Ever heard people describe sports as boring, or say that nothing happens? It kind of frustrates an avid sports lover such as myself. Especially when those aforementioned people will happily waste hours playing useless phone games or watching pointless TV shows for the sake of entertainment.
So, why defend sports off the “bat”? The simple reason is, most people who hear the word cricket will immediately say:
“It’s so boring!”
“Some of the players don’t do anything!”
“Five days?!”
All, very educated responses, obviously, especially as they are given after a gargantuan two minutes of hearing about the sport. (All that is needed for a valuable opinion nowadays.) Yet, for over two billion people – a number taken from a very creditable source: Manfriend’s mind – it’s a huge deal. Of course, Indians do make up the majority of that number.
If you are from one of the Commonwealth countries – India, Australia, South Africa etc. – then you are familiar with the sport. It was designed by the British in the late 16th century – another sport we created and then allowed others to be better at. Yet cricket is an unknown in Russia, China and the U.S.
Now, there are three versions of the game: test match; one-day; Twenty20 (T20). I’ve always dreamed of explaining the test match to Americans and seeing their facial expressions when they find out that it takes five days and can still finish as a draw. Telling Americans that a sporting event can finish as a draw is worse than insulting them, or on par, at least. Of course, the test match is the true form of the game, but let’s begin with baby steps.
I appreciate that many people will compare cricket to baseball, but that would be silly. So, let’s look at the basics first, fielding positions.
There are two positions that never change: the wicket keeper (similar to a catcher,) who is the only player that wears gloves; the bowler, who delivers the ball. Even though the two positions never change, the bowling personnel does after every six legal deliveries. This is known as an over. The types of bowlers available throughout the world of cricket are as follows:
- Fast bowler
- Swing bowler
- Medium pace bowler
- Off-spin bowler
- Leg spinner
- Wrist spinner
Do remember that every one of these bowlers have different variations of what they do, making some of them almost impossible to hit. Also, most of the spinners have a bowling action that is very difficult to read, which causes problems for the batsmen, as they don’t really know which way the ball is going to spin.
The remaining nine players are controlled by the captain. In no other sport is the captain more important than in cricket. He needs to select the next bowler and advise on what he wants from him, as well as arrange the field in order to get the batsman out.
So, how do you score runs? Well, there are quite a few ways. A batsman can hit the ball and then run. A run is scored when the two batsman, one of them facing the bowler and the other at the non-striker’s end, run to other end. If both batsman get to the ‘popping crease’ at the other end, then it constitutes a run. You must remember that there’s a fielding team that’s retrieving the ball, so you better make it quick. You can also score a run if the bowler sends down a wide delivery, oversteps the popping crease (no ball) or if the bowler bowls it so short that the ball bounces over the head of the batsman by a considerable margin.
If that’s not exciting enough, then you can smack the ball out of the field. All around the playing field there is a boundary rope. If the batsman hits the small leather ball that’s stuffed with cork, and it bounces inside the field before going out of bounds, then that’s four runs. If it goes out without bouncing, then it’s six. The batsman will continue to accumulate runs until he is out.
So, how do you get a player out?
- He can be bowled out, when the ball is delivered and it hits the wickets.
- The ball is caught. Self explanatory.
- He’s stumped. If a batsman misses the ball and happens to be outside of the popping crease, then the wicketkeeper can catch the ball and hit the wickets immediately, resulting in a stumping.
- They’re run out. A fielder will hit the wickets with a throw before the batsman completes a run.
- A hit wicket. The unfortunate time when a batsman hits his own wickets with his bat or body part.
- LBW (leg before wicket). If you decide to stop the ball from hitting your wickets by using your legs as an obstacle, then you can also be out.
Now that you’ve got the basics, let’s move on.
Despite the lore and magnitude of international cricket, I want to introduce a domestic competition to you instead: the IPL (Indian Premier League). As previously mentioned the Indians are crazy about their cricket. In a country of over 1.5 billion people, it’s their No. 1 sport, and they know how to put on a show.
To begin with, there’s the player auction. I realise this sounds like something from the Dark Ages, with people being auctioned off to the highest bidder. In this case, though, the money goes to the player and not to his agent. So how does this work? Any player who wants to take part in the IPL puts their name into a pool and waits to find out if any of the eight franchise owners are willing to put in a bid.
The kind of bids that are going around are mind-boggling. Basically, it’s a group of rich people who buy their favorite players for their own team. I bet you’re wondering how much the top bid was. Well, it was for the English all-rounder – a term used to describe someone who can bat and bowl – Ben Stokes. He fetched a whopping 125,000,000 Indian Rupees (£1,364,748 €1,560,938 $1,837,833, as of 20.05.2018). That’s a lot of money for a player who I never expected to be a leading star at the tournament (and I can confirm that I was very much correct). I hope the Rajasthan Royals kept the receipt.
Once all of that is over, the tournament begins. Eight franchises, located all across India, play home and away, totaling 14 games per team, with the top four advancing to the knockout stages. No other competition, in any sport, is as hotly contested as the IPL. This year, the pre-tournament favorite, Royal Challengers Bangalore, ended up finishing 6th.
After numerous tight games, amazing displays of batting, bowling, incredible fielding and catches that leave you open-mouthed, you’re left with just four teams. This year, those include: my favourites, Sunrisers Hyderabad; Chennai Super Kings, captained by Mahendra Singh Dhoni, a man who is a legend in India – think Lebron James, David Beckham and Stephen Hawking all in one; Kolkata Knight Riders; Rajasthan Royals, who are going to be without the aforementioned Ben Stokes and fellow Englishman Jos Buttler. Both had to return to join up with the English National team.
So how does the knockout work? Well, this year, the top two in the group stage play on May 22nd at 9 p.m. IST (Indian Summer Time). This is Qualifier 1. The winner goes straight to the final. May 23rd sees Eliminator 1 between the teams who have finished 3rd and 4th respectively. The loser is out, and the winner goes through to Qualifier 2, played on May 25th, against the team who lost in Qualifier 1, for a chance to make it to the final on May 27th.
If all of this doesn’t help get your interest, then maybe you would be interested in knowing: during the matches, there are dancers performing around the field; the commentators are hilarious; there are some amazing names on show. Unfortunately, Jasprit Bumrah and Mandeep Singh and Ankit Rajpoot are out, but Apporv Wankhade (pronounced: wank-ha-day) could still feature. *insert immature giggles at players’ names*
This sport is full of skill, power hitting, clever bowling and magnificent banter. Nothing beats the sound of a ball coming off the middle of the bat, and being followed by an excited middle aged man shouting, “Woooooah, what a shot that is … ” Still not convinced? Then why not watch a few highlights and see what you think? It will take less of your time than it took to read this article.
A huge thanks to Manfriend for walking us through cricket. Keep your eye out for more sports updates. Have other sports you’d like to hear more about? Write us, and we’ll set Manfriend on it!
The Sports Gent On "Tour" 