Small town cricket
Cricket Spectator
Hello, I’m a newbie from a small town in a small USA state who wants to learn more about the game of Cricket. I grew up playing and watching baseball and I’m seeking help in understanding more about Cricket.
I was hospitalized in April and while searching for something to watch and came across Cricket games. I’ve watched a little in the past trying to understand what’s going on. This time, one of my nurses was a “rabid” fan, originally from Nepal, and he was able to help me get started. After one question about a particular match, he whipped out his phone and looked up the answer within about 10 seconds!
I’ve found that Cricket and Baseball are both great games and have a lot in common: i.e., a ball is thrown towards a batter (batsman); the ball is hit with a bat, the batter/batsman runs (optional in Cricket); the fielding team tries to get him out; if a hit ball is caught before it hits the ground, the batter is out; if a hit ball bounces on the ground the runner can be thrown out before reaching a safe zone; there’s also something similar to a Baseball strikeout in Cricket; there’s something similar to a Baseball ground-rule double (bouncing over the boundary for a 4); and there’s something similar to a Baseball Grand Slam homerun (flying over the boundary for a 6). The biggest difference is that there’s more action in Cricket since almost every pitch is hit. In a 3-hour professional baseball game I’d guess the average final score is about 6-4. But in a T20 Cricket 3-hour match, the final score might be 180-160. So, a LOT more action and that’s what attacks me to Cricket.
In the hospital, I was watching mainly games from India in the T20 format. The (large) stadiums were packed with “rabid” fans. Lots of fun! But lately, I’ve been watching highlights of games that last around 9 hours in their original format but are condensed down to about an hour with just the highlights. The announcers say, “This is the Super Bowl of Cricket”, but these games are played in mostly empty stadiums, so for now at least, I like the T20 format.
But I can see the need for longer formats though. Baseball has a championship decided by the winner of 4 games out of a possible 7 games. The basketball NBA has a similar format. This allows a longer time frame to decide the best team and not just a single game.
So, I have some questions (in no particular order):
I believe the bowler changes at the end of each Over and a new bowler comes in. Are all fielders required to bowl or can the bowler sequence be: Bowler A, Bowler B, Bowler A, Bowler B … and thus only use your best bowlers.
Are a team’s best batsmen usually the first two to hit?
LBW: I understand that LBW is “Leg Before Wicket” and if the official judges that a bowled ball hit the batsman’s leg thus stopping it from hitting the wicket then the batsman is out. But I’ve seen this called when the batsman hit the ball! I don’t get it. It could be that the TV and replay aren’t clear and that the ball maybe hit the batsman's leg before he hit it with the bat. I’m confused.
I’ve watched videos on YouTube that says the bowler is supposed to throw the ball from behind a line, but in my observation, the bowler usually crosses this line when bowling. What am I missing?
I watched highlights of a game with a rain delay between India and Nepal. At the time of the delay Nepal was out at 231 for the 50 Overs. India had 13 runs with no Wickets, not sure of the Overs count.
After the rain delay, they put a graphic on the screen with Revised Conditions:
"Revised Target 145 from 23 Overs
P1: Overs 1-5 P2: Overs 6-19 P3: Overs 20-23.
3 bowlers can bowl 5 Overs, + 2 bowlers can bowl 4 Overs."
I understand the part about 145 from 23 Overs, but please explain the meaning of the other conditions.
Near the end, India had 143-?. A four was hit to the boundary and the game ended. So 143+4=147 which exceeds the 145 needed, so game over. But the graphic said “India won by 10 Wickets (DLS)”. What about the 147-145 runs? What’s DLS?
I believe the starting fielders are limited as to where they can play but that it changes later in the game. Please explain the positioning of the fielders.
*******
I was in the U.S. Air Force in the 1970s stationed at RAF Lakenheath, Suffolk. When driving through little villages on weekends, my wife and I would often see Cricket being played in the village square, but I never got into the game, and it wasn’t played on base.
One problem for me is not having a team to root for. In my dreams teams would spring up around where I live but I don’t think that will happen anytime soon. So, maybe there’s a team from Suffolk, Norfolk, or Cambridgeshire that I can adopt. It would be helpful if their games were on a TV channel that I can stream and watch.
Helpful comments are welcome.
Thanks
--Small town cricket
I was hospitalized in April and while searching for something to watch and came across Cricket games. I’ve watched a little in the past trying to understand what’s going on. This time, one of my nurses was a “rabid” fan, originally from Nepal, and he was able to help me get started. After one question about a particular match, he whipped out his phone and looked up the answer within about 10 seconds!
I’ve found that Cricket and Baseball are both great games and have a lot in common: i.e., a ball is thrown towards a batter (batsman); the ball is hit with a bat, the batter/batsman runs (optional in Cricket); the fielding team tries to get him out; if a hit ball is caught before it hits the ground, the batter is out; if a hit ball bounces on the ground the runner can be thrown out before reaching a safe zone; there’s also something similar to a Baseball strikeout in Cricket; there’s something similar to a Baseball ground-rule double (bouncing over the boundary for a 4); and there’s something similar to a Baseball Grand Slam homerun (flying over the boundary for a 6). The biggest difference is that there’s more action in Cricket since almost every pitch is hit. In a 3-hour professional baseball game I’d guess the average final score is about 6-4. But in a T20 Cricket 3-hour match, the final score might be 180-160. So, a LOT more action and that’s what attacks me to Cricket.
In the hospital, I was watching mainly games from India in the T20 format. The (large) stadiums were packed with “rabid” fans. Lots of fun! But lately, I’ve been watching highlights of games that last around 9 hours in their original format but are condensed down to about an hour with just the highlights. The announcers say, “This is the Super Bowl of Cricket”, but these games are played in mostly empty stadiums, so for now at least, I like the T20 format.
But I can see the need for longer formats though. Baseball has a championship decided by the winner of 4 games out of a possible 7 games. The basketball NBA has a similar format. This allows a longer time frame to decide the best team and not just a single game.
So, I have some questions (in no particular order):
I believe the bowler changes at the end of each Over and a new bowler comes in. Are all fielders required to bowl or can the bowler sequence be: Bowler A, Bowler B, Bowler A, Bowler B … and thus only use your best bowlers.
Are a team’s best batsmen usually the first two to hit?
LBW: I understand that LBW is “Leg Before Wicket” and if the official judges that a bowled ball hit the batsman’s leg thus stopping it from hitting the wicket then the batsman is out. But I’ve seen this called when the batsman hit the ball! I don’t get it. It could be that the TV and replay aren’t clear and that the ball maybe hit the batsman's leg before he hit it with the bat. I’m confused.
I’ve watched videos on YouTube that says the bowler is supposed to throw the ball from behind a line, but in my observation, the bowler usually crosses this line when bowling. What am I missing?
I watched highlights of a game with a rain delay between India and Nepal. At the time of the delay Nepal was out at 231 for the 50 Overs. India had 13 runs with no Wickets, not sure of the Overs count.
After the rain delay, they put a graphic on the screen with Revised Conditions:
"Revised Target 145 from 23 Overs
P1: Overs 1-5 P2: Overs 6-19 P3: Overs 20-23.
3 bowlers can bowl 5 Overs, + 2 bowlers can bowl 4 Overs."
I understand the part about 145 from 23 Overs, but please explain the meaning of the other conditions.
Near the end, India had 143-?. A four was hit to the boundary and the game ended. So 143+4=147 which exceeds the 145 needed, so game over. But the graphic said “India won by 10 Wickets (DLS)”. What about the 147-145 runs? What’s DLS?
I believe the starting fielders are limited as to where they can play but that it changes later in the game. Please explain the positioning of the fielders.
*******
I was in the U.S. Air Force in the 1970s stationed at RAF Lakenheath, Suffolk. When driving through little villages on weekends, my wife and I would often see Cricket being played in the village square, but I never got into the game, and it wasn’t played on base.
One problem for me is not having a team to root for. In my dreams teams would spring up around where I live but I don’t think that will happen anytime soon. So, maybe there’s a team from Suffolk, Norfolk, or Cambridgeshire that I can adopt. It would be helpful if their games were on a TV channel that I can stream and watch.
Helpful comments are welcome.
Thanks
--Small town cricket
