Many Americans have expressed a total lack of understanding of the game of Cricket and that is because the British have failed to explain the game adequately. That's a great pity, and it is hoped that this aricle can go some way towards rectifying this shortcoming.

Overview

Cricket is a team game, with two sides of eleven active players. At least one substitute is allowed per team, called, not unreasonably, the twelfth man. He rarely gets the opportunity to play but regularly comes onto the pitch to bring refeshments for the other eleven men. A game consists of 2 or 4 innings played over a period of between 1 and 5 days, with the simple objective of one team amassing a greater total of runs than the other. Remarkably even in the 5-day version it is possible for the game to end in a draw.¹ This is not a Tie, where both teams have the same score after all the innings have been completed and is very rare, but rather a game that could not be completed because the time alloted for play ran out, which is quite common. Amazing when you consider that the game may well have lasted more than 40 hours and over 1000 Runs scored.

The Field

Cricket is played on a field of generally unspecified dimensions (called "the Pitch") with a special central section of manicured and nurtured grass (called "the Wicket").² At each end of the Wicket, separated by 22 yards, is placed a Wicket which is an assemblage of wooden components.³ Adjacent to the playing area of the Pitch is a building called "the Pavilion" which some believe to be the most important part of the Pitch. At various times of the game the Pavilion contains players from both the teams and "Members" bathed in a miasma of alcohol fumes and cigar smoke.
At some of the more exclusive cricket clubs the epithet "Member" is particularly appropriate.

The Equipment

1. Stumps- three wooden stakes, each 28in high, stuck into the ground.
2. Bails- two wooden pieces balanced atop the stumps. The construction of the Stumps and Bails is called the Wicket (remember?) and a Wicket is placed at each end of the Wicket. 28in high and 9in wide.
3. Balls- 5½ to 5¾oz, 9in circumference, leather covered bricks which are thrown at the Batter with the objective of disturbing the assembly of Stumps and Bails i.e the Wicket (remember?).
4. Gloves- to protect the hands from the Balls.
5. Pads- to protect the legs from the Balls.
6. Helmets- to protect the head from the Balls.
7. Boxes- to protect the Balls from the Balls.
8. Bats- wooden⁴ implements used to hit the Balls.⁵ The Bat may be up to 38in long and no more than 4½ at the widest part.

The Game

Prior to the commencement of play the two Captains come out from the Pavilion onto the Pitch to toss a coin to determine which team is "in" or "out". They then go back in and the team which is out come out and two members of the team which is in come out. The remainder of the team that is in stay in until it is their turn to come out to be in.
Two members of the team which is out then take it in turns to bowl to the players who are in, attempting to get them out. If a player who is in is out then he goes in and another member of the team that is in comes out to be in.
This continues until ten players on the team that is in are out at which point the team that was in is all out, including the player who is not out.⁶ Now all the players, both in and out and not out, go in so that the team that was in can become the team that is out and they can come out to be out and the team that was out is now in and can start to come out to be in.

Scoring runs

This is the easy bit. Runs are scored by hitting the Ball.
Or not.
Let's go back a little.
The two players on the team that is in are Batters and they stand in front of the Wicket at either end of the Wicket. Now two members of the team that is out take it in turns to deliver the Ball to the Batters. They are the Bowlers (not Ballers). Each Bowler bowls six Balls (actually one Ball six times) in what is called an Over. When the Over is over the other Bowler bowls the Ball from the opposite end of the Wicket. The correct way to deliver the Ball is to bounce it off the Wicket and to try and hit the Wicket. Thus the Bowler always hits the Wicket but rarely hits the Wicket. The Batter's task is to stop the Ball from hitting the Wicket after it has bounced off the Wicket. The Batter uses his Bat for this but can use parts of his body, subject to certain rules. See the Section on "Getting out".

Now, assuming that the Batter has hit the Ball after it has bounced off the Wicket and before it hits the Wicket, the Ball will go into the field where it will be fielded by a Fielder. If the Batter hits a Ball into a section of the field where there are no Fielders there may be sufficient time to score a Run. To achieve this the Batter must run the length of the Wicket between the two Wickets at the same time that the non-batting Batter does the same in the opposite direction. The Batter has scored a Run and subsequently has become the non-batting Batter whereas, despite having run the same distance, the non-batting Batter has not scored a Run but has become the Batter. Except in the case when the Over is over. If a Run is scored with the sixth (final) Ball of the Over the Run still counts but the Batter remains the Batter and recieves Balls from the Bowler at the other end of the Wicket. It is possible to score two or even three Runs in this manner with the Batter and non-batting Batter changing rôles for odd scores and not changing for even scores, subject to the Over over situation.

There is an easier way. If the Batter hits the Ball hard enough it may go out of the playing area. In this case four Runs have been scored and in addition neither of the Batters has to move at all. A Ball hit out of the playing area without touching the ground (like a baseball home run) scores six Runs.

Now the "Or not" part. A Ball can bounce off the Wicket, miss the Bat and the Wicket, proceed to an area of the field where there is a lack of Fielders and allow the Batters to score a Run. It's called a Bye but it's still a Run. In this case neither the Batter nor the non-batting Batter has scored- its just a Run added to the total score. A particularly badly delivered Ball can go all the way out of play for 4 Byes (Runs). It's theoretically possible to score six Byes but about as likely as The Big Unit accidentally tossing a Ball over the Green Monster at Fenway.⁷

Getting out

This is harder. Or easier, depending on your perspective. Ways to get out include:

• Bowled: Pretty straightforward, The Bowler bowls the Ball, it bounces off the Wicket, the Batter misses it and it hits and breaks his Wicket.
• Caught: Still pretty easy. The Bowler bowls the Ball, it bounces off the Wicket, the Batter hits it and a Fielder catches it before it touches the ground.
• Hit Wicket: Fairly obvious. While the Ball is still live the Batter breaks his own Wicket with either his Bat or part of his body.
• Run out: Bit more complicated. The Bowler bowls the Ball, it bounces off the Wicket, the Batter hits it and commences a Run. A Fielder fields it and throws it towards the Wicket at one end of the Wicket. The Ball either breaks the Wicket directly or is caught by another Fielder who breaks the Wicket. The real bummer here is that it may not be the player who hit the Ball in the first place who is out, it is whoever is running towards the Wicket that is broken. This can lead to a lot of acrimony in the changing room.
• Stumped: Really tricky. The Bowler bowls the Ball, it bounces off the Wicket, the Batter misses it, it misses the Wicket, the Wicketkeeper catches it and breaks the Wicket. We're almost there: the Batter must be further than the maximum allowed distance from the Wicket in order to be called out.
• Leg Before Wicket, the dreaded LBW: Nearly impossible. The Bowler bowls the Ball, it bounces off the Wicket, it hits the Batters leg, all Hell breaks loose. If you read the Rules your head will start to hurt. This Researcher
knows more about it than most.

Fielders and Fielding

Because runs may be scored in any part of the playing area, 360 degrees around the Batter, placement of the Fielders is crucial, particularly as two of them are in highly inflexible positions i.e. the Bowler and the Wicketkeeper.⁸ It is partially dependant on the style of the Bowler, left or right-handedness of the Batter, light, wind speed, possibly even the phase of the moon. Suffice to say that the combinations of options has lead to a rich vocabulary of field positions.

The field is primarily divided into two halves, "off" being in front of the Batter and "on" or "leg" behind him. Obviously the sides switch with left and right-handed Batters- great fun when one of each is playing and they are scoring a lot of single Runs. Below is a brief and inaccurate Table of field positions.

Overlaid on the "basic" field positions are an infinity of modifications. These are based on both distance from, and relative position to, the Batter and are ranked as follows:

• Long- very far away from the Batter. Has been known to overlap into an adjacent game or be in the next County.
• Deep- quite a long way from the Batter but still within earshot.
• "Whatever"- the basic nominal position for the Fielder. Just like it says.
• Short- close to the Batter, but out of range from a wild swing with the Bat.
• Silly⁹- extremely close to the Batter. Less than a Bat length away. Halitosis can be a problem.

With such a rich language some wonderful combinations are found. Who can supress a schoolboy snigger when a Bowler is said to be playing with "a Short Slip, two Fine Legs and no Extra Cover" or a twinge of sympathy for one with "a Short Square Leg, no Point and a man in the Gully".

Ahhh! what days!!

Disclaimer

This is all that can be gleaned from the 1958 edition of "The Children's Encyclodedia of General Knowledge". So now American readers are fully equipped to attend and enjoy a game of Cricket. Anything that hasn't been fully explained here has probably been added to the Rules since the research was completed so please don't complain. However, you can get more help here.