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What?, You've Never Heard Of The Game Of Cricket.!
by Jeremy Rearden
http://www.focuscricket.com
If you have been countries to outside of North America you
may have noticed a major sport in places such as England and
Wales, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Zimbabwe, and
the Caribbean that is known as "Cricket". Cricket is
extremely popular in many countries of the world and is
considered to be one of the most popular spectator's sports
in the regions it is played in.
The game of cricket appears very similar to baseball at
first glance though there is significant difference between
the two. They are both Bat and Ball games and can confuse an
untrained eye that is unfamiliar with the sport.
The game shares many facets with baseball, and indeed
cricket can be very similar at times. Like a baseball game,
a cricket match is divided into segments called "innings".
Also like baseball, during a cricket inning one team bats
while the other "bowls" and "fields".
The side batting first gets to set the target, which the
second team has to match. The team that is bowling or
fielding first tries to control the points or 'runs' being
scored by the batting side. The team batting has one or two
batsmen on the field. Making a batsman out is called 'taking
a wicket'. A team completes it batting innings and is
declared out when 10 of its batsman are declared out.
At the end of the game the winner is the team with the
highest amount of runs. If the losing team bats last, the
team is said to have lost by (the difference in the runs of
the winning team and the losing team). If the winning team
is bats last, they have won by (the total amount of) runs".
If neither team is ahead with more runs, the cricket match
can end in a "tie" or "draw".
There are very obvious differences between a baseball bat
and a cricket bat. While a baseball bat is round and
essentially tube shaped, a cricket bat is shaped more like a
paddle. The cricket bat is made up of a long handle and a
flat surface, reminiscent of a boat paddle. Batting is done
in a style similar to batting in baseball, but not quite the
same. The same can be said for pitching and fielding.
When the batsman hits the ball in cricket it's called
a stroke (or shot). Occasionally, the batsmen will hit the
ball with the side of the bat (hit with the edge of the
bat) as opposed to hitting it with the flat surface. Using
this method of hitting is called a "snick". Batting order
is may be changed prior to the beginning of the game (in
order to get a strategic advantage) but after the game
starts the batting order is set.
Some find that it is due to the subtle differences in
strategy that make cricket a more compelling sport to both
participate in and follow recreationally. Indeed, these
subtle differences make for a different experience in both
playing and watching the game.
Cricket is a great game that you will love and enjoy to
play. You will have to overcome the steep learning curve of
the jargon and nomenclature for the sport that is used to
communicate the details of the game with enthusiasm. You
should look into cricket if you are visiting one of the
countries in which it is popular if you have an opportunity
to visit these places.
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