A Beginner’s guide – How to play Cricket

A Beginner’s guide – How to play Cricket

A Beginner’s guide – How to play Cricket

Types of equipment needed

• Cricket bat – According to the rules and regulations set, a bat can be no longer than 38 inches in length and 4.5 inches in width. It can have a weight anywhere between 1 kg to 2.5 kg.

• Cricket ball –  A cricket ball is usually red or white and is made up of leather. A red ball is always used in day matches or longer games while a white ball is used in shorter matches

• Stumps – Stumps are wooden sticks that support two bails at the top and form a wicket. There are two wickets that are placed on opposite sides of the pitch. According to the rules, the stumps should be no longer than 28 inches in height and 9 inches in width.

• Ground and Pitch – The ground on which cricket is played is spherical in shape. The part of the ground where the batsman plays is known as the pitch.

Important Aspects

The basic mechanics of the sport are:

• Teams – Cricket is a team sport that consists of an equal number of players on both sides. At the beginning of the game, a coin is tossed and the team winning the toss has the opportunity to choose to bat or bowl. 

• Batting – Batting means hitting the ball to score runs. The aim is to score as many runs as you can so that the opposing team cannot get past your total.

• Bowling – The fielding team is responsible to bowl the overs and keeps trying to restrict the batting team from scoring. An over is the total number of deliveries that a bowler bowls, i.e, 6 deliveries. 

• Fielding – The team that is bowling is also responsible for fielding the ground to restrict the batting team to score runs. 

• Umpire – An umpire is important to be present to conduct the game. An umpire is the one who makes decisions on the field, such as giving a batsman an out, imposing a penalty, etc.

Simple steps to play cricket

1. The first step consists of knowing about the games of cricket – the equipment, the rules and regulations, the terms, etc.
2. Buy or arrange the required equipment that you will need to play.
3. Gather your friends and make two teams, each consisting of 11 players if following the international format.
4. Toss a coin to decide which team chooses their position – batting or bowling.
5. If you win the toss, you have got the liberty to decide if you want to bat or bowl.
6. Give efforts on your part and encourage the team to score as many runs as possible.
7. When your team comes to bowl, try and restrict the opposite team from scoring more than what your team scored.
8. The team that succeeds in scoring more runs, wins the game.