評論
打印
When you hear the word cricket, what do you think of first?
當你聽到cricket這個單詞時，你首先會想到什么？
A small, chirping insect?
一種小小的，喳喳叫的蟲子？
Or a summer sport between players in white trousers and woollen jerseys who stop for a 20-minute tea break in the afternoon?
還是穿著白褲和毛衣的選手們玩的一種夏日運動—這種運動在下午時會有20分鐘的午茶休息時間？
The chances are, if you're in England, India or Australia,you'll be thinking of the latter,where the sport is watched, played and adored by millions.
如果你在英國，印度和澳大利亞，你很可能會想到后者，因為在那里有數百萬人觀看，參加和熱愛這項運動。
But in many other parts of the world the sport is virtually unknown.
然而，實際上在世界上其他很多地區，人們對這項運動還知之甚少。
Many outsiders are put off by its complicated laws,unintelligible terms,and mind-boggling statistics.
很多門外漢因其復雜的規則，難懂的術語和令人驚訝不解的數據而失去興趣。
With games that last for days or even weeks and scores that look more like share prices than sports results,how do we begin to understand this game?
這項運動會一連持續數天甚至數周，其比分更像股票價格，而不是賽事結果，對此，我們怎樣才能了解這項運動呢？
Well in its most basic form cricket is a bat and ball game,not unlike baseball in that it involves two teams of players:
從板球最基本的形式來看，它就是一種用球板和球進行的比賽，跟棒球差不多，也需要兩組球員:
one batting and the other bowling and fielding.
一組球員擊球，另一組球員投球和接球。
Like football, both teams have 11 players.
跟足球一樣，兩組各有11名隊員。
When bowling, the aim is to hit the wicket,while the batsman tries to defend it and hit the ball far away to win runs.
投球員投球時，目標是擊中三柱門，而擊球員則要防守好自己的三柱門，為贏得比分還要把球遠遠地擊出去。
If the bowler hits the wicket then the batsman is out,and the next one from the 11 in the batting team takes his place.
如果投球員擊中了三柱門，那么攻方的擊球員就出局了，并由攻方11名隊員中的下一位補上。
When they are all out the batting side's total runs are added up and the teams swap sides until the second side is also all out.
當攻方隊員全部出局之后，該隊的全部得分便累加起來，然后雙方攻守互換，當另一方也全部出局之后，比賽結束。
Whoever has the most runs at the end wins.
哪一隊得分最多，哪一隊就是最后的贏家。
Simple? Well, that's just a taster.
簡單嗎？不過，那才剛剛入門。
If you're interested there's a whole world of cricket out there,with its leg-before-wickets, silly mid-ons and doosras.
如果你對板球運動感興趣的話，還有很多東西需要你了解呢，如擊球員違規用腿截球，右外野手低級失誤和投旋轉球。
And if learning the finer points of cricket sounds like hungry work,you can always take comfort from the fact it's the only sport where lunch and tea are formally included in the order of play.
如果學習板球的細節像一份使人容易饑餓的工作，那么你總可以從這項運動中得到安慰，那就是在所有運動中，它是唯一一個在比賽過程中允許享用午餐和下午茶的運動。
