Jiminy Cricket!

So I attended my first Cricket game at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. The MCG is a huge stadium that can fit about 110,000 people (though in Melbourne you will usually only get that kind of crowd for an AFL "Footy" game, and ironically not a cricket game.) The game I attended was the Victoria Bushrangers versus the South Australian Southern Redbacks. It was part of the KFC (yes I was surprised to learn that the Colonel was such a huge cricket fan) Twenty20 Big Bash Tournament. It was a quick game, what is called a 20/20 match, but to explain what that means I have to try and explain what Cricket is, which can be a little complicated. I will try to explain the game, but if you want a more thorough explanation check the wikipedia pager here.

Victoria (in the blue) is bowling, while South Australia (in the red)
is batting during the second part of the 20/20 game.

Now, let's start with "Adam's Cricket for Americans." Basically you have to look at a cricket game like a baseball game with only one baseline and unlimited pitches. The batter stands in front of three small poles stuck in the sand called wickets. The pitcher, which is known as the bowler in cricket, must bowl the ball at the wickets. The ball must bounce once before it is batted, and it cannot be thrown through the air like a baseball because that is considered a "no bowl," the ball must be bowled again and the batting team gets 1 point. Basically the batter can swing as many times as he wishes, but if the ball gets through and hits the wickets he is out, or if he hits it and it is caught in the air he is also out. If the batter hits the ball, he runs straight at the wickets behind the position of the bowler, and his teammate who was standing at those wickets runs to switch positions with him. Every time there is a successful position switch of the two alternating batters it is considered 1 point. The batters can switch as much as they like when the ball has been hit, but if the ball is thrown by a defending fielder and it hits the wickets and the batters have not crossed the line before the ball hits the wickets they are out and another player comes in to take their place. Additionally, there is a rope stretched in a circle around the entire field and if the ball is batted and it rolls to that line and hits that line, the batter automatically scores 4 points. If the ball is hit over the line, he scores 6 points. (In Australia they don't understand what I mean when I say "hit a home run." I have to say "hit a six.")

On the defensive side there are 9 fielders and one bowler. Everyone on the field has the potential to be a bowler and they will switch often during the match. The fielders get no gloves or other sort of assistance when trying to catch or stop a batted ball. The fielder behind the batting wickets does get some funny looking mop-like gloves which they can use to stop a ball that is batted backwards, but I would rather have a catcher's mitt, personally. But lets return to batting for a moment.

If you are still with me, brace yourself because it gets more convoluted from here on out. In cricket there are only two "innings," (though the Aussies do not call them innings). Basically, one team gets to bat and score as many runs as they can, and then the opposing team gets to bat and score as many points as they can. At the end of the game the team with the most points wins. Now determining who bats and for how long is a bit strange. Each team only has 10 batters. In a 20/20, (like the one I went to,) each side bats until all 10 batters are out, or until they have made 20 overs. Each "over" is 6 hits. So in a 20/20 match each team gets to hit 120 balls. At the end of each "over" the bowler switches sides and bowls to the batter standing near the wickets on the opposite side of the field. The batters can continue batting until they get out, but they do not have to stop batting. It is not like baseball where you hit, walk, or get out, and the next batter is up. It is possible to have two alternating batters hit for the entire game. (That is why cricket batting line-ups are made with the best batter batting first down to the worst batter batting last.) There are other games besides 20/20 games. There is a 50/50 game, which means each side gets 300 balls each. To put this in perspective a 20/20 match lasts about as long as a standard baseball game, (3 to 4 hours.) a 50/50 game can last all day long, (8 to 10 hours).

Than there is a what is called a "Test" match. This is the traditional cricket game played in the traditional way. Each team wears traditional white, they play with a red ball, there is no music or pyrotechnics allowed during the game, and most dauntingly the game can last over SEVERAL DAYS. That is correct, there are no "overs." Each batter bats till they get out and when the first team has 10 outs the second team gets to bat until they get 10 outs. A test match is very long and there are even allowances for lunch and dinner breaks.

Cricket is a very interesting game. It can be a bit boring, but most Americans would admit the same thing about baseball games. (At least we do not have to watch Derek Jeter hit 500 balls over the span of 4 days) It is a decidedly British game and it is a little interesting to me that the Aussies play it all. Australian games include things like soccer, field jockey, their (very violent version of) "footy," and several variations of rugby, each more violent than the last. Aussie sports usually include blood and hits and broken bones, and then there is cricket, where everyone wears white and sips tea. Personally, I was kind of hoping that the batters would start to use their cricket bats to swing at the fielders as they ran, but that didn't happen. I actually think the Aussies can improve this time tested game for the better, but they have already tried.

In the beginning there was only the test match cricket, but after everyone in the stands and the field kept falling asleep the 50/50 match was introduced. It still lasted all day, but at least it was only one day. Teams were now allowed to wear colors and stadiums started selling things like Red Rooster Chicken, Coca Cola, Domino's Pizza, and Crepes (for some reason). Lastly, at the onset of the 21st century the 20/20 match was introduced. This game lasts only a few hours and usually has bigger "hits" and more exciting plays. It is considered the Camaro of cricket. It is flashy, quick, and exciting. Rock music is played during the game, there are giant digital screens, and pyrotechnics exploding for big hits and outs. The fans cheer and boo, they do the wave, and they play with beech balls and get obnoxiously drunk. It had a very familiar baseball like feel. They even played familiar songs (such as the Addams' Family, where everyone was encouraged to clap along.) When you listen to the older generations of Australians most seem to agree that with the invention of the 20/20 match, the game of cricket has become a quasi-American sporting event (all spectacle and no patience). However, there also seems to be an agreement that the 20/20 match is the future of the sport. The younger generation of Australians and their shortening attention spans (thank you YouTube) are pushing for the quicker games, more and more. As for my American perspective, I tend to agree with the younger generation. Watching a game in respectful silence over the course of 5 days, was maybe great in the 1800's when there wasn't much else to do, but nowadays, who really has the time?

In the end, I have left out a lot of the more technical and confusing aspect of the game like what an LBW is or how and where the fielders are allowed to move before or after the first over. It's really not important, because like a cricket game this blog entry has run rather long... Tea anyone?