How to Play Cricket

Cricket is popular in several countries around the world. It is somewhat like America's baseball, but its distinctive differences make it much its own sport. The popularity of this sport in England, Asia and India has begun to grow in the United States also. You may even see a game played on some college campuses. Much like baseball, the object is to get more runs than the opposing team.

Difficulty:

Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• 2 wickets
• Bat
• Cricket ball
• 2 gloves
• 2 teams of 11 players

Cricket Field

1. Find an oval field to play on. The field should have a strip that runs down the field length wise, called the pitch. This is where the bowler (pitcher) will bowl the ball to the other team's striker. A boundary line should be clearly marked all around the field. Regulation play has the field at 22 yards in length.

2. Mark the field with lines that indicate the creases. Marked should be the batting, return, popping and bowling creases.

3. Place the wickets on the field--one set behind the bowler and the other behind the striker. Each wicket has three stumps that stand side by side. At the top of the stumps are bails that connect the stumps.

4. Outfit the wicket keeper behind the striker with the gloves. He or she crouches behind the striker ready for the ball to be hit and is the only fielder that has gloves.

5. Start the game with a striker and a non-striker out on the field for the batting team. The non-striker is located by the bowler, and is the striker's partner. The striker is ready to be bowled to by standing in a batting position in front of the wicket ready to hit the ball.

Play the Game

1. Toss a coin to see who gets to choose which team is on the field. The winner of the toss may choose to take the field or bat first. Cricket captains are the ones that make this and most of the decisions for the teams.

2. Bowl the ball to the striker, with usually one bounce before it reaches the striker. The bowler is trying to hit the wicket behind the striker to get him over.

3. Hit the ball and both the batsmen run to try to reach the opposite popping crease. When both successfully touch, by body or bat, the ground behind the opposite crease, a run is scored. Depending on where the ball is they may try to score another run by running back to the starting popping crease. This must be done before the other team's fielders knocks the bails off the stumps with the cricket ball, which is an over.

4. Score six runs by hitting the ball over the boundary with out touching the ground. If the ball reaches the boundary and touches the ground in doing so, the batting team is granted four runs. These runs are automatic unless the runners have scored more.

5. End an inning when ten of the batsmen are over, or the score required to meet is reached.

Get an Over

1. Get the striker over with six successive bowls that he has not hit and are all strikes. Un-hittable balls are not included in the six bowls. After the over, the bowler turns direction and pitches to the reverse side of the field.

2. Catch the ball in the air, while in the boundary, and the striker is out. Both feet of the fielder must be in the boundary. If the batsman touches the ball with his hand that is not touching the bat on purpose it is an over.

3. Break the wicket behind the bowler by direct hit from the bowler or reflected off the striker is an over. Also if a batsman touches or breaks a wicket with his body or equipment is an over.

4. Reflect the ball with your body so it doesn't hit the wicker is called an over by the umpire.

5. Stumping the batsman is when the wicket-keeper gets the striker over by breaking the wicket when the striker steps outside of his crease while trying to play the ball.

6. Overs can happen if the next striker takes more than two minutes to appear on the field after the preceding wicket falls. Also if the striker it's the cricket ball twice while not defending the wicket.

7. Interference by a batsman is called an over. This doesn't include running through the path of the fielder with the ball to deter him from throwing the ball to the wicket.