Cricket - Bat and Ball Game played Between Two Teams

       

  

         Cricket, initially said to be England’s national summer game, has gained immense popularity worldwide. Such is the popularity that it is not only restricted to the professional field, rather people of all ages and gender can be seen playing cricket in their streets and backyards. This tutorial explains the basic rules of the game. It provides information on the cricket pitch and the important gears used during the play.

        Cricket is a team sport that is played outdoors. Cricket originated in England and gradually became popular across the globe. This sport requires complete physical fitness and athleticism to play. The sport is played between two teams of 11 players each.

Objective

        Cricket is played outdoors on a ground. The objective of the game is that a team should score more runs than the opponent team. It is all about attempting to score more runs while restricting the score and dismissing the batsmen of the opponent team. Further in the document, one can closely understand the game, its popular terms, and rules.

Team Size

        In cricket, each playing side has 11 players and one of them is appointed as captain. Apart from these 11 players, there are a few more players on each side who can only field as a substitute for an injured team member. The fielding team should have 11 players and the opposition can send only two batsmen on the ground at the time of play.

Cricket Field Dimensions

       The sport is played on presumably a circular leveled ground with the pitch as the center. The pitch is 24-yards in length and 4-yards in breadth. A rope is placed around the ground at a distance of 80 yards from the pitch. This rope is observed as a boundary. The stumps are rooted at both ends with a distance of 22-yards between them. Two carved small pieces of wood are placed on stumps, called bails. White parallel lines are drawn on both ends of stumps, called batting/bowling crease. It is 1.2 meters from stumps. Another set of parallel lines is drawn a perpendicular to batting crease, called return crease. This is at a distance of half-meter from the length of the pitch.

Dimensions of Cricket Equipment

       ICC has formed certain rules for cricket equipment along with the rules of play. The bat, ball, glove, pads, and all other equipment have to meet the standards set by the governing body. It’s not only the size of equipment but also the logos used on the equipment that should conform to the standards set by ICC. Given below is a list of cricket equipment with permissible measures −

·        Bat − A cricket bat should not be more than 38 inches in length and 4.25 inches wide.

·   Ball − The cricket ball must weigh between 155.9 and 163 g. Apart from weight, the circumference should be between 224 and 229 mm.

·     Keeper glove − The keeper glove doesn’t have a specific measurement but should not be made of stretchable material. The glove has to web between thumb and the index finger.

Equipment

Bat − Bat is a nicely carved equipment made out of special wood, with a handle on top to hold and play. These vary in weight and size with age and requirement of the batsman.

Ball − It is a spherical object made out of cork and covered with leather. Two pieces of leather are stitched around the cork ball. The color of the ball for test matches is red and white for ODI and T20 matches.

Keeper Glove − These are worn on both hands to protect the fingers from injury. Cloth and leather are stitched together in the shape of fingers and palm to fit exactly. The inner side of the glove has finger gaps with cork tips for more protection.

Batsman Glove − This gear is similar in shape but smaller and softer on the outer part when compared to keeper glove. It is used to hold the bat firmly. The finger part of the glove has extra protection with a hard sponge on the outer area.

Keeper/Batsman Pads − These are worn to protect the lower limbs of the batsman/keeper. They are made with cloth and leather. The front portion of the pads is very hard as there is hard plastic or wood sticks beneath. The rear portion is spongy and soft to soothe and comfort legs. Keeper pads are little shorter than batsman pads.

Helmet − A head gear for the batsman/keeper while batting or wicketkeeping behind the stumps. It is a mix of metal and hard plastic. It has a metallic grill in the front to protect the face.

Stumps − These are cylindrical and long in shape with a sharp end like a spear. This end goes into the ground so that stumps stand erect on the ground.

Bails − Bails are the smallest equipment placed on stumps. It helps in giving easy decisions by umpires to dismiss the batsman when the wicket is broken.

Common Terms

·        Striker − A batsman facing the bowler is caller striker and the opposite end is called non-striker.

·        Off-side/leg-side − One-half of the ground is called off-side and the other side is called leg-side. From the perspective of a right-handed batsman, the pitch in front of his body as he takes a strike, i.e. the right side of the pitch is called off-side. Similarly, the left half of the pitch, i.e. the pitch behind his body while taking a strike is called as leg-side.

·        Run − It is the basic unit of scoring in cricket. It is scored when a striking batsman hits the ball bowled and runs between the stumps along with non-striker. It is usually scored in ones, twos, and threes.

·        Four − The ball hit by the batsman crosses the boundary rope by rolling on the ground. Then, it is called a boundary or four runs.

·        Six − The shot that ensures the ball lands directly outside the rope is called six or six runs are allotted to the batsman.

·        No-ball − If a bowler’s foot crosses the popping crease while delivering the ball then, it is called a no-ball. The ball bowled that is directed above the waist of the batsman without pitching on the ground is a no-ball too.

·        Wide − A ball that is bowled away from the batsman and moves wide of the return crease on the off-side at the batting end is called wide. Another definition is ball bowled that bounces over the head of the batsman after pitching is also called wide.

·        Out − When a batsman gets out, it gives the opportunity to the next person on the batting side to play until 10 players out of 11 are dismissed in various ways. Bowled, Caught, Run-out, LBW, and Stumped are the most common ways of getting out.

·        Bowled − It is a way of getting out where the batsman misses the ball bowler and the stumps behind are disturbed.

·        Caught − A batsman is declared out when the fielder catches the ball on full that is hit by the batsman. If it is caught by the wicket-keeper then, it is called caught-behind.

·        LBW − LBW stands for leg-before-wicket. A batsman is declared out as lbw when he tries to play the ball with the body that is directed onto stumps.

·        Run-out − If a fielder disturbs the stumps with ball in hand while the batsman is not in the crease after playing a shot, then the batsman is declared run-out.

·        Stumped − A batsman moves out of the crease to play a ball and misses, the keeper gathers the ball and hits the stumps with ball in hand. Then, the batsman is declared out as stumped.

·        Spin bowling − Bowlers run a short distance from stumps and release the ball with the use of wrist or fingers to get maximum revolutions. The ball tossed in the air spins after pitching. Off-break and leg-break are two varieties of spin bowling.

·        Fast bowling − Bowlers sprint and deliver the ball at high speed to the batsman. To do so, they take long run-up from stumps. Slow-medium, medium-fast, and fast are the popular fast bowling varieties.

·        Extra runs − All the runs given by fielding team where the batsmen have not hit the ball with the bat are considered as extra runs. For example, wide, no-ball, etc.

·        Innings − A session of batting and bowling where either the batting team is all out or the permissible number of overs to be bowled by the fielding team is completed.

Let’s play!

·        Two batsmen from the batting side and 11 players from the fielding side take positions. Two umpires also join them on the field. One stands at the pitch and the other on leg-side.

·        Suppose A and B are two teams playing a limited over cricket match. Captain of A wins the toss and elects to bat first.

·        The game starts with bowler from B team bowling to the first batsman of A team. They are usually called opening bowler and opening batsman. The first two batsmen are called openers as they start the innings of their team.

·        The batsmen hits the balls bowled at them and score runs. Fielders attempt to stop the balls that were hit and even catch them to get the batsmen out.

·        Each bowler bowls 6 legal deliveries to call it an over.

·        The bowling and batting ends change after every over. The non-striker at the end of every over becomes the striker of the next over.

·        The wicket-keeper has to change ends after completion of each over. In general, the keeper stands far from stumps when a fast bowler is bowling and closer to stumps when a spinner is in action.

·        Once a batsman is out, he has to walk out of the field and a new batsman comes to the crease. An innings is regarded as complete if all the batsmen of team A are out or team B has bowled their full quota of overs.

·        Now, team B comes on to bat in the second innings to chase the target set by team A.

·        Team B is accorded as winners if they achieve the target else, A is victorious.

·        If the scores are level at the end of match, then it is called a tie.

Formats

Test Cricket

       Test cricket is considered the format of the highest level as it required both mental and physical strength to excel. All players wear white tees and trousers for this format. A red cricket ball is used to play. The earliest format of test cricket was played for six days with a day as a reserve. The field restrictions are quite different compared to limited overs cricket.

One-Day International

         One-day international (ODI) is a limited over format of cricket. It was introduced in the 1980s and 60 over a side were bowled. The dress code was same to that of test cricket. Over the years, this format also went through drastic changes in rules and it was reduced to 50 over a side and colored uniform. The red-ball was replaced with white-ball.

T20 International

           T20 is the latest and the most successful format of cricket. It has attracted a lot of spectators to the ground and witnesses the match. Cricket became a widespread game in this format and new countries like United States, Malaysia, Canada, and Netherlands adapted to it swiftly. It originated in Caribbean islands, West Indies. Each team gets to play 20-over a side. Since it is the shortest format of the game, it is played under floodlights.