The Pitch and Field

• In cricket, the pitch is a flat area 22 yards long and 10 feet wide in the center of the field. The laws of cricket don't specify the size of the field or the boundaries. Cricket fields must be at least 150 yards from boundary to boundary, with the pitch in the middle. Most cricket fields are oval or circular in shape, and vary from 450 to 500 feet. Cricket fields are large, making it difficult, if not impossible, to play a regulation game in a stadium that isn't built specifically for cricket.
  
  

Terminology

• While all sports have unique terms to describe game play, cricket is in a class of its own. A wide array of colorful terms makes it difficult for the uninitiated to understand the game.
  
  For example, a bowler (the player throwing the ball) has thrown a "googly" when he spins the ball so that when it bounces, it looks as if it will move away from the batter, but actually moves towards the batter. If a left-handed bowler does this, the pitch is called a "chinaman", because the first bowler to do so was Chinese, playing in the West Indies.
  
  Batters score runs by hitting the ball into the field and running between the wickets on opposite ends of the pitch. If a batter is out before scoring a run, he is awarded a "duck", or zero points. If the batter scores zero runs in both innings of a two-inning game, he has made "spectacles".
  
  A "sticky wicket" is a field that is partially wet and partially dry, making it difficult for a batter to judge the bounce of a bowled ball. This term has entered into wider use, describing any situation that is uncertain and hazardous.
  
  

Batting

• Batting in cricket is unusual to people familiar only with baseball. The entire field is in play; a batter can try to tip the ball so that it goes behind him. Batters try to disguise their swing, so that they appear to be trying to drive the ball far, but are really trying to angle it behind them. This swing is called a "glide". He may also try to "hook" a ball, swinging around his body while turning, driving the ball with power to the side. Defensive swings, to keep the bowler from striking the wicket, putting the batter out, are a common strategy. Unlike baseball, batters aren't required to run and attempt to score when they hit the ball. The batters must judge whether or not they can switch sides on the pitch before a fielder strikes the wicket with the ball.
  
  

The Twelfth Man

• Eleven men compete in a cricket game. Each team has a 12th man, the only substitute. He can only come into the game if another player is injured. The substitute isn't allowed to bowl, bat or be the "wicketkeeper" (the baseball equivalent of "catcher"). He can only play as a fielder.