A bat and ball game called cricket is played by two teams of eleven players. There are several game formats, but they are all based on the same fundamental ideas. Cricket games may go on for several days or may only span an afternoon. A "Test Match," for instance, would last over five days, whereas a "Twenty20" match would be over in a matter of hours.
Cricket games are traditionally played over two 'innings'. It doesn't always follow that each side will get two chances to bat and bowl, however, as the team that bats second may theoretically bowl the other team out twice and have amassed enough "runs" to win the game without needing to bat again.
A handle is attached to the top of a flat blade of wood (often willow) that is about 4.25 inches wide and 38 inches long.
The cricket ball is made of hard cork, string, and thick leather, with one central seam that is straight. The object resembles a baseball in terms of size and hardness.
The pitch will be in the center of the field, which is typically oval in shape and ranges in diameter from 90 to 150 meters. The field is a 20-meter-long rectangle of tightly cropped grass on a hard-packed dirt surface. Two little wooden crosspieces known as "bails" are perched on top between the three vertical wooden "stumps" (round posts 1 inch in diameter) at either end of the pitch. The wicket is the name of this building.
The batsman's objective is to defend the wicket and score "runs," and the bowler's job is to get rid of the batter using a variety of strategies, the most obvious of which is to hit the wicket and have the ball knock the bails off.
To determine the sequence of play, a coin is tossed before the game starts. The toss-winning team gets to choose whether to field first or to go to bat first.
The batting team will only have two players on the field compared to the fielding team's eleven members. The rest of the batting squad will wait outside the field while they wait to bat.
To stop the batting side from scoring runs, the fielding side will carefully place people around the field. The Wicket Keeper, one of the fielding players, waits behind the wicket to catch the ball if it is bowled past the batsman. The wicket keeper will put on leg pads, a safety helmet, and webbed, cushioned gloves.
The fielding side may have numerous bowlers, each of whom can take a turn at bowling, but often just one wicket keeper.
The bowler will rush in and throw the ball down the field (using an over-arm motion) at a speed of between 50 and 90 mph. In order to be caught, the bowler wants to smash the stumps or induce the batter to hit the ball to a fielder. The batsman is "out," which means he has been dismissed, and will be replaced by the next batter on the team, if the ball strikes the wicket or is caught by a fielder (without first touching the ground).
Before taking a break and letting another bowler bowl another over from the other end of the pitch, each bowler will bowl one "over," a set of six balls.
The batter facing the bowler is said to be "on strike," whereas the batsman at the other end of the pitch is said to be "non striker."
When the bowler delivers the ball, the batsmen strike it and run as many times as they can between the wickets before the fielding side can catch it and return it to the center to score runs.
The batsman is "out" if the fielding side strikes the wicket with the ball while the batsmen are running between the wickets and before the batsman has reached the "crease" (a line marked on the ground directly before the wicket) (dismissed).
Batsmen can also score "runs" by hitting the ball to the field's "boundary." The perimeter of the boundary is typically denoted by a continuous line or rope. Without even having to go between the wickets, the batsman scores four runs if the ball touches the boundary after touching the ground. Without having to run, the batter will score six runs if the ball is hit over the boundary without touching the ground.
The bowling team seeks to score as few runs as they can while eliminating ten batsmen. With the loss of the tenth batsman, the innings ends because the eleventh batsman is unable to bat alone.
Prior to having all ten batsmen out of the game, the batting team's goal is to score as many runs as they can.
The team with the most runs wins this game, albeit there is a lot more to it than I've been able to explain in this succinct description.
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