h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

The rules of cricket (more accurately called the Laws of Cricket) are actually quite simple:

You have two sides, one in the field, and one in.
Each man that's on the side that's in, goes out and when he's out, he comes in and the next man goes in until he's out.
When they are all out, the side that was out comes in and the side that's been in goes out and tries to get those coming in out.
Some of those who are in are given not out and one is not out when the side that was out comes in.
When both sides have been in and out, including the not outs, that's the end of the game.

Actually that is not quite correct.

Both sides have to be in and out twice in a Test match, though, of course, you may be talking about a One-Day match in which case you are correct in saying they only have to be in and out once each

And what about this new 3rd Umpire business?


If a batsmen is in but the umpire is not too sure whether he should be out, in certain circumstances he can consult the third Umpire,(watching on a monitor), who can then communicate with him by radio. If he decides the batsman is out he displays a red light. If he decides the batsman is in he displays a green light. The batsman and fielders all have to stand around waiting for this little light to appear to see if their careers are over or not. Of course, the batsman may have "walked" before this process is commenced but, in Internationals, batsmen are, understandably, leaving more and more decisions to the Umpires. Whether that's a good or bad thing? - you got me.




Myriad.

Believe it or not, I went yesterday to a cricket tournament in Houston, Texas, USA. In the Astrodome with big league players from the major cricket countries - Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan, etc. OK, there were only two players on a team, with the fielders supplied by US cricket clubs, and it was called "Double Wicket Cricket" I think. But still it was some world class bowling and batting. I saw one of the two Indian teams score 93 runs in just 6 overs - the balls were raining down into the seats, I was getting a little nervous since I was sitting close to take photos. The crowd was small on a Saturday morning, the middle day of the three day tournament, but they were vocal. I met a man from India originally who told me the Cricket World Cup will be in the US in 2007 - with a US team playing, hopefully.

Not quite correct. The cricket world cup will be in the West Indies in 2007. The US may host a game (or 2) and maybe even Canada.
The US will only play if they can qualify!

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Ah, I see. Still, a step in the right direction.