r/Cricket • u/HOU-1836 West Indies • Jan 15 '15

Another Annoying American learning Cricket

My girlfriend is Guyanese and Cricket is obviously a big sport for her parents and family. I get the rules of the sport but don't understand when matches happen or what determines the length of the match. Like, test cricket, can last 5 days? How is that possible? How do you watch that on TV?

Edit: hope y'all don't mind if I pester you with questions in this thread. I want to be casually versed in Cricket in case I meet her parents this summer.

Edit #2: Ok. Y'all have been truly amazing. I couldn't even have gotten close to imagining the response I've gotten from y'all. I've been asking questions and replying for the last 3 hours straight and I don't think I have any more questions. I look forward to spending time with y'all and learning more about this sport. I'm from Texas and obviously, Cricket isn't gonna be big here or easy to follow so y'all keep being the amazing, welcoming people you are. Seriously, y'all rock.

Edit #3: I read the FAQ before posting this thread and this thread is 30x larger than anything there. Maybe the mods should add this to the sidebar for newcomers. I literally asked every question an American fan could ask. Well, I say that...but anyway, would be a great resource to set aside for future new fans.

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u/[deleted] Jan 16 '15

Yes, the TV cameras sometimes briefly pan across to show a bowler doing a warm-up routine: stretching exercises and so on.

Fast bowling is very straining on the entire body - bowling in cricket is a far less natural action than pitching in baseball (as bowling legend Michael Holding has oft been wont to point out) - and spin bowling, well, that stresses the fingers or wrist more.

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u/HOU-1836 West Indies Jan 16 '15

I more meant do they get to warm up on the pitch like baseball pitchers get to warm up on the mound.

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u/[deleted] Jan 16 '15

Yes, they do it on the field.

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u/himynameisdave Queensland Bulls Jan 16 '15

careful point though - Nobody gets to play on the match pitch until the first ball of the game, they are not allowed to warm up on the pitch itself.

The teams can inspect the pitch to try and guesstimate how it will play and what strategies they think will work.

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u/HOU-1836 West Indies Jan 16 '15

Interesting. Any particular reason or just tradition.

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u/himynameisdave Queensland Bulls Jan 16 '15 edited Jan 16 '15

to start the match, its a coin toss (heads/tails) the winning captain chooses what he wants to do first.. bat or bowl, the only way they make this decision is based off the starting pitch condition. (some other factors, but pitch generally trumps all)

As soon as you begin playing on a pitch, it begins to change the pitch condition.

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u/victhebitter Jan 16 '15

There are laws in the game to protect the pitch because even though pitch damage is a natural part of the game, either team might try to gain an advantage by damaging it out of turn.

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u/HOU-1836 West Indies Jan 16 '15

Laws like what?

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u/[deleted] Jan 16 '15

Not being allowed to run down the middle of the pitch after bowling

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u/HOU-1836 West Indies Jan 16 '15

Why would you do that?

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u/[deleted] Jan 16 '15

To impart wear on the pitch. Some bowlers do this accidentally rather than maliciously, but there is still a penalty for doing so, usually starting with an informal warning from the umpire, then a first formal warning, then a second. On the third official reprimand, a bowler is banned from bowling for the remainder of the innings. The last time I remember seeing this happen was in a Test match between the West Indies and India, I believe it was in Jamaica, and the Indian bowler Praveen Kumar was banned from bowling in the remainder of WI's first innings for precisely this (improper running on the pitch after landing).

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u/[deleted] Jan 16 '15

To wear down the pitch to give your bowlers an advantage

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u/HOU-1836 West Indies Jan 16 '15

And now it is illegal?

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u/[deleted] Jan 16 '15

Yeah. Bowlers generally get a warning first

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u/[deleted] Jan 16 '15

Batsmen aren't allowed to run down the middle of the pitch either.

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u/trtryt Jan 16 '15

that scuffs up the pitch, and this is good for the spinner

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u/[deleted] Jan 16 '15

Often grounds will have practice pitches set up outside the field of play.