
Everything you were too embarrassed to ask before now.
Your brother-in-law goes on and on and on about it.
Your husband likes watching it on a Friday night (while you read your book in the other room).
Your dad was pretty obsessed when you were growing up.
Now, after all of these years of happily knowing nothing, you find yourself faced with a dilemma. Your 7-year-old wants to go to a live match… and he wants you to take him. You can’t go along knowing absolutely nothing. You realise you have no choice… you finally have to… (gulp)… learn about CRICKET.
From a cricket-loving mum to a why-do-they-keep-running-back-and-forth novice, this is your beginner’s guide to cricket. Don’t be scared, I will keep it simple (think Mary Poppins with the spoonful of sugar). Here are the key terms, what they mean and a few phrases you can yell out at a Friday night Big Bash League match and be guaranteed not to sound silly.
Bowler: That’s the guy running in and bowling the ball, you will hear weird words like ‘googly’ and ‘seam’ and ‘swing’ and ‘pace’. A simple rule of thumb? The longer their run up the faster they bowl. If their run up is two hop steps they’re a spinner. If it’s a really long, fast, exhausting-looking sprint, they’re a fast bowler or ‘paceman’. If there is a fast bowler, you can impress with a phrase like ‘oooh he’s got some good pace on him’.
Batsman: The guy with the bat. He is trying to hit the ball as far as possible. The two batsmen who come out at the start and make a big show of running onto the field stretching are the opening batsmen or ‘openers’.
Runs: If the batsmen hits the ball and runs one length, that is one run. If they run two lengths it is two runs… and so on. If the ball hits the rope on the boundary it’s four runs and if it goes over the rope/fence on the full it’s six runs. Everyone gets very excited by a six, so when it happens jump up and put your arms over your head like this…
Over: No, this doesn’t mean the match is over, even if you would like it to be. An over is six balls bowled from the same end, by the same bowler. You know when an over is… well, over, because the bowler will stop running in, and often go over to the umpire to get his hat back. You will also notice all of the players on the field rearrange themselves into new positions.
Out: HOWZAT!!!! Will be yelled repeatedly throughout the match. A batsman can get out in lots of confusing ways, but the main ones are: bowled, caught, LBW and run-out. Bowled means the batsmen misses and the ball hits his stumps. Caught is easy, he hits it, someone catches it. LBW… this one needs its own explanation, see below. Run-out, someone uses the ball to knock the bails (see below) off the stumps (see below) before the batsman gets back to his crease (see below).
Top Comments
Also,if you watch it on television,turn the sound down as the commentators are woefull and seem to talk about everything but whats going on.You are better off listineng to the ABC commentary.Jim Maxwell rules!
Have been doing this since the late 1970s when Packer turned televised cricket commercial. In all that time, Channel 9, has only unearthed two or three good commentators out of about 50 they tried.
The ABC mantra "watch the test cricket on the radio" is how about 25% of Australians prefer to do it.
This is a very helpful resource. As a cricket tragic I am often called upon to explain the game to others and I often fail miserably, leaving them even more confused as to why I would actually enjoy it! You've really helped me out.