Cricket, A Civilized Game Essay, Research Paper

Many different sports and games have been invented and started in England. Many of these are still played and remain very popular to the people of that country. The game of cricket is a very complicated sport to those who have never played with all of the rules and regulations but is one to be enjoyed by all. The exact measurements of the cricket playing field have not been officially agreed upon. The area is usually around 450 feet by 500 feet. When setting up the wicket, three stumps and driven into the ground. Each stump is about 31 inches along with one pointed end and one rounded end (Formals 24). Twenty-eight inches is left above the turf of the field. The three stumps are placed in a line with one another and the space between is just small enough to prevent a ball from passing through. When aligned they measure nine inches from the outside edges of the outer two stumps. On the rounded end of each stump is cut a half-inch groove in which the two remaining pieces of wood are placed (Formals 26). These two small, cylindral objects, called bails

are what the bowler is intent on knocking off. After one wicket has been constructed, another is set up sixty-six feet away. Near each wicket a set of lines are drawn, these marks are the bowling and popping creases. Each wicket has its own bowling and popping crease. The bowling crease is drawn in the straight line with the three stumps measuring four feet on each side of the two end stumps. The second line, the popping crease, as drawn parallel to and four feet in front on the first line (Formals 29). Both bowling and popping creases are drawn by using a chalk or whitewash line about 11/2 inches wide. Batting in cricket is very similar to the style of batting used in baseball. Batsmen may hit the ball in any direction and, after hitting the ball, can elect to run to the opposite crease. If the batsmen runs, the partner runs for the crease the batter has just left. If both runners reach the opposite creases before either of them is put out, a run is scored (Funk an d Wagnalls 1). Batsmen can be put out by the initial bowler by knocking the bail off the wicket, or if a fielder catches the ball before the ball hits the ground. This batsmen will continue to bat until he is put out. A notable feat is to score 100 runs, a century, in one time at bat. The batsmen remain at the wicket reached during the last run, so a different batsmen may face the bowler. A bowler is similar to the pitcher in a baseball game. Bowlers deliver the ball towards the batter either underhand or overhand, without bending their arms. The bowlers intent is to get the ball past the batter without him hitting it and knock off one of the bails of the wicket by hitting it directly or hitting a stump, causing a bail to fall. When the bowler has delivered an over of six balls, a second bowler bowls from the opposite bowling pitch. The wicketkeeper and the fieldsman shift their positions to be ready for the new bowler s delivery. After the second bowler delivers an over, the initial bowler resumes to bowl. The bowlers alternate until the end of the game unless a substitution is made (Funk and Wagnalls 1). The remaining nine players of the bowling team are placed in the field in positions in which they are best able to catch or stop the ball after its has been hit. Fieldsman may throw the ball either at the wicket or to the bowler or another fieldsman to knock a bail off the wicket. When a batsmen is put out by a fieldsman, the batsmen is said to have been run out (Funk and Wagnalls1). In his book, Hugh Formals said, For the most part, cricket matches are very quiet, polite, rather subdued affairs, especially when compared to a baseball game. (Formals 2) It s origins are obscure, but it appears to have evolved over the centuries from either Celtic, French, or Scandanavian sources (Formals 13). The sole body of worldwide legislation on the sport is the Maryleborne Cricket Club, commonly abbreviated the M.C.C., located in London. As Hugh Formals said in his book, an acquaintance once remarked that someone told him watching a cricket match was like watching the seasons change. It is rather slow, from a spectator s point of view, especially when compared to baseball (Formals 45). The game of cricket is a very easy going and calm game that you will play when you are wanting

to relax. It is a very complicated sport to those who have never experienced it, but is one to be enjoyed by all.