When you break it down, cricket is a fairly straightforward sport, like all worldwide sports. A ball will be thrown by one player and hit by another. There are, however, a set of regulations to follow that you must learn, just like in other sports. Additionally, there is specific language that can be confusing and very perplexing.
If you’re an English cricket enthusiast who attempts to remove some of the game’s myriad levels of complexity, you’ll have a fundamental understanding of how the game operates and the kind of gear you need to get started.
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The Absolute Basics
In the game of cricket, there are two teams with 11 players each. Two referees oversee each match as it is being played.
The team captains toss a coin to choose which side will bat first at the start of a game. The toss winner has the option of going first in the field or going first at-bat.
One team will bat while the other takes the field, just like in baseball. To score more runs than the opposition is the goal of the game. It really is that easy!
Next, What Equipment Do You Need to Play Cricket?
Cricket Bat
To hit the ball, batters utilise a specialised bat also known as a cricket bat which typically has a cane handle coupled to a flat-fronted willow-wood blade. They must be less than 10.8 centimetres wide and no longer than 96.5 centimetres in length.
Although there is no set weight for bats, the majority weigh between 1.2 and 1.4 kg so keep that in mind when you decide to buy cricket bat. Most bats need to be “knocked in” before their first usage for their soft fibres to strike a hard new cricket ball without breaking the bat and for all of their strength to be transferred to the shot.
With a specific mallet or an old cricket ball, you knock-in the surface. By doing so, the fragile fibres inside the bat are compressed, lowering the chance of the bat snapping. Raw linseed oil, which fills in the spaces between the fibres, may also be necessary for the bat.
Cricket Ball
Cricket law at a first-class level regulates the construction of cricket balls, which are made of a cork core wrapped in string and a leather cover stitched on. The motion of the bowler, the state of the ball, and the pitch all have an impact on the trajectory of a cricket ball as it is bowled, while the fielding side plays a crucial role in maintaining the cricket ball in ideal condition. The ball must be batted into a position where it would be safe to take a run or directed through or over the boundary for the batter to score runs. Baseballs are lighter and softer than cricket balls.
Cricket balls are made of cork and wrapped in leather. Cricket balls, which weigh between 155.9 grammes and 163 grammes, are incredibly hard and can injure people when they collide with them. Red and white are the two most popular colours for cricket balls, with red being used in Test and First Class matches and white being used in One-Day matches. Just as a compartment, know that baseballs are lighter and softer than cricket balls.
Clothing
The laws of cricket regulate cricket equipment and clothes. Cricket players wear loose-fitting clothing known as “cricket whites,” or “flannels,” while playing the game in order to avoid impeding their movement. The use of safety gear, including cricket helmets, gloves, and pads is also supervised.
For every match, cricket players are expected to wear a polo t-shirt. Long-sleeved polo t-shirts and woollen vests or jumpers are occasionally worn as well, depending on the climate. In addition, players typically don long white pants. Baseball caps, sun hats, and cricket caps are also acceptable items of headgear. Players also use spiked shoes to increase traction on the playground.
Equipment for Protection
Cricket players are required to wear protective equipment, much like in many other sports, to safeguard their safety while competing. The abdominal guard, often referred to as a cup, box, or abdo guard, is typically worn by batsmen and wicketkeepers to protect themselves from the force of the ball striking the body.
Leg pads are worn by fielders positioned close to the batsmen as well as by batsmen and wicketkeepers to protect their shins. Batsmen and fielders also wear helmets (often with visors affixed) to shield their heads from the incoming ball. As the ball can strike the wicket with a significant impact and the bails may move after contact, wicket keepers also put on safety goggles to protect their eyes.
In contrast to the gloves used by wicketkeepers, batsmen have distinctive gloves. In contrast to the thinner wicketkeeper gloves, these have extensive padding on the tops of all five fingers. To aid wicketkeepers in catching the ball, the gloves occasionally have webbed fingers.
The Laws of Cricket
The Laws of Cricket is a code that outlines the guidelines for playing cricket everywhere. The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) in London has been the code’s curator since 1788 and is the owner of the earliest known version, which was written in 1744. Currently, the game’s 42 Laws (usually written with a capital “L”) specify every rule that must be followed.
The Laws have been recorded by MCC six times, with the seventh and most recent code being published in October 2017. On April 1, 2019, the second iteration of the 2017 Code went into effect. There are multiple versions of the first six codes that were in effect before 2017 since they were all subject to periodic modifications.