Cricket For Dummies®, 2nd Edition

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Table of Contents

Introduction

About This book

How to Use This book

Conventions Used in This Book

Foolish Assumptions

How This Book Is Organised

Part I: Getting Started with Cricket

Part II: Playing the Game

Part III: Welcome to Planet Cricket

Part IV: The Part of Tens

Icons Used in This Book

Where to Go from Here

Part I: Getting Started with Cricket

Chapter 1: Taking In the Joy of Cricket

Glancing at Cricket’s Global Appeal

Gauging the Difference: Amateur and Professional Cricket

Understanding the great divide: Amateurs and professionals

Getting involved in the amateur game

Exploring the Strange World of Cricket Speak

Looking at Batsman Against Bowler

Understanding That Cricket is a Dangerous Game

Taking in the Dark Side: Cricket Frustrations

Scorebooks, Scoreboards and Scorecards

Equipping Yourself as a Fan

Showing off your cricket knowledge

Coaching and cricket tactics

Getting to Grips with the Laws of the Game

Gauging the Importance of the Umpire

Chapter 2: Getting to Grips with the Basics

Introducing the Players

Remembering Cricket Helpers

Taking in the Field of Play

Understanding the importance of the pitch

Taking in the creases

Changing ends explained

Protecting the pitch

Talking Stumps and Bails

Umpiring: The Men in White Coats

Making the big calls

Working together as a team

Respecting the umpire

Looking at umpiring signals

Embracing new technology: The Decision Review System

Protecting the umpires: Decision review system safeguards

Understanding the Scoring System

Understanding runs and boundaries

Totting up the extras

Incurring penalty runs

Keeping count: The role of the scorer

Dismissing the Batsmen

Comprehending the LBW law

Understanding retirements

Looking at Breaks in Play

Going off the field for rain

Going off the field for bad light

Chapter 3: From 20 Overs to 5 Days: The Many Formats of Cricket

Looking at an Innings

Throwing the second innings into the mix

Taking extra time to complete two innings

Taking a Closer Look at Test Cricket

Taking it slowly: Test and first class tactics

Taking a Peek at English First Class Cricket

Ensuring a result: One-day cricket

Gauging the differences between one-day, test and first class matches

Understanding the one-day trade-off

Day-night one-day cricket

Crash, Bang, Wallop: Twenty20 Is Born

Bringing in the Big Bucks: The Indian Premier League

Signing up the talent: The IPL player auction

Looking at the teams of the Indian Premier League

Aping the IPL: The Big Bash in Australia

Maths Geniuses Required: The Duckworth/Lewis Formula

Getting into Hot Water: Breaking Cricket Rules

Chapter 4: Grabbing the Right Gear: Cricket Equipment

Getting It Together: The Essentials

The furniture: Understanding what the club supplies

Taking a peek at the cricket ball

Getting Personal: Choosing a Bat

Pricing up a cricket bat

Deciding on the right bat

Buying a bat or having it made

Preparing the bat for play

Getting the Right Protection

Using your head: Wearing a helmet

Protecting your hands and arms

Looking after the rest of you

Guarding your legs from injury

Getting Kitted Out Top-To-Toe

Being whiter than white

Taking care of your feet

Choosing a Kit-Bag

Kitting Out a Youngster for the Game

Part II: Playing the Game

Chapter 5: Honing Your Batting Skills

Understanding What It Takes to be Good at Batting

Starting Out in the Middle

Taking guard

Gripping stuff

Listening to the umpire

Setting the sight screens

Facing up to the bowler: Stance

Executing the shot: Backlift

Judging ‘Line and Length’

Looking at the line of the ball

Looking at the length of the delivery

Standing up to seam and swing bowling

Playing spin bowling

Pulling Up the Drawbridge: Defensive Shots

Playing a front-foot defensive shot

Playing a back-foot defensive shot

Expanding Your Horizons: Playing Aggressive Shots

Cover drive

Straight drive

Leg glance

The pull shot

The sweep

The cut shot

Taking wrist movements into account

Taking Control in the Middle

Getting off the mark

Getting your eye in

Judging a run

Putting your foot on the accelerator

Reaching personal landmarks

Preparing to Do Battle

Remembering practice makes perfect

Exercising for successful batting

Taking care of the mental side

Choosing a Batting Role

Dividing up the batting order

Chapter 6: Making It Big as a Bowler

Looking at the Object of Bowling

Getting to Grips with Bowling Basics

Getting started

The run-up

The action

The follow through

Examining the line and length of the delivery

Choosing between over or round the wicket

Checking Out the Different Bowling Types

Understanding the Importance of the Ball’s Seam

Mastering Seam Bowling

The leg cutter

The off cutter

Swinging Your Way to Success

Putting swing under the microscope

Turning things on their head: Reverse swing

Taking It to the Batsmen: Spin Bowling

Understanding the types of spin bowler

Looking at finger spin bowling

Focusing on wrist spin bowling

Focusing On What You’re Good At

Bowling with Your Brain

Teaming up with the captain

Remembering to bowl to the field

Winning with patience

Thinking clearly

Being Fit for the Task

Chapter 7: Fielding Made Easy

Catching On to Why Fielding Matters

Understanding Fielding Positions

Close catching fielding positions

Run-saving fielding positions

Preparing Properly for Fielding

Getting Out on the Grass

Taking the perfect catch

Collecting the ball

Throwing the ball

Making it Big as a Wicket-keeper

Finding your stance

Getting into the right line

Gloving the ball

Standing back . . . standing up

Taking throws from the outfield

Chapter 8: Talking Tactics: Captaining a Cricket Team

Understanding the Role of the Captain

Selecting the Right Team

Calling Heads or Tails . . . the Toss of the Coin

Captaining the Team in the Field

Deciding on the new ball bowlers

Choosing when to change the bowlers

Handling bowlers with care

Setting the field

Enforcing the follow-on

Batting Tactics

Drawing up the batting order

Declaring the innings

Looking At One-Day Captaincy

Organising the bowling

Understanding one-day fielding restrictions

Chapter 9: Talented Training and Cricket Coaching

Improving Your Fitness and Cricket Skills

Getting Match Fit

Honing Your Technique in the Nets

Giving your batting a boost

Taking Giant Steps Forward with Your Bowling

Looking at Fielding Drills

Explaining Stretching

Warming up

Looking at stretching exercises

Coaching Kids to Play Cricket

Encouraging all-round ability

Understanding coaching qualifications

Getting your son or daughter involved

Taking it to another level: Colt cricket

Part III: Welcome to Planet Cricket

Chapter 10: Grasping the Global Rivalries

Exploring the History of Cricket

From earliest times to test cricket

The ‘Golden Age’

The Bradman years

Steady as she goes

Calypso cricket

The ‘New Golden Age’

Jockeying for position: the 2010’s

Looking at the Test-Playing Nations

England and Australia

South Africa

India

Pakistan

The West Indies

New Zealand

Sri Lanka

Zimbabwe

Bangladesh

Cricket’s second division

Taking in the Cathedrals of Cricket

Lords, England

The Oval, England

Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne, Australia

Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, Australia

Newlands, Cape Town, South Africa

Sabina Park, Kingston, Jamaica

Troubling Times for Test Cricket

Understanding the Zimbabwe controversy

Struggling Bangladesh

Falling popularity in Asia

Who Runs World Cricket?

Breaking the Hoodoo: England’s Renaissance

Chapter 11: Taking in Big International Tournaments

Raking over the Ashes

Understanding what makes the Ashes unique

Understanding the secrets of Australian success

Australia’s Ashes heroes

England’s Ashes heroes

Developing Rivalries around the Globe

Pakistan v India: Asia’s ‘Ashes’

The clash of the titans: West Indies v Australia

Southern hemisphere rivalry: South Africa v Australia

Crossing the final frontier: India v Australia

Beating England is Everyone’s Goal

Competing for the World Cup

Growing out of humble beginnings

Taking off in Australia

Stumbling in England and South Africa

Shaming of the world cup: West Indies 2007

Fighting back: India 2011

Examining how the World Cup works

Looking at Other One-Day International Tournaments

The Asia Cup

The Australian Tri-series

The NatWest series

Putting bums on seats: the ICC Twenty twenty world cup

Checking Out the World’s Leading Cricketers

The great batsmen

The great all rounders

The great bowlers

Chapter 12: The Domestic Cricket Scene

Laying Bare the English County Cricket Scene

Understanding different county cricket formats

Explaining the County Championship

Gauging how counties are run

The Minor Counties

Losing Cricket’s Stuffy Image: Introducing One-Day Cricket

The Pro40 League

The Twenty20 Cup

Putting on a party: One-day razzmatazz

Coming Up Trumps: English Women’s Cricket

Looking at competitions for women

Getting involved in women’s cricket

Chapter 13: Becoming a Cricket Fan

Watching International Cricket Live

Grabbing yourself a ticket

Counting the cost of rising ticket prices

Going on an overseas tour

Becoming a County Member

Hob-Nobbing with Cricket’s Elite: Joining the MCC

Enjoying Your Day at the Cricket

Understanding the times of play in test matches

Understanding the times of play in a one-day international

Observing proper etiquette

Deciding what to take with you to the cricket

Partying on the terraces

Being an Armchair Fan

Following cricket on the radio

Keeping up with cricket through the newspapers

Experiencing Grass Roots Cricket

Getting to Grips with the Statistics

Reading a scorecard

Working out a batting average

Working out a bowling average

Telling good from bad players using statistics

Part IV: The Part of Tens

Chapter 14: Ten Greatest Ever Cricketers

Sir Donald Bradman, Australia

Sir Jack Hobbs, England

Sachin Tendulkar, India

Sir Gary Sobers, West Indies

Imran Khan, Pakistan

Sir Richard Hadlee, New Zealand

Adam Gilchrist, Australia

Dennis Lillee, Australia

Malcolm Marshall, West Indies

Shane Warne, Australia

Chapter 15: Ten Most Memorable Cricket Matches

England v Australia: Third Test Match, Headingley, 1981

Australia v England: Centenary Test, Melbourne, 1977

Australia v West Indies: First Test, Brisbane, 1960

England v Australia: Test Match, The Oval, 1882

India v Australia: Test Match, Kolkata, 2002

England v Australia: Test Match, Edgbaston, 2005

South Africa v Australia: World Cup Semifinal, Edgbaston, 1999

England v India: NatWest Trophy Final, Lords, 2002

South Africa v Australia: One-Day International Match, Johannesburg, 2006

Surrey v Glamorgan: One-Day Match, The Oval, 2002

Chapter 16: Ten Mind-boggling Cricket Feats

Brian Lara’s Record High Scores

Jim Laker’s Destruction of Australia

Australia’s 16-Test Winning Streak

Sir Jack Hobbs: The Ultimate Golden Oldie

Ian Botham’s Miracle Ashes Triumph

Australia’s Backs to the Wall Triumph at Adelaide

Sir Donald Bradman’s Colossal Batting Average

Denis Compton of Arsenal and England Fame

Kapil Dev Flays Zimbabwe for 175

Wilfred Rhodes: Never Ending Career

Cheat Sheet

Introduction

Welcome to the fascinating world of cricket, a sport loved around the globe by millions of die-hard fans.

To the casual observer cricket can appear complex and at times, well, just plain bizarre. What other sport is there which involves people dressing all in white and then throwing themselves around a muddy, grassy field? But those in the know treasure the game as simply the supreme test of brains and brawn.

I’ve written this book so that newcomers to cricket can get to know the game quickly, without feeling overwhelmed or intimidated. I also explain the history of the game and show you how to get out there and play . In double quick time you’ll be appreciating fully the great game of cricket, whether as a player or a spectator.

About This book

This book provides you with everything you need to know about the sport of cricket. All the information you need to get started as a player or become an A1 fan is here between the pages of this book. But the good news is that you don’t have to read this book from cover to cover. You can easily just dip into those chapters that catch your interest. Perhaps you’ll be watching a game of cricket on television or listening to radio coverage and you’d like to know more about a particular aspect of the game and its history then just turn to the chapter which does the job.

If you’re keen to get playing cricket there is lots in this book for you. It has chapters dedicated to developing batting, bowling and fielding techniques as well as explaining the tactical nuances of cricket captaincy. In addition, there is a chapter on training which is essential reading for anyone looking to develop their playing technique and all round physical conditioning.

If playing the game isn’t for you, – and you’d rather be a fan,this book has an enormous amount to offer. The domestic and international cricket scene is laid out in full for you and there is a whole chapter dedicated to showing you how to get to watch big match cricket.

Whatever draws you to the sport, Cricket For Dummies will have something for you.

How to Use This book

Don’t be restricted by the order in which the contents of this book appear. Flip through it, maybe starting with Chapter 1 where we explain the basics of the game. The book contains diagrams, drawings and tables to make it easy for you to immediately understand the most important aspects of the game.

You may find that in a discussion of a particular aspect of cricket in one chapter, we refer to another aspect of the game. Whenever this happens we tell you which chapter to turn to for more information about that other aspect. For example, when we talk about fielding positions we will tell you which chapter to turn to for more detailed information on positions.

Conventions Used in This Book

To help you navigate this book, I use the following conventions:

Italic text is used for emphasis and to highlight new words and terms that we define in the text.

Bold text is used to indicate key words and phrases in bulleted lists or the action parts of numbered steps.

Sidebars are shaded grey boxes containing text that’s interesting to know but not necessarily critical to your understanding of the chapter or topic.

Foolish Assumptions

While writing this book, I’ve made some assumptions about you. First of all, I’ve assumed you’re human. Cricket is played by both men and women, though the men’s game grabs the lion’s share of the headlines. Throughout this book, for convenience, I have used terms such as ‘batsman’ and ‘fieldsman’, and the associated pronoun ‘he’, even though I know it won’t cover everyone who reads this book.

Don’t feel intimidated if you know nothing about cricket. This book will bring you up to speed, fast. Cricket can be a complex game and even some cricketers have difficulty grasping some aspects. But before long – after reading this book – you’re going to be transformed into a cricket expert.

Why are some cricket matches done with in a single day, while others last five whole days?

How does spin bowling work?

What does all the jargon mean? What on earth is bowling a maiden over, a new cherry and a silly mid-off?

Why are Australia so good at cricket?

This book answers these questions, and many, many more. Our assumption is that you know nothing and we take it from there.

How This Book Is Organised

To make things easier for you, this book is divided into four parts. Each part focuses on an important aspect of the game of cricket.

Part I: Getting Started with Cricket

This part arms you with the basics. The basic rules are explained, as are the pitch, and the roles of individual players. Also I examine the different formats of the game from five-day test matches to quick-fire Twenty20 cricket. I also explain how you can get in on the action and start playing the game. This part ends with handy hints on what you need to kit yourself out with to play cricket.

Part II: Playing the Game

If you want to take up the game, this part is full of must-know tips and explanataions. But even if you just want to appreciate the skills of professional players, then this part is a real eye-opener. The first chapter explores batting, from starting out through to how to play aggressive and defensive shots. Bowling is the subject of the next chapter. Read this chapter and you could soon become a batsman’s worst nightmare. The art of fielding the ball – catching the ball or stopping the batsmen from scoring runs through athletic stops and accurate throws – used to be overlooked by many cricketers, even some professionals. But nowadays fielding is seen as a key skill and in this part there is a whole chapter dedicated to showing you how to be a top class fielder. Next, captaining a cricket team and the tactical side of the sport are explored. This really is a must-read for would-be players and fans alike. The part ends with a chapter on how to train properly for cricket.

Part III: Welcome to Planet Cricket

This part tells you about all the competitions and tournaments played around the globe. In particular, what makes Test cricket so special – where the best players from around the world square off against each other – is honed in on. Cricket’s greatest contest – The Ashes – is also looked at in depth as are some of the past and present heroes of the game. A light is also shined on other great global rivalries – such as between Pakistan and India. If that wasn’t enough, this part also talks about the cricket scene in the UK, we look at the county championship and one day competitions. This part ends with an indispensable guide to be a cricket fan – where you can see top class cricket in the UK and abroad.

Part IV: The Part of Tens

The part without which no For Dummies book would be complete. This part is packed full of fascinating bits of information that you can store away and draw on whenever you feel like impressing everyone you know at the cricket club. It contains our unique take on the great cricketers and matches which have illuminated the history of cricket.

Icons Used in This Book

To help your navigation through this book keep an eye out for the icons, the little pictures that sit in the margin. They guide you to particular types of information. This list tells you what the icons in this book mean.

This Icon highlights tips and snippets of advice that can help you, whether you aim to become a better player or a better spectator.

Paragraphs with this icon attached contain information that is especially useful to remember.

You won’t see this icon very often, but, when you do take heed, because it indicates areas which may cause concern.

This icon indicates a technical discussion is under way. You can skip this stuff if you want, because it isn’t necessary for an understanding of the basics. If you read it, though, your cricket know-how will be boosted.

This icon highlights the laws of the game, the sort of lingo you’ll hear other players, umpires and commentators using, and those intricate little facts that all sports fans love to know about their game.

Every so often I look in-depth at a great player from today or the past or just a quirky cricketing character; the idea is to give you an idea of the big names in the sport.

Where to Go from Here

What direction you take depends on your needs. Take a look at the table of contents because it’s very detailed and gives you an excellent overview of the book and the way in which it’s structured.

For the beginner, the best place to start is the beginning! But if you want to familiarise yourself with the basics of the game, go to Part I. If you’re an aspiring player, Part II is the place for you, while if you want to know more about Test cricket – the ultimate contest in the sport – then go seek out Part III. In short, it’s up to you, go enjoy the greatest sport of all!

Part I

Getting Started with Cricket

Go to www.dummies.com/extras/cricket for online bonus content.

In this part . . .

Getting to know the rules and regulations.

Finding your way round the field of play.

Understanding the different formats of the game.

Kitting yourself out with the right gear.

Go to www.dummies.com/extras/cricket for online bonus content, including an extra Part of Tens chapter: 'Ten Great Cricket Controversies'.

Chapter 1

Taking In the Joy of Cricket

In This Chapter

Assessing the gulf between pros and amateurs

Looking at the battle between bowler and batsman

Exploring the strange, strange world of cricket speak

Discovering what you need to be a cricket fan

Understanding the role of the umpires

Millions of people around the globe follow cricket. For many, cricket is the number one sport, offering a unique blend of physical strength, lightning reflexes, huge skill and tactics galore. In fact, there is a strong case for the game which, first spread by the British empire in the eighteenth and nineteenth century is the world’s second most popular sport behind football.

When the best cricketers in the world do battle you won’t see anything like it for nail-biting tension and excitement.

Glancing at Cricket’s Global Appeal

Cricket has spread around the globe on the back of the British Empire.

Despite the best efforts of cricket’s global administrators – the International Cricket Council (ICC) – cricket has never managed the trick of breaking out of this traditional heartland. For example, no Chinese cricket team exists and even the USA team actually consists mostly of expatriate West Indians living in Florida.

But the British Empire – which at its height covered a third of a globe – isn’t a bad heartland for a sport. India, Pakistan, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, West Indies, Zimbabwe and Bangladesh all play test cricket (the top echelon of the game: See Chapter 3 for more on test cricket).

Doing a quick bit of maths, that covers about 1.5 billion people – around a fifth of the world’s population. Although not as big as football, this coverage dwarfs some other world sports such as rugby, hockey and international tiddlywinks! And cricket isn’t a minority sport in the countries that play it: Far from it.

In India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, cricket is the number one sport; and in Britain cricket is still one of the major national sports, along with football and rugby.

Buoyed by a recent Ashes triumph, cricket is going through a renaissance in England. Unlike premiership football, cricket has no seven-figure annual salaries or swearing at the officials. And a good thing too, some would say. Hey, being a cricketer or a cricket fan may even be considered hip! One indication of English cricket’s ‘new golden age’ is the news from the English and Welsh Cricket Board (ECB) that big match ticket sales are at an all time high.

National teams compete against each other in both test and one-day international matches. Tests involve each side having two innings and can last up to five days. One-day internationals, as the name suggests, are completed in a single day. Each side gets just one innings which is limited to a set number of overs, say 50 of 20. See Chapter 3 for more on the differences between test and one-day international matches.

Gauging the Difference: Amateur and Professional Cricket

Cricket, like most major sports, is divided between the amateur and the professional game. The amateurs play for fun, the professionals play for pay.

The key differences between amateur and professional cricketers fall into four main areas:

Fitness standards: Professional cricketers are fitter than amateurs. They are put on special diets and fitness regimes and have an army of coaches to tell them what to do to get the most from their bodies. Even the most committed amateur is unlikely to be able to approach the sheer athleticism of a professional player.

Skill levels: Professional cricketers are way ahead when it comes to their skill levels. They get to practise most days and dedicate themselves to honing their talents.

Commitment: Amateurs have jobs and can, usually, only play at weekends. They may only get to train once a week during the cricket season, and perhaps not at all in the winter. For professionals, on the other hand, cricket is what they do for a living. They play matches on most days during the summer and may even travel abroad to play during the winter months.

Match length: Because the skill levels of professionals are so high, completing some games of cricket in a day can be difficult. Therefore, longer formats of the game have been devised; some games taking anything up to five days to finish. See Chapter 3 for more on match formats. Amateurs only play one-day games, or very occasionally two-day games across weekends.

An estimated 300–400 professional cricketers earn their livings playing in Britain, whereas tens of thousands of amateur players play for fun each weekend during the summer months. Even more play the occasional game of cricket – perhaps they have their cricket bat and clothing stuffed under the stairs, getting everything out when asked to take part in a friendly match at work or the local village cricket club.

The cricket season runs from April to September in Britain. But because cricket is a global sport and other parts of the world have their summers at different times of the year, even when no cricket is being played in Britain – because the weather’s cold and wet – cricket is being played somewhere else in the world. For example, in Australia the cricket season runs from late October through to March.

Understanding the great divide: Amateurs and professionals

Over time, the skill and fitness standards of professional cricketers have raced away from those of amateurs.

A long time ago, when test match cricket had just started to be played, many top players were amateurs. Often they were members of the upper classes who didn’t have to work and had enough spare time on their hands to play cricket. However, back then a lot of sham amateurism went on with top players claiming to be amateur but receiving great big ‘expenses’ payments. See Chapter 17 for more on the sham amateur controversy.

Even in the relatively recent past seeing a few beer bellies among professionals wasn’t unusual – going back to the 1980s, former England captains Mike Gatting and Ian Botham both carried a bit of extra padding around their midriffs! Even the Australians had their fair share of rotund cricketers such as Tasmanian David Boon and mustache wearing Fast bowler Merv Hughes. Nowadays, though, beer bellies are as rare as hen’s teeth among professionals: They are athletes. As a result, performance levels in the professional ranks have raced away even farther from amateurs, especially when it comes to fielding. Go to watch any club cricket match and you can bet that before long you’ll see a fielder misfield the ball or miss it altogether. Such moments of enjoyable farce are few and far between in the professional ranks.

But not only physical fitness and playing standards mark the growing gulf between professional and amateur. Some of the rules now differ between top-notch-professional and amateur matches.

In part the difference in rules is down to the inevitable march of new technology. In professional cricket matches, broadcast on television, the umpires can call on the help of video replay technology. They do this by requesting that a third umpire, sat on the sidelines, review the video evidence in order to give a decision – usually on whether a batsman has been caught, run-out or stumped. See Chapter 2 for more on the third umpire and modes of dismissal. The third umpire then radios his decision back to the two umpires on the pitch and the decision is given. Under the decision review system (DRS), see chapter two for more on this, a batsman who has been dismissed caught or leg before wicket can call for the third umpire to look again at the video footage and technology such as hawkeye and hotspot to check that the on-field umpire’s decision was correct. Of course in amateur games – where rustling up a cricket ball and two sets of stumps can sometimes be hard enough – you won’t find video replays or extra umpires.

Some experts suggest that by adopting such new technology the professional game is in danger of pulling away from the roots of the game. Ultimately, some argue, this could undermine the popularity of the professional game because amateur cricketers – who make up a sizeable proportion of fans at matches – may become unable to relate to the game as played by the professionals. In short, alienation could prove a big turn off.

Other people see no harm in the introduction of new technology as long as it helps the umpires make the right call.

A cricket match involves two teams of 11 players and two on-pitch umpires.

An innings is completed when ten of a team’s 11 batsmen have been dismissed by the fielding side. Once the batting team’s innings is complete the fielding team takes their turn to bat. Therefore, the fielding team becomes the batting side and the batting side becomes the fielding team. Confused? Well check out Chapter 2 for the full low-down on an innings in cricket.

The umpire’s job is to interpret and apply the laws of the game to the match situation. Among other things, this means that the umpires get to decide whether a batsman is out and whether a bowler has broken the game’s laws. See Chapter 2 for more on the role of the umpire and the calls he has to make in a match situation.

Getting involved in the amateur game

Cricket can be played anywhere. All you need is a few willing bodies, a bat, a ball, something to act as stumps (an upturned box will do) and a bit of open space and, Bob’s your uncle, you’re away.

Many people’s first encounter with cricket is through an informal game in a garden, a park, or even in the street. This can be tons of fun, but sooner or later, if the cricket bug bites, you’ll want to take things a touch more seriously.

This is when cricket clubs – pardon the pun – come into play!

Joining is easy – not like some golf clubs. Just contact someone who is involved with the club, go along to a practice session, or a match, and see if you like what you see. Are they a friendly bunch, and is the standard right for you?

Clubs are mostly for amateurs but like professional teams they love to organise themselves into leagues and play in cup competitions. Some competitions in which club sides compete have been going for donkey’s years. Local newspapers usually report on club matches. Club sides play at weekends. Depending on how many players a club can rustle up, it may field several different sides catering to a range of player abilities, from the very good player to the pure enthusiast who may not be blessed with oodles of talent.

The best players in the club (or the captain’s mates) play for the first eleven. The next group play in the second eleven and so on downwards. One club I was a member of boasted six teams of eleven playing in different competitions. Leagues tend to be organised so that players of similar abilities square off against each other, so the second eleven at one club play other second eleven teams from the local area.

In short, club cricket is amateur and supposed to be fun, but at the same time a competitive streak runs through its heart. Trophies are at stake!

If you want to find out more about your local cricket club, you'll probably find that in this Internet savvy age it has a Web site. You can also find out information such as ground location and who the players are by checking out local newspapers. If you want a definitive list of all the clubs in a particular area, log onto the Web site of the club cricket conference at www.club-cricket.com.

Club cricket can be a breeding ground for the professional game. County sides scout club teams to check out any promising youngsters making their way in the game. If they like what they see they may invite the youngster to join them for practice or even offer them a contract to turn professional.

Joining a club isn’t that expensive. Expect to play between £80 and £150 in annual subscription fees as well as a small fee for each match played. The fees are charged so that the club can hire pitches, when needed, and arrange for rather delicious cricket teas to be laid on for the players. Yum!

Exploring the Strange World of Cricket Speak

Eavesdropping on a couple of cricketers or cricket fans having a natter can be a surreal experience. They can seem to use their very own unique language more akin to Esperanto than English.

Some of the characteristics of cricket speak are:

Arcane words: Cricket has been around for centuries and words that have fallen out of everyday usage long ago still have a foothold in cricket speak. For example, sometimes you hear the phrase bowling a maiden over; this may sound like something from a romantic novel but in fact refers to the bowler delivering an over without the batsman scoring a run.

Slang: Perhaps no other sport is as wedded to the use of slang as cricket. Over time cricketers have developed their own words to describe on field actions and phenomena. Some of this slang has been adopted around the globe, and some is so bizarre that it stays put in its own country of origin. Most of the slang is fairly logical when you think of it. For example, a brand new cricket ball is referred to as a cherry because the ball is at its most red in colour when new and before the covering lacquer has worn away.

Multiple usages: Nothing confuses non-cricket followers more than the habit among players and fans of using the same word to describe very different things. For example, the word wicket is often used to describe the following: The strip of turf between the two sets of stumps, the stumps themselves, and the act of dismissing the batsman. Have a look at this passage:

The bowler delivered the ball which bounced off the wicket. The batsman missed the ball which struck the wicket. The batsman had lost his wicket.

The good news is that in this book I avoid multiple usages of words like the plague.

Looking at Batsman Against Bowler

Watch a cricket match for any length of time and you soon understand that the main on-field contest is between the batsman and the bowler. This is because:

The bowler’s job is to get the batsman out – or dismiss him. The bowler can do this in a number of ways, for example by bowling balls that hit the stumps or by tempting the batsman into hitting the ball into the air to a fielder who then takes a catch.

The batsman’s job is to prevent the bowler from dismissing him and to score runs off the bowler’s deliveries to add to the team’s total.

The eyes of everyone – the batsman, bowler, fielders, umpires and spectators – are glued on the small cricket ball as it travels towards the batsman.

Understanding That Cricket is a Dangerous Game

Cricket can be dangerous. A cricket ball is 512 ounces of cork wrapped in leather, and believe me, if you get hit by one you certainly know about it. In fact, each year lots of people around the globe are seriously injured, or in some rare cases killed, by cricket balls.

A player is most at risk of being hit when he is batting or fielding close to where the batsman plays his shots. Why batsmen are at risk is fairly obvious. The bowler is trying to hit the stumps and the batsman stands in the way trying to hit the ball to stop that from happening. Sometimes, though, the batsman’s torso, head, hands or legs are inevitably struck by the ball.

Close fielders – including the wicket-keeper – are at risk of injury because they don’t have long to react to the ball if the batsman hits it towards them. If the batsman hits the ball hard, it can travel at great speed and cause nasty injury to hands, body and even – gulp! – the face.

However, don’t get the impression that cricket is like a heavyweight boxing bout with the players finishing the match all bloodied and bruised. Injuries, fortunately, are relatively rare. This is thanks, in no small part, to the amount of padding worn by batsmen (in particular) and close fielders. The ins and outs of cricket equipment, what you need, how much it costs and where to find it, is covered extensively in Chapter 4.

Taking in the Dark Side: Cricket Frustrations

Even the most ardent of fans accept that cricket is a sport not suited to everyone. Some people – around 280 million Americans for a start – just can’t get their head around the game.

The people who aren’t fans think that the idea of grown men putting on white clothing, hitting a ball around the place, chasing it for up to five days, and at the end of it all maybe still settling for a draw is, put simply, a bit daft.

Here are some things that drive cricket’s detractors up the wall:

Players leave the field if it starts to rain and even if the light is bad.

Matches can last for days and still end in a draw.

Cricket matches can be slow affairs, a sudden flurry of activity when the bowler delivers the ball to the batsman followed by a minute or so of inaction as the bowler prepares to bowl the next delivery.

Much of the language used in cricket is arcane or just plain bizarre, see earlier in this chapter for more.

The truth is that you either love or loathe cricket and the fact that you have picked up this book means that you are at least inclined to join those that love it.

Many cricket watchers suggest that there has never been a more exciting time to be a cricket fan. The advent of one-day cricket – where a result has to be achieved in a single day – and aggressive batting by the great Australian side has helped quicken the pace of run-scoring in cricket matches.

Scorebooks, Scoreboards and Scorecards

Cricket matches can be long affairs – up to five days – and someone has to keep track of what’s going on, delivery after delivery. This is called scoring and the people who keep score are called the scorers. The scorers’ job is to note down what happens during each delivery – whether, for example, the batsman has scored a run or the bowler managed to dismiss a batsman.

These scorers note down all this information in a scorebook. To the untrained eye the marks made in the scorebook can look like a giant game of noughts and crosses is being played out. However, each tiny mark made in the scorebook records an event in the match. See Chapter 2 for the ins and outs of marks used in scorebooks, and Chapter 13 for the low-down on interpreting a scorecard.

Equipping Yourself as a Fan

Not every fan of cricket wants to play the game. From a playing perspective, cricket can be very time-consuming and equipment isn’t cheap. What’s more, some people just don’t feel that their skills are up to playing the game. Instead they would rather just be a fan. And boy, does cricket offer a lot to its fans.

Nearly every day of the year a test or one-day international match takes place somewhere. During the summer months, 18 county sides in England compete in a plethora of competitions from the County Championship through to the quick-fire excitement of twenty20 cricket. Check out Chapter 3 for more on the different formats of the game, and Chapter 10 on savouring international cricket.

Don’t forget that a thriving women’s game exists, with county teams competing and the England teamclaiming the world cup in 2009. What’s more, go to your local park during the summer months and you’re likely to see two teams of players in whites indulging their love for the game.

Cricket fans are spoiled, and not just as spectators. A mountain of coverage exists in the press, online, and through books and magazines. Check out Chapter 13 for more on building up your cricket knowledge bank and following the game as an armchair fan.

Showing off your cricket knowledge

Cricket fans in particular love a list. Get a group of cricket fans together and quicker than you can say ‘mine’s a pint’ they’re gabbing away about the great players and matches from the past. Part IV of this book is full of lists and the inside track on the greater figures of cricket; check it out so that you can show off your cricket know-how.

Coaching and cricket tactics

Cricket coaching has come a long way in the past couple of generations. Players used to rely largely on natural ability and would practise their skills sporadically. Teams didn’t have coaches. Instead, players relied on each other to impart technical tips on playing the game. But in the modern era players have all sorts of professional backroom staff to call on. The top professional teams such as those representing counties and nations now have fitness trainers, dieticians, sports psychologists and specialist coaches who are experts in one facet of the game such as fielding, batting or bowling. Chapter 9 gives you the inside track on training and practising for cricket.

Cricket coaching may be a relatively modern phenomenon but tactics have always played a big role in the game. The team captain has to decide the tactics, and the challenges facing the captain differ according to whether the team is batting or in the field. See Chapter 8 for more on the arts and crafts of captaincy.

Getting to Grips with the Laws of the Game

Cricket as a sport takes itself a bit seriously. Instead of simply just having rules, cricket has laws. Cricket administrators see themselves as protectors of the laws of the game. Cricket has more laws than you can shake a stick at. Full explanations in print of the laws of cricket can run to way over 10,000 words. Compare this to football which only has a few rules and mostly involves two teams kicking a bag of wind between posts. However, don’t get the impression that because cricket has lots of different laws that somehow the game is impossible to pick up. The basics of the game are relatively easy to comprehend.

The first printed version of the laws of cricket can be traced way back to 1744. They were drawn up . . . guess where? A bar! The Star and Garter in Pall Mall, London, to be precise. But cricket laws haven’t stood still, they have evolved and been changed on many occasions.

Cricket, despite its sometimes stuffy image, is always evolving. The game’s governing body, the International Cricket Council (ICC), meets regularly to review the laws of cricket. The ICC often makes changes and is willing to experiment. Some law changes work and they remain, others don’t and are, usually, ditched in double-quick time.

Gauging the Importance of the Umpire

Umpires are present to apply the laws of the game to the match situation. They decide, for example, whether a batsman has been dismissed by the bowling side, whether the bowler is bowling legally, and when play stops to take lunch and tea breaks. Their role is a crucial one: Without an umpire, a proper game of cricket can’t be played.

See Chapter 2 for more on the role of the umpire and some of the signals he uses to alert the scorers, players and crowd to what is going on in the match.