Cricket 101

Long before he made a drinking game or Larry and his brothers named Darryl famous, Bob Newhart was known for his unusual form of standup comedy. In one of his most well-known bits, "Nobody Will Ever Play Baseball," Newhart plays a skeptical marketer hearing Abner Doubleday's unconvincing telephone pitch for baseball.

• "18 people? That's a heck of a lot of people."
• "You've got a pitcher and a catcher, and they throw a ball back and forth ... and that's it?"
• "He may or he may not swing, depending on what? If it looked like it were a ball. What's a ball, Mr. Doubleday?"
• "Three strikes and you're out, and three balls ... not three balls, but four. Why four, Mr. Doubleday? Nobody's ever asked you before, huh?"

CMI staff photo: Rick White

The ball used for cricket is about the size of a tennis ball, and feels like a baseball without the leather skin.

CMI staff photo: Rick White

The offensive player, called the batsman, protects the wicket, while a bowler tries to strike the wicket with his throws.

CMI staff photo: Rick White

Girish Pandya gets set to take a swing at Hillcrest Park in Clovis. A group of residents play cricket Sunday afternoons in the park. Pandya is leading an effort to establish a cricket field in the city.

Likewise, the learning curve on cricket starts out high. The English sport has some presence in Clovis, with a group playing the game 4:30 p.m. every Sunday in the open park area of Hillcrest Park. Girish Pandya is leading an effort to establish a cricket field in the city.

Pandya's initial request was tabled at the June Parks, Recreation and Beautification Committee, with members desiring to take care of local soccer leagues' needs first. Pandya is likely to make the request again at the July meeting, noting that private citizens will provide money to install the few items necessary for the sport.

The cricket group welcomes experienced players and interested parties alike. Here's a crash course:

Cricket, at its core, has a few similarities to baseball, in that:

• A person is throwing a ball, and another is trying to hit it with a bat.
• The sport is played in innings.
• The sport is played on a long grass field.
• There are numerous fielders, trying to get to the ball to prevent runs from being scored.
• The team with the most runs wins.

The field

• A cricket field is oval area of grass, with a diameter of at least 150 yards.
• In the center of the oval is a smaller pitch that is 690 square feet — 10 feet wide, 23 yards long. The pitch is a hard surface with turf on top. We'll come back to this later.

The play

• There are 11 defenders on the field. The offensive side has two players on the pitch, called the batsmen. They are on opposite sides of the pitch.
• Behind each batsman is a target called a wicket — three wooden stumps placd in a straight line, with two small wooden pegs on top.
• The ball used is red, roughly the size of a tennis ball, and about as hard as a baseball without the hide.
• One member of the defensive team takes the role as a bowler, and puts the ball in play like a baseball pitcher. The bowler throws the ball with a running overhand motion, on a bounce, with the intent to hit the wicket with the ball.

This is why the pitch is a harder surface, Pandya said. A small divot or bump in grass that occurs naturally is fine for fielders, but it would make the path of the ball unpredictable — not a desirable situation when the ball is coming faster than 100 mph.

• The batsman uses his bat, about the weight of a wooden baseball bat but shaped more like a paddle, to bat the ball away from danger.

Scoring and defense

• If the batsman hits the ball, the two batsman may try to score runs. They do so with each batsman running to the opposite wicket, and touching their bat to the ground adjacent to the wicket.

A run is scored every time both batsmen make a successful grounding, with six runs the maximum that can be scored on one batted ball. Runs can also be awarded for defensive errors, including illegal bowls or a bowl that is out of a batsman's reach

• A batsman can be dismissed for numerous reasons, including: A bowled ball striking the wicket and knocking down a wooden peg; A batted ball is caught by a defender before it hits the ground; a defender retrieves the ball and hits a wicket before the batsman gets there; The batsman interferes with a defender or the ball.

Batsmen are not obligated to run following a batted ball, and attemping to score is a calculated risk.

• When a batsman is dismissed, he is replaced by another offensive player.
• After a defensive player has bowled six times, he is replaced by another defensive player. The new bowler starts from the opposite side and bowls to the opposite wicket. A set of six bowls is called an over.
• The innings end when 10 of the 11 offensive players have been dismissed, or when a predetermined number of overs have been played. Teams switch between offense and defense between innings.
• Game lengths are basically up to the teams, with numerous options. Possible game lengths can include a number of overs or a number of innings.