What is strike in cricket

The word “strike” has a large number of meanings. But if we are talking about cricket, then this term refers to the position that a batsman takes, standing face to face with a bowler, opposite the second batsman.

What is strike in cricket

So, most often, this term refers to the position on the field occupied by one of the batting team players.

What position a player should take in cricket is strictly determined by the rules. The term striker refers to the first batsman who guards the team’s wicket against the encroachments of the bowler. When preparing to repel a hit, he must take a position so that at least one foot remains behind the popping crease. This particular position is called strike.

In cricket, you can often hear such expressions as:

• “Keep the strike” – this means that the player asks on the last serve in the over to organize a run to meet the first serve at the strike position.
• “Farm (Shepherd) the strike” (the same – “farm the bowling”) – is a situation when the first batsman hits a larger number of balls served compared to the second batsman with whom he is paired on the field. This is usually the case when this batsman is much stronger than his teammate. The result is that a strong batsman makes an even number of runs (for example, only 2, although he could have made 3). The strategy is to stay in the strike position, covering the weaker batsman, who probably will not be able to resist the bowler’s attack otherwise and will be knocked out.
• “On strike” – means a situation when the batsman is currently ready to meet the bowler’s serve, being at the right point of the field.
• “Rotate the strike” – this expression means the game’s strategy when after each serve, the players try to make an odd number of runs to switch places for the next serve. Rotation ensures that both batsmen if they are equally strong, have time to recover and repel the bowler’s attacks most effectively and for a long time. This strategy is the opposite of the “shepherd the strike” strategy.
  

Strike: related terms

So, a player with a bat who takes the strike position and prepares to repel the attack of the bowler of the opposing team is called a striker. In contrast, a batsman who stands next to an opponent’s wicket at the bowling end during an inning is called a non-striker. Both batsmen are at different ends of the field at the same time. When it’s time for a run, the batsmen switch places to earn runs for their team.

In addition, the term strike and its derivatives can be found in the following cricket terms:

1. Strike bowler is an attacking player of the batting team, whose main task is to serve balls, trying to destroy the wicket or otherwise knock out the batsman. The opposite of such a player is a fieldsman, whose task is to prevent the batting team from earning runs.
2. Strike rate– this term can be understood in two meanings, as a number determined by the number of runs scored by the batsman relative to the number of balls. In relation to a bowler, this term means the number of throws that a player needs to make before he takes a wicket.

Strike rate in cricket: one of the most important statistical indicators

As we wrote above, this term is ambiguous, and its exact meaning depends on which player it describes: a batsman or a bowler.

• If we are talking about a batsman, the strike rate is a figure that is equal to the average number of runs that a batsman has earned, divided by every 100 balls that he returns. As a rule, this indicator is high for aggressive players who seek to score runs at any cost and low – for those who prefer to play carefully. For example, a player earned 123 runs in 93 serves in one inning. Dividing the number of runs by the number of innings, we get 1.322. After that, we multiply this number by 100 – 132.2. This number will be his indicator, will determine his place in the rating of other players.
• If we are talking about a bowler, the strike rate is a figure that is equal to the average number of innings that a player makes before he knocks out a batsman. For example, a bowler took two wickets in an inning, playing 11 overs. There are 66 serves in 11 overs. Thus, our bowler made 66 serves and took three wickets. Dividing the number of serves by the number of wickets, we get 22. This will be the bowler’s rating in the innings.

As a rule, the strake rate is calculated after the end of a player’s career to determine his place in the ranking of bowlers or batsmen in a certain format of cricket matches. For example, in the test format, the following players take first place.

• George Lohmann (England) – first place in the Best career strike rate rating. His score is 34.1. In 3830 serves, he took 112 wickets. He entered the cricket field at the end of the XIX century and is still considered one of the best bowlers of all time.
• Umesh Yadav (India) – first place in the ranking of the Highest strike rate in an innings. His indicator is 34.1. At the moment, he continues his career, holding this record.

The strike rate can be calculated for a match, for a season, or for a player’s entire career.