What Americans do not know about the

AS and A Level Physical Education (Sport & Coaching)

Sana Samnani/ Class 5

What Americans do not know about the

“strange” sport of cricket!

W hile most people in the United States are just getting up, boys all around the city of Karachi, Pakistan are picking up flat wooden bats and hard solid balls to start their daily afternoon game of cricket. For them, this is just part of a routine they go through every day- no matter how hot the hateful sun might get. They look forward to playing a game of cricket whenever they get the chance.

Cricket is the most popular sport in Pakistan, and you will not find many Pakistani natives who do not prefer it.

Syed Imran Ali, who plays cricket in Karachi, Pakistan says in his native language, Urdu, “I have been

playing cricket for as long as I can remember. I got started in it when I was very little and have been playing since then. Now, I play everyday with friends in the neighborhood.”

That is not uncommon! Just as American children pick up baseball gloves and learn to play catch when they are young, most Pakistani boys start playing cricket as soon as they’re old enough to pick up a heavy wooden cricket bat.

But although the Pakistani people are very familiar with cricket, most Americans cannot say the same thing. Shockingly, some say they do not even know what it is!

What Is Cricket?

Students interviewed on the 7th grade Osprey team at East Lyme Middle

School in East Lyme, CT claim to have heard of cricket, but do not know what it

is exactly. Alex Ulkus, one of those students, quotes, “Isn’t it like baseball?” She is right, of course. The best way to understand cricket is to consider it an alternate version of baseball.

All in all, cricket is just a bat-and-ball game, with a few complex rules. It is played in Great Britain and the Commonwealth countries.

Where Did It Come From?

The name “cricket” itself comes from the Anglo-Saxon word “cricc”, meaning shepherd’s staff, but the exact origin of the sport is unknown.

Certainly, cricket was played during the 12th and 13th centuries in southeastern England- but that shepherds living in that area played it, remains to be seen. These shepherds are said to have used simple things to play the game- like crooks for bats, and a wicket

gate and moveable bail of sheep pens as a target for bowlers, which is considerably different from how the sport is played today.

Amazingly, cricket did ...

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Where Did It Come From?

The name “cricket” itself comes from the Anglo-Saxon word “cricc”, meaning shepherd’s staff, but the exact origin of the sport is unknown.

gate and moveable bail of sheep pens as a target for bowlers, which is considerably different from how the sport is played today.

Amazingly, cricket did not become popular in England until the end of the 17th century, and has been famous worldwide for only a few decades!

The London Cricket Club drew up the rules of the modern game in 1744. The Marlebone Cricket Club (MCC), one of the oldest cricket organizations, made the first major alterations to these laws. MCC gave bowlers the right to bowl overhand, which they were formerly not allowed to do. Since then, many alterations have been made to make the game what it is today.

Modern cricket is played with protective clothing and equipment, so as to keep the players safe, which was probably not the case in 12th century England.

How Is It Played?

Unlike most sports, cricket is played on an oval field. At the center of this field, there is a finely mown, rectangular pitch. At each end of this pitch, is a “wicket” composed of three upright wooden “stumps” surmounted by two smaller “bails”.

There are eleven players on a team. The object of the game is to score more points than the other team, as is the case with most sports.

In many ways, you could compare cricket to baseball, although it is a totally different sport altogether. Unlike the four bases in baseball, there are only two wickets in cricket, but both are used for basically the same purpose.

A “batsman” stands at one wicket, holding the bat. A “non-striker” stands at the other wicket.

A “bowler” faces the batsman and throws a small, round ball to that player. The bowler’s job is to try to knock the bails of the wicket over. The bowler has to do this, being sure to make an overhand throw, not bending the arm.

Mohammed Arif Samnani, who now lives in the United States, was once the captain of his college cricket team in Karachi, Pakistan. He was famous for his ball-throwing skills. But according to him, getting the throw just right wasn’t that easy. He says that it took him two years just to perfect that one throw!

When the bowler throws the ball to the batsman, he or she hits it with the bat, to keep the bails of the wicket from falling over. If the bails actually do fall over, the batsman is “retired”- like in baseball, where the hitter is out after three strikes. But if the batsman hits the ball far enough to be able to exchange places with the non-striker, a “run” is scored.

Up to four runs may be scored for each hit. Every time a batsman is at bat, he/she is usually bowled six balls to make a hit.

“Automatic runs” are scored if a ball crosses the boundary lines of the playing field- four automatic runs if a ball crosses the boundary lines by ground, six automatic runs if by air. These are like homeruns in baseball, but unlike baseball, there are no foul lines in cricket, so you cannot hit a foul ball during a game.

And as in baseball, if the team in the outfield gets the ball and uses it to knock over the bails of a wicket, before either batsman reaches it, that batsman is out. If an outfielder catches a fly ball, the batsman is out again. There are many more ways to get out in cricket, all of them basically the same as in the sport of baseball.

There are two innings in a match. The entire team moves in a fixed order when batting, and games may go on for several days. Substitutions are only allowed for serious injuries.

Cricket Played Today?

Today, the most famous international matches are played between England and Australia. The players on those teams are amazingly talented! They are fierce and competitive when out on the field- no other countries have been able to match them. But ever since the 1970’s, countries like India, Pakistan, South Africa, and the West Indies have fought their way to the top, and now, have become good enough to match even the tough Australian players.

International test matches were begun in 1877, and have been played by many countries ever since. The most famous of these matches, is that between England and Australia called the “Ashes”.

Matches between universities and between professional teams representing the English colonies, are principally played in Great Britain.

Many great players have arisen from the sport of cricket. Imran Khan, for example, is a great Pakistani player, who formerly played for the international Pakistan team. English players like Jack Hobbs and Len Hutton; Don Bradman, an Australian; the Indian Sunil Gavaskar; and West Indians Frank Worrell and Gary Sobers are role models for small children worldwide.

Cricket is contagious! If you play it even once, you will realize that it is pleasurable and exciting! That’s what anyone who has ever played the sport will tell you. From England to Australia, cricket is famous all around.

And as for those boys living in Karachi, Pakistan, they will keep playing their afternoon cricket matches in the ally. Syed Imran Ali, too, will keep playing cricket. As he says, “It’s the one thing my friends and I like to do in our free time.” Imran says that anyone who plays cricket gets hooked on it.

The United States has its baseball, football, and basketball. But sadly, it doesn’t have cricket. Sadly, most Americans don’t understand it at all.

So for those of you who didn’t understand cricket before, maybe you’ll do now. You might even get to play it sometime- and see for yourself what cricket is truly like!

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