How to Explain Cricket to a Foreigner

A game of cricket involves two teams, consisting of 11 players each, and that each player is allowed to bat, bowl and field. Someone who bats is called a batsman, someone who bowls is called a bowler, and someone who fields is called a fielder.

A batsman's duration on the field of play is called an innings and, when ended, is called a dismissal. A batsman bats in front of a wicket, which is made up of three stumps and two bails. A stump is a vertical piece of wood which is placed in the ground. All stumps are of equal length. The bails are smaller, but are also of equal length. The first bail is placed horizontally across the top of the first and second stump, and the second bail is placed across the second and third stump. A bowler's job is to dismiss a batsman. If a bowler hits his stumps, then the batsman has been dismissed and his innings has been completed. The batsman is also classed as being dismissed if he is caught by a fielder, whose job is also to block and retrieve the ball.

Describe the basic object of the game and what is required to win -- including an explanation of how a team's score, or total, is made up by adding all the individual scores, called runs, of the batsmen together. Added to the team's score are extras, which are also called sundries. These are the equivalent of individual penalty points awarded to a team. An example is when a ball is bowled too wide for a batsman to reach and the batting side is given the equivalent of one run. The team which has the highest overall team total wins the game. A run occurs when a batsman hits the ball past a fielder and literally runs. There is another wicket opposite the batsman's wicket and the batsman has to reach this to record one run. If a batsman hits the ball in the air and into the crowd he is awarded six runs, and is not required to run physically.

Outline the two major formats of professional cricket -- both long and short versions of the game. The long version will last up to five days for international matches, and four days for state and county matches. In the longer version of cricket, teams are allowed two innings. The combined two innings totals of both teams decides which team wins the match. The shorter version of the game, known as one-day cricket, allows each team one innings and games are scheduled to be completed in a day. The winner is decided by which team posts the highest total.

Teach a newcomer to cricket the names of the fielding positions, but explain that the names of the positions, such as third man, shouldn't be taken too literally. Third man is simply a position on the boundary of the playing area. The fine leg position means that a fielder is finely positioned to the left, and behind, the legs of the batsman. Silly mid-on and silly mid-off are versions of the positions mid-on and mid-off, but are closer to the batsman. Because of the greater risk of a fielder getting hit by the ball when a batsman plays a stroke, the positions are given the adjective "silly."

Give details of the technical aspects of the game in simple terms, and by using a cricket ball and bat to explain different bowling and batting techniques. Bowling techniques should be explained with the help of finger positions on a cricket ball. A cricket bat can be used to demonstrate the different strokes used when batting.