Cricket is one of the popular sports in many parts of the world and is slowly gaining new fans in places where it was not that big. There are tons of new people getting into the sport every day, and not all of them have the knowledge to understand what’s happening when watching a given match. New cricket fans will have difficulties comprehending some aspects related to the sport, so let’s explore what they need to know.
The Different Formats
Unlike football, tennis and other popular sports, cricket has different formats and each one is popular in its own way. Whether you want to follow the ball by ball cricket score or just watch some of the best teams and players in action, you need more information about each one.
Starting with Test Cricket, this is the sport’s longest format and it can last up to 5 days. What’s different here is that the matches can often contain north of 90 overs per day. It is no surprise that the format is designed to test the patience and strategy of each team.
The One-Day Internationals (also known as ODIs) are another popular cricket format. These matches usually have 50 overs per side and will last no more than 8 hours. People focusing on this format know that most teams here have different aggressive strategies.
T20s is the shortest cricket format you will find and as its name suggests, each match gets 20 overs. Most T20 cricket matches usually last around 3 to 4 hours and they are all about aggressive batting. That’s why it is no surprise that many people choose them over the rest.
The Importance of the Toss
Another fact about cricket that many new fans may not be aware of is related to the toss “ritual”. This happens before every match and both teams’ captains take part in the toss. The winning captain can decide if their team will bat or bowl first.
You may probably think that this does not make much of a difference, but it’s not the case. We have seen countless cricket games in which the winner of the toss can have a huge role in the game because of the pitch conditions, time of the day, weather and other factors.
The Different Types of Deliveries
A lot of people making their first steps into cricket assume that bowling is just about throwing the ball, but it’s not that easy. Once you get into the sport, you realize there are several types of deliveries, such as fast bowling. The idea here is that the ball should be bowled at high speeds to make it harder for the person to hit it.
Another type of delivery you may hear people talking about is spin bowling. This one requires the person to throw the ball slower than in fast bowling, but the ball will turn either left or right (there are two types – off-spin and leg-spin). The goal here is for the ball to be harder to hit.
Lastly, we have swing bowling, in which the ball moves sideways while gliding through the air.
Overthrows and Extras
Once you start watching cricket matches on TV, you will often hear the terms “extra and “overhrow”. Extra is a run that’s scored outside of the normal betting for the batsman. In other words, this includes things like wides, where the balls go outside the batsman’s reach, and byes, when the batsman misses the ball and it goes through the wicketkeeper.
As for the Overthrows, those things occur when fielders decide to throw the ball in a way that forces the batsmen to take extra runs.
Duck and Golden Duck
Speaking of terms you may hear while watching cricket games, we must address Duck and Golden Duck. Duck is when a player gets out without scoring any runs. As for a golden duck, this is when cricketers get out on the very first ball they face.
Some of the cricket slang can be challenging at first, but you will get used to everything once you start watching matches regularly. The sport has been around for years and has developed its unique terminology.
Positioning on the Field
It’s probably not surprising that cricket has different fielding positions and they have specific names. For example, you can find options like gully, point, fine leg, and slip. Each of them has a particular role in a given strategy and their position, so they are most likely to intercept a ball.
Closing Thoughts
Cricket is a fun sport with lots of action, but since it has many specifics, it’s advisable to learn more about them before you start watching. Once you are comfortable with what’s happening, you will discover all kinds of leagues and competitions that bring together the biggest names in the sport.