I am not going to explain the rules here because if you are old enough to be seeking out articles such as this, it's probably too late for you! The rules are crazy and complex and cover everything from the ball, the clothes, the pitch, how much daylight there is and the impact of the weather.
Basically a cricket match can take all day - yes, all bloody day! Even after the teams have played for a whole day you can get a no result or a draw! English tradition means it's usually a Sunday sport where the spectators sit around falling asleep until they are woken up every half hour or so with a loud shout of 'Owzat!!!' followed by polite applause if the batsman is out.
Old men talk about the 'sound of leather (as in leather ball) on willow (the wood used to make the bats)' but I think it's just something they remember being used on them in their schooldays by teachers who would nowadays be fired.
Because cricket matches last all day the tradition is that the wives and girlfriends of the players often prepare afternoon tea for the players.
Girls - never fall in love with a cricketer.
Either you will spend the whole summer making sandwiches and cakes and sitting in a field or you will spend your weekends alone.
There is an even worse aspect to cricket - Test Matches! These are the international matches and they last for five days each - again there may not even be a result at the end of it.
If you think that is bad, when a country visits England to play Test Matches they play five of them! 5 days per match multiplied by 5 matches equals 25 days of sporting action against the same team.
It is extremely unlikely that you will witness enough consecutive days of fine weather during an English summer to get all these days of cricket played.
Amazingly even when it is pouring with rain people sit in the cricket grounds hiding under their umbrellas hoping that play will start - guys, just go and do something else! These matches are always on television - yes all bloody day - and if there is no play that day what do the TV companies do? Show you matches from the past! In an effort to make the sport more appealing some matches are now much shorter - there is a series called 20Twenty and the matches are often played in the evenings, under floodlights if necessary.
If you really want to see a cricket match this could be an option but you have been warned - if cricket is not played in your country it's because your fellow countrymen have already decided it is not for them.
Basically a cricket match can take all day - yes, all bloody day! Even after the teams have played for a whole day you can get a no result or a draw! English tradition means it's usually a Sunday sport where the spectators sit around falling asleep until they are woken up every half hour or so with a loud shout of 'Owzat!!!' followed by polite applause if the batsman is out.
Old men talk about the 'sound of leather (as in leather ball) on willow (the wood used to make the bats)' but I think it's just something they remember being used on them in their schooldays by teachers who would nowadays be fired.
Because cricket matches last all day the tradition is that the wives and girlfriends of the players often prepare afternoon tea for the players.
Girls - never fall in love with a cricketer.
Either you will spend the whole summer making sandwiches and cakes and sitting in a field or you will spend your weekends alone.
There is an even worse aspect to cricket - Test Matches! These are the international matches and they last for five days each - again there may not even be a result at the end of it.
If you think that is bad, when a country visits England to play Test Matches they play five of them! 5 days per match multiplied by 5 matches equals 25 days of sporting action against the same team.
It is extremely unlikely that you will witness enough consecutive days of fine weather during an English summer to get all these days of cricket played.
Amazingly even when it is pouring with rain people sit in the cricket grounds hiding under their umbrellas hoping that play will start - guys, just go and do something else! These matches are always on television - yes all bloody day - and if there is no play that day what do the TV companies do? Show you matches from the past! In an effort to make the sport more appealing some matches are now much shorter - there is a series called 20Twenty and the matches are often played in the evenings, under floodlights if necessary.
If you really want to see a cricket match this could be an option but you have been warned - if cricket is not played in your country it's because your fellow countrymen have already decided it is not for them.