Questions from a Cricket newbie

[Small town cricket]

I know baseball well, but not Cricket. I now know enough to enjoy watching Cricket, but I still have some questions. I know my questions are elementary to those who grew up with Cricket and know the game well, but if you can stop laughing, please answer the following questions:

Bowlers and overs: It's my understanding that a bowler bowls one over and then someone else comes in to bowl. Are all fielders required to bowl? If a game is in the 12th over, has everyone on the fielding team bowled? Can the fielding team just alternate between its 2 best bowlers?

Fielding: Can a fielder be changed during a match? If a player is injured and leaves the match and a new fielder enters the game, can the injured fielder later return to the field? (In baseball, they can't return.)

Must the fielding team be the same as the batting team or can the batting team and the fielding team be two completely different sets of players? How many players total are on each team?

Gloves: I saw a guy in the outfield wearing gloves, but I thought the Wicketkeeper was the only player allowed to wear gloves. Do the Wicketkeeper's gloves have webs between the fingers? It looks like it would be wise for the Wicketkeeper to wear a helmet/mask. Is that not permitted or just considered sissy?

Thanks.

 

[Ali TT]

Fair questions

Overs - as a different bowler has to bowl the next over you need a minimum of two bowlers. It's not required that everyone bowls but in limited over (eg one-day, T20) no bowler can bowl more than a fifth of the total overs, ie you need at least five bowlers but could have more if you want.

Fielding - subs can be used to replace injured players in the field, or even if a fielder has to go off for the toilet. If/when the original player is able to play again he replaces the sub. Generally substitute fielders cannot bowl or field, the recent exception being where replacements are required for head/conclusion and now other injuries that rule a player out for the whole match although I'm not sure this is common across all formats and competitions.

As a general rule, the eleven you start with plays the whole match so you need to balance batters, bowlers and your specialist wicketkeeper in your side at the beginning. This sounds simple but is actually one of the most contentious and hopefully debated parts of cricket among commentators and fans.

I think it's required now that when the wicketkeeper stands up to the stumps he has to wear a helmet, as do any other fielders standing close to the batters.

 

[Small town cricket]

Fair questions

Overs - as a different bowler has to bowl the next over you need a minimum of two bowlers. It's not required that everyone bowls but in limited over (eg one-day, T20) no bowler can bowl more than a fifth of the total overs, ie you need at least five bowlers but could have more if you want.

Fielding - subs can be used to replace injured players in the field, or even if a fielder has to go off for the toilet. If/when the original player is able to play again he replaces the sub. Generally substitute fielders cannot bowl or field, the recent exception being where replacements are required for head/conclusion and now other injuries that rule a player out for the whole match although I'm not sure this is common across all formats and competitions.

As a general rule, the eleven you start with plays the whole match so you need to balance batters, bowlers and your specialist wicketkeeper in your side at the beginning. This sounds simple but is actually one of the most contentious and hopefully debated parts of cricket among commentators and fans.

I think it's required now that when the wicketkeeper stands up to the stumps he has to wear a helmet, as do any other fielders standing close to the batters.

Thanks. That's very helpful.

However, you wrote, "Generally substitute fielders cannot bowl or field,". Did you type the wrong word? It doesn't make sense to me that "substitute fielders cannot field"? Maybe they can't bowl or bat?

The "need to balance batters, bowlers and your specialist wicketkeeper in your side at the beginning" is in the subtleties that are beyond me for now. I would've thought you have your best batsmen bat first and your worst batsmen bat last. I assume the coach or captain or somebody presents a list to the officials before play begins.

Thanks again.

 

[Ali TT]

Yes, bowl or bat.

You'll probably always have your worst bat come last, and they'll be bowlers. It's not necessarily true that you start with your very best batters though.