Well, look, if it helps keep your mind off things, it goes like this:
The wickets are 22 yards apart. The 22 yards is however measured from the crease, which is a line drawn some distance in front of the wicket at each end. A batsman has to have his foot on or behind the crease to be "in" when the wicket is broken. If the wicket is broken (that is, if the bails are lifted - and at least one falls to the ground, irrespective of the positioning of the stumps) when a batsman is "out of his ground" (foot or other part of the body not on or behind the crease) then the batsman is out. Mr Tallboys and Nicola both "break" the relevant wicket by throwing the ball at it from some distance out in the field, before the batsman can make his or her ground.
The more conventional cricketing move would be to throw to the wicket-keeper who should have moved to stand behind the wicket, leaving the wicket-keeper to sweep the bails off with the ball in his/her gloves, thus breaking the wicket. However, both Mr Tallboys and Nicola choose the riskier move, by throwing dead at the wicket to save time.
A run is scored when the two batsmen have passed, and each made their ground at each end (without the wicket being broken). In a run-out, the person out is the person running to the broken wicket after the cross, or the person behind whom the wicket is broken if they have not crossed (so it can and often is the other batsman's fault if he spots an incipient run-out and either presses on to cross or (usually) dodges back).
One can be out bowled (wicket broken behind one by the ball passing one's bat and person and breaking the wicket - sometimes deflected on by bat or person - as in "he padded up to that and played on"), caught (ball having touched bat or forearm holding bat is caught before touching the ground), leg before wicket (too complicated to explain here - would have been bowled had you not put leg in way), run out (as explained; wicket broken while out of ground), stumped (wicket broken behind one while out of ground too far forward), hit ball twice (self-explanatory), deliberately obstructing the field (ditto), timed out (too long getting to field of play), handled ball (another obscure one) and one other I can't remember at the moment.
There can only be ten people out before the whole team is out, because one always has to have two batsmen on the field at any one time. So - 10-0 means ten runs, no-one out. 40-1 means forty runs, one wicket. 42-3 means 42 runs, three wickets down. So 250-1 is brilliant; 250-9 is dire. So that's why in The Cricket Term the fact that Nicola and Lawrie have that opening stand really matters.
no subject
The wickets are 22 yards apart. The 22 yards is however measured from the crease, which is a line drawn some distance in front of the wicket at each end. A batsman has to have his foot on or behind the crease to be "in" when the wicket is broken. If the wicket is broken (that is, if the bails are lifted - and at least one falls to the ground, irrespective of the positioning of the stumps) when a batsman is "out of his ground" (foot or other part of the body not on or behind the crease) then the batsman is out. Mr Tallboys and Nicola both "break" the relevant wicket by throwing the ball at it from some distance out in the field, before the batsman can make his or her ground.
The more conventional cricketing move would be to throw to the wicket-keeper who should have moved to stand behind the wicket, leaving the wicket-keeper to sweep the bails off with the ball in his/her gloves, thus breaking the wicket. However, both Mr Tallboys and Nicola choose the riskier move, by throwing dead at the wicket to save time.
A run is scored when the two batsmen have passed, and each made their ground at each end (without the wicket being broken). In a run-out, the person out is the person running to the broken wicket after the cross, or the person behind whom the wicket is broken if they have not crossed (so it can and often is the other batsman's fault if he spots an incipient run-out and either presses on to cross or (usually) dodges back).
One can be out bowled (wicket broken behind one by the ball passing one's bat and person and breaking the wicket - sometimes deflected on by bat or person - as in "he padded up to that and played on"), caught (ball having touched bat or forearm holding bat is caught before touching the ground), leg before wicket (too complicated to explain here - would have been bowled had you not put leg in way), run out (as explained; wicket broken while out of ground), stumped (wicket broken behind one while out of ground too far forward), hit ball twice (self-explanatory), deliberately obstructing the field (ditto), timed out (too long getting to field of play), handled ball (another obscure one) and one other I can't remember at the moment.
There can only be ten people out before the whole team is out, because one always has to have two batsmen on the field at any one time. So - 10-0 means ten runs, no-one out. 40-1 means forty runs, one wicket. 42-3 means 42 runs, three wickets down. So 250-1 is brilliant; 250-9 is dire. So that's why in The Cricket Term the fact that Nicola and Lawrie have that opening stand really matters.