CRICKET IS A BALL GAME PLAYED by two teams of eleven players on a pitch with two sets of three stumps (wickets). The bowler bowls the ball down the pitch to the batsman of the opposing team, who must defend the wicket in front of which he stands. The object of the game is to score as many runs as possible. Runs can be scored individually by running the length of the playing strip, or by hitting a ball that lands outside the boundary (“six”), or that lands inside the boundary but bounces or rolls outside (“four”); the opposing team will bowl and field, attempting to dismiss the batsmen. A batsman can be dismissed in one of several ways: by the bowler hitting the wicket with the ball (“bowled”); by a fielder catching the ball hit by the batsman before it touches the ground (“caught”); by the wicket-keeper or another fielder breaking the wicket while the batsman is attempting a run and is therefore out of his ground (“stumped” or “run out”); by the batsman breaking the wicket with his own bat or body (“hit wicket”); by a part of the batsman’s body being hit by a ball that would otherwise have hit the wicket (“leg before wicket” [“lbw”]). A match consists of one or two innings and each inning ends when the tenth batsman of the batting team is out, when a certain number of overs (a series of six balls bowled) have been played, or when the captain of the batting team “declares” ending the innings voluntarily.
CRICKET IS A BALL GAME PLAYED by two teams of eleven players on a pitch with two sets of three stumps (wickets). The bowler bowls the ball down the pitch to the batsman of the opposing team, who must defend the wicket in front of which he stands. The object of the game is to score as many runs as possible. Runs can be scored individually by running the length of the playing strip, or by hitting a ball that lands outside the boundary (“six”), or that lands inside the boundary but bounces or rolls outside (“four”); the opposing team will bowl and field, attempting to dismiss the batsmen. A batsman can be dismissed in one of several ways: by the bowler hitting the wicket with the ball (“bowled”); by a fielder catching the ball hit by the batsman before it touches the ground (“caught”); by the wicket-keeper or another fielder breaking the wicket while the batsman is attempting a run and is therefore out of his ground (“stumped” or “run out”); by the batsman breaking the wicket with his own bat or body (“hit wicket”); by a part of the batsman’s body being hit by a ball that would otherwise have hit the wicket (“leg before wicket” [“lbw”]). A match consists of one or two innings and each inning ends when the tenth batsman of the batting team is out, when a certain number of overs (a series of six balls bowled) have been played, or when the captain of the batting team “declares” ending the innings voluntarily.
