Two teams, eleven players in each of them, one ball, one bat… It doesn’t seem so complicated to understand cricket (pronounced “crikette”). And yet… A few months before the 13th edition of the Men’s Cricket World Cup, which will be held from Thursday, October 5 to Sunday, November 19 in India and while the team qualifiers take place between the months of June and July, It is time to learn more about this collective sport so little known in France, but very famous in the United Kingdom and in the member states of the Commonwealth.

The origins

With more than 1.5 billion cricket fans in the 53 member states of the Commonwealth (including South Africa, Australia, Bangladesh, Canada, India, Pakistan, New Zealand…), it is legitimate to think that the sport is British in origin. At least so we believed until the surprising discovery, three years ago, of the first written trace of a party record dating from 1478 and that took place… in France. It is the oldest document ever found regarding cricket. According to experts, this sport would have been imported from France to Great Britain from the 16th century and would have accompanied the development of the English colonial empire, hence its popularity in India or Australia, for example.

How does it work ?

It sounds like baseball, but don’t get me wrong, cricket is a totally different sport.

the basic rules

Collective ball and bat sport, pitting two teams of 11 players against each other, who cannot be replaced during the game, in a series of sets on a mostly oval field. Each team alternates between attacking and defending, the players from both sides taking turns after each “over”, that is to say each series of six balls.

On the terrain

During an inning, a pitcher and the other ten members of his team, called the catchers, and two batters from the opposing team are on the field. The process is simple: the bowler hits the ball into the wicket, a wooden structure behind the drummer. The latter must defend it and return the ball as far as possible to have as much time as possible to run and exchange positions with the second drummer, located in the opposite zone (located just over 20 meters away).
The aim is for the batsmen to alternate places before one of the opposing team’s catchers returns the ball to the wicket. If this is the case, then score points (called “runs”). Usually only one or two runs are scored in an inning.

However, when the batsman sends the ball straight out of bounds, he scores six runs (called “sixier”), and when the ball goes out of bounds with one or more bounces, he scores four (called “cap”).
If one of the fielders catches the ball in the air or if the ball hits the wooden structure, the batsman is out straight out of the inning, which ends when only one batsman remains in the field. Furthermore, if the batsman prevents the ball from passing with his body, especially his leg, he is out (called “leg before wicket”).

Who wins the match?

To win the match, all you have to do is score the most runs and thus win the most rounds. The latter end when the batting team has only one batsman available, or when the team captain makes a declaration or resignation (voluntary end of an inning), or at “twenty20” when the number of shots is reached.

The duration of a match

The length of a cricket match can vary. The “traditional” form, used during test matches (international matches), is the longest. The match, which takes place in four rounds (two per team), can last up to five days (with a limit of six hours per day), except in the event of an early victory for one of the two opponents.
In the World Cup, this long version is reduced to “one day”. As the name suggests, the game takes place over the course of one day.

Finally, there is also the “twenty20”, even shorter and more simplified. It is played in a single round of 20 pitches for each team and does not exceed a few hours of play.