Category: Uncategorized

A nightwatchman is a less-skilled batter who begins playing at the end of the day when conditions are challenging. The idea is that this is better than risking a better batter being dismissed rather than starting play the next day. Nightwatchmen exist mainly because many games of cricket take place at times of year when…

Cricket has only been played at one Olympics, in Paris in 1900. However, it will return from 2028 in Los Angeles. The 1900 cricket “tournament” was a single game between Great Britain and France, though neither side was made up of players from the main national team. The game was held with one innings a…

The rules on balls which reach the batter in a high position depend on whether the ball bounced first and how high it arrives. This can lead to penalty runs and in some cases the bowler being banned from further bowling. The rules on allowable heights of the ball are relative to the body of…

While batting and bowling gets most attention, most players spend the majority of their game time fielding. Their best position will depend on skills like speed, reflexes, strength and judgment. Players who don’t have particularly strong or specific fielding skills will usually play in the “standard” positions such as mid-on or cover where they’ll usually…

The spirit of cricket is the concept that players should follow “fair play” principles that go beyond the letter of the law. Some of these principles are clearly written but others are more subjective and often controversial. The official rulebook of cricket (its “Laws”) include a preamble about the Sprit of Cricket that includes several…

Bowling and batting averages are a way to track a player’s overall performance across a series of games, a season, or even an entire career. Bowling averages are better when they are low while batting averages are better when they are high. The bowling average is the number of runs scored against a bowler divided…

Umpire’s call is a possible outcome of a DRS review (by a “TV umpire”) for a possible LBW. It means there is some evidence the on-field umpire’s decision was incorrect, but not enough certainty to overturn it. In theory, DRS review technology shows exactly where the ball was recorded and where it would have travelled…

A Mankad is a reference to running out the non-striking batter during the bowler’s run up. It is lawful to do so, though relatively rare as many players consider it against the spirit of the game. Such incidents are often extremely controversial. A Mankad is possible if the non-striking batter (the one at the same…

Teams normally “enforce” the follow-on in cricket to increase their chances of bowling out the other team twice and winning. A team will most commonly choose not to enforce the follow on based on the physical condition of both players and the pitch. The follow-on is an option available to the team that batted first…

Declaration bowling means bowling in a first class game in a way that makes it likely the batting team will quickly build a lead in the game and declare. This could be a (very rare) tactic by the bowling team to try to avoid a draw. Alternatively it could be the result of a collaboration…