Hundreds of millions of people around the world are crazy about cricket. And most of them are indifferent to other sports. Thanks to them, cricket confidently ranks second in popularity in the world after football and, in terms of the number of loyal fans, confidently overtakes all other team games - from baseball to hockey.

And although cricket is almost unknown outside the former British Empire, in countries with a total population of about 2 billion people, it is a religion. They have heard about Messi and, perhaps, have an idea of ​​who Pele is. But in the hearts forever - Sachin Tendulkar and Ricky Ponting, and in the Instagram feed - Virat Koli and Joe Ruth.

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India captain Koli confidently pushes Bollywood stars to the top of the popularity rankings and earns $ 25 million a year as Liverpool's top scorer Mo Salah.

Ex-captain Sachin has a status close to divine in India. And the former leader of the Pakistani national team, Imran Khan, now leads the entire country as prime minister. Australia mints coins with a portrait of the legendary Don Bradman, and the British queen knights former English captain Alistair Cook.

England became world champion for the first time in July's mega-dramatic final in the homeland of cricket, London's Lords ArenaSource

For the right to broadcast the English Championship, TV channels have laid out a record $ 1.5 billion. Tickets for good seats start at $ 100, while tickets go up to several thousand for an important match.

It looks like there is something in this game, since it captured the hearts of a third of the world's population. For the remaining two-thirds, the BBC Russian Service attempted to answer a few awkward questions about cricket.

Cricket and croquet are different things?

Croquet is played mainly by retirees at their leisure, driving balls into the hoop with wooden mallets. Like on the Queen's lawn in Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland.

Cricket is fought in teams in stadiums in front of tens of thousands of spectators. (About the rules - just below.)

A cricket bat is one and a half times heavier than a baseball bat. A ball thrown by a pro flies at a speed of 150 km / h, and a world-class player is able to hit it back a hundred meters. This is a serious sport that requires protective equipment, top-notch refereeing and extensive training.

To put it bluntly, croquet is a poor relative of golf. Cricket is the big brother of baseball.

One-day matches often end in the dark

A classic series of five test matches, in which two separate teams regularly sort things out among themselves, takes up to one and a half months.

This has advantages. At least, at the amateur level, playing cricket goes well with a picnic in the park all day long. And the spectators of the professional match are always guaranteed entertainment from morning to evening.

But there are also disadvantages. Firstly, not every fan will find so much free time and understanding in the family. Secondly, not every TV channel will risk such volumes of airtime.

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Thirdly, sports bars, cafes and pubs prefer to lure visitors with broadcasts of other sports, more dynamic and shorter. Even in India, the English Football Premier League is gaining popularity.

Fourth, because of the awkward format, cricket has been left out of the Olympic Games since 1900. Finally, it is killing amateur sports - the forge of talent. In small and rural clubs, there are fewer and fewer people willing to spend every second day off on cricket.

Therefore, in recent years, cricket has been trying to shake off the age-old slumber and be reborn from an imposing sport dedicated to a dynamic spectacle for everyone. Instead of five-day tests, national teams and clubs now mainly meet in three new one-day formats.

The shortest (English novelty The Hundred) is limited to a hundred throws of the ball per team and can be as long as a football match. The most common (T20) - 120 balls each, lasts about three hours. And the serious format of the World Championship (ODI) - 300 goals per team. This game usually takes all day.

And why are they all in white, or multicolored? And their ball is either red or white?

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Sworn enemies in the same uniform: Englishman Alistair Cook (left) and Australian Ricky Ponting (with a bat) fight for "Ashes" (about which below) in 2010

The multi-day tests are played in a traditional white uniform. And a red ball. This has been the custom since time immemorial.

But one-day matches are already in the form of national or club colors, and the ball is white. Red was rejected, and here's why.

Unlike the tests, where at dusk the game simply stops to resume the next morning, one-day matches have to be played out. For this, one of the main cricket taboos - artificial lighting - was removed.

A white ball is seen better under spotlights and against the night sky than a red one.

What if it rains?

This is not the only problem. There are also bees.

The match is suspended during the rain. The field is covered, and special machines pump out water from the lawn and its central playing part - a pitch, the preparation of which requires special skills and patience.

In one-day matches, if the rain does not end before the evening, then the game is declared futile. But not always: if enough goals are played in the second half of the match, the result is determined by a complex formula developed by the English mathematician Tony Lewis.

It not only extrapolates the points already scored, but also takes into account the behavioral features of one-day cricket, for example, the fact that at the end of the match batsmen are more prone to risky and effective strikes, while bowlers, on the contrary, get tired.

Bees in the stadiumSource

Bees are another reason to interrupt the match. The invasion of the swarm on the site is not uncommon. The referees pause the game, everyone falls on the lawn and does not rise until the bees lose interest and go home.

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