Cricket Rules
The sport called cricket involves two teams playing against each other. Each team in comprised of eleven players. It is played on a grassy field. The game is somewhat similar to the American game of baseball; however the rules of play are somewhat different. A player on the field called the bowler attempts to throw a ball from a wicket to another. The term wicket means a wooden stump.
The opposing team has a player who attempts to hit the ball with a bat rather than letting it hit the wicket. This player is called the batsman. If he is successful at hitting the ball then he has the chance to run between the two wickets, changing places with the bowler. This is how the batsman scores a point. Each team gets their chance to score until ten outs have been accumulated, and then it is the other teams turn to score as many points as they can. After each team has had a set of ten outs, that is a complete inning.
There are several ways to get out in the game of cricket. If someone on the opposing team catches the ball after the batsman has hit it and stays in bounds the batsman is out. A swing that misses the ball but breaks the wicket will get you an out. If the batsman swings at the ball and misses but another part of the body hits the ball and it would have otherwise hit the wicket, then it is an out.
The game of cricket has 42 laws that outline everything about the game including proper playing tactics, how to decide who wins the game, and proper pitching. There are rules regarding the type of equipment that can be used as well as the set up of the playing field.
The rules of cricket were changed after the 1932-1933 bodyline tactic used in the game between England and Australia. This tactic included the bowler purposely aiming the ball at the body of the batsman. The reason for this was to hurt their legs and render them unable to get the ball or to score points. Penalties were put into place for body hits.
During a game between Australia and New Zealand in 1981, Australia was losing and decided to bowl the ball underhand so that it could not be hit. While they won the game they lost the respect of all the cricket teams on the circuit. The rule to ban underhand bowling was decided after the controversy surrounding that game.
