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ESPN explains cricket to its American audience [Video]

Thursday, February 12th, 2015

ESPN explains cricket to its American audience with this clever video

Most cricketers have been in that situation where they have to explain the wonderful game of cricket to a novice or a curious observer. Well with the ICC Cricket World Cup upon us, the US sports network ESPN might just have hit the nail on the head with this humorous but quite informative introductory video.

Here’s a transcript of the video:

Cricket — the game of the people, literally. Billions of people. The planet’s second biggest sport is played from India to Australia to the West Indies to Zimbabwe.

Originally exported from England to her Majesty’s colonies, cricket was exclusively a game for gentlemen, with breaks for lunch, tea, rain or light and the odd local uprising.

Today the game has five times more fans worldwide than its American cousin baseball — and with good reason. Just for starters, cricket is played on an oval field, a giant playing area 400 per cent bigger than a baseball field. Cricket has 100 per cent more batsmen than baseball, who score runs by sprinting between wickets rather than bases.

The fielding team bowl the ball overarm at the batsmen and attempt to knock the bails from the stumps and get them out. Like baseball, players can be bowled or caught or run out as well as by leg before wicket, stumped, caught handling the ball or obstructing the fielder.

When 10 of the batsmen have been dismissed or have been delivered 300 balls or 50 overs, the team’s innings is over and the opposition take their turn to bat.

Unlike baseball the batting team wield a mighty two by four to prevent the ball striking the stumps as they attempt to score runs.

The team with the most runs at the end of the game wins. If the scores are equal, a tie is declared.

Players can score individual runs by running between the wickets, four runs by hitting the ball to the boundary or six runs by knocking the ball clean over the boundary rope.

In 2015 the ICC Cricket World Cup will be contested in Australia and New Zealand to decide the world champions. Two pools of seven national teams will vie in a round robin stage to make the quarterfinal play-offs. And finally on March 29th the last team standing will be crowned the champions of the world. Only in the case of cricket, we really do mean the world.

Overall, we’d have to say that’s not too bad — especially the cheapshots at baseball!

(Source: ESPN)