Doug's Garbage Time

Let’s talk about Sports. Ticket Galaxy not only does a great job providing inventory for sold out concerts and events, but we also have a superb inventory across all price levels for sporting events too!
 
In America, we seem to be focused on the big four sports: Baseball, Football, Basketball and Hockey. That gives you some great options to go out year round, but in this series, we’re going to take a look at some other pastimes that are extremely well known in other countries. We’re going to start with Cricket.
 
“The bowler approached the wicket at a lope, a trot, and then a run. He suddenly exploded in a flurry of arms and legs, out of which flew a ball.”
― Douglas Adams, Life, the Universe and Everything
 
Cricket, the exceptionally polite sport that just effervesces Britishness has been around for centuries. It’s definitely from the 16th century with some (probably more than not) dubious claims supporting a date around 1301 AD. That’s phenomenal, but sports around here aren’t necessarily played due to history. I’ve elected to attempt to take a gander and actually learn how the game is played. What I’ve gathered is that there are two teams of at least 11. The 11 go out to the field while two batters (known as strikers) get ready to hit the ball with a bat that’s really more of a flat club. The Bowler (pitcher) has a goal to get the batter out by hitting the wickets (either with the ball or causing the batter to hit it with his bat) causing the bail to come dislodged.

​I understand you may not understand what wickets and bails might be, but I can fix that. Wickets are three stakes that are pounded into the ground behind the batter with bails (pieces of wood or flashing electronics) held up between them. If a bail falls to the ground, the batter is considered “bowled out”. This goes on for some amount of time before the fielders now become batters. The jury is still out as to when that happens.
 
Let’s discuss scoring. The American public is a huge fan of high scoring games, and Cricket certainly has some high scores. A bowler can “hit it out of the park” and gain 6 runs, much like a home run (with additional points). When a ball is bouncing on the ground, the batsman can score by running to the other side and back, this is called a Bye, but only if the non-striking batsman  also is able to do the same. At some point the score gets tallied and a team is named the victor.
 
From what I’ve gathered, the purpose of Cricket isn’t necessarily to play, but to take part in the “Spirit of the Game”, an ideal of sportsmanship the like I have never encountered. This has led to the phrase “it just isn’t cricket” being uttered in dismay of a particularly underhanded or impolite faux pas. In my research on the sport, I’ve come across many rules and such a steep history, by no means is this article even a fraction of the depth that it can be.
 
Fans of Cricket, I ask you to chime in! Correct me where I’m wrong, and help us understand the glory that is seeing a pitch for the first time.

Written by Doug