| Sandra's guide pages |
| A beginner's guide to cricket |
| Last Thinking Day I was contacted by an American Girl Scout unit who wanted somebody to explain cricket to them. Having not played since I was about 8, this was a bit of a tall order, but I came up with a rough description. Here it is for anyone who's interested. Please note I'm not a cricket expert in any way, shape or form and any of the information here may not be quite right. But to the best of my knowledge this is a good summary of the game. Traditionally, cricket is played on the village green, which is a flat piece of grass in the middle of the village. Now it’s played anywhere – in parks, even on the streets. Grass is best, but you can play it wherever you like. Real cricket pitches are always beautifully looked after – in some places it’s really frowned on to walk on one (especially the middle bit where the batsmen stand) unless you’re actually playing on it. In fact in Yorkshire, where I was brought up, it’s almost a capital crime ;-) Here’s an idea of what a pitch looks like: |
| The big rectangle is the ground. The oval is the boundary line – inside this is really the pitch, the grass outside it might be rough. The small rectangle in the middle is where most of the action takes place, and is in more detail below: |
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| This is the central part of the pitch. It’s not always in the middle as it gets moved whenever it is too worn out. It’s 22 yards (66 feet) long, which is called a chain but I have no idea why! |
| At each end is a “wicket”. The wicket is 3 sticks stuck into the ground with small bits of wood called bails balanced on top. It looks like this: |
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| PLAYERS There are 2 teams, each of 11 people. (Playing in the streets or informally of course there may be fewer or more people in a team). One team is batting (called the batters or batsmen) and the other team is fielding (fielders). Only 2 batters at a time are actually doing anything but all of the fielders are involved. There is also an umpire, who referees the match, says when people are out and so on. It’s useful to have a scorer to keep track. Traditionally players wear white – trousers and shirt with a white woolly jumper (sweater) if it’s cold. The international teams now wear brightly coloured kit. There’s also protective gear (my brother learned the hard way what a cricket ball at high speed can do to your teeth!) – pads for the legs, a box for the gentlemen (!) and sometimes a helmet with a face guard. The pads are the most important. They’re pretty similar to the ones the goalkeeper uses in field hockey if that’s any use for you! |
| EQUIPMENT 22 players plus an umpire 2 wickets (see above) 2 bats (at least – one for each batter who’s on the field. Traditionally made of willow wood) 1 ball (cricket balls are red leather and VERY hard. About the size of a tennis ball) |
| PLAY The fielders pick one person to bowl (throw the ball), one to be wicket keeper (they crouch behind the wicket & try to grab the ball if the batsman misses). The other fielders spread round the field and are ready to catch the ball if it comes their way. The two batsmen who are on the field stand one at each end. The one who’s going to actually hit the ball stands at the opposite end from the bowler. He stands just next to the wicket with his bat in front of the wicket. He MUST not block the wicket with his body (including his leg). The other batter stands near the other wicket, out of the way of the bowler. The game starts with the bowler standing some way back from the middle bit of the pitch and then running forward and (BEFORE reaching the wicket at his end) throws the ball towards the wicket at the batsman’s end. The ball should bounce once before it gets there. The batter hits the ball. SCORING The batsman’s aim is to score “runs”. Once he’s hit the ball he can run to the other wicket – this is a “run”. He can keep running back and forth getting more runs until the bowler gets the ball back. Whenever he runs, the other batsman runs too – they swap ends for each run, so if they get 2 runs they’ll be back where they started. If he hits the ball so hard that it goes sailing over the boundary line it is a “six” and counts for six runs. If it bounces but still goes over the boundary then it is a “four” and counts for four runs. If you get a four or a six you don’t need to run because you’ve already got the points! |
| GETTING THE BATTERS OUT This is the complicated bit! There are LOADS of ways to get a batter out. Here are some of the more common ones: Caught: if the batter hits the ball and a fielder (including the bowler or wicket keeper) catches the ball before it bounces on the ground, the batter is out and doesn’t get any runs off that ball. Bowled: if the bowler hits the wicket with the ball then the batsman is out. This includes if the batter knocks over the wicket himself or the ball bounces off his bat and hits the wicket. Leg Before Wicket (LBW): If the batsman stands in front of the wicket, or puts his leg in front of it, when trying to hit the ball then he’s out. Other: if either batsman is running towards a wicket trying to get a run and a fielder gets the ball and touches it to the wicket then the batter is out (the one running towards the wicket that was hit). A fielder can hit the wicket without being anywhere near it if he’s good at aiming! |
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| So here’s an example of how it goes: 1. bowler throws the ball 2. batter hits the ball, it bounces across the pitch. 3. both batsmen run, crossing over in the middle. 4. a fielder grabs the ball and throws it to the bowler or wicket keeper 5. the bowler or wicket keeper gets the ball just after the batsmen have managed to swap ends. This means the batter has scored one run and now must stop running. 6. Time to throw the ball again. The bowler stays at the same end, because the batters switched places once this means the second batsman is getting their chance. Once a batsman is out, the next person in the batting team “comes out to bat”, ie. takes his place. This continues until there is only one batter who’s not out (he can’t play on his own!) or a set time limit is reached. The session from start until this point is called an “innings”. Now the teams swap places and off we go again… |
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| Changing the bowler A bowler bowls 6 balls. This is called an “over”. Then the captain can get a different person to bowl, or keep the same bowler. Matches A village game or match will usually be two innings (one for each team). Bigger games (like county or international ones) may last several days and have many innings! |
| Acknowledgements The clipart on this page (except for the layout of the pitch) came from: http://www.oocities.org/cricketsa/page_01.htm http://dir.coolclips.com/Sports/Cricket/Cricket_Bats/ |