I'll share some more of this foreign (mostly) sport to you guys...

1/ Pull shot.

The idea is to hit the ball hopefully all the way to the boundary, if it clears the rope on the full you get 6 runs, if it bounces or goes along the ground you get 4. Otherwise you run as many times up and down the pitch as you can. If you get caught you are out (you only get one chance at batting too). You can bat as long as you can. The side is out when the other team takes 10 wickets (ie gets all but one player out)



2/ Ways to get out

One way to be out in cricket is for the ball to hit the stumps. The bails are on top of the stumps to make it easy to decide whether this has occurred

Believe it or not, this ball just missed



3/ Run Out

Another way to be out is when you attemp to make a run (from one end of the wicket to the other end (which is 22 yards) but before you get there you are run out by a fielder say throwing the ball to hit the stumps, or like here a fielder attempting to hit the stumps with the ball.

This one's not out



4/ Bowling

You can bowl fast, or slow, spin the ball etc. What you do is run in from a run up, basically then you have to release the ball before you hit a line just past the stumps. You have two batters who cross over as they score runs.

You are not allowed to throw the ball and your arm (as here) must remain straight.

The ball has a stitching seam that allows the ball under the right conditions to seam (move through the air) or move off the pitch. The boys here are playing on concrete but usually most cricket is played on grass



5/ Teams

In senior cricket you have 11 players per team. Usually 4-5 are good bowlers, 1 wicket keeper (like a catcher) and 4-5 good batsmen

In this age group there are usually 8 or 9 per team




6. There are also usually 3 younger brothers who just wished to be out there

Great post. I still have no idea what you're talking about, but great post...

Thanks for the information. I have been trying to understand but info is hard to find on the internet some times.

Rules to Cricket are simple. Here is best explanation I've heard:

"You have two sides, one out in the field and one in.

"Each man that's in the side that's in goes out, and when he's out he comes in and the next man goes in until he's out.

"When they are all out, the side that's out comes in and the side thats been in goes out and tries to get those coming in, out.

"Sometimes you get men still in and not out.

"When a man goes out to go in, the men who are out try to get him out, and when he is out he goes in and the next man in goes out and goes in.

"There are two men called umpires who stay out all the time and they decide when the men who are in are out.

"When both sides have been in and all the men have out, and both sides have been out twice after all the men have been in, including those who are not out, that is the end of the game!"

Hey, don't laugh until you have tried to explain the infield-fly rule in baseball!

Great photos. I assume the facial expression of the bowler has been carefully studied from the telly and is of course necessary? So two questions: what happens if the bowler hits the batter? Second, if the out team catches a hit ball inside the stumps (in the air) is it an out? Trying to see how much like baseball this is or isn't.

I am so much smarter now - thanks. How long is a typical match?

Thank you for the shots and the explanation. While I feel more informed, I still have aboslutely no clue how to play this game -- I think it's one of those things I would have to play on my own to understand. At least I'm a wee bit more knowledgeable though

Perfect opportunity for a wicket cam!!!

if the ball hits the batter nothing happens. unless the ball hits the batters leg infront of the wickets and the LBW rule (Leg before wicket) rules the batter out.
i don't quite get the 2nd question :S. great pictures though. always enjoy looking at your wokr kiwifamily.

OntheRez wrote:
Great photos. I assume the facial expression of the bowler has been carefully studied from the telly and is of course necessary? So two questions: what happens if the bowler hits the batter? Second, if the out team catches a hit ball inside the stumps (in the air) is it an out? Trying to see how much like baseball this is or isn't.

Thanks, Yeah, he's great that kid.

If the bowler hits the batter in the head ta this age group it's a "no ball" and a free run, in seniors so be it, but only twice an over allowed

If the ball hits the batter and if the ball otherwise is determined would have hit the stumps then the batter is out

Second, yes, any catch is out

danmc wrote:
I am so much smarter now - thanks. How long is a typical match?

At this level two 1/2 days on subsequent Saturdays

At senior level there are three forms of the game

20/20 - each team scores as many runs as they can in 20 overs (assuming the other team doesn't bowl them out). This typically takes around 3-4 hours

One day cricket - 50 overs each, takes a day (also played as a day/night)

and the ultimate form of the game, Test Cricket, played between nations, which is up to 5 days. In this form each team must get the other team out twice for less cumulative runs they can score in one or two turns at bat

lol @ yonah, that's very funny.

Baseball is simpler: "They throw it, you hit it. They hit it, you catch it." Willie Mays.

Actually, at the end of the day, Cricket's that simple too.

I lost you at 1/

Great shots though.

lol, thanks Paul.

My kiddliwinks have started baseball too this year, and, boy the rules there have me beat at times too.

I actually sat down and read the rules to cricket one time and the basics are really quite straight forward much like baseball. It's obvious the two games share a common root. In both games you take a piece of wood, smack a round thing, and try to get somewhere and back before someone smacks you with the ball. Catches in the air put you out. Everything else is details. It's the details that makes them both crazy and all the "exceptions" and "special situations" like the LBW or the infield fly or etc, etc, etc.

awesome, i've always wondered how you play this game. now, when I travel overseas and they have it on TV, I'll have some idea of what they're doing.

A very enjoyable post kiwi'. Well done! .

Regards

Des