Yeah probably not, heh. I don't follow it much but knowing how big of a deal this is even is to a few countries and with India giving me the joy of winning it all back in 2011 (in awesome style) helps me appreciate it. This time its in Austrailia/New Zealand. Those two have to be favorites...I'm rooting for the 'All Blacks', if India doesn't win.
India and Pakistan both have weaker teams this year, but play each other in an important match tonight 10 PM EST.
Look for one of Australia, South Africa or New Zealand to win. They are clearly the strongest teams. India have a decent outside chance. England, Sri Lanka and Pakistan are outsiders and the rest will do pretty well to get out of the group stages. My god, a thread on TGG where I might be able to sound knowledgeable.
I'll be watching. So much cricket this summer it's been great. New Zealand are looking very good but I think if we play to our potential no-one can get us.
I'm going to assume you know nothing and work my way to tell you the basics. Cricket is most similar to the American sport baseball. Cricket is 50 overs (think innings) of one team batting then 50 overs of another team, that's it, most runs win. You get 50 overs or 10 outs, whichever comes first. Outs are made by hitting a ball that is caught in the air, the ball hitting the wickets (physical strike zone) on a bowl (pitch). Outs are also made if the ball hits the wickets (think base now) before the player reaches the wickets (area surrounding the base, think ball beating the runner to the bag) Each over has 6 pitches. So you get 50*6, 300 pitches in your turn to bat. To score a run, you hit the ball in any direction, there is no fair/foul area. There are two batters, one on each of side. When they switch sides, a run is scored. If the ball leaves the big circle (think baseball field) off the bounce or rolls out, it's 4 runs (ground rule double). If the ball leaves the circle in the air, it's 6 runs (think home run). If one batter gets out, that batter leaves the field for good and the next batter comes and takes his place. If the ball is hit into the field of the play, the batsmen need to make a choice if they want to try for 0,1,2,or 3 runs. Once the ball is in the field of the play, the only way they get out is being thrown out (the ball hits the wickets before they reach that area). That's the basics. Scores can get really really high obviously. It's not uncommon for players to score 50+ runs individually. Outs are difficult to get. Uhh that's basic understanding to understand what is going on. Hope that helps.
I know they have a Twenty over game, called T20 that took off in 2006 and it essentially a 3 hour game. A game I definitely hope picks up, it's just in the US the Americans have this thing against a game invented by the English. Therefore, we made our own game that was INSPIRED by Cricket, called baseball. A T20 version of the game would be great in the US...I love the idea of two batters in a partnership trying to get runs. Very strategic game involving fielding and tactical. Who knows...in 20-40 years maybe we pick it up in this country as a Sport.
The US do have a team and a fairly new international standard ground in Florida. They play in the world qualifying tournaments but haven't been very successful recently. USA did qualify for a Champions Trophy (mini world cup) in the mid-2000s. There used to be a thriving league in the Philly area, talking many years ago, and many of the clubs still exist in some form. I'm pretty sure there is a ground somewhere within NY too. I think that USA against Canada was the first ever international game played back in the 1800s. Displacedfan's excellent summary missed one common method of getting out - LBW (Leg Before Wicket). This is basically when the batter gets his body in the way of a ball (pitch) that was going to hit the stumps (strike zone). It's a bit more complicated than that though, but that's it essentially. Like baseball there's a lot of jargon that makes it tough for someone to just switch on and work out what's happening.
LBW! I didn't know whether to include it or not. It is important to bring up as it does occur where the bowler will call for it, so it is helpful to know what they are asking for. Good description.
Still very popular really, though everything pales into insignificance beside soccer. Not great attendances outside of international games but probably ranks as no 2 or 3 in terms of participation and popularity overall. Every England game against Australia this summer will sell out (they could probably sell these games out 5 times over), games against other countries don't sell out as easily.
