So how is this wackydoo game played? How can a team lose by 160some points? If I played do I have to wear white? Am I blocking the ball or hitting it? Someone please explain the game to me.

this can be kind of hard to explain, but ill give it a go. scores a so high because you keep going until everyone is out, and there are no strike outs. the three ways you can get out is by a caught ball (same as baseball), if the ball hits the wickets (those sticks behind the batter), or by lbw (leg before wicket. the ref determines that if the ball hits the batter, and that if it didnt hit the batter it would have hit the wicket). runs are scored by the batters running between the wickets, the amount of times determining the runs. a four (four runs) is scored if the ball is hit outside the boundary (out of the park) but hits the ground before it goes out. a six (six runs) is scored the same as a four, but the ball never touches the ground. and thats about it.

the score is just the runs and overs for the winning side? right? meaning 123-6 isn't the runs scores by each side but rather the score of the team that won?

i got a rudimentary schooling in cricket at an indian restaurant (by the owner, and just about everyone else chimed in) in samui, thailand on our honeymoon.

wait, asians play cricket? i obviously missed the memo on this one... sorry i'm asian but i'm absolutely no help.

Near East moreso than Far East, Dri. It's huge in India, Pakistan, et al.

NS's description falls right in line with my understanding, and neuro is right (I think) about the score being the batting team's runs-overs (or outs). IIRC, the inning doesn't end until all but one batsmen are out. It's still possible to lose by 100+ runs depending on the length of the match (might be a time limit, and teams don't get to bat equal number of innings).

Never had a proper understanding of it until I watched some of the Ashes this year. Still don't have it locked down, but I dig it.

i can't believe there's amore boring version of baseball.

the only good thing ever to emerge from Cricket is the term "sticky wicket"

looks like theres more to explain. an over occurs when six pitches are thrown. the same bowler (pitcher) cant bowl consecutive overs. sometimes tests (games) are limited to overs, time (for example, one team will bat one day, while the other bowls, and they switch the next day), or outs. the scores you see (247-7, for example, which is pronounced 247 for seven) says that 247 runs have been scored for 7 outs. a sticky wicket is a term used when the bails dont easily want to come apart. heres a picture:

an out is made when the bails come off the wickets.

I've always meant to learn the rules of this game. So is it three outs per "inning"? How does one team go from "batting" to bowling or whatever? Maybe you've already explained this...

yeah, i already explained pretty much everything you need to know. but ill answer your questions anyway. cricket doesnt have anything like an inning, where three outs on one team constitutes a half inning. they keep track of stuff like that through whats called an over, which is six pitches to the batter, and has no relation to outs made. one team can switch with another when, depending on what type of test (game) youre playing:
a)when you get all the other teams batters out
b)time (you bat one day, ill bat the next. that kind of thing)
c)overs (ill pitch 50 overs, then ill bat and you pitch)

im surprised how much i remember about the rules, since its incredibly hard to follow cricket in canada.

Well done, NS. I didn't realize the innings structure had that much variety.

So the new lady is a cricket junkie and got me rooting for South Africa today.

Here's a good rules site.

man i like cricket so much more than baseball.

We hate cricket. It's English!

Haha, this thread made me laugh fucking hard.

there was actually a really great article about cricket in the Smithsonian magazine about a month ago. Apparently, I grew up in the Cricket capital of the US and took ballroom dancing classes at the epicenter of said capital. It still bores me.

what he said. Except it's a "bowl", not a "pitch". In cricket, the pitch is what you play on.



me too. It's like us trying to explain that american football. Also, we are taking back the Ashes, so, just lettin' you know it was a one-off fluke. Not gonna happen again.

Don't doubt that. Not sure if the West Indies are as good as today's game indicates, but you guys could have your hands full for Sunday's final.

That's the Champion's Trophy where they play one-day games (50 over innings)

the Ashes is a series of 5 tests (5 day games) between Australia and Engand that's been played for decades and has a huge amount of rivalry around it, even in the 90s when England was shit.

It's coming up next month. You're in England, now, right? It will be huge. Apart from a bit of football, no other sports will exist all summer/winter for you, since last time round England actually managed to beat us so it's time for a bit of revenge on a bouncy WACA or turning Sydney wicket

Yeah, I watched the ended of the Ashes last year (sorry if my awareness of the Ashes/Champions Trophy wasn't clear). England's win seemed kind of cheap despite Pietersen's century on the last day, but I guess that happens in test matches.