Cricket for Folks Who Don’t Know Cricket Yet
Latest Features
Philadelphia Cricket from King to Kumar
The eyes of the baseball world were firmly on Philadelphia this fall as the Phillies marched through the playoffs and into the World Series. But while The City of Brotherly Love can claim to have a rich baseball history, its cricket history may be even richer. Throughout the nineteenth century and into the early part of the twentieth century, cricket was probably this country's most popular sport and no place embraced the game more than Philadelphia. The owners of Minor League Cricket's Philadelphians understand this connection to the past, but they're firmly focused on the future. (Read more...)
Mankading and the Phantom Double Play
As an American who didn't grow up with cricket, I find the whole Mankading debate fascinating. The idea that something can be allowed according to the "Laws of Cricket" but -- at the same time -- be in violation of the "Spirit of Cricket" confounds the brain like a Zen koan. I wrote about Mankading a few years back after Ravi Ashwin sent Jos Buttler packing for stepping out of the crease too early and came to the conclusion that I didn't have a deep enough cricketing background to truly understand the gray area in this "Laws" versus "Spirit" debate. (Read more...)
The Rules
Not the 18th century "Laws of Cricket," but a quick way to understand the basics of the game and be able to watch either live or televised cricket as if you've been doing it for years.
Terminology
Cricket is famous for its jargon and terminology. Don't fret! I've come up with the 40 most used words and phrases that you'll need in order to watch, understand, and enjoy the game.
Features
My take on what's going on in the sport. Hopefully, it'll help you understand things a little bit better. If it doesn't, I apologize in advance.
About CricAmerica
Why an already really busy guy decided to devote a ridiculous amount of his time to watching, thinking about, reading about, and writing about a sport he only discovered a few years ago.
Most Americans have a preconception about cricket -- that it’s a complex and slow-paced, days-long game played in England by guys dressed in white. And while, yes, this is partially true, it's generally based on very limited exposure. (It'd be like generalizing that football is a game played only by giant, freezing guys in Buffalo and Green Bay.)
The fact is that cricket is just a really weird version of baseball. Take a big swig of NyQuil, go to sleep, and have a dream about baseball. That's cricket.
Batters have to be a bizarre combination of Tuukka Rask, Ichiro, and Mike Trout. The guys throwing to the batters are not only gunning it at 90-plus mph, but they get the added advantage of being able to bounce the ball to further mess with the hitter. No one on the fielding team -- other than the guy that's essentially the catcher -- is allowed to wear a glove. (And the ball is even harder than a baseball.) Oh, and there's no foul ground. You can hit the ball anywhere.
A NyQuil dream about baseball.
Other than that, though, the rules are incredibly similar to baseball.
My goal for CricAmerica is to have you be able to watch, understand, and enjoy cricket. Your initial investment is minimal. Start with The Rules section and the Features section and then poke around the rest of the site, which is constantly being updated.
The return on your investment? The ability to enjoy the athleticism, excitement, and drama of the second most popular sport on the planet while also learning about history, politics, and other cultures.
More importantly, it'll let you pretend to work while watching the best players in the world square off live in an Indian Premier League game at 11:00 on a Tuesday morning.
