Learn to Play Cricket for Children aged 5 and above

Introduction

Cricket originated from England. This English game is basically hitting a ball with a stick. This stick is a "bat" which is an English word meaning stick or club. Earlier bats were like hockey sticks since, the bowling used to be fast, underarm and rolled along the ground. By the eighteenth century, the bat developed into a heavier, longer, curved version of our modern bat where the handle and blade were carved out of a single piece of wood.

Benefits of Cricket

Cricket is the world's second most popular spectator sport. Many children who are reluctant to take part in sports, find this as their "game." The main goal of this game is self-control, integrity and respect for others. Children learning this game, will be exposed to the above. This game helps to improve a child's speed, flexibility and reflexes. It also helps increase concentration and the ability to think strategically and make decisions accordingly.

The child will be undergoing a lot of physical activity such as sprinting between the wickets. He will be mentally challenged while playing this game since, he will have to make wise decisions while hitting the ball depending on the type of bowling. There are various social benefits of this game since, your child will be exposed to many people as his team travels to competitions locally, nationally and internationally.

Cricket is a great way to develop a child's mind, body and spirit, helping to lay the foundation for a successful adult.

This is the fastest growing sport in various universities in Canada and United States. Since, this is game is getting so popular it may also be included in the Olympics soon.

Children aged 5 and over

Cricket is a game of group instruction thus, children aged 5 and over can begin to learn this game by participating in the United States Youth Cricket Association (USYCA). This game is played with a soft cricket ball to ensure the safety of the children.

Rules of the Game:

The basic rules of cricket are:

• 2 teams are required to play this game.
• Each team should have 11 players.
• The main goal of this game is to score more runs than the opposing team.
• One team fields while the other team is batting.
• There are 2 batsman on the field. Guarding each set of wickets.
• The fielding team bowls the cricket ball to the batsman. The batsman will hit the ball and run between wickets to score runs.
• Goal of the fielding team is to get the batsman out. While, the batsman will play strategically to defend himself and score runs for his team. Off each delivery, a batter can score 0 to 6 runs.
• If the ball is hit to the boundary along the ground, it is 4 runs. If the ball is hit over the boundary, it is worth 6 runs.

How to play this game:

1. There are 2 umpires to monitor the game.
2. There are 2 batsman from the batting team. One is the striker and the other is non-striker.
3. The fielding team has their 10 players all spread out on the ground so that they can catch the ball when the batter hits.
4. The 11th player is bowling.
5. The bowler will bowl a ball towards the striker while, the non-striker will stand alert on the other side of the wicket.
6. As soon as the striker can hit the bowler's ball, he will make an attempt to run towards the opposite wicket. The non-striker will run towards the other side of the wicket. They will cross each other on the cricket pitch and reach the opposite wicket. That will be considered 1 run.
7. They could continue to do so, until the ball comes near them.
8. Once, they see the ball is near them. They should stop or else they would be run-out since, the bowler will attempt to hit the wicket which is not guarded by the batsman and he will be OUT.
9. This play continues until all the 10 players of the batting team are OUT.
10. The teams switch their roles such as the batting team will field and the fielding team will bat.