I want to learn to enjoy this sport but holy hell the terminology and rules seem so cryptic
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This could be long but I will start simple using as much ***terminology*** as I can.
2 players are opposing each other: the ***Bowler*** and the ***Batter.***
The Batter is trying avoid getting ***out*** and at the same time scoring as many ***runs*** as they can until they are out.
The Bowler is on the ***Fielding*** team and ***bowls*** overarm the ***ball*** six times to the Batter and this set of 6 Balls is called an ***Over***.After an ***Over*** the bowler is swapped for another player on the ***Fielding*** team.
An Over must be six legal ***deliveries*** of the Ball according to this brief criteria:
* The Ball is bowled with a straight overarm.
* At least part of both the bowler’s feet must be behind/inside the line on the ***Pitch*** called the ***Crease***.
* The Ball either bounces on the surface of the ***Pitch*** or if the ball is did not bounce then cross the Batter’s ***Crease*** lower than the height of the ***Stumps***.
* The Ball is not bowled ***Wide.*** A Wide ball awards the Fielding team a ***- Sundry*** run.
The Batter can get out or ***Dismissed*** in several different ways and here are the most common:
* In a ***delivery*** either Ball or the Batter removes the wooden ***bails*** from the top of the 3 ***stumps*** on the ***wicket*** that the Batter stands in front of.
* The Bowler can be ***caught out*** when the ball touches their bat (even just grazing or glancing the bat is enough) and a player from the fielding side catches the ball before it touches the ground.
* The Batter can be judged out ***Leg-Before-Wicket*** if they use their legs or body to block a ball that was otherwise going to hit the **Stumps**.
* The ball or batter removes the ***Bails*** while the batter is ***outside their crease***. This can be called ***Run Out*** if the batter was running, ***Stumped*** if the ***Wicketkeeper*** removes the bails without the batter running, and a ***Mankad*** when the bowler removes the bails of the wicket at the bowlers end.
* The Batter cannot touch the ball, handle the ball, or deliberately block the ball with their body or they are out for ***Obstructing the Field.***
* The Batter cannot strike the ball more than once.
A batter is not obligated to run when hitting the ball.
A Batter can score runs in a number of ways:
* Scoring a ***Boundary.*** Hitting the ball to the ***Boundary Rope*** which is the edge of the playing area. 6 runs are awarded to the batter if the Ball does not touch the ground or player and travels through the air over the Boundary Rope. 4 runs are awarded to the batter if the ball touches the rope or the ground before passing over the rope.
* 1 run is awarded to the batter when they cross the Crease at the ***Bowler’s end*** of the Pitch. The batter may repeat this as often as they like by crossing the Crease at the Batter’s end. Each Crease to Crease at awards one run to the current Batter. **If at any point the Ball touches or passes over the Boundary Rope then these runs are discarded and not awarded to the Batter.**
So far so good?
I have only explained the basic play required for 2 people in a backyard/street/at the beach.
With a small group there are no teams and each player bats once and every player has a turn bowling an over until all players have had a turn batting. After the last batter the player who had the most runs wins. In a casual game a 6 run boundary is usallyOUT as the player has hit the ball out of bounds (like the backyard fence – woops!).
Let’s move onto an organised game:
* Each side has 11 players, usually no substitute/bench players even at the highest level of play.
* There are 2 batters on the pitch, one active Batter at the ***Batter’s End*** who can score runs and is receiving the deliveries of the balls from the Bowler. The other ***Batting Partner*** is inactive and starts each delivery at the **Bowler’s End** their only roles is to run to the opposite ***Batter’s End*** Crease when the active batter runs to the ***Bowler’s End*** Crease. Whoever ends up at the Batter’s End is the active Batter for the next delivery.
* Each batting side plays an ***Innings*** and has 10 ***Wickets*** (here the term Wicket is an OUT).
* The ***Bowler’s End*** changes ends after every ***Over***.
* One of the fielding side is a ***Wicket-Keeper*** and they may have gloves and stand behind the Stumps of the Batter’s End.
* There may be a limit on how many Overs the Innings will go for. The popular shorter variation is ***T-20*** (“Twenty-Twenty”) which has each innings go for only 20 Overs and afterwards the batting team starts fielding and the fielding teams starts batting. ***ODI*** (One-Day-International) has 50 overs of the same format as T20.
* The game is not played when it is wet or raining. Games may be abandoned or if a side had their Innings interupted by the weather then some format use a complicated mathematical calculation (Duckworth-Lewis Method) to adjust the scores and determine a winner.
* There may be a limit on how many overs each player from the fielding side can have. It is usually not possible for only 2 fielding players to continue swapping the Bowler role for an entire Innings.
* Usually the ball is used for the entire innings unless its condition is too poor to continue playing with and then is usually exchanged for a similarly aged ball (age in Overs). A new ball is used for a new innings.
There is a massive glossary of terms and phrases that make the game easier to understand with only a radio/audio broadcast. There are many different words for how the ball was bowled, how the ball was hit, and the many different possible fielding positions.
Here are some important things to note:
* A ***fast bowler*** bowls fast and somewhat straight.
* A ***Spin bowler*** puts a lot of ***spin*** on the ball so when it bounces its trajectory is hard to predict.
* Fielding players may use saliva on the ball and rub the ball on their uniform so that one side of the ball is much smoother and less air-resitant then the other. The effect is noticeable for fast bowlers who will bowl and the ball will ***Swing*** to one side because of the smoothness of the ball.
* A ***Batting*** ***Order*** is the list and order of batters that will play the Innings. ***Top Order*** batters are strong and usually face the early balls which are very tough to defend. ***Middle Order*** Batters are good when the balls has seen more action and is a little older. ***Lower/******Bottom Order*** Batters are usually the weakest batter and usually the best Bowlers on the team.
* A ***Century*** is 100 runs and a signifacnt milestone. A ***Double-Century*** is 200 runs. A ***Half-Century*** is 50 runs and is significant in smaller games and for ***Lower/Bottom Order Batters***.
* A ***Duck*** or ***Going out for a Duck*** is a Bowler getting out for Zero runs. Zero kind of looking like a Duck’s Egg. There are variations like gold, silver, diamond depending on how many balls the batter has faced or how many overs the bowler has balled.
* A ***Maiden Over*** is an Over where no runs are scored.
* ***Leg Side*** is the side of the field where the batter has they legs on. ***On Side*** is the side of the field the batter’s bat and body usually faces when batting.
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