Hey Blog! This week I’m going to tell you all about a game I’ve played this year!
What’s an insect’s favourite game? Well, yes, of course, Cricket. It’s played with two long flat willow bats (one for each batsman), one leather-wrapped oak ball, a set of six stumps & four bails, and (professionally) 11 players. I was playing at four in the Caribbean, and am still playing now (albeit with much heavier equipment and a straighter aim!). Most of what I have done is ‘pairs’ cricket – I know what you’re thinking “11 isn’t even, you can’t have pairs” – this version is for slightly younger players and is so everyone has an equal time at the bat. Most people would think that batting is the most fun – and generally it is – but there’s something kind of scarry about just standing there when a rather heavy ball is coming rather fast thought the air! I like bowling the best, probably; I took three wickets in a match one time, but I still need to practice!
I mentioned wickets – what are they? Well, the aim of the game is to score the most points – runs, they are called – and to gain them the batsmen run between the two sets of three stumps. When the two batsmen have swapped stumps, that’s one run. If the batsman hits the ball for a certain distance, more runs are counted (four if the ball bounces and then passes the boundary, six if it goes over the boundary without touching the floor) but if any fielder catches the ball before it’s bounced, that batsman is out. ‘Out’ in professional cricket means that batsman leaves the field and faces no more balls; this could be first ball or 100th ball – in pairs, the batsmen face a standard number of balls whether they get out or not, and a wicket counts for -5 runs. There are three main ways of getting out – either caught out, as described before, run out (see below) or bowled out, by the bowler managing to make the batsman miss the ball and get the ball to hit the stumps, or the wicket. This knocks the bails off, and the man is out. Bowling someone out generally produces the cricketers’ cry of “‘owzat!” (how’s that!) and the umpires (like refferees) signal whether the man is out or not.
There are two main types of bowling, spin bowling and pace bowling (fast bowling). Spin is where the ball spins in the air, bounces, and curves in towards the stumps while the batsman is expecting it to go somewhere else. Pace, or fast, is where the ball comes straight from the bowler’s hand very fast to the stumps. This is my preferred type, mostly because my spin is atrocious! You have to keep your arm straight while bowling, as all your arm needs to do is go round like a windmill and release your grip at the top, near your ear. This is very different to a throw, as with a throw, your elbow is bent – throws are only needed to get the ball back to the wicket keeper (the special fielder who stands behind the wickets) for him to knock the bails off to run out the batsman, or stump him.
I just touched on fielding positions – there are a whole load of quite amusingly named positions for the fanatics of the game, but all you need to know for basics is there is an inner ring, a midfield, and an outer ring, as well as the wicket keeper and bowler. The two batsmen, one facing and one off, are at the stumps, and all the viewers are on the side.
I like playing, it’s at team game, it gives lots of opportunities for skills and most of all it’s a fun sport. Next year I will continue, probably in the under 15s team. And I’ve even practiced teaching it to my cousin – we bought him a set when we went to a family gathering recently and had a play in the garden. It’s lucky I didn’t break any windows!
