An Introduction To The Game Of Cricket

Many countries outside of North America indulge in a major sport. These countries, places England and Wales, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Zimbabwe, and the Caribbean all play a popular game called "Cricket". Cricket is one of the most popular games in these regions, both for players and spectators.

Cricket is a bat and ball sport that is in some ways similar to baseball, although there are significant differences between the two sports that at first glance may seem very similar. To the untrained eye that is unfamiliar with the sport of cricket the confusion can be great.

The game shares many facets with baseball, and indeed cricket can be very similar at times. Like a baseball game, a cricket match is divided into segments called "innings". Also like baseball, during a cricket inning one team bats while the other "bowls" and "fields".

The team who bats first sets a target score that the other team attempts to match. The team that is bowling or playing the field attempts to limit the amount of points or "runs" that the opposing team scores. When a team is at bat they always have two batters (or batsmen) on the field. Innings do not change until 10 batsmen are declared out. This is referred to as "taking their wickets" and results in the end of the inning.

At the end of the game the winner is the team with the highest amount of runs. If the losing team bats last, the team is said to have lost by (the difference in the runs of the winning team and the losing team). If the winning team is bats last, they have won by (the total amount of) runs". If neither team is ahead with more runs, the cricket match can end in a "tie" or "draw".

There are very obvious differences between a baseball bat and a cricket bat. While a baseball bat is round and essentially tube shaped, a cricket bat is shaped more like a paddle. The cricket bat is made up of a long handle and a flat surface, reminiscent of a boat paddle. Batting is done in a style similar to batting in baseball, but not quite the same. The same can be said for pitching and fielding.

When the ball is hit by the batsmen in cricket it is called a stroke (or shot). Sometimes the batsmen will hit the ball with the side of the bat (as opposed to hitting it with the flat surface, it is hit with the edge). This is referred to as a "snick". Batters bat in a batting order which may be changed up to any point in the game if necessary to obtain a strategic advantage over the opposing team.

Cricket has become a recreationally compelling game both for the players and the spectators because of this subtle difference in strategy. These subtle differences do make a different experience in both playing and watching the game.

Cricket is a great game that you will love and enjoy to play. You will have to overcome the steep learning curve of the jargon and nomenclature for the sport that is used to communicate the details of the game with enthusiasm. You should look into cricket if you are visiting one of the countries in which it is popular if you have an opportunity to visit these places.

Article Source: http://www.parentingarticlelibrary.com

About the author: Jeremy Rearden is the proprietor of Focus on Cricket, a fantastic website to visit if you're looking for accurate up to date advice and discussion about Cricket. For more articles on Cricket visit: www.focuscricket.com/articles
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