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Cricket is not something you 'like', Detective Sergeant. Cricket is a religion.
— Detective Inspector Thomas Lynley, The Inspector Lynley Mysteries, "Playing for the Ashes"
This is not an attempt to describe how cricket is played: refer to Cricket Rules for that, and despair. Instead you'll find here a brief history and background to cricketing tropes as used in fiction. In the interests of being understandable to people who don't know what cricket is (Americans), baseball / softball terms are used for explanations.
Cricket originated in England and spread as one of the more benevolent exports of The British Empire, today mostly played in the countries of The Commonwealth. It is not a game associated with whites (any more): cricket is immensely popular in post-colonial India, Pakistan, the Caribbean, and post-apartheid South Africa. In North America cricket is played in the more English bits of Canada, some older cities such as Philadelphia, and even, supposedly due to Indian IT workers, in Silicon Valley. Raymond Chandler, British-educated author of quintessential Americana, was a useful bowler of leg-breaks while at Dulwich College. Despite jokes about Americans fighting a war to get away from cricket-lovers, the game was quite popular in the United States until around the time of the Civil War, and in fact, the first official international cricket match was played between the USA and Canada in 1844. Anecdotal evidence even suggests that George Washington himself was a cricket enthusiast! (Although the game may in fact be indirectly responsible for America declaring independence: King George II's son Frederick died from being hit on the head with a cricket ball, resulting in George III's accession to the throne)
Cricket in Western fiction at least is always associated with traditional English values of decency, fair play, and the Stiff Upper Lip. If someone is described as a cricket player or fan, that implies civilised middle to upper class behaviour, in contrast to those dreadful soccer fans who spend the match beating each other up. Pass the tea and scones.
Cricket does not have class barriers, even in Victorian Britain. Lord Peter Wimsey can take the field alongside the village blacksmith and nobody will raise an eyebrow. On the field all are equal, and if a working class fast bowler takes the opportunity to bruise a few noble ribs, it's just a game old chap, no hard feelings. Cricket has generally followed society on race issues rather than lead, although both Australia and England refused to play against apartheid era South Africa in the 1970s and 1980s.
His Lordship, of course, will not be paid for playing even if other members of his team are. English cricket distinguished between amateurs and professionals until post WWII. Even today cricketers do not get paid nearly as much as star players in most other sports, although the new IPL 20/20 competition is changing this.
Cricket has a somewhat odd attitude to physical force. It is accepted, even expected, that the faster bowlers (pitchers) can within some limits try to hit the batsman in groin, body, or head. And the batsman won't get a free run for being hit, either. But any other physical contact, or conduct that might cause injury, is Not Cricket.
Specialist batsmen have the highest status in cricket rather than the more hard-working and usually less glamorous bowlers (specialist pitchers). Like baseball or softball, fielding in cricket involves standing around in the hot sun waiting for a ball to come in your direction, but for much longer periods of hours or even days. In both England and India, aristocratic batsmen were reputed to command their servants to perform their fielding duties for them.
The English firmly believe that they play cricket in a more chivalrous and genteel manner than anyone else, and hence can be excused for being beaten by more aggressive foreigners. As one might expect in international sport, this is despite England producing a number of successful cricket captains who were every bit as ruthless and conniving as their counterparts elsewhere. True English fans will dismiss the likes of Douglas Jardine as unrepresentative exceptions.
England and Australia have a century old cricketing rivalry for The Ashes. Matches between India and Pakistan, two countries which were at war as recently as 1971, are also Serious Business.
Despite a rich history and widespread popularity, cricket rarely plays a significant part in books and almost never in film or TV. This is because it takes so damn long for anything to happen. A first class cricket match, equivalent to a US NFL or MLB game, or a European soccer league match, is played over four days of six to ten hours each. International (Test) matches are five days. The one-day form (guess why it's called that) is not taken as seriously by players and many fans, and the newer and more accelerated 20/20 cricket in which a match "only" takes three hours is considered by many as proof of civilisation descending into barbarism. Cricket is therefore used in the background or as a personal trait to convey atmosphere and character rather than being the focus.
In the UK, it's said that the best way to watch the cricket is to mute the TV and turn on the radio. This is because of Test Match Special, which is essentially regular sports commentary crossed with Last of the Summer Wine. Given the nature of the sport, you'll likely hear the commentators passing the time with such subjects as various flavours of scones, matches from decades ago, and the species of the bird that's walking across the field. It's an experience like no other.
A few cricketing names and expressions will be recognised everywhere cricket is played, although to anyone else they will probably be taken for Stock British Phrases.
Howzat?
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