. I have hated cricket with an unhealthy passion ever since.
Put it this way, baseball was invented by Americans because they thought cricket was too slow. Aint that a kicker.
Cricket RULES!!!!! Go India!!!!! I cant wait till 2007 when the World Cup is in the Caribbean. US is going to have a team too!
I was bloody terrible at Cricket. I used to have fun playing indoor cricket for school sport for a few years....but I was always more of a Rugby League player anyway. Australia has been BELTING teams in just about every series they have played in One Day Internationals and test matches. Right now the Poms are putting up a good fight in the Ashes series (Normally they roll over and die) but I still think we will go on to win it.
I think I was one of those obnoxious cricket players. I would scream and shout extra loud every time we knocked out the wickets.
I live in the U.S now but I was born in Australia and i LOVED IT. That's all i used to play. Cricket and Aussie Rules Football. I've tried to get into baseball but I guess I haven't tried hard enough to get into it. I can just sit here an reminisce about those weekend summer afternoons sitting on the couch and watching the Aussies bust up the likes of England and South Africa and India. And New Zealand. Shane Warne was my favorite bowler and Ricky Ponting was my favorite one-dayer.
