20/20 Cricket World Cup

[faceless]

This starts next week in London. I'm surprised to see Holland in there. I'm sure the Scotland team must be genuinely glowing with enthusiasm for their chances considering they are in a group with South Africa and New Zealand...

[SpursFan1902]

I will have to see if I can find anywhere to watch. Be prepared for some stupid questions, Face!!

[faceless]

I just checked and it doesn't seem to be on any normal channels here - Sky Sports must have it, but I don't get that. The highlights will be on BBC though, so I'll put a couple of them up at least.

It's actually quite easy to get into once the whole thing is speeded up. In the normal game the batsman can take his time making the bowler tire themselves out, through defensive play, but they don't get that chance in this.

[SpursFan1902]

Stupid Question #1 - What is the object of the game?
Stupid Question #2 - Can you explain the scoring?

[faceless]

the point is to score more runs than the other team. The pitch is 22yds long and just like in baseball you decide how many runs to try and go for after you've whacked the ball, before it's returned to the stumps by the defending team. If the ball is caught without touching the ground you're out.

If you hit the ball out of the boundary without it touching the ground you get 6 runs - if it goes out after touching the ground you get 4.

There are millions of tiny rules in it though.

[SpursFan1902]

So, after the batsman hits the ball, does he run? The 4 and 6 runs for certain situations explains how scores hit the hundreds. I may have to get some books or do some online research. It really is all for naught as I don't think they are showing it anywhere around here, but it will be fun to learn something new and I will understand the reports on Sky Sports News and not just mentally shut down when they are not talking footie!!

[faceless]

well he doesn't have to run if he thinks he'll be run-out, but if he clips the ball in defence and the wicket-keeper catches it then he's out. They have powerful microphones that can pick up the sound of even the slightest touch.

You only really get the big scores (350+) when they're playing unlimited overs, not this 20/20. In the full game they just keep playing until 10 of the 11 are out. And that can take a whole day or more.

There's quite a good wee cricket game in the arcade btw

http://couchtripper.com/forum2/activity.php?mode=game&id=298

[faceless]

Here's the highlights of the first day's play - England v The Netherlands. It has exactly the type of nerve-jangling ending that I mentioned before. Excellent...

http://www.humyo.com/F/56153-660361161

[Aja]

This might help You Spurs fan .....I saw it on one of the Jamaican sites I go too the other day ..

I love Cricket .....dont really see it on TV here.....Love watching the Windies play

Cricket Explained - What is Cricket?
Modern cricket is a team sport originating in England and popular mainly in areas that formerly made up the British Empire. The major international test teams are England, Australia, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, South Africa, New Zealand, Zimbabwe and the West Indies. The language of cricket is particularly idiosyncratic and tends to reflect the somewhat complicated and eccentric nature of the game itself. The majority of the terms used in cricket have originated in England and Australia, however these terms have generally been adopted by the majority of playing nations and their cricketers.

The game is played between two competing teams of eleven players on each side, on a large expanse of (usually grassy) ground called a pitch. The teams are comprised of players with a mixture of abilities, some who specialise at batting, some at bowling, occasionally some who excel in both capacities, and one highly specialist player who acts as 'wicket-keeper'. In the centre of the pitch is a length of grass, (usually 22 yards long), called 'the wicket'. At each end of the wicket are placed three sticks adjacent to each other in an upright position: these are the 'stumps'. They are separated by a gap not greater than the diameter of a cricket ball. On top of each set of stumps are placed two smaller sticks, or 'bails'. A chalk outline is drawn in front of each set of stumps called a 'crease'. The game is refereed by two 'umpires'.

The length of games can vary in duration of time, and number of balls bowled. One side will 'bat' first, the other side will bowl to them. Batsmen play in pairs, each equipped with a bat, one at each end of the wicket.

The object for the batting side is to score the optimal number of 'runs' (points) before the bowling side have dismissed them. The object for the bowling side is to dismiss the batsmen as economically as possible. Once the process is complete the roles are reversed, i.e. the side which were batting then bowl and the bowling side then bat. This reversal may happen only the once (typically in 'one-day' or 'limited overs' cricket) or twice, as in county or international test match cricket.

Runs can be scored in a number of ways: each time that the batting pair is able to run between the wickets after a ball has been bowled (and before the stumps are or potentially can be touched with the ball) a run is scored. If the ball travels outside of the playing area, and it has touched the ground prior to leaving the playing area, 4 runs are scored. If the ball does not touch the ground on its way out, 6 runs are scored.

Additionally, runs can be accrued through the failure of the bowler to correctly deliver the ball; either through an incorrect bowling action, when this is deemed a 'no-ball', or through the ball being delivered too wide for the batsman to strike it, known as a 'wide'. The number of runs accrued can be affected by where the ball ends up; a no-ball which crosses the boundary will count for 4 runs. Additionally, any balls which are deemed foul have to be bowled again by the same bowler before his turn or 'over' of 6 correctly delivered balls is deemed complete.

Dismissal of the batsmen can occur in a number of ways. The batsman facing the bowler can be 'bowled' out, i.e. the ball will hit the stumps without him being able to prevent it. If the batsman strikes the ball with the bat and it is caught by the bowler or one of the bowler's side who are dotted around the ground to field the ball before it hits the ground, then he is deemed to be out. A batsman can also be stumped by the specially equipped wicket-keeper, a player who stands immediately behind the batsman to retrieve balls coming through from the bowler, if the batsman steps in front of the crease leaving no part of his anatomy or the bat behind, and the wicket-keeper is able to remove the bails from the wicket with the ball. A batsman can also be out 'leg before wicket' or 'lbw': this is one of the more complex and vexatious rules and usually involves the ball striking the batsman's leg-protectors or 'pads' and the likelihood of the onward trajectory of the ball striking the wicket has the player's anatomy not intervened.

Either player can be 'run-out' if the wicket towards which they are running during the course of play is struck with the ball prior to their reaching the safety of the crease.

[modern]

This game is quite addictive too:

http://www.stickcricket.com

[Brown Sauce]

I love cricket.

This is baseball.

It's like playing golf with holes the size of the bunkers, football with goals the width of the pitch, or tennis with no net.

In a few weeks the Aussies will be here to play for the Ashes, that's cricket ..

here's perhaps the highlight from 4 years ago, the morning or early afternoon of the fifth day at Edgebaston, I was sitting in the same chair as I am in now, head in my hands listening to TMS, to a four hour long penalty shootout, fantastic stuff ..

first thing that Flintoff did after the final ball, was not to celebrate with the rest of the team, but to go to Brett Lee and shake his hand ...

stickcricket has come on a peg or two ... thx for that ..