Hello, American here. Many times over the years I have had British or Indian friends try to explain Cricket to me and without some kind of visual aids, my eyes have always just kind of glazed over. Recently I decided to sit down and figure it out once and for all. I watched some YT videos describing the game and then went on to highlights and some matches. I was surprised to find that it is actually nowhere near as complicated as I thought. I think most Americans get hung up on all terminology and how different it looks in play compared to baseball. But honestly, I think baseball is way more complicated. So while I'm sure I don't understand its subtleties I can now watch a match and have a general understanding of what is going on and appreciate the skill and athleticism of the players. I still have a few questions though. Would love to get some feedback. Apologies if I have anything confused or ask an idiotic question. Still trying to figure things out.
Okay, so one thing that confused me at first: in one video I was watching it said something like, "After a bowler completes an over he is replaced with a new player from his team who bowls the next over from the opposite direction." This lead me to believe at first that all 11 players bowl at one time or another. Like there was a "bowling order" where player 1 bowls the first over then player 2 bowls the next one, etc., all the way to player 11. It only took watching one match to realize that was wrong and that, like a pitcher in American baseball, bowling is a very specialized position with different styles, etc.
A couple of questions, though:
1) Are there any laws regarding who bowls other than you can't bowl two overs in a row? In other words, other than that one rule, is it just completely up to the team who they want to have bowl for any given over?
2) Over the course of a test match for example, how many different bowlers would there be typically?
3) After a bowler is done with their over, they return to the field and become a fieldsman, correct? Is there a particular position that bowlers tend to play when they're not bowling?
Okay a few random questions:
- In this video (at 4:00) they show the lineup for the match. Some people have a ball next to their names, some a bat and some both. At first I thought it meant that only some players bat and others never bat (this actually makes sense to a baseball fan, because in most American baseball games, pitchers do not bat). But the laws state pretty clearly that all 11 players have to bat, correct? If so, what do the bats and balls in the graphic indicate?
- Regarding the 12th man: What happens if there are two injuries in a game? Does the team just carry on with just 10 players?
- In most videos I saw, the fieldsman playing the infield are usually fairly spread out. But there were a few where they were playing really, really close to the batsman, basically surrounding him in a close (15-20 feet maybe?) circle. What is going on there?
- One thing I found really interesting is that the thing that gets really celebrated in Cricket is getting a player out. Sure, there is cheering for a run or a 4 or especially a 6. But what the players and the crowd really gets pumped about is getting somebody out. And this makes sense because in Cricket an innings is long and outs are rare so, yeah, it's a big deal when you get somebody out and you're that much closer to ending them running up the score on you so you can get your turn to bat. But my question is: isn't this mostly true for test matches where there are unlimited overs? In T20, for example, is the value of an out cheapened because (and correct me if I'm wrong here) the innings will most like end on overs and not outs?
- Related to the previous question: in T20 is it typical that sometimes some players never get to bat because the innings ended on overs before they got a chance? Again, I could be making an incorrect assumption (or misunderstanding something) about T20 matches typically ending on overs, but it seems like that would make sense because otherwise what is the point of limited overs? If so, how do players that are typically tail-enders feel about this form? Seems like it would be less fun if I never got to bat and was just relegated to a permanent fieldsman.
- Are Cricket fans as big of stat nerds as baseball fans? In baseball there are tons of statistics that are kept track of, batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, ERA, hitting streaks, most hits in a season, most career hits, most stolen bases, etc. It goes on and on. What are some of the things Cricket fans pay attention to? What are some of the legendary never-to-be-beaten records in Cricket?
One last observation: loved watching highlights of bowling legends, esp. those like Shane Warne who could put that nasty spin on the ball and make batsmen look foolish. Any baseball fan can appreciate that!
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