How to play cricket – a beginners guide…

I had a question through the site about the rules of cricket. This is what I came up with as an explanation on how cricket is played….

How to Play Cricket

“Cricket is played with two teams of eleven players , with two umpires
(referees) on an oval shaped field. The size of the field varies, but
generally has a diameter of around 350 yards. A cricket bat is oblong
shaped with a narrow handle. A full-sized bat is around 3 feet in
length. A cricket ball is made of cork and covered with leather, and
is then stitched up. A ball weighs around 5 ounces.

In the middle of the field is what is known as a pitch. A pitch is a
hard, flat strip of dry ground around 22 yards long. 22 yards is an
old imperial measure called a chain. Two batsman are at the pitch at a
time, both at different ends, with one facing the delivery of the ball
from the bowler.

At either end of the pitch is the crease. This is a line marked about
4 feet in from either end of the pitch, and it is used for 2 reasons.
The first is as a mark from which the bowler must bowl from or behind,
and a mark for the batsmen to stand at to deliver the ball and to mark
whether a run has been completed. If a batsmen is out of his crease,
he can be stumped by the wicket keeper if he is receiving the ball at
the batsmen’s end, or can be run out by the fielders at either end
when taking a run.

The bowler runs up to the pitch where he bowls the ball overarm with a
straight arm. the delivery is usually overarm but there have been
famous incidents when cricketers in international matches have bowled
underarm

Teams score by getting runs. A run is completed when a batsman hits
the ball and then runs to the other end of the cricket pitch, getting
past the crease. The non striking batsman has to run to the opposite
end as well. The batsman can run as many times as they like, but the
batsmen can get out if their stumps are hit with the ball by a fielder
before the batsman reaches the crease. The stumps are three sticks of
equal size measuring around 3 feet tall with the width of a ball
separating them. This is the traditional method to set up the pitch.
The stumps are placed at either end of the pitch in the ground and set
out so that the ball cannot pass through the gap between them. Bails
(small pieces of wood) are balanced on top of the stumps.

Other ways runs can be scored are by hitting boundaries. Boundaries
are scored when the ball is hit and touches or goes past the outer
edge of the field. Four runs are scored when the batsmen hits the ball
and the ball hits the ground before reaching the outer edge of the
boundary, and six runs are scored when the ball is hit and goes over
the boundary without touching the ground. Runs can also be scored in
the following ways: No balls, when the bowler oversteps the crease,
bowls in a dangerous manner or incorrectly. A no ball is worth one
run. A wide is scored when the ball goes outside the line of the pitch
before coming in line with the batsman. This is also worth one run. A
leg bye is scored when the ball hits the batsman but doesnt contact
his bat and then proceeds to run. A bye is scored when the batsman
runs without the ball coming into into contact with the batsman or his
bat, and then runs.

The fielding team can get the batsman out in several ways, by

1) catching him out. This is done when the batsman hits the ball with
his bat and a fielder catches the ball on the full (without bouncing).

2) bowling him out. This happens when the bowler bowls the ball and
the ball strikes the batsman’s stumps or bails.

3) leg before wicket, or LBW. This happens when the bowler bowls it
and the stumps being hit by the ball are prevented when the batsman’s
leg gets in the way. This rule is a bit complicated, and you can let
the ball hit you on the legs sometimes without being out leg before.
This rule is one where the umpires have to make some judgments and can
cause a few arguments!

4) stumped, when the batsman comes forward to hit the hit but steps
out of his crease, misses the ball and the fielder behind the stumps
collects the ball hits the stumps before the batsman gets back behind
his crease.

5) run out, when the batsman attempts to score a run but has his
stumps hit by the ball before he reaches the other crease.

6) Hit wicket, when the batsman hits his own stumps while trying to
hit the ball.

7) retired, when the batsman voluntarily decides to finish his innings,

timed out, when the next batsman doesn’t appear on the pitch
within two minutes of the last batsman getting out. This last one
doesn’t happen very often and I have never seen it happen

Each team has one innings. This innings can last anything from 20
overs (a series of 6 bowls by a bowler) to an unlimited over match.
Most one day matches are played with each side having 50 overs (or 300
balls). If 10 of a team’s batsman are out, the innings ends there
regardless of how many balls are left to be bowled. The team that
scores the most runs in their innings is the team that wins.

Hope this helps.”

I didn’t start going on about 2 innings games, Ive never played a 2 innings game and I thought it would start to get really complicated.

what do you think? good or bad?

Tagged as: how to play cricket, rules of cricket