Need a bat-and-ball sport for the offseason? Consider cricket

I’ve had a pattern of getting into a new sport almost every year for the last few years: NBA basketball in 2016, tennis in 2018, golf in 2019, mixed martial arts in 2020, and college baseball in 2021. started. In between work and college classes, I had a very strange sleep schedule that kept me up late at night. This series of events led me to participate in the Big Bash, a cricket tournament held in Australia during the summer (or winter for Americans).

I lived abroad for five years in a country where cricket is a big thing, but I still knew very little about the sport. Without doing any research, I listened to his Perth Scorchers and Hobart his Hurricanes games and arbitrarily decided to become a Scorchers fan. I was instantly hooked. Perth emerged victorious behind a ferocious power hit from Mitch Marsh and eventually clad the title.

Perhaps you’re looking for a bat-and-ball sport to watch in the months leading up to spring training. However, just reading the rules or flipping through the matches can be dazed and confusing. “What the heck is over? What about dots? Why are there different formats?” Today, I would like to cut out the confusing terminology and explain cricket in a way that is easy for baseball fans to understand.

format

There are several variations of cricket, which we will focus on today T20This is the most digestible format as it takes about the same amount of time as a typical MLB match. one day international Also test. In T20 cricket, each team has a maximum of 20 at-bats. over. Think of overs like innings. However, innings are 6 outs, not 3 outs. ball (also called delivery), which can be thought of as pitch.The 20 overs batted by a team are their inningused as singular.

Regardless of format, teams are made up of 11 players. Like baseball, they’re hitting in a pre-designated lineup. bowler, Equivalent to a pitcher, he can bowl in any order during a game, alternating between bowling and playing on the field.

Teams take one inning at a time. One team bats and tries to score as many points as possible. Run as much as possible before becoming not at all (more on this later) or reach 20 overs. The opposing team must exceed the first team’s running total to win.

field

Photo credit: Will Russell – CA/Cricket Australia via Getty Images

The cricket arena is simply field. The field is a grass oval with varying exact dimensions. At the end of the play there is a rope called. boundary. The central rectangle is pitchAs with the pitcher’s mound, home plate, and the space in between, most of the action takes place here.The white line towards the edge is fold, can be thought of as the batter’s box. The small bar just outside the crease is WicketTeams may employ different strategies depending on the hardness and/or wetness of the surface, but this usually only works for the longer forms.

scoring

Now that we have a team and a field, let’s play cricket. The batting team has batter (or batter) at both ends of the pitch. The two batters are collectively called a. partnershipThe fielding team has: bowler at one end, at the other end fielder around the field. I won’t go into the details of the defensive position, other than to say that one fielder will be placed behind the wicket during the match.this is wicket keeper, Similar to catcher. The game begins with the bowler throwing the ball (an act called Bowling), usually from the bounce, to the first hitter.In this case, the bowler and batter About attack When on strikeEach.

The ball is flying towards the hitter. What are hitters doing now? It would be ideal anyway, but it’s not that easy. Strike He has no zones, so he has to be able to literally hit the ball from head to toe, albeit limited. There are multiple ways to record runs in cricket.

• A hitter can hit the ball, at which point both hitters run to opposite sides. Each time the runner reaches the other side is worth one run. A cricket hit is commonly called an a. shot. Keep in mind that hitters don’t necessarily run on every shot. disappear (more on this later). Fouls He has no territory equivalent and the batter can hit the ball in any direction.
• strike boundary. If the ball bounces and hits the boundary (like the base rule double), four I will do it.If you clear the boundary on the fly (like a home run), it’s six I will do it.
• If the bowled ball passes the wicket-keeper, the batter can run or even score a 4 if it reaches the boundary, much like a runner scores on a wild pitch.
• extra, Also penalty run, may be given for width Delivery (more on this later).

Goals for hitters are simple: Scored and not scored dismissed, or out. The big difference between cricket and baseball is that in cricket you keep batting until you are out. In long formats, this forces hitters to play very defensively. A dismissal is sometimes called a dismissal. Wicket. In general, teams in T20 reach 20 points or more before reaching it. not at allwhich is 10 wickets.

bowling and fielding

Now let’s look at the other side. The wicket serves as the bowler’s target, but the ball can be thrown anywhere within reach of the batter that is not overhead.If it’s out of reach width The batting team gets a run. Much like the strike zone in baseball, this is up to the baseball player. refereeIf a batter does not score with a particular ball, it is called a batter. Dot. The batter continues to strike, but the RBI is the win for the defensive team. Now let’s get that batter out. There are several ways to achieve this.

• If a batter hits a ball in the air and a fielder catches it in place, they captured. This is similar to a flyout or lineout in baseball, but it also counts if the batter returns the ball to the wicketkeeper. Similar to a foul chip in baseball, this is often called a “foul chip”. edge.
• If the ball hits the wicket behind the batter, often as a result of a swing-and-miss, the batter bowling out. This is the closest thing to a strikeout that exists in cricket.
• If the ball hits the batter, the batter is out if it should have hit the wicket. Legs in front of the ticket gate. These calls are often challenged, and there are sophisticated tracking systems used to determine the ball’s path if the hitter wasn’t there.
• If the ball hits a wicket when the batter is not behind Creese, they Gone. This is why the hitter only runs on shots that he is confident he can cross-on. Force Out or Tag He equals Out.
• You might even see butter confused, which is the same as missing in principle. It makes sense when you see it.

There are many other small details, but it’s basically a game of cricket. With all that in mind, let’s take a look at some broadcast graphics. Bugs and scorecards may not be intuitive, so let’s break them down. The following screenshot is from a recent match between the Adelaide Strikers and the Melbourne Stars.

Clearly, not all scoring bugs are exactly the same. For example, some list the team’s runs before the wickets, but they usually show the same information. The Stars went on to win the match as the Strikers failed to reach 187 runs. A typical post-match recap looks like this:

Stoinis had a great night and went all out for the Stars, but the Strikers fell short despite valiant efforts from Hose and Hunt.

With all that said, I hope you understand cricket better now than you did 15 minutes ago. It is intended only as a primer to help baseball fans listen to a cricket game and have a general understanding of what is going on. Never mind the many cricket terms we didn’t mention today and some of the more minor rules. Like baseball, once you get past the surface level things, cricket becomes a thinker’s game. Strategy greatly affects bowling style, batting his shot choices, and fielder positioning. This goes hand-in-hand with baseball’s pitching order, approach to the plate, and fielder positioning.

If you’re interested in following along with cricket, willow.tv is the best place to watch if you’re in the US. Willow not only provides a live feed of nearly every cricket match imaginable, but also provides highlight videos and full match replays. It’s available by subscription and is also included in some cable TV packages. Also, many cricket matches are streamed on ESPN+ (but not BBL). If you want to see people throw the ball hard and fly far this winter, listen to a cricket match. Go Scorcher!