Cricket
From Wiki Gonzalez
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game, like baseball. The two games are related, mainly by being codified and widely played in 18th-century Britain, but evolved in very different directions.
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History
For whatever reason, cricket appealed more to the British aristocracy, and this gave it the basis for becoming the dominant bat and ball game in Britain. Cricket spread from there throughout the world and is the national game in Australia. It is also significantly popular in India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. New Zealand, South Africa, Zimbabawe, the West Indies, and Kenya are other important cricketing countries.
The sport is governed by the International Cricket Council, which is based in Dubai, having moved there from London in 2005. This body was formerly known as the Imperial Cricket Council, as all its members were dominions or colonies in the British Empire.
Cricket was popular in the early United States, but moreso among new immigrants from Britain than from the descendants of earlier arrivals. American players were notorious for being "sloggers," not technically proficient batsmen but capable of hitting the ball hard. Various theories have been created to explain why cricket was supplanted so completely by baseball, but the simplest answer is probably that Americans enjoyed playing and watching baseball more.
There was an attempt to create an American professional cricket league in 2004, but it didn't really attract any attention. Both the U.S. and Canada field national cricket teams today; the teams are mostly composed of immigrants from cricket-dominant nations, particularly the Indian subcontinent and the West Indies.
Play
As a sport, cricket is similar to baseball in some ways, as it involves a player throwing a ball that another player attempts to hit with a long wooden object. However, in cricket the player doing the throwing is on the offensive. The player with the bat defends his wicket. Hence, unlike baseball, the score reflects the success of the defenders.
Beyond that, there are a lot of differences. For example, a cricket field is called a "pitch," a cricket pitch is called a "ball," a cricket pitcher is called a "bowler," and if he bowls what we'd call a "ball," it's a "wide." This takes considerable getting used to if you're a baseball fan. Full-scale cricket matches are just two innings long, but the bowling team must take ten wickets (the cricket equivalent of "outs," though cricket uses the term "out" as well) instead of three outs. Unless the batting side "declares," which is a tactic sometimes used with a big lead. A side that "declares" goes out and starts bowling again, in an attempt to take ten wickets of their own before tea, or stumps, or the End of the World.
Theoretically, a cricket match ends when the last wicket falls. However, in most cases a time limit is imposed. This either takes the form of a specified number of days (two, three, four and five) or, in the case of a one-day match, a limited number of overs (20, 40, 50) to be bowled by each side. This great length is one reason why baseball became more popular in America. Even in the middle of the 19th century, Americans were in a rush.
Key international cricket matches involving unlimited overs are called Tests. At one time these were not limited, leading to the quaintly named "timeless tests."
Cricket on BBTF
A few Primates, including Phil Coorey, Flynn, dave_bell, philistine and fra paolo, are also cricket fans and keep Baseball Think Factory apprised on the cricket world's doings. Cricket articles have also periodically appeared as Primer threads when baseball gets involved.
References
- The Age: Arizona targets cricket star Brett Lee (http://www.baseballthinkfactory.org/files/newsstand/discussion/the_age_arizona_targets_cricket_star_brett_lee/) -- Baseball Primer-era cricket thread. (January 25, 2003)
- NY Times: Tharoor: Our Cricket Problem (http://www.baseballthinkfactory.org/files/newsstand/discussion/ny_times_tharoor_our_cricket_problem_rr/) -- BBTF thread comparing cricket and baseball. (March 24, 2007)
- Cricket for Baseball Players (http://www.seattlecricket.com/history/crick.htm)
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