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An Explanation of Cricket (2009)
- trequartista 11y agoThis is like Cricket 101 - a wonderful introduction to the rules of cricket. However, this is from 2009 and as such slightly dated. Recent years have seen the explosion of Twenty20 (20 over games - shorter and supposedly more entertaining) as well as other innovations like Batting and Bowling powerplays and so on.
- bjackman 11y agoThe writer is probably one of the games many purists! I love Twenty20 but I have to agree with whoever said "it's not cricket, it's a form of entertainment performed using cricket equipment".
- dwd 11y agoThere's an error regarding bowling. The bowlers arm does not have to be straight; the law is that you must not straighten it during the bowling action. Muralitharan who bowled with a bent arm was the reason we have a 15deg rule.
- praneshp 11y ago> "The most infamous event in cricket was the 1932-33 English tour of Australia " Many fans of the game would likely disagree; personally, a couple of match fixing scandals and the underarm delivery vs New Zealand were worse. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkQRERykq5M https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkQRERykq5M
- trequartista 11y agoOh the match fixing scandals definitely did ruin the face of the game. There were other notable infamous incidents - the Rebel Series to South Africa during the 80s, the ball tampering scandal
- zwischenzug 11y agoMatter of opinion, but I'm not sure the events you reference resulted in diplomatic activity... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodyline https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodyline
- praneshp 11y agoDawood Ibrahim (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dawood_Ibrahim https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dawood_Ibrahim) is widely believed to be behind match fixing in cricket; I think that's worse than diplomatic activity. I agree, however, that what we are discussing is a matter of opinion.
- danieltillett 11y agoI have always wondered why we have not had a repeat of the underarm delivery [1], but just done by bowling overarm very, very slowly. As far as I know there is no rule in how fast the ball has to be bowled and if you bowled very slowly the ball would reach the batsman rolling along the ground. 1. For those that don't know the history of the underarm delivery, in a match between Australia and New Zealand the final ball was bowled underarm so the batsman had no chance of hitting the ball over the fence for 6. This was the only way NZ could win. For historical reasons bowling underarm had been allowed, but it had not been used for more than 100 years. Edit. There have been some changes to the rules so you can't let a ball bounce more than twice now [2]. You should be able to bowl very slowly though. 2. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_ball https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_ball
- rgovind 11y agoI believe now the rule is maximum one step before it reaches the batsman
- danieltillett 11y agoIt looks to a bit complex, but in international cricket the ball can't bounce more than twice. This change was made in 2000. What I found interesting reading the wiki article on no balls is that you can still bowl underarm provided both teams agree before the match starts.
- notahacker 11y agoA very slow ball with no spin is very easy to hit for six, especially if you're delivering the ball with an unnatural movement so the batsman knows your intention from your arm movement. Fast bowlers bowling towards the end of limited overs cricket and facing aggressive attacking shots actually do bowl occasional "slower balls" using their normal delivery stride to try to catch out opponents who tend to mistime shots when the ball arrives slightly later at ~70mph rather than the expected ~85mph. But you're not going to catch them out with a gentle 30mph lob down the pitch, just like a decent tennis player will not have difficulty returning an attempted drop shot serve
- stevoski 11y agoThe underarm delivery was disgraceful. Almost as bad was those caramel fudge coloured uniforms the kiwis were wearing. In New Zealand in the months following the underarm disgrace, my ten-year-old friends would establish the rules for our games of backyard cricket by asking, "proper bowling or Australian rules?"
- bmsleight_ 11y agoYou have two sides, one out in the field and one in. Each man that's in the side that's in goes out, and when he's out he comes in and the next man goes in until he's out. When they are all out, the side that's out comes in and the side thats been in goes out and tries to get those coming in, out. Sometimes you get men still in and not out. When a man goes out to go in, the men who are out try to get him out, and when he is out he goes in and the next man in goes out and goes in. There are two men called umpires who stay all out all the time and they decide when the men who are in are out. When both sides have been in and all the men have been out, and both sides have been out twice after all the men have been in, including those who are not out, that is the end of the game!
- CuttlefishXXX 11y agoDoes anyone know of a good audio recording of this quote?
- j_lev 11y agoBill Bryson has a good take on it. Read http://www.wandererscricket.com/Yank_view.html http://www.wandererscricket.com/Yank_view.html in its entirety for full effect.
- mc32 11y agoIn the same vein: "The missile knows where it is at all times. It knows this because it knows where it isn't. By subtracting where it is from where it isn't, or where it isn't from where it is (whichever is greater), it obtains a difference, or deviation. The guidance subsystem uses deviations to generate corrective commands to drive the missile from a position where it is to a position where it isn't, and arriving at a position where it wasn't, it now is. Consequently, the position where it is, is now the position that it wasn't, and it follows that the position that it was, is now the position that it isn't. In the event that the position that it is in is not the position that it wasn't, the system has acquired a variation, the variation being the difference between where the missile is, and where it wasn't. If variation is considered to be a significant factor, it too may be corrected by the GEA. However, the missile must also know where it was. The missile guidance computer scenario works as follows. Because a variation has modified some of the information the missile has obtained, it is not sure just where it is. However, it is sure where it isn't, within reason, and it knows where it was. It now subtracts where it should be from where it wasn't, or vice-versa, and by differentiating this from the algebraic sum of where it shouldn't be, and where it was, it is able to obtain the deviation and its variation, which is called error." Audio on yt[1] [1]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZe5J8SVCYQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZe5J8SVCYQ
- king_magic 11y agoSo... pretty much this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEH4ahCCrJo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEH4ahCCrJo, right? ;)
- bluesmoon 11y agoThe MCC is a good resource for the laws of cricket: https://www.lords.org/mcc/laws-of-cricket/laws/ https://www.lords.org/mcc/laws-of-cricket/laws/
- vermooten 11y agoI came to the UK aged 10 from (the mighty) USA. Forced to play cricket at school. No f*cker told me the rules. I wish I'd' had this page back then.
- praneshp 11y agoDid you bat or bowl? For batting: 'See ball, hit ball'. 'The faster it comes, the harder you hit' For bowling: never figured it out :(
- danieltillett 11y agoThe rules are pretty straightforward, it is the names of all the different field positions and bowling actions that get confusing.
- bvm 11y agoTest cricket (international matches played over five days) is a truly wonderful experience that I urge everyone to try and watch* at least once. When you try and explain that the most engaging of matches can end in a draw, after all that time, you rarely succeed on winning over sceptics, but find a friend that is willing to sit and watch for a few days and try it out. *or listen to, it's equally at home on the radio, where you can keep up in a state of semi-aware engagement. Test cricket doesn't require complete concentration, just a willingness to know what is going on.
- Someone 11y agoFor those who don't know it: in cricket, a draw is different from a tie. A tie means both teams are equally strong, a draw that no conclusion could be reached because time ran out, either because the weaker team managed to postpone defeat long enough or because of the weather (playing in bad light or in rain makes the game too dangerous, so play can get stopped, even when one team is on the brink of victory. Watching the weather forecast is very important in test cricket) Draws can be very interestng even if the teams involved have widely different strengths. Ties in test cricket are extremely rare. There were 2 in over 2000 tests since 1877.(https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tied_Test https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tied_Test)
- kristianc 11y agoDraws in Test Cricket are also fairly rare. In recent years, 75% of matches have ended in four days.
- Someone 11y agoThat's recent because, one could claim, test cricket has suffered from the loss of attention span of "kids these days" (prime example: the Ashes this year consisted of a few slightly lengthened 20/20 games and a ODI, with no test match in sight :-)) In the period from 1950-2000, 40% of games ended in a draw (http://www.espncricinfo.com/blogs/content/story/629608.html http://www.espncricinfo.com/blogs/content/story/629608.html) Also, even 20% is huge for readers from the U.S, where the whole concept of undecided games is rare.
- deleted 11y ago[deleted]
- zem 11y agohttp://www.dangermouse.net/cricket/ http://www.dangermouse.net/cricket/ is good too
- Xophmeister 11y agoJust to right the last section: England currently holds the Ashes after this summer's series.
- socceroos 11y agoshhhhh.
- j_lev 11y agoCricket is a great example of where disruption created a larger pie for the incumbent. Kerry Packer popularised the One Day International at a time where the (five day) Tests were on their last legs, which in turn re-ignighted interest in the Tests. Cricket has experienced no other disruption prior or since.
- redindian75 11y agowhat about the latest craze T20? It's a multibillion dollar industry! Tho I am too much of a purist to watch it often, Its far more monetarily successful than the last disruption. Its tailor made for 2000s generation who dont want to sit thro a whole day to enjoy cricket
- j_lev 11y agoincremental improvement
- notahacker 11y agoIt pays vastly more than Test and One Day cricket, has radically shifted the balance between batting attack and defence (including in the One Day Cricket played today) by making strike rates matter more than batting averages, has made superstars of players that would have previously been considered severely lacking in defensive technique, encouraged athletic fielding and made Indian franchises an attractive and lucrative destination for overseas players. And probably made generations of kids grow up not wanting to be bowlers! That's a pretty radical set of changes.
- j_lev 11y agoI agree with all points regarding the impact. The reason Twenty20 was incremental was because it took an entrepreneur like Packer, with connections and money, to prove that cricket could even be changed in the first place.
- batiudrami 11y ago
- afhammad 11y agoReg Explains Cricket https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83oa1S0x9zI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83oa1S0x9zI
- fake44637 11y agoI was hoping to see this when I clicked: http://cricket.csail.mit.edu/ http://cricket.csail.mit.edu/
- Grazester 11y agohttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEH4ahCCrJo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEH4ahCCrJo I would leave this here since its most relevant. I grew up playing cricket.I recently broke my foot playing after not having played for 15 years(collided with an idiot that ran across the pitch close to my crease to backup the wicket in an attempt to run me out). Go West Indies(we sure aren't what we use to be)!!
- mitchty 11y ago> I recently broke my foot playing after not having played for 15 years(collided with an idiot that ran across the pitch close to my crease to backup the wicket in an attempt to run me out). I feel like cousin avi from snatch here, that or rick in that it appears like you're just shuffling english words together in a sentence.
- gcb0 11y agoi almost understood cricket one time ... then a bunch of badgers came out from the floor and i was completely lost again
- ilitirit 11y agohttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBRAzmaq5x0 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBRAzmaq5x0 Gotta love a game that has fielding positions "Silly Point", "Deep Square Leg", "Cow Corner" and "Short Third Man". https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/be/Cricketfieldingpositions.jpg https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/be/Cricketf... Cricket is to me one of those sports that I hated the idea of playing and watching, but I always enjoyed it when I did.
- willhsiung 11y agoWas in London last month and toured Lord's Cricket Ground. That experience got me to watch some test and ODI matches between England and Australia on ESPN3.com. Strange for an American with no Commonwealth ties!