Don't get too crazy, THM.

5 days to play two innings? What kind of fucked up mind thought this was fun? And they say baseball is slow!

http://www.cricket-rules.com/

No clue what you just said Maniac.

I have to say this cool concept is very "Diplomacy" inspiring...

"The follow-on is when the first team makes at least 200 runs more than the second team made (in a 5 day test match). This then gives the first team the option to make the second team bat again. This is particularly useful if the game is progressing slowly or affected by bad weather and there might not be enough time for both teams to play a full innings. Should this be the case the batting team's captain also has the right to forfeit their innings at any time. This is called a declaration. Some may wonder why a captain would forfeit the opportunity for his team to bat. However if the game is coming close to a close and it looks like they will not be able to bowl the other team out again this could be an option. If one team is not bowled out twice and a winner determined in the five days of play the game is declared a draw. Therefore it may be worth declaring an innings to creat the possibility of a win rather than a draw."

WOW is right. What an accomplishment.

PS @draugner ... think of cricket as "Classic full press" and baseball as "Gunboat".

What I'm unsure of is if the batter gets to keep batting until he is out and does it work as pairs somehow? Also, does every crossing of the pitch score a run thereby making a single (in basaball terms) worht a run or even two runs for the batter on the other side? Who does that all work?

Draugnar, we play a game that lasts months on end. Instant gratification isn't everything.

A batter keeps batting until they are out, run out of partners or the captain declare. In the limited overs version the batsman's innings is over when the pre-set number of overs has expired. When the batsman runs the length of the wicket (and his partner runs the length the other way) it is one run.

Celtic - an over is when 1 bowler bowls 6 balls. Once he has bowled 6 balls another bowler bowls another over from the other side of the wicket. A wicket in this sense is the pitch. A six is scored when a batsman hits the ball over the boundary line 'in the air'. If a batman hits the ball over the boundary on the ground he scores 4 not six. So in this instance a bowler bowled six balls and each of them were hit over the boundary without touching the ground. The batsman scored 36 runs of 1 over.

So run through how an inning plays out with batters and partners. Please?

Cricket is simple:-

Cricket is played between 2 teams of 11 players who used to all wear
white. The team that is in bats and the team that is out fields. The
team that is out has to get the team that is in, out. Once the team
that is in is out, then the team that is out is in and the team that is
now out has to get the team that is now in, out. Clear?

Yeah yeah yeah. I got all that before you tried muddying up the water. I want to understand the order of play. I get that the fielding team's go is to get 11 of the 12 batting team out. But how does the batter change other than him getting out and if the runner gets out, is he not allowed to bat that inning?

Sorry, 10 of the 11 batters out. The 12th is just to fill in for an injured player in the field.

But let's say a batter makes it across the pitch and gets his run. Does he then come back and back again or does the runner who was behind the bowler but is now in front bat?

If people want a book set in America which captures the spirit of the game may I suggest Netherland by Joseph O'Neill? Cricket does well in literature, certainly better than football (soccer) and almost as well as boxing.

Pretend I'm new and want to play and not just be told "Go bat! Your up!"...

''Pretend I'm new and want to play and not just be told "Go bat! Your up!".''

You might start with this poem by Arthur Salway:

Alive & Well



Stapleton in June. The sun shines down

Upon the cricket ground beside the town.

Spectators congregate and very soon

Forget their troubles for the afternoon,

Relishing an English summer's bliss.

Through bitter winter months they longed for this.



The visitors from Frome have won the toss

And batting first, are 30 without loss.

Visiting players, age obscure,

Having played here many times before,

Begin to wander by the dry stone walls

Responding to raised hands and welcome calls,

Greeting the spectators, some by name,

(Would this take place with any other game?)

And sitting with them, settle at their ease

Beside the walls and underneath the trees,

Then slowly, very slowly, working round

Renew old friendships all around the ground;

Men of different status, age, and kind

Seeking and finding those of kindred mind,

Impartial as they venture and compare

Opinions of proceedings on the square



Discussing prospects, memories, the wicket:

What do they have in common? Only cricket.

In other circles they would never meet

Or, silent, pass each other in the street.

As wickets fall spectators must release

Protagonist companions to the crease

Their conversations promised to resume

When next the first team plays at home to Frome.



"Ref assaulted", "Jostling at Lords",

"Team bus stoned" in pictures and in words

The press and media never fail to mention

The foul language, violence and tension

So prevalent in sport and, so it seems,

Between supporters of opposing teams.

The cameras and press we may assume

Will not be there when Stapleton play Frome

I get it. It ain't "the football". It's a friendly gentleman's game. That is what is so appealing to me. Much like Curling. I want to try it but I need to understand it and tht means the actual rules of the game. I know it isn't Ankara Crescent where the rules change as you go along, so lay out a typical "bats man one bats. if he gets a hit and makes it to the other side of the pitch, then..." type thing.

@draug - when a single is scored, the batsman that is now at the receiving end of the pitch is at bat. This leads to some interesting strategy on the last ball of an over. If the batsman is a strong run-scorer and his partner is more defensive (i.e. protecting the wicket but not driving the ball), then they will try to score a single on that last ball, so that when the new over starts (with a new bowler from the other end) the strong run-scorer will still be at bat.

I'm going to do something that I know I shouldn't and speak for Draug (and myself). WTF are you all talking about? In the US, we know NOTHING about cricket. And by nothing, I mean nothing. I read the last post and was completely lost after the first sentence. You really have to start at the beginning and explain the terms that you use when explaining the sport. I'm trying to follow along and just can't. #frustrating.

Actually that last post from VirtBob made sense to me. Presumably, after an over one of the at bat players leaves and a new one joins? I got form my readings that whent he over changes, the end changes as well. So if a single is scored and the end changes at the end of the over, the batter who batted last in the previous over would now be at that end. Do they change the batter out or do the batter and runner also switch position when the over changes?

OK...now you're just screwing with me.

While a respectable performance, today's feat was in a second XI (reserve team) match, and the press reports indicate that the bowler did not vary his deliveries at all.

I suppose the baseball equivalent would be a pitcher pitching six identical slow curve balls, which were each hit for a home run (but with a rule change so that the same batter faced all six pitches).

I'm surprised that this is such a big deal considering that Chris Gayle hit 175 runs off just 66 deliveries only yesterday. A dream-shattering record.

What Chris Gayle did was SuperHuman, that record will not be beaten for a very long time

OK ... Here is the deal. 11 players per side, each side takes a turn batting (an "inning" derived from the fact that they are the team that is "in") until there is only one batsman left. The game is played on a "pitch", which is roughly oval. There are two "wickets" set up in the middle of the pitch, each consisting of 3 vertical pieces and 2 horizontal ones (bails) balanced atop. The batsmen are stationed to "defend" the wicket ... one on each end. The opposing team takes the field and one "bowler" is designated to start the proceedings. He stands behind (outside) the wicket at one end, runs up to the line, and "bowls" (straight-arm overhand with no elbow action) in an attempt to knock the opposite wicket apart. The batsman defends the wicket, and can also attack (attempt to score runs). There is a LOT of strategy around how the batsman approaches this task. If the ball strikes the wicket and dislodges the bails, the batsman is given out and replaced by the next player in order. If he hits the ball and it is caught in the air, he is given out. If he hits it and the two batsmen attempt to run to the other end, then either they are succesful (scoring one run) or not (because the fielders threw the ball in and broke the wicket while they were still between the lines. (The ball can strike the wicket directly, or the "wicket keeper" can catch it and dislodge the bails with the ball in his glove.) Note also that only the wicket keeper wears a fielding glove. Fielders can be placed anywhere and there is no such thing as foul territory. Batsmen can keep running as long as they want, scoring a single, double, triple etc. depending on how many times they change ends. If the ball bounces across the boundary it is an automatic 4 and if it leaves the grounds on the fly it is an automatic 6. After 6 balls, the "over" is complete and a second bowler begins the next over from the opposite end. Bowlers typically bowl 8-10 overs in an inning, and typically there are 4 or 5 bowlers used in total. Runs can also be scored on a "wide" (think wild pitch) which also does not count as one of the 6 balls for the over (meaning that 36 is not a maximum score for the over in theory). And a batsman can also be called out "leg-before-wicket" if he defends the wicket with anything other than his bat. Once ten wickets have been taken, the side is "out" (since there is nobody to pair with the 11th batsman). Each side has two innings in a test match (played over 5 days) and there is a lot of strategy around "declaring" (that is, voluntarily ending one's innings before ten wickets have been taken) or forcing the opponent to "follow-on" (having the losing team take its second inning immediately after completing the first if they are still way behind). It is a game with fairly simple rules and very complex strategy.

By the way, the ball is typically delivered to bounce once in front of the batsman before hitting the wicket, so spin is very important. A good fast bowler can also reliably hit small imperfections in the pitch to throw the batsman off stride. And, of course, bouncing it up toward the batsman's face (a "Yorker") is also a pretty effective strategy, though nowadays limited to usage once per over. There is no rule against a "full toss" but a decent batsman will pound it for 6 pretty easily.

@draug - to your specific question, the two batsmen do not change ends with the over ... only the direction from which the balls are bowled changes, which means that the "other" batsman will be receiving the ball at the "other" wicket. That is the point behind trying to score a single in order to keep the better batsman in line to receive for the next over. Only when a batsman is given out is there a replacement.

Beyond a Boundary is one of the best sports books ever written -- mixing autobiography, cricket, social theory, the context of cricket being THE game of the world's biggest colonial empire, etc - highly recommended - that bing said I still dont understand how the damn game works :)

@Virtualbob - bouncing it toward a batsman's face is called a bouncer. A Yorker is when the ball is bowled to land close to his feet, usually targeting the gap between the bat and foot.

That now all made mcuh more sense. One last question. If a fielder knocks over the wicket (or the wicket keeper does) is only the player going towards that wicket out?

@draug ... you are correct on the last question.

@ava ... I stand corrected

So I think I have got it now. So if you had a team with half a dozen good outfielders, this game of 5 days could be played in a few hours as basically, every throw/bowl counts.

@Draugnar - that isn't necessarily true. When two good sides play and the outfield is doing well, all the batsman needs to do is not hit the ball unless it's going directly to the stumps. This leads to games of attrition where the batting side tries to tire the fielders out before beginning to score.

Exactly ... defend the wicket, keep the innings alive, worry about scoring later (but not too much later). And, of course, how much scoring is enough? You still want to save time to get the other side out. Twice. Or its a draw.

It seems like the team that is at bat second has the advantage as if they are ahead in their second inning they can just end the game for the win. Whereas the first team has to end their second inning early enough to be sure of getting the second team out the second time.

So, who is up to bat first? Home team? Visiting team? Coin flip?

@VB - Great explanation. I think I at least have the basics. As far as the bowling goes, how fast can someone throw a ball without bending their arm? Baseball pitchers get up to 100 mph, but with bent elbow. And how far away from the wickets is the bowler?

@Alderian - you are at least partly correct. The team batting second in the second innings wins if they outscore their opponent. The opposing team wins if they take all 10 wickets before being outscored. Thus the strategy decision on when to declare. Too late, and you cannot take all 10 wickets and have to settle for a draw; too early and your lead is not enough and you end up losing.

@jimgov - Thanks. I have the benefit of having had th egame explained to me by an avid Aussie fan. Someone better connected can probably answer your specific questions. I think a fast bowler can exceed 100MPH ... bear in mind that they get a running start. I do not recall how far apart the wickets are, but some expert can fill that detail in.

That link I provided had layout details in it.

@Draugnar - fielding and batting is generally evenly matched at first class level which leads to games being so long. It is rare for example for a bowler to get three batmen out with consecutive balls. This is this original hat-trick so named because one of the first bowlers to achieve the feat was rewarded with a collection from the other players. he bought a hat with the proceeds.

The fastest bowlers can get up to a little under 100 mph, but the distance is about 9% further than baseball, which makes a huge difference in the reaction time. What makes batting really difficult is the bounce. That and the fact that these guys are allowed to bowl it at your head if they feel like it (well, only twice every six deliveries!).

Here's Shoaib Akhtar, who bowled the fastest ball in cricket against England in the World Cup a few years ago. He broke 100 mph.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l12QfUhRLLc

Can the batter rush the bowler? In other words, as he goes to release, can the batter run towards him and try to reduce the distance to the other wicket? And can the runner at the other wicket tke a lead? Do the batter and the runner carry their bats with them when they run? I saw the whole thing about only hitting the ball once and that seemed the most likely way to hit it twice would be carrying it, so I assume they do. But they could use the bat to somehow interfere with a fielder or the wicketkeeper could they not?

Yes to all the questions except the last. You can't use your bat to touch the ball after you've already hit it. That's a double hit and is illegal per the rules of the game. You cannot use the bat to interfere with any of the fielders. You also can't pick up the ball with your hands while batting, that is automatically out.

Also let me note that charging down the pitch to get closer to the bowler is risky because if you miss, the keeper can catch the ball and 'stump' you out since you're outside the batting crease.

But if the team is way behind and their best batter is batting, he might be willing to take the risk in the hopes of getting an extra run, then.

An extra run, or six. It's definitely a strategic play.

@Draug if you want to watch some live cricket there's an hour or two left in an Indian Premier League match on cricvid.com and my home team Chennai is kicking some butt.

At work, so while I can jump on and chat a bit, I can't exactly sit and watch a game while I try to write code. They'd frown on that one here, especially out of their team leader. :-)

Coming down the pitch isn't so much of an advantage in terms of running to the other end, partly because you'll only get down a step or two and partly because usually your partner, who has to get down to your end, has the tougher job if it's close.

It's more of an advantage because the bowler is trying to use the bounce to get you out, and coming a couple of steps down the pitch means you reduce the amount of time after the bounce, so it's often easier to predict where the ball will be. This is especially true against a spin bowler, who bowls slowly (so you have time to get down the pitch a bit) but makes the ball move a lot when it bounces.

However, because cricket matches tend to be high-scoring, this is usually a poor tactic, because if I come down and miss the ball, I'm outside of my crease, which means I'm very likely to be run out before I can get back (this is a special type of runout called "stumped").

If it helps, I'm a wicketkeeper playing in the top league over here, although sadly that's not exactly anywhere close to the standard of a top league worldwide.