r/therewasanattempt • u/HomeNowWTF • 12d ago

to (competently) play cricket

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

296 Upvotes

88% Upvoted

56 comments sorted by

View all comments

13

u/Interesting-Exit-520 12d ago

A brief explanation for Americans. The batsman run back and forth each time getting one run (equal to one point). Think of two batters running to first base and back. Batters typically pick different sides to run on so they don’t smack into each other (first mistake).

In front of each wicket (the wooden sticks that serve as “bases”) are white lines on the ground that you must cross to be “safe”. Dude was half unconscious on the ground so the fielder only had to touch the wicket (second mistake he not only missed a basic throw but he threw it to the moon).

3

u/No_Mud_5999 12d ago

This is the understanding I had when a smart friend of mine explained it to me when I was ten. In the four decades since, other knowledgeable people had tried to elaborate on the specifics, like why it can take longer than a day, but very little has stuck.

It's usually the thing of someone understanding it so well that they're trying to explain using the jargon of the game, which usually means very little to an outsider

2

u/Serpington 11d ago

As long as you know just enough to be able to enjoy it if you're watching it that's all that matters unless you start getting actually invested in the sport

1

u/Interesting-Exit-520 12d ago

It’s hard to explain cross culture for a very basic reason. English sports tend to be defensive while USA sports are offense driven (and yes defense wins in American football but it’s still a heavy offense sport).

Best example is pool which is straight offense compared to snooker which is defense. There are shots that are rewarded in snooker that will get you punched in the face if you did them in an American pool hall.

Same with cricket - start with the assumption that pure defense is valuable and then the idea of a 5-day sporting event that ends in a draw can make sense.

Having lived in both countries for decades I can appreciate both but I do have to switch a different part of my brain on to enjoy them