edtking@uw-june (Ewan David Tempero) (01/11/85)
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An attempt to explain some of the obvious characteristics of cricket.
-- ------- -- ------- ---- -- --- ------- --------------- -- -------
This is a suppliment to an earlier posting.
First the "wicket". This term usually has two meanings ( by usually I
mean it may have more ). (1) A stick about 2 & 1/2 feet long with
a pointy end. The other end has a large roundish sort of groove of the
type you would want to be able to set a round object on top of the
wicket. The diameter of the wicket ( yes it's a round stick ) is about
an inch ( note: all dimensions should be in metrics but have been
converted for your convenience - I don't know them anyway so...)
Wickets generally come in groups of 3 and sets of 6 ( ie a set consists
of 2 groups of 3 ). You place them upright, stuck into the ground ( that's
what the pointy end is for ). Each group of 3 is set in a line thusly
* * * ( vertical view )
There are some other bits of stick that sit on top of these, ( 2 small
bits to a group of 3 ) These are called bails. They are about 3-4 inches
long. The result is,
-- --
| | |
| | | A group of wickets with bails ( side view )
| | |
| | |
| | |
NOTE: A group of wickets is usually refered to as the "stumps"
The 2 groups of wickets are set 22 yards apart in parallel thusly
* | | *
*<----|----------------- 22 yards ----------|------>*
* | | *
^
|crease
There are two lines drawn on the wicket ( playing area ) about
3 feet from each group of wickets and parallel to the line of
the group of the wickets. This is the crease.
This is the main area of play on a cricket field. This area is ideally
set on the piece of ground that has been carefully drained and cared
for such that it is relatively flat ( so the ball will not bounce
to widely ) and fairly hard. This area is usually refered to as
the wicket ( meaning (2) ). So when people talk about a "fast wicket"
they don't mean...that is they do mean that the ball will, if thrown
really hard at the wicket ( the ground not the sticks ) will bounce
of really quickly. Extrapolate on other such phrases you hear.
The wicket ( playing area ) is positioned roughly in the middle of
a huge paddock. This paddock is larger than an american football
field. This playing field is oval in appearance, with the boundary
being marked.
The ball is about 3-4 inches in diameter and bloody hard, I mean
solid. You don't want to be hit by one of these.
The bat is typically of the shape
|--------\_____
| _____|
|_________/
except the scale is a mess here. Usually the bottom part ( blade ) is
flat and 6 inches by 2 & 1/2 feet. The handle extends above that and
is such that it is fairly easy to hold.
The team.
Consists of 11 players. They can be either batting ( ie "in" ) or
fielding ( ie "out" in the field ). The task of the team that is in
is to defend the wickets ( the sticks ). They may do this under the
following conditions.
If the ball is going to hit the wickets they may use the bat to
stop it and only the bat. Use of their body will put them out.
There will be one batsman per group of wickets and both sets of
wickets must have a defender at the same time ( hence there must
be at least 2 batsmen batting at the same time failure to do
this will result in the end of the teams "inning" ).
While doing this defending the batsman will try to get as many
"runs" as they can. A "run" is when each batsman runs to the
other group of wickets and arrives safely ( ie without the
wickets being hit by the ball )
The objective of the fielding team is to stop the batting team
from getting runs, preferably to get them out.
They can get a batsman out in several ways.
(1) Breaking the wickets. A "break" is when the bails are knocked
off the wickets by the ball ( so if the ball hits the wickets
without the bails falling off then the batsman is not out -
it's happened! )
The fielders may try to break the wickets in two ways
(a) Bowling them out.
This consists of one of the fielders hurling the ball
from one set of wickets to the other set. The batsman
defending that set of wickets may use his bat to
stop the ball from hitting the wickets. Of course if
the ball isn't going to hit the wickets he needn't
try.
There are a variety of ways to hurl the ball. The one
requirement for the hurling is that the arm of the
bowler must be straight. A "fast" bowler is then someone
who can get the ball to the other set of wickets pretty
quickly. I understand that the top fast bowlers rival
the baseball fast pitchers ( but I don't know baseball )
A "spin" bowler makes the ball spin in such a fashion
that when the ball hits the ground, it may bounce in
strange ( but not unpredictable manner provided you know
how the spin was achieved ) manner, thus causing the batsman
to miss the ball, or not hit it properly ( see catching )
(b) The other aproved time to break the wickets is when the
batsman is "out of his crease" ie not standing between
the crease and the group of wickets he is defending. While
he is standing in this area he is safe until the bowler
delivers the ball ( ie bowls it ). So, if the batsmen
decide to "run", but before one of them gets into the crease
at the other end a fieldsman hits the stumps with the ball
( he may hold it in his hands or throw it at them ) then
the batsman is "run out" ( ah! now we see some of the more
obscure terms mentioned in my last posting! :-)
(2) Being caught out. As in baseball, if the ball is hit by
the batsman and caught by a fielder before it touches the
ground the batsman is out. Fast bowlers will usually have
a whole bunch of people behind the wickets ( that he's
aiming at ) because he's sending the ball down so quick
there is the posibility that the batsman will only
"nick" the ball causing it to fly in the air to the
people behind him, causing him to be caught out. This
is often refered to as "an (thick) outside edge". This
is a common way for bowlers to get people out ( or
"get a wicket" )
(3) Stumped. There is a guy that sits behind the wickets
catching all the balls that the bowler sends down and
the batter doesn't hit. This guy is called the wicket
keeper. For a slow bowler he will stand right behind
the wickets in the hope that the batsman will move
outside the crease to hit a ball, miss it, and the
wicket keeper can then take the ball and hit the
wickets before the batsman gets back into the crease.
(4) Leg before wicket. As mentioned earlier ( I hope ) the
batsman can only use the bat to defend the wicket. If
the ball hits the batsman leg ( or indeed any part of
their body ) and the Umpire thinks it would have hit
the wickets then the batsman is out leg-before-wicket
( or lbw ). As you can imagine this is often a contensious (sp?)
issue. After a ball has been delivered you will often see
all the fielders jump up and down screaming their heads off
( usually saying HOWZAT! for hows that? or how is he )
This is call appealing. They also do this if they think
that the ball just nicked that batsmans bat and the ball
is caught.
The fielders.
Probably the most mistifying set of terminology is the field
placings.
The people behind the wicket ( not counting the wicket keeper )
are called "slips". Unless they are a long way back, near the
boundary in which case they are 3rd man. When the batsman is
"facing" the bowler, his shoulders are generally pointing
towards the bowler. So the way his body is facing is called
the "on" side and the way his back is facing is called the
"off" side ( I may have these the wrong way round ). People
that stand right up close to the batsman on the on side
( not right next to him but a couple of yards down the wicket )
are called "silly mid-on". Why silly? Well, see comments about
being hit by a cricket ball. These people will generally wear
protective gear such as helmets etc to prevent ( literally )
being killed by a cricket ball ).
The are heaps of other fielding positions, more than there are
fielders. The captain of the fielding side will position his
team according to the style of the bowler and batter and the
state of the game ( is he winning, is the batsman playing well
etc )
Scoring runs
When a batsman hits the ball. He may decide to run. He doesn't
have to. If he decides the fielders won't get the ball before
he gets to the other wickets he will usually do so. If he
hits the ball and it goes over the boundary without bouncing,
he gets 6 runs ( "a six" ), if it bounces then he gets 4 runs
( "a four" ) both refered to as boundaries. Otherwise he
gets as many runs as times he gets safely between the wickets
( and his partner ). The person that hits the ball gets credit
for the runs, not the non-hitter. If a batter gets 100 runs
that is called a century ( also "half-century" for 50 )
Getting a team out.
Because of the peculiarities of the set of Natural numbers, once
the fielding team has got 10 of the batsmen out, the batting
team can no longer have one batsman per group of wickets and
so must leave the field ( ie the team is out ). The last man
that has not been got out is called "not out".
Bowlers
The bowlers take turns bowling from each end. Not alternate balls
but alternate sets of 6 balls. ( ie one bowls 6 balls then the
other bowls 6 balls ). This set of 6 balls is called an "over"
Extras.
Sometimes the fielding team is penalized for doing something silly.
For instance, if the bowler bowls a ball and the wicket keeper
misses it and it goes to the boundary then the batting team are
award 4 "byes". However since a batsman didn't earn these runs
they are accredited to a sub-total called the "extras". This total
is added to the total number of runs scored. Other ways of getting
these are if the bowler goes past the crease when bowling then
this is called a "no-ball" and gives an extra run to the extras.
12th-man.
The fielding team is allowed to use a 12th-man to substitute for
a fielder if he wants to go of for some reason ( eg call of nature,
these games last for 5 days at about 8 hours a day ).The 12th
man cannot be a bowler or cricket keeper.
I haven't got everything I know but I hope this gives some sort of
idea as to what's happening...
DISCLAIMER:!
I'm only an enthusiastic spectator. I've never learned the rules
formally only "picked them up as I went along" so any picky flames
should be sent to /dev/null! I will however entertain any corrections
additions or general comments on any topic including whether or not
England will ever win a series again :-). Of course since the above
is not even necessarily true it does not represent any views other
than my own
(i've always wanted to put one of these in:-)
Ewan Tempero "Oh no, not again"
...!uw-beaver!uw-june!edtking
edtking@washington