Three billion people watch cricket worldwide—albeit most in India—but it is underappreciated in football-centric countries (most of Europe except for the UK, cricket’s founder). In the United States, cricket has not made the list of most popular sports for some time. Most of this is due to the complex technical aspects of the game, such as the Duckworth-Lewis Equation and the attention-demanding form of test cricket—a match once took up 12 days in 1939 and ended in a draw. 

Cricket is a sport dating back to the 13th century in England, but its formal origin is in 1611. The sport expanded rapidly until all the technicalities cricketers and cricket-watchers cherish were solidified by 1787. Earlier than most sports, women’s cricket was formally established in 1745, about five decades before women’s basketball and women’s football.  

However, cricket stayed in England until the 17th and 18th centuries, when the Americas were colonised. India, where cricket is most celebrated, in my opinion, got cricket from mariners in the British East India Company, and Sri Lanka followed suit. It gained traction almost immediately in Australia and expanded to New Zealand, Zimbabwe, and South Africa soon after. South America, mainly Argentina and Guyana, also began playing cricket in the 19th century, as well as multiple Caribbean countries (who combined with Guyana to make the West Indies team internationally). Recent additions include Italy, Oman, Canada, and Nepal, among others. 

I, myself, didn’t watch cricket until I saw the 2023 ICC Men’s World Cup, and I saw a tension-filled match between India and Pakistan (a gripping introduction). I really got interested during the second half, which is when the batters started hitting wide-form sixers.  

But cricket remains an alien idea in the USA, despite the simple and understandable outline in which it is played. 

First, the field. The field is oval-shaped and entirely flat, and in the centre lies the rectangular pitch, where most of the action happens. At either end of the pitch are creases (white marking lines), to determine where the batsmen will hit (popping crease, referring to when it was a bone-shattering hole in the ground that was soon abandoned) and where the bowler will bowl (bowling crease). Around the field is a boundary that will determine points.  

Now, the players come onto the said field. Two batsmen will come on each side of the pitch. One is on strike, and they will swap once as they run to each end of the pitch to score points (but of course, with exceptions and complications). Every over (six balls), the batsmen swap by mandate.  The bowler will bowl these balls to the batsman, and he may do some complicated manoeuvres to confuse the batsman (spin bowling is a common technique that is common with other sports). The batsman will hit the ball to score points. 
Once the ball is far enough, the batsmen run to either side of the pitch, scoring a point. Running twice back and forth scores two runs. If the ball evades the fielders and hits the field boundary, that is worth four runs, and no one has to run! But when the ball soars through the air and goes over that boundary, that is worth six runs! 

There are a multitude of cool ways to hit the ball (check out celebrated Indian cricketer MS Dhoni winning against the annoyingly good Australian team and South African cricketer AB de Villiers scoring 149 runs from only 44 balls, a standing world record) 

Getting out is another story: the ball getting caught, knocking down the wickets, or hitting the leg of the batsman. For me, the most exciting and debatable way is when a fielder gets the rolling ball and throws it at the wickets (three sticks) behind the batters. If the wickets are hit before the player goes across the popping crease, they’re out (check out Jonty Rhodes from South Africa do physics-defying feats).  

This is easy enough to understand, but what is the most confusing are the technicalities. An annoying technicality that confused me for a while was the leg-before-wicket (or lbw). If the batter doesn’t hit the ball, but the ball hits his leg and not the wickets, it must be assessed by the umpire (now with technology). if the ball was projected towards the wickets, the batter is out, as the ball was blocked due to the leg! That was a controversial technicality before the 21st century.  

And to think, all this wonderfulness has been close to absent from the USA for so long! But things are changing. The International Cricket Council (ICC) T20 (meaning 20 overs/ 120 balls) Men’s World Cup of 2024 was co-hosted in the USA, and matches took place here in NYC! A US team of Indian-American cricket lovers formed and made history when they beat Pakistan in a match. The 2026 T20 Men’s World Cup is being co-hosted by the USA alongside the hosts India and Sri Lanka. 

So have no fear, cricket is coming on decently-paced wings to America, and hopefully this article gives some semblance of understanding for you all to enjoy it.