The Players

When the match begins, the team who bats first looks to post a high total. The coveted score is 300 runs. 300 runs means that you have to get a run from every ball you face!  However weather & pitch conditions, quality of batting and  opposition bowling skill usually mean you get less than 300. Of course on a good day a team can hit above 300 runs.
Highest ever score : 398; Lowest ever: 35. Average match score: 240

The players from a team have the following portfolios: bowlers, batsmen, fielders and a wicketkeeper.

Batsmen

A batsman stands inside the batting crease, and faces the bowler at 90° - similar to a baseball batter.

A batsman's job is to bat as long as he can and score as many runs as he can. He can play a long innings or a quick innings depending on team strategy.
A long innings is characterised by many runs: (above 60 runs in a game); playing as an anchor (being the mainstay of the batting), and usually plays most of the 50 overs.

During play two batsmen are at the center: The batsman facing the ball is the Striker, and the one at the other end, where the bowler bowls,  is the non-striker. More about batting strategies later on.

In baseball, a "ball" is an incorrect pitch. However in Cricket, a ball is each delivery a bowler throws at a batsman.

Bowlers

A bowler comes running into the pitch, towards the batsman. He has to release the ball between the popping and bowling creases.

 A bowler's job is to get a batsman out. His other tasks include trying to get as few as possible runs scored off his bowling. A bowler bowls a maximum of 10 overs also called a "Spell" or 'Quota'. The bowler bowls a standard 6 balls in each over. He bowls more if there are illegal deliveries (fouls) or extras (spoken of later). No bowler can bowl 2 consecutive overs. If a bowler bowls 6 balls where there are no runs scored of him, it is called a 'Maiden Over'. The bowler also is looked at his "Economy Rate". 

An Economy rate of under 4 is very good for a bowler. Above 6 is bad, and above 8 is the worst possible scenario.  Economy rate is calculated by this formula:

[(A divided by B ) multiplied by 6.] Where:
A= Runs conceded by him ;
B= Total balls bowled by him.
e.g. Bowler gets hit for 30 runs in 30 balls. His econ rate is 6.00 , which is not a good rate.

A bowling run-up is, the distance the bowler runs before bowling the ball. A run-up helps the bowler give additional velocity to the ball.
 

Fielder

Fielders are spread across the ground. Fielders are players other than the wicketkeeper and the current bowler. Their job is multipurpose.

1. To catch the ball from the bat directly, hence get a batsman out.

2. Stop the ball from going to the boundary for 4 runs.

3. Throw the ball as fast as possible to the wicket-keeper or bowler to cut out the runs from being scored by the batsmen & thereby

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   Wicket Keeper

    The  wicket-keeper OR 'keeper  is a specialist fielder, and is the only person, besides the batsman, allowed to wear gloves. He stands behind the batsmen, behind the stumps, throughout the innings.

   If the ball brushes the edge of the bat, it deflects slightly to go past him. It is this deflection that the wicket-keepers are supposed to catch. They also collect the ball from the fielder to 'run-out' the batsman, and to 'Stump' (A mode of getting out - see next page)  the batsman. He is the only person empowered to Stump the batsman. He also collects the ball that the batsman misses. The wicket-keeper is similar to the Catcher in Baseball.