Cricket, although loved by millions of people, is not one of the easiest sports to underst

and. Indeed, the game has lots of subtle【66】______(complex) , and it’s probably fair to say that cricket fans tend to be quite proud of them.

The sport【67】______(originate) in England and spread to many parts of the former British 【68】Em______, hence its popularity today in countries such as Australia (the current world champions) , New Zealand, India, Pakistan, South Africa, and many of the islands of the Caribbean.

You could perhaps【69】des______cricket as being a little like baseball, but cricket fans probably wouldn’t appreciate the comparison as they tend to see their game as much more【70】soph______.

The basic facts of cricket are that it is played on a roughly oval-shaped grass field (usually at least 50% bigger than the average football pitch) by two teams of eleven players who take it in turns to "bat" and to "field".

The batting team has two of its players on the pitch at any one time, and the【71】obj______of these "batsmen" is to score as many "runs" as possible. To score runs the batsman uses a【72】______(wood) bat (heavier than a baseball bat, with a wider end) to hit the ball (slightly bigger than a tennis ball, but made of【73】lea______and therefore heavier) that is【74】______(throw) by the member of the fielding team known as the "bowler". Unlike in baseball, the bowler has to make the ball bounce off the pitch before it reaches the batsman.

The bowler tries to get the batsman "out" , which usually happens in one of three ways; if the ball hits the "wicket" (three vertical pieces of wood, about seventy centimeters high) that the batsman stands in front of; if the batsman uses his leg【75】in______of his bat to block a ball that would have hit the wicket; or if one of the members of die fielding team【76】cat______the ball, after the batsman has hit it.

When ten of a team’s players are out, or when the bowling team has thrown the ball a certain number of times, it is the other team’s turn to bat. The team that scores more runs is the【77】w______.

The longest cricket【78】ma______last for five days, and it’s undeniable that these games can be rather slow—they’re certainly a long way from the non-stop action of basketball, for【79】e______. However, faster-moving matches,【80】______(last) one day or just a few hours, are also very popular.

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