For this process essay on sports, I am going to focus on a sports that is fast becoming popular amongst many nations of the world. Even though it is traditionally considered to be a very boring sport, many exciting new changes are occurring in this game and it is called for a renewed interest from countries all over the world, including the US and Canada. Originally started by the British, this game is most popular in countries that were at some point in history part of the British colonial rule. This game is called cricket and this process paper shall attempt to explain how it is played.
Cricket is an outdoor team sport and it is played in a circular field. There is no standard law as to how big the field must be but it usually has a diameter of about 450 to 500 feet. The outer most limit of the field is called a boundary. The game is played between two teams of eleven players each. The bulk of the action takes place in the center of the field on a rectangular strip of clay called a pitch. The pitch is twenty two yards long and six stumps are placed on the pitch, 3 on each end. This is where the batting takes place.
Before the game begins, the captains of the two teams come out to the center of the pitch and toss a coin. The winner of the toss determines whether his team will bat or bowl. The batting team sends two players called batsmen to the pitch and they take each side of the pitch near the stumps. One end of the pitch is usually towards the pavilion (which is where the rest of the team is sitting) and this is called the pavilion's end. The batsmen wear leg pads, gloves, and helmets to protect themselves from the bowlers' balls. The batsmen hold wooden bats in their hands that they use to hit the ball with. Only one batsman is active at one time, while the other one stands on the opposite end and helps the first one to score runs. The bowling team sends one player to stand behind the active batsman and this player is known as the wicketkeeper (a counterpart of the shortstop in baseball). The ball, made of cork and covered by leather, is given to the bowler who throws the ball towards the batsman from the opposite end of the pitch. The rest of the nine players from the bowling team are scattered across the field.
The aim of the game is to make runs. The bowler throws the ball to the batsman and the ball can only bounce once before reaching the batsman. The batsman then hits the ball and tries to make runs. Runs can be made in many ways. Batsmen hit the ball in the field and they run between the stumps. One run is scored if the batsman reaches the opposite end. The batsman on the other side also runs and if one run is scored, then he becomes the active batsman. If the fielding side throws the ball and it strikes the stumps before the batsman reaches the crease, then the batsman gets out. The batsman can also attempt to make runs by throwing the ball outside the boundary. If the batsman hits the ball and it sails out the boundary without touching the ground (like a homerun), the batting side scores six runs. If the ball touches the ground before reaching the boundary, four runs are scored. Batsman cal get out if the ball hits the stumps while he is facing the bowler, or if any fielder catches the ball after it hits the batsman's bat and before it hits the ground.
Each bowler can bowl a fixed amounts of 'overs' in a match. An over consists of six balls. The bowling sides continues to bowl until the predetermined amounts of 'overs' have been bowled (usually twenty or fifty) or if all the players in the other team are bowled out. Once either of this happens, the 'innings' of that team ends and the bowling team must now bat. The team that bats second must now score one run more than the previous team in order to win the game. The team bowling second must try to limit the other team from scoring their runs, or bowl them out before the 'overs' are completed.