adminAubrey Farai Kamba
CRICKET is one of the greatest team sports in the world. It is a sport for two teams of eleven players each. It is a sport with three formats that is Test, O.D.I and T20.
The game play and rules may be very different; the basic concept is the same. Teams bat in successive innings and attempt to score runs, while the opposing team fields and attempts to bring an end to the batting team’s innings. The concept of cricket is just the same as that of the game of hwishu played on the dusty streets of Zimbabwe. After each team has batted an equal number of innings (either one or two, depending on conditions chosen before the game), the team with the most runs wins.
Hwishu has almost the same way of getting out as cricket. You have a team in a drawn circle and then one behind a drawn line at a certain distance. In hwishu one behind the line throws the ball to one in the circle and if the one in the circle kicks the ball high into the air across the line and the one behind the line catches it before it bounces, the kicker is deemed out.
Cricket is almost the same in a way but it has plenty more ways of being called out, these are the ways we are getting to look at in this week’s article.
Ways of Getting Out in Cricket.
Here is a list of the different ways of getting out. But first, a few necessary definitions:
The field is then split into two halves, along a line down the centre of the pitch. The half of the field in front of the striker/batsman is called the off side; the half behind is called the leg side, or sometimes the on side. Thus, standing at the bowler’s wicket and looking towards a right-handed striker’s wicket, the off side is to the left and the leg side to the right (and vice-versa for a left-handed striker). The stumps of the striker’s wicket are called off stump, middle stump, and leg stump, depending on which side they are on.
When a batsman gets out, no matter by what method, his wicket is said to have fallen, and the fielding team are said to have taken a wicket. Now let’s look at how one gets out.
Caught:
Just like said earlier on in Hwishu, if a fielder catches the ball on the full after the batsman has hit it with his bat the batsman is deemed out by the act of being caught. However, if the fielder catches the ball, but either during the catch or immediately afterwards touches or steps over the boundary, then the batsman scores six runs and is not out.
Bowled:
If the batsman misses the ball and it hits and breaks the wicket directly from the bowler’s delivery. The batsman is out whether or not he is behind his popping crease. He is also out bowled if the ball breaks the wicket after deflecting from his bat or body. In this instance the batsman is not out if the wicket does not break.
Leg Before Wicket:
If the batsman misses the ball with his bat, but intercepts it with part of his body when it would otherwise have hit the wicket, and provided several other conditions are satisfied. An umpire must adjudicate such a decision, and will only do so if the fielding team appeal the decision. This is a question asked of the umpire, usually of the form “How’s that?” (or “Howzat?”), and usually quite enthusiastic and loud. If the ball bounces outside an imaginary line drawn straight down the pitch from the outside edge of leg stump, then the batsman cannot be out LBW, no matter whether or not the ball would have hit the stumps. If the batsman attempts to play a shot at the ball with his bat (and misses) he may only be given out LBW if the ball strikes the batsman between imaginary lines drawn down the pitch from the outside edges of leg and off stumps (i.e. directly in line with the wicket). If the batsman does not attempt to play the ball with his bat, then he may be given out LBW without satisfying this condition, as long as the umpire is convinced the ball would have hit the wicket. If the ball has hit the bat before the hitting the batsman, then he cannot be given out LBW.
Stumped:
If a batsman misses the ball and in attempting to play it steps outside his crease, he is out stumped if the wicket-keeper gathers the ball and breaks the wicket with it before the batsman can ground part of his body or his bat behind his crease.
Run Out:
If a batsman is attempting to take a run, or to return to his crease after an aborted run and a fielder breaks that batsman’s wicket with the ball while he is out of the crease. The fielder may either break the wicket with a hand which holds the ball or with the ball directly. It is possible for the non-striker to be run out if the striker hits the ball straight down the pitch towards the non-striker’s wicket, and the bowler deflects the ball on to the wicket while the non-striker is out of his crease. If the ball is hit directly on to the non-striker’s wicket, without being touched by a fielder, then the non-striker is not out. If the non-striker leaves his crease (in preparation to run) while the bowler is running up, the bowler may run him out without bowling the ball. Batsmen cannot be run out while the ball is dead – so they may confer in the middle of the pitch between deliveries if they desire.
Hit Wicket:
If, in attempting to hit a ball or taking off for a first run, the batsman touches and breaks the wicket. This includes with the bat or dislodged pieces of the batsman’s equipment – even a helmet or spectacles!
Handle The Ball:
If a batsman touches the ball with a hand not currently holding the bat, without the permission of the fielding side. This does not include being hit on the hand by a delivery, or any other non-deliberate action.
Obstructing The Field:
If a batsman deliberately interferes with the efforts of fielders to gather the ball or effect a run out. This does not include running a path between the fielder and the wicket so that the fielder cannot throw the stumps down with the ball, which is quite legal, but does include any deliberate attempt to swat the ball away.
Hit The Ball Twice:
If a batsman hits a delivery with his bat and then deliberately hits the ball again for any reason other than to defend his wicket from being broken by the ball. If the ball is bouncing or rolling around near the stumps, the batsman is entitled to knock it away so as to avoid being bowled, but not to score runs.
Timed Out:
If a new batsman takes longer than two minutes, from the time the previous wicket falls, to appear on the field.These methods of getting out are listed in approximate order of how commonly they occur. The first five are reasonably common, the last five quite rare. The last three methods are almost never invoked.If a batsman is out caught, bowled, LBW, stumped, or hit wicket, then the bowler is credited with taking the wicket. No single person is credited with taking a wicket if it falls by any other method.Next week, I will be looking at the types of equipment used in the game of cricket. I hope to catch your interest into the beautiful game of cricket.
Online Reporter