While we wish the game of cricket could be explained in simple terms, it is best to begin to frame it in your mind as American Baseball’s older, more complex, grandfather. While on the surface they have similarities, in fact, cricket has nuances that are more complicated, and the traditional games can last up to five days. Just when you thought 9 innings was long, think again! In this article we try to break down this British sport that has gone global in the simplest of terms and give you some of its history as well so should you ever find yourself watching a game or in conversation, you know exactly what is being said and can jump into the discussion.

The history:

Cricket began in Great Britain as a gentleman’s sport and spread to their colonies throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, particularly in Africa, Asia, and Australia. It was even played in the United States until the boom of baseball bumped the complex game of cricket off the map, and became America’s past-time. Baseball was an easier, quicker sport to spectate and was a conscious political decision to step away from and shun colonization.

In the traditional game of Cricket, which is called a “Test” match, there are two teams with 11 players on each team. Each team will have two innings up at bat that are over once the fielding team gets 10 out of the 11 players out. Then the teams will switch positions on the field, and whichever team has the most runs at the end wins the match. The traditional form of the game can last up to 5 days and if the teams are tied at the end, the umpire will call a draw.

1975 was the first Cricket World Cup and the game was shortened to be played over the course of one day, with a clear winner and loser at the end. British colonies often saw this as their opportunity to defeat their colonizers, and in fact the territories became quite skilled and often defeated the British in the sport and still do. In 2003, ‘T20’ which is short for Twenty20, was introduced in England as shortest version of the game. It was intended to be played in under 3 hours to make the sport more marketable and accessible to the spectators and fans compared to its previously and traditionally longer forms. By 2007, T20 had its own World Cup played in Johannesburg where India won. In 2015, 1 billion people watched a cricket World Cup match between India and Pakistan; that is 1 out of every 7 people on the globe!

So, how do you play? Two teams of 11 play each other on a grass field that is shaped like an oval with the pitch in the middle that is the shape of a rectangle. The batting team will have two players on the fields at one time trying to score runs and protect their bails that are perched on top of three stumps, that make up the wicket, in the ground on both sides of the pitch. The batsman is thrown a ball by a ‘bowler’ from the opposite team and if they hit it, it is considered a ‘run’ and then the batting teammates switch sides on the pitch. While they are running the fielding team tries to get the ball and hit one of the wickets before the batsmen gets there. If the batsman doesn’t get there in time, they are out, and a new batsman is put in. 

If the batman hits it hard enough and hits the boundaries that is 4 runs and if they hit it out of the boundary that it 6 runs and they do not need to switch sides on the pitch. But, if the fields man catches the ball, the batsman is out and gets replaced. The bowler can also get the batsmen out if his throw hits the wicket, think of this as a strike in baseball but the ball knocks over the wicket and knocks the bails off the stumps. 

The bowler can only throw 6 balls before having to switch positions with someone else on his team, so there is no designated pitcher. Once ten of the eleven batsmen are out, it is called an ‘inning’ and then the other team goes up to bat. 

Still confused? It’s okay, it is difficult to comprehend and explain but this should give you a good head start!

What you need:

• Cricket bat

• Cricket ball

• 6 Stumps - Three stumps placed together (Three stumps and two bails placed together create the wicket)

• Bails - The wooded stick placed on the bails that the other team tries to knock over

• A field and a pitch

• Umpire

• Two teams with 11 players each