Submitted by: Jimmy Spann

The answer is that they are all terms in exciting game of Cricket. A nightwatchman is a batsman who comes in to bat out of order towards the end of a day’s play in a multi-day game. If a batsman gets out without scoring any runs, he is said to be out for a duck. And if a bowler completes an over without any runs being scored from it, it is termed a maiden.

Cricket is the largest sport in India and is also commonly played in England, Australia, Pakistan, South Africa, and Zimbabwe. I have seen part of a game played a few years ago and it has intrigued me since. The game takes a lot of skill as well as a lot of discipline and persistence. I have never had the opportunity to be a part of any sporting event that lasted over multiple days, and think that it would take a lot of talent and strategy to win a game of cricket.

The game is very similar to Baseball in the cases that there is someone throwing a ball towards a player from the opposing team. This is referred to as bowling the balls, where the bowler is the one throwing the ball and the batsman is the one attempting to hit the ball. If the batsman swings and misses, then it is called a ball. Six balls constitutes an over, at which time a new bowler and batsman start the process all over again. A typical game usually lasts around 55 overs.

There are a few ways of scoring runs. The easiest way is to hit the ball and then run between the wickets, which will score a single run. The other way of scoring is to hit the ball out of the playing field. If this is done without bouncing 6 runs are scored, while only 4 are scored if it bounces at least once before leaving the playing field.

I, like many others, enjoy playing and watching all kinds of sports. I would be interested in attempting to play this game before we embark on our adventure. What are everyone’s thoughts on the game and possibly the chance of trying to play some afternoon before we leave?

This is the basics that will help everyone get started and the link listed below has an in depth description of the game:

http://www.cs.purdue.edu/homes/hosking/cricket/explanation.htm

Also here is a fun fact about the game:

The longest and highest scoring game on record was 9 days long between South Africa and England and it ended with an agreed upon draw.

This Youtube video also helped me understand the basics. And many others gave me more insight to the game:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9STtcwo0xE&feature=related