The Basic Rules: Cricket

The Test is a docu-series on Amazon about the Australian Men's Cricket Team chasing a second chance at greatness after stumbling from their podium. Being a lover of documentaries and sports, I had to check it out. But five minutes in I had a problem. I knew nothing about cricket.

So a memo series has been born. The basics to sports you may not be familiar with. Enough to get you through a friendly conversation--or a docu-series.

Cricket is a popular sport, played around the world. It's played between two teams of 11 players each, on a field with a 22-yard long pitch. The game is divided into two innings, with one team batting first and the other fielding.

The objective of the game is for the batting team to score more runs than the fielding team. The batting team has two batsmen at the crease--a set of lines on the ground--who take turns hitting the ball with their bats.

When the ball is hit, the batsmen must run back and forth between two creases to score runs. The batting team can also score runs by hitting the ball beyond the boundary of the feild.

The fielding team is responsible for trying to restrict the batting team's scoring. They do this by trying to catch the ball when it is hit, as well as trying to stop the batsmen from running by throwing the ball at the wicket--stumps in the ground.

If the fielding team can get the batsman out, the new batsman takes over. There are several ways to get a batsman out: being bowled, caught, stumped, run out, or hitting their wicket. At the end of the innings, the team with the most runs is declared the winner (or draw/tie).

Cricket is a game of skill, strategy, and tactics. It requires players to think on their feet and make quick decisions. With its simple rules and exciting gameplay, it's no wonder cricket has become one of the most popular sports in the world.