WWWWWH: Cricket

Ethan Semendinger

July 18th, 2024

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Who, What, Where, When, Why, and How is Cricket? With there being lots of recent news about the sport, let me explain it.

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The "Who's" of Cricket:

Cricket is played by two opposing teams of 11 players. At any time, the bowling team (or pitching team, as we'd say in baseball) has all 11 players on the field (2 on the pitch), while the batting team has 2 players on the pitch. (The pitch is where the bowling takes place, the field everything else around the pitch.)

When it comes to the pitch (see: above), there are three main positions to know of: the bowler (#4), the wicket-keeper (#10), and the batsmen (#3 & 8). The bowler is who throws the ball and is most similar to a pitcher in baseball. The wicket-keeper sits behind the wickets opposite the bowler to, mainly, catch the ball and is most similar to a catcher. The batsmen look to hit the ball and are like baseball batters. The biggest differences here are that the bowler has to bounce the ball with each throw, and how the batsmen score runs (we'll get to this later). (Note: The man in the straw hat is one of the umpires, and the player in purple wearing No.55 is playing a position in the close-infield.)

The remaining 9 players will take positions in the field (see: above), relative to how the batsmen bat. (Much like a shift in baseball.) There is one specific rule about when and where the fielders are allowed to be, designated by a "powerplay" being active or not. (I'll explain when they are active, later.) When a powerplay is active, only two fielders are allowed in the outfield (beyond 30 yards of the pitch). After the powerplay is over, no more than 5 fielders are allowed in the outfield.

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The "What's" of Cricket:

Now that we understand who will be on the field, let's explain their roles.

Bowlers will bowl balls in sets of 6, which is called an "over". In the most popular form of cricket, called Twenty20 (or T20), each team gets to bowl a maximum of 20 overs (or 120 bowls) in an inning. After each over, the bowler also must change, and during a match, no bowler is allowed to throw more than 4 overs. This means teams must employ at least 5 bowlers.

Batsmen will bat in pairs. The goal of batting is to protect their wicket, score runs, and avoid outs. In addition to the maximum of 20 overs (or 120 bowls), each batting team can hit into a maximum of 10 outs per inning. This means teams need to employ at least 11 batsmen to ensure that there can be 10 pairs.

Batsmen can be called out in 10 different ways, though only 5 are common. (Much like how there are 7 ways to reach base in baseball, but I wouldn't use 'dropped third strike' and 'catcher's interference' as examples.) The 5 common ways to be called out are:

1. Bowled Out: This is if the bowler successfully knocks the stumps off the wicket. (The knocking off of the stumps on the wicket is also called being "downed".)

2. Caught Out: This is if a ball hit by the batsman is caught in the air.

3. Leg Before Wicket: This is if the batsman is hit by the ball, that would've otherwise hit the wicket.

4. Run Out: This is if the fielding team downs a wicket before a batsman is able to get back behind the crease.

5. Stumped: This is if the batsman steps over the crease, and the wicket-keeper catches the ball and downs the wicket.

Batsmen can also score runs 3 different ways, all of which will occur often in a game.

1. By Running: After a ball is hit, batsmen have the option to try and run between creases. For each time both batsmen are able to run between creases, a run is scored. (Often these are in singles, twos, or threes, though there is technically no limit to the amount of runs that can be scored.)

2. By Hitting the Ball To the Boundary: If the batsman hits a ball that rolls, uninterrupted to the boundary, they do not need to run and they automatically score 4 runs.

3. By Hitting the Ball Over the Boundary: If the batsman hits a ball, in the air, that goes over the boundary, they do not need to run and they automatically score 6 runs.

If you want a better understanding of scoring, watch this video produced by Jomboy that explains cricket scoring in baseball terms with video clips:

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The "Where's" and "When's" of Cricket:

Just recently, the YES Network has become a broadcaster of the Major League Cricket (MLC) team MI New York. (The "MI" stands for "Mumbai Indians", a famous cricket team from the Indian Premier League/IPL, and the owners of MI New York.)

In the MLC, games take place at two locations: Morrisville, North Carolina and Grand Prairie, Texas. Currently, there are 6 teams:

1. MI New York

2. Los Angeles Knight Riders

3. San Francisco Unicorns

4. Seattle Orcas

5. Texas Super Kings

6. Washington Freedom.
   

In the first season of play in 2023, MI New York won the league. Each "season" of the MLC, lasts less than a month and is structured much like a round-robin tournament before playoffs. (The IPL, for example, lasts 2 months for their whole season.)

The 2024 season is underway, starting on July 5th and ending on July 28th. There will be two more matches televised on YES, including one featuring MI New York against the San Francisco Unicorns at 8:30 PM (EST) tonight (July 18th). Their next, and final match of the round-robin "regular season" will be on Sunday, July 21st against the Los Angeles Knight Riders at 8:30 PM (EST).

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The "Why's" of Cricket:

As much as I enjoyed researching cricket, I would do no justice to the sport in trying to explain its history: Test Cricket, One-Day Cricket, Lord's, etc. However, if you are interested, here is a handy 16-minute video from Netflix, which does a great job explaining the sport and how it has come to be what it is today:

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The "How's" of Cricket:

How is the sport?

Come back tomorrow at 2:00 PM (EST) to read my article explaining my experiences at a 2024 ICC T20 World Cup match out on Long Island.

(It was a blast!)