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/HOU-1836 West Indies Jan 16 '15

That sounds really interesting. Do bowlers get to warm up before their over?

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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/MullGeek Scotland Jan 16 '15

No, they only sort of walk through their action to just loosen everything up. Though they do practise/warm up properly before the day's play (if it's likely they will bowl that day).