Cricket : A Gentlemen's Game
Cricket is a national sport which is played between two teams of eleven players each who score runs (points) by running between two sets of three small, wooden posts called wickets. Each of the wickets is at one end of a rectangle of flattened grass called the pitch. Around the pitch is a much larger oval of grass called the cricket ground.There is 30 yard circle between the ground (stadium).
The game started in England in the 16th century. The earliest definite reference to the sport is in a court case of 1598.[2] The court in Guildford heard a coroner, John Derrick, that when he was a scholar at the "Free School at Guildford", fifty years earlier, "he and diverse of his fellows did run and play [on the common land] at cricket and other players".[3][4] Later, the game spread to countries of the British Empire in the 19th and 20th centuries.
Today, it is a popular sport in England, Australia, the Indian subcontinent (India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh), South Africa, New Zealand, the West Indies and several other countries such as Afghanistan, Ireland, Kenya, Scotland, the Netherlands and Zimbabwe.
FORMATS OF THE GAME
Cricket is played in many formats , but the most popular are TEST CRICKET and ONE DAY cricket. In TEST cricket game goes on for 5 days, with each team batting twice - if time permits.
ONE DAY is the most popular format, with each team getting 300 balls to score runs. And the other team tries to outscore them within the same number of balls.
KEY PLAYERS
Three functions of the players are 1. BATSMEN, 2. BOWLING 3. FIELDING.
Three functions of the players are 1. BATSMEN, 2. BOWLING 3. FIELDING.
Batsmen - one who scores runs of the balls bowled by the bowler.
Bowler - One who bowls, and tries to get the batsmen "out" (dismissed from the ground).
Fielder - Players (10) who assist the bowler in achieving his goal, and prevent the batsmen from scoring runs.
BATSMEN
The game of cricket mainly revolves around batsmen. Crowds love the batsmen, especially when they wallop the ball all over the ground. Batsmen are the ones who whip up hysteria in the crowd, everybody loves them, they are the Don Juan's of the game.
Many batsmen are good, but only a few are great. Their style, their flair, talent is unique. To each his own - if I can quote this famous phrase.
From the numerous batsmen, from the 11 ICC (International Cricket Committee, London, UK) recognize , only a few achieve immortality. So what is the thing that separates the boys from the men?
Many factors go in deciding, or rather making of a great batsmen. A natural talent is most definite, a good coach (Achrekar who coached Sachin Tendulkar), and obviously performing at the right time.
BOWLING
In the sport of cricket, the bowling action is the set of movements that result in the bowler releasing the ball in the direction of the batsman.
The bowling action can be broken down into a number of parts:
Grip
Approach
Bound (pre delivery stride)
Delivery stride
Back foot contact
Front foot contact
Point of release
Follow through
There are certain principles that apply to all parts of the bowling action, such as balance, athleticism and keeping the movement flowing in a narrow corridor directed towards the batsman.
Coaching books describe idealised bowling actions. But good coaches are well aware that many successful bowlers employ their own unique styles and some give birth to new, improved technique. The above links all describe the most commonly taught techniques.
FIELDING
Fielding in the sport of cricket is the action of fielders in collecting the ball after it is struck by the batsman, to limit the number of runs that the batsman scores and/or to get the batsman out by catching the ball in flight or by running the batsman out. There are a number of recognised fielding positions, and they can be categorised into the offside and leg side of the field.
A fielder or fieldsman may field the ball with any part of his body. However, if while the ball is in play he wilfully fields it otherwise (e.g. by using his hat), the ball becomes dead and five penalty runs are awarded to the batting side, unless the ball previously struck a batsman not attempting to hit or avoid the ball. Most of the rules covering fielders are in Law 28 of the Laws of cricket.
In the early days of Test cricket, fielding was not a priority and many players were sloppy when it came to fielding.[citation needed] Fielding later became more professional, and much later, with the advent of limited overs cricket matches, saving runs became even more important.
Fake fielding is the action caused by a fielder when he makes movements of some of his body parts as if he is fielding only to confuse batsmen into making mistakes.It is now a punishable offence under the new ICC rules.
A fielder or fieldsman may field the ball with any part of his body. However, if while the ball is in play he wilfully fields it otherwise (e.g. by using his hat), the ball becomes dead and five penalty runs are awarded to the batting side, unless the ball previously struck a batsman not attempting to hit or avoid the ball. Most of the rules covering fielders are in Law 28 of the Laws of cricket.
In the early days of Test cricket, fielding was not a priority and many players were sloppy when it came to fielding.[citation needed] Fielding later became more professional, and much later, with the advent of limited overs cricket matches, saving runs became even more important.
Fake fielding is the action caused by a fielder when he makes movements of some of his body parts as if he is fielding only to confuse batsmen into making mistakes.It is now a punishable offence under the new ICC rules.