A BLUFFER’S GUIDE TO CRICKET
THERE are three kinds of cricket: test matches which last five days; T20s in which each side has 20 overs each to score the most runs; and the One-Day International, the format in which England aim to beat New Zealand tomorrow.
The World Cup consists of one-day games, where each batting side receives 50 ‘overs’ in which to score as many runs as possible. Each ‘over’ consists of six balls, with each bowler limited to ten overs in the whole game.
One-day cricket is about batsmen trying to score runs quickly and the fielding team trying to limit them. Shots for four runs (where it passes the boundary after bouncing) and six runs (it passes the boundary without touching the ground) excite the crowds, but the oneday game is as much about nudging the ball around to keep the scoreboard ticking over.
Batsmen can be bowled, or caught by a fielder. Others forms of dismissal include: leg before wicket or LBW (when the umpire decides that if the ball hadn’t hit the batsman’s pads it would have hit the stumps); and run out, when the batsman sets off for a run but a fielder manages to throw the ball at the stumps before he reaches the end. Once ten batsmen are out the innings is over.
Bowlers vary in style. A spin bowler relies on making the ball rotate when it hits the pitch. Medium pacers manipulate their grip to make it swing in the air, as do fast bowlers.
A wide is where the ball is too wide for the batsman to reach, and results in a run for the batting side, plus an extra ball in the over.