NZ is co-hosting the Cricket World Cup with neighbor country Australia. Saturday was the opening round of group play and I watched NZ beat by 98 runs Sri Lanka. Being the second most popular sport in the world this event is watched all over the world. Like most Americans the most popular sports world wide are not really known to us. We don't play them and have not taken time to see what sports are out there other than the ones we Americans excel at. Here is a quick break down of the sport cricket. 

Cricket is played with 11 players. Since it is similar to baseball I will try to use some comparisons between the two to help you understand it better. The fielding team has 10 fielders and one bowler (pitcher). The bowler throws the ball with a straight arm, not bent like in baseball, and can take a running start to throw the ball on a bounce to the batter. Imagine a baseball pitcher running in from center field, crow hopping, and throwing the ball to the batter. Imagine the speed that could be achieved, but now do it with a straight arm. Much harder than it seems. Once the ball is thrown the object is to knock the wicket down. This consists of three sticks in the ground with two bails in between the sticks on top. If knocked down the batter is out. The fielding team can record an out by either knocking down the wicket, catching the ball in the air, or throwing the ball to the wicket after a hit and before the runner crosses the line. 

The hitting team is trying to score as many runs as possible. However this is done with two players at a time all the time. Much different than baseball where there could be 1, 2, 3, or 4 players on the field. The bat the players use are like a 2X4 with a handle. In baseball the ball has to travel forward and between the foul lines, but in cricket the ball can go anywhere. Once the ball has been hit it is live. If the ball is hit and not caught the runners, who are on opposite ends of the pitch can run back and forth between the ends scoring a run at each new end. Only the batter gets the runs though so one pass with the two players gets only one run. The batter does not have to swing or hit the ball just as long as it does not hit the wicket or he does not interfere with the path of the ball to the wicket he is safe. Even when the ball is hit the runners can stay put. Unlike baseball each batter is finished with the game when he gets out so the team gets a maximum of 10 outs.

As you can imagine a match can last a long time. Matches range from 20 overs to 5 day test matches. What is an over? That consists of 6 bowls from one player. Then one over is complete and another player bowls. Players take turns bowling throughout the match. Similar to baseball cricket bowlers can be a fast bowler or a spin bowler, like a junk ball pitcher, but with spin on the ball so speed is not as crucial. At the start of a match a coin determines who bats first. Once they are finished batting, got 10 outs or as in the Cricket World Cup 50 overs, the other team tries to best the runs. Even though scores tend to be in the high 200s and 300s or more depending on the length ties do happen. I could not imagine playing a team for 5 days all day long just to tie them.

Since I have been away from America I have seen how much we are sheltered in our everyday lives. We let ESPN and other sports channels determine what we watch and follow. This should not happen. Sports like cricket, rugby, and soccer are world wide sports that bring about a competitiveness between countries. America does not have that. Yes we go to the Olympics every 2 years and sometimes do the FIFA World Cup or World Basketball Championships, but when those events are on off years we just play between ourselves like the kid who took the ball home because he was picked on. We should want to have a kind of rivalry that countries like NZ, Australia, England, South Africa have in sports. 

ESPN did a short video explaining cricket. 

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=12309957