“Howzat!?”
- Cricket is a bat and ball game, played with two opposing teams of eleven players and is very popular in Australia, New Zealand, England, South Africa, India, and West Indies.
- The main equipment used in cricket is a cricket bat, ball and wickets, as well as protective equipment for the players, especially the batsman and the wicket keeper.
- There is no set size or shape of a cricket field, although it is usually played on a grassy, circular or oval shaped field, with a 20 meter (22 yards) rectangular strip, called the pitch, in the centre.
- In cricket, a bowler throws a ball towards a batter, who is an opposing team member, who tries to hit the ball and then run along the pitch as many times as possible to score points, or runs.
- If the cricket ball hits the wickets, the batter is out, and the next team member comes in to bat. An innings in cricket generally occurs when most or all members of the team have batted, and then the two teams swap positions.
Test Cricket
Image courtesy of Eltpics/Flickr
- Professional cricket generally has 20 to 50 overs, with one over every six balls.
- Cricket originated in the 1500s, in Europe and became popular in England in the 17th century, with significant matches being held towards the end of the century.
- The cricket bowling technique was originally underarm until it changed into roundarm in the 1800s, and than to overarm.
- Cricket can’t be played if the field is wet, since players may slip on the wet ground, and the bounce of the cricket ball on the pitch is significantly affected.
- Some English phrases have their origin in cricket, such as ‘bowled over’ and ‘had a good innings’.
Bibliography:
Cricket, 2013 Wikipedia, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cricket>
