British Billy considers the great game of cricket

  • Published
  • By British Billy
  • 48th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
Someone once suggested that cricket is almost a parable of life. I know it's like mine. Lengthy periods of apparent inactivity punctuated by athletic feats and daring exploits.

The English can seem a very emotionally reserved nation, and if you want to understand what makes us tick, then don't rush around in the summer months visiting tourist sites. Simply find a local cricket match, sit back, relax a little and enjoy the evocative sound of leather (the cricket ball) against willow (the cricket bat).

Don't strive to understand what is going on. Libraries have been filled with books on the topic. Very little happens for a long time, or so it may seem to the untrained observer. Suddenly there will be lightning-fast action followed by shouts and yelps, after which, there is a temporary calm until the next burst of excitement.

Cricket is played throughout the U.K. and the world, but the English always feel it encapsulates so much of their national character. Sportsmanship is paramount, and many claim that the teaching of cricket breeds the character of a true gentleman. Of course, England also has a number of outstanding women's cricket teams. I am sure that they have developed many other comparable womanly virtues.

Indeed, the standard of sportsmanship in cricket has historically been considered so high that the phrase 'it's just not cricket' was coined in the 19th century to describe unfair or underhanded behaviour in any walk of life. For example, if you were to say, "I say, old chap, that's simply not cricket!" you would be saying that someone's behavior is unacceptable.

Another phrase cricket has lent to the language is 'sticky wicket', as in the sentence "I think he's on a bit of a sticky wicket!" A wicket is the playing surface used in cricket, as well as the set of stumps, topped by bails, that form the target defended by the batsman. This phrase is a direct allusion to the difficulty of playing on a wet and sticky pitch, so it means being in a bit of a difficult situation.

Cricket, more than most sports, is full of expressions and terms designed to bewilder the newcomer. For example, an 'over' is a set of six consecutive legal balls bowled by a bowler, and a 'maiden over' is an over where no runs that are attributable to the bowler are scored. So in cricket, it is possible to say, "he bowled a maiden over". That has always amused me.

The exact origins of cricket are unknown, but they are believed to date back to the 16th century, the name deriving from the Anglo-Saxon word 'cricc' meaning a shepherd's staff. It is thought that the first players were English shepherds, who used their 'criccs' as bats and the wicket gate of the sheep pens as a target for the bowlers. Who knows? But it sounds a decent explanation to me.

At this point, it's probably worth explaining the rudiments of the game.

The two principal contenders are a bowler and batsman. The bowler hurls a ball towards the batsman, who is holding a bat and standing in front of a target called the wicket, which I mentioned earlier. The bowler's aim is either to hit the wicket with the ball, or to get the batsman to hit the ball in the air. If the wicket is hit, or if the bowler or one of his teammates catches the airborne ball, that's the end of the batsman; he is then said to be 'out'. The batsman's aim, on the other hand, is to stay 'in', by successfully guarding his wicket, and if possible to score points which are called 'runs'. This can be done by hitting the ball far enough to enable him to run from one end of the pitch to the other before anyone retrieves the ball. That's it in a nutshell.

The game's rules were formalised by the Marylebone Cricket Club (M.C.C.) in 1797. The M.C.C. became the supreme authority on the complex rules of the game and its base, Lords, (named after a founding member of the club, Thomas Lord), in St. Johns Wood, London, is, in the opinion of many, the spiritual home of the game.

Cricket is predominantly played in three different formats: Test cricket, One Day cricket and Twenty20 cricket. Of these, the Twenty20 format lasts around three to three-and-a-half hours, and so it is similar, in terms of the amount of time it takes to play, to a game of baseball. Forget any other comparisons after that.

Test Cricket games can last up to five days with scheduled breaks each day for lunch and tea, giving three sessions of play each day. It is generally considered the ultimate test of playing ability and endurance in the sport. The one-day version of the sport usually lasts from five to seven hours, but can sometimes continue for longer than eight hours.

At the moment, the England team is playing Pakistan in a Test match at The Oval. The Oval is the home ground of the Surrey County Cricket Club and traditionally hosts the final Test match of each English summer season in late August or early September. The Oval was the first ground in the United Kingdom and the second in the world, after Melbourne Cricket Ground in Australia, to host Test cricket.

The Ashes is a Test cricket series played between England and Australia. There is huge cricketing rivalry between these two cricket teams dating back to 1882. The Ashes Test match is currently played biennially, alternating between the United Kingdom and Australia. Since cricket is a summer sport, the venues being in opposite hemispheres means the break between series alternates between 18 and 30 months. This year, it will be held in Australia and will begin at the end of November and roll into 2011.

A series of 'The Ashes' comprises five Test matches, two innings per match, under the regular rules for international Test-match cricket. If a series is drawn then the country already holding the Ashes retains them. The name 'The Ashes' refers to an urn reputedly containing an item of cricket equipment, possibly a bail, ball or stump.

For those of you still confused by all this cricketing talk, I offer up the following erudite explanation. I have tried to find out who is responsible for this, but so far, no one has owned up:

You have two sides, one out in the field and one in.

Each man that's in goes out and when he's out, he comes in and the next man goes in until he's out.

When they are all out, the side that's out comes in and the side that's been in goes out and tries to get those coming in out.

When both sides have been in and out, including the not outs --- that's the end of the game.

HOWZAT?*

*The traditional cricketing cry of a triumphant bowler