I love cricket and find it amazing how many people don’t understand the game saying it is too difficult to understand. I have to say this to our USA friends, cricket is a much easier game to understand than American (NFL) Football.

Major cricket has over the years devolved into various versions that include Test cricket (nearly always played over five days), first-class cricket (three days), single wicket (one or two days), limited overs cricket and Twenty20.

The game of cricket is normally played between two teams and each team has eleven players. The team may use a substitute if a player is injured and if he recovers he may come back on to the pitch. Cricket has two umpires that enforce the rules, make and judge decisions. There are also two scorers that keep the score for both teams.

In cricket the ball is 22.4 to 22.9cm in diameter and weights between 155 to 163 grams. The cricket bat is 96.5 long and 10.8 wide. The cricket wicket/pitch is 22 yards long and 10ft wide. The wickets themselves are composed of three stumps, which are 28 inches tall and 9 inches wide with three bails on top. The bowling crease is 8.8ft long and as wide as the wicket, it is centred on the stumps. The condition of the pitch should be good and ideally should give an even bounce.

Cricket is played for one (single, limited overs and Twenty20) or two innings (Test and first-class)depending on the type of match. The innings is over when all of the batsmen are out, or the innings is forfeit, or if the limit of overs or time is reached as agreed by the two captains.

A ‘follow-on’ occurs in a two innings match when a team that is batting does not reach the limit for runs to allow them to play on. This is when they are behind the fielding team by 200 runs for a test match, 150 for a three day match. The batting team then has to bat again at the discretion of the other team. The captain of the batting team may end the innings whenever the ball is not in play.

There should be a 10 minute break between each innings, and there are also breaks for lunch, tea and drinks as agreed by the captains, after which the play is started again by the umpires. In the final hour the fielding team must bowl at least 20 overs. The teams may practice before or after the game at the umpire’s discretion.

The batting team scores a run when both batsman cross and reach the opposite ends of the wicket without getting out. If the ball goes over the boundary and does not bounce the batting team get 6 runs, if it does bounce then they get 4 runs. The team that gets the most runs is the winner. If they both get the same amount of runs it is a draw. Each over is 6 bowls long and then the next over is from the other end of the wicket.

If the batsman is not able to hit the ball from where he stands then the ball is wide This means that the batting team gets an extra run. There is also a no ball when the ball bounces more than one time on the way to the wicket when it has been bowled or the bowler does not bowl correctly. That gives the batting team an extra run. When the bowler bowls he may not put his foot over the crease and his arm must go over his shoulder and not bend.

If the ball is not hit when bowled, but the batsmen scores a run it is called a bye, but the batsman must play a shot. If the batsman makes a run when he has tried to hit the ball but it has bounced off of his pad then it is called a leg bye. The batsman is out if the ball is caught before it has hit the ground when he has hit it. He is out if the bowler knocks off the bails when the ball is bowled. The batsman is out if the bails are knocked off when he is out of the crease and the ball is in play. The batsman is out if he is not ready to face the ball in three minutes from the last batsman being out.

The batsman is out if he, hits the ball twice or gets hit by the ball after it is bowled and when it would have hit the wicket if he did not get in the way of it. The batsman is out when he purposely obstructs the fielding team when the ball is in play. The batsman is out when he is run out when the ball hits the wicket when he is not in the crease when he is running between the wickets. The wicket keeper stands behind the wicket and is able to wear gloves and pads. He can stump the batsman through knocking off the bails when the batsman is not in the crease.

When 10 out the 11 batsmen are out, or the amount of agreed overs or hours are completed, the innings is finished. The team that has the most runs at the end of the one or two innings are the winners.

Easy, isn’t it?