Cricket is played on a racetrack oval type field. In the center is a long, flat area 22 yards long (from an imperial measure called ‘a chain’) known as the pitch. The width of the pitch is 6 foot 8 inches. At either end of the pitch are ‘stumps’- three wooden posts in a row, centered perpendicular to the pitch. They reach 27 inches high, and are topped by two pieces of wood eight inches long, that bridge the spaces between the stumps (bails). Together, this set-up is called a wicket. The posts will be of sufficient thickness that a cricket ball cannot pass between them. Four feet in front of the wickets are lines (called creases) that the batter (striker) and pitcher (bowler) are governed by.
The bat is no longer than 38″, and no wider than 4 1/4″ (unlike baseball bats, cricket bats are flat and oblong, like a board that has had grip whittled into one end). The ball is leather covered cork 9″ in circumference and weighs 5 ounces. The only player with a glove is the catcher (wicket keeper), and the striker has very heavy shin padding. This is because, unlike baseball, the bowler is actually trying to hit the stumps; and the striker is, (of course), trying to keep this from happening. The striker must stand behind the crease at his end of the pitch, and the bowler must keep his back foot behind the crease at the other.
The bowler takes a running start from behind the pitch and hurls the ball (over-arm bowling style) toward the wicket; the striker whacks it and runs like mad to the other crease. At the same time a second player (non-striker), who is at the other wicket, also runs for the end the striker was at. They must run across the crease for their run to count. They can opt to run back and forth as many times as they want, each completed dash being a run, but if the ball hits the wicket before they pass the crease, they are out. Additional runs (called boundaries) can be gotten by what the ball does after it is hit. If the ball hits the ground, then crosses the boundary marking the edge of the field, the striker scores an additional four runs. If the ball goes out without ever hitting the ground, he gets six runs.
A ‘lost ball’ will receive a minimum of six runs. If the striker and non-striker have run more than six before the ball is called lost, they get the higher number. There is one run each given for: a ‘no ball’, when the bowler crosses the crease with his rear foot, or bowls incorrectly; a ‘wide’, when the ball travels outside the line of the pitch before reaching the striker; a ‘leg bye’ when the ball hits the striker but does not contact the bat, and he runs; or a ‘bye’ when the ball doesn’t hit anything and the striker runs successfully. [Note: if the striker runs- especially in the case of a wide ball, and gets more than 1 run, he is given the higher number.] On to ‘outs’: first is a strike-out (over), consisting of 6 strikes in a row.
After an over, the players reverse wickets. Other outs include the bowler hitting the wicket, either directly (bowling out) or as a deflection by the striker; the striker hitting the wicket (hit wicket); a fielder catching the ball on the fly (catch out); ‘run out’, the wicket is hit by the ball before the runner reaches the crease; ‘stumped’, if the striker steps in front of the crease to hit the ball, misses, and the wicketkeeper gets the ball and hits the stumps before the striker gets back inside the crease line; the next striker must be on the pitch within 2 minutes of the previous out or he is ‘timed out’; and ‘leg before wicket’ (or LBW) which is basically a striker intentionally blocking the ball from the wicket by using his body. This is a judgement call and causes quite a few arguments. Either runner interfering with catching the ball; or the striker hitting the ball twice; or if the runners cross paths will also be deemed outs.
The striker can also ‘retire’, he has played so long he wishes to quit for the game. (This sounds odd until you realize the same player keeps playing until he is out.) Each of these differences in runs and outs is kept as an individual statistic (much like HRs, hits and RBIs in baseball) An inning is over when 10 players on the team have gotten out. Then the other side gets their turn. At the end of the game, which can be determined by number of innings, overs, or runs (whatever was decided before the start of the game), whoever has the highest score wins.