Cricket

By the end of the 18th century, cricket had developed to the point where it had become the national sport of England. Cricket is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players. 15 players are selected to form each "squad" and 11 players are selected from that squad. Each team has its own captain, multiple batsmen, multiple bowlers and other players acting as fielders. It is a bat-and-ball game played on a roughly elliptical grass field, in the centre of which is a flat strip, called a pitch.

First setting up the field
a) First of all, find an oval field to play on. The field should have a strip that runs down the field length wise, called the pitch. This is where the bowler will bowl the ball to the other team's striker. A boundary line should be clearly marked all around the field.
b) Mark the field with lines that indicate the creases. Marked should be the batting, return, popping and bowling creases.
c) Place the wickets on the field--one set behind the bowler and the other behind the striker. Each wicket has three stumps that stand side by side. At the top of the stumps are bails that connect the stumps.
d) Outfit the wicket keeper behind the striker with the gloves. He or she crouches behind the striker ready for the ball to be hit and is the only fielder that has gloves.
e) Start the game with a striker and a non-striker out on the field for the batting team. The striker is ready to be bowled to by standing in a batting position in front of the wicket ready to hit the ball.

Start to play the game
a) First toss a coin and the winner of the toss may choose to take the field or bat first. Cricket captains are the ones that make this and most of the decisions for the teams.
b) Bowl the ball to the striker, with usually one bounce before it reaches the striker. The bowler is trying to hit the wicket behind the striker to get him over.
c) Hit the ball and both the batsmen run to try to reach the opposite popping crease. When both successfully touch, by body or bat, the ground behind the opposite crease, a run is scored.
d) Score six runs by hitting the ball over the boundary with out touching the ground. If the ball reaches the boundary and touches the ground in doing so, the batting team is granted four runs. These runs are automatic unless the runners have scored more.
e) End an inning when ten of the batsmen are over, or the score required to meet is reached.

And now get an over
a) Get the striker over with six successive bowls that he has not hit and are all strikes. Un-hittable balls are not included in the six bowls. After the over, the bowler turns direction and pitches to the reverse side of the field.
b) Catch the ball in the air, while in the boundary, and the striker is out. Both feet of the fielder must be in the boundary. If the batsman touches the ball with his hand that is not touching the bat on purpose it is an over.
c) Break the wicket behind the bowler by direct hit from the bowler or reflected off the striker is an over. Also if a batsman touches or breaks a wicket with his body or equipment is an over.
d) 1. Reflect the ball with your body so it doesn't hit the wicker is called an over by the umpire.
2. Stumping the batsman is when the wicket-keeper gets the striker over by breaking the wicket when the striker steps outside of his crease while trying to play the ball.
3. Overs can happen if the next striker takes more than two minutes to appear on the field after the preceding wicket falls. Also if the striker it's the cricket ball twice while not defending the wicket.

The Most Popular Sports in America

How many popular sports does America have? The top five sports in my opinion do not reflect the views of other sports fans in America. It is important to note the history of these sports in America, the impact each sport has in our sporting culture and also some of the famous players that made these sports what they are today. Let's try to find it out!

1. American football began in the mid-late 1800's when players represented their college or university. The American football birthdates in the United States is commonly regarded as Nov. 6, 1869. American football is the most popular sport in America because it's exclusively played in America. American football's most famous tradition is the Super Bowl that started in 1935. The development of this nation-wide event brought Americans closer to the sport and arguably gave new meaning to the game. Today, the Super Bowl has the highest viewer ratings than any other television program in the country.

2. Baseball is the backbone to America's hardships during racial differences and political strife. It has been played longer than any other popular sport in America. During times of war and racial prejudices in America, baseball overcame these issues and became a sport American's knew would never stop being played. Ted Williams, one of Baseball's greatest players, was the last player to hit .400 in 1941. He hit over 500 home runs and is known to have one of the sweetest swings in the history of baseball.

3. Basketball is a game that nearly 300 million people play worldwide today. In America, it is one of the most popular sports, but is also a very popular sport in other countries as well. America and Russia are two countries that hold basketball to a high level of popularity. Players from Russia and surrounding countries are playing in the NBA. It is a culturally diverse sport and opening up new doors for foreign athletes to excel in an American- based sport.

4. Hockey is not an American-based sport, but people in America understand that hockey is one of the most popular sports in America. The continent's first hockey league was supposedly launched in Kingston, Ontario, in 1885, and it included four teams. A sport richly influenced by Canadian athletes, the game of hockey has transcended into America and become a popular sport for teenagers and young adults that enjoy playing street hockey, a similar version to traditional hockey on ice. Similar to basketball, hockey is a very popular sport in Russia.

5. Golf is one of America's most popular sport for one reason alone Tiger Woods. He has taken over the world of golf and also advertising. His phenomenal talent has inspired many African American's to play the game today. His statement to America is that it doesn't matter what color you are when it comes to playing a sport. He's a quintessential role model for young teenagers and a sporting icon for golfers in America.

Women's Soccer and Football

Women's soccer and football is very similar to the men's game with the same skills and techniques being required. Fitness, close control and other skills are just as important in women's football as in the men's game. One of the main differences is that women's soccer uses less of the long ball tactic, and requires shorter passes to build an attack.

Women's soccer is thriving throughout the UK with local leagues in all parts of the country. It is particularly popular in North America where soccer is equally popular amongst girls as boys.

Learn How To Play Soccer

In order to play soccer you will need to learn several different skills. In other words, knowing how to kick a ball properly will not be enough if you are aiming for higher goals.

To learn how to play soccer you will need to study 13 main skills. The thing is that these skills will come naturally while you are learning other skills. For example, while practicing on your passing skills you will also indirectly improve your accuracy and power. This will help you gain better shooting skills without even practicing on that particular skill.

One thing you should keep in mind is that you always need to work hard and do your best no matter if it is a regular practice or a competition final. Only in this way you will be able to succeed as a soccer player.

Soccer Skills

Some important skills you need to know in order to play soccer game.
1. Rules
2. Passing
3. Shooting
4. Dribbling
5. Heading
6. Formations
7. Positions
8. Kicking
9. Nutrition
10. Fitness
11. Tactics
12. Receiving
13. Trapping

1. Rules
To learn how to play soccer you will need to know some basic rules. There are countless variations on the soccer rules but you will generally only need to learn 18 of these. These 18 rules are often referred as laws of the game. By experience that memorizing the rules is not something you can do immediately. Instead, you will need to learn them while playing soccer. In this way you will be able to associate the rules with different situations on the field which will help you remember the rules better.

2. Passing
To play soccer you need to know how to pass the ball. If you don’t know how to do it then you will not be able to know how to play soccer. The first passing skill you should learn is to pass the ball by using the inside of your foot. This is the most basic and frequently used passing method in soccer. After some practice you will know exactly how to make an accurate and powerful pass. However, in order to become a passing master you will need to spend countless hours on the soccer field.

3. Shooting

As you already know, in order to score goals you will need to know how to shoot. If you don’t know how to fire an accurate and powerful shoot you will not be able to score many goals. The best thing you can do is to practice on your shooting skills by using both of your feet. In this way you will be able to shoot from all possible positions which will give you a big advantage over your opponents. While learning how to shoot you should not primarily focus on striking the ball with great power. It is more important to concentrate on hitting the goal. It doesn’t matter if you have world’s most powerful shoot if you don’t know how to control the ball. When you are near the 18 yard box you will often only need to place the ball near posts without using great power.

4. Dribbling

Dribbling is also one of the funniest skills to learn. However, dribbling is not just about learning how to get past your opponent, it is much more than that. In order to call yourself a good dribbler you need to know when to dribble. You should for example never dribble on your own side of the field. However, if you are near your opponents’ 18 yard box then trying some dribbling moves would be a good idea.You need to share the ball with the rest of your team. If you dribble every time you receive the ball you can be pretty sure that your teammates will stop passing it to you after a while. So, feel free to dribble, but only in right situations.

5. Heading

To beat your opponents in the air you will need to learn how to head a ball properly. It is important to learn the correct way of heading directly from the beginning. You should always head the ball by using your forehead because this is the strongest part or your head. Sometimes many beginners tend to head the ball by using the top of the head. This way of heading will not only add little power to the ball, it will also give you an unpleasant headache. Once you learn how to head the ball properly you can go on with other heading techniques.

6. Formations

A formation describes how you and the rest of your teammates are placed on the soccer field. While learning how to play soccer I recommend you not to put much effort in learning different tactics and formations. It is more important to learn the proper way of passing or shooting then knowing your offensive and defensive duties in a 4-4-2 or 4-4-3 formation. However, if you want to achieve bigger goals then just learning how to play soccer with your friends on the backyards then mastering different formations will be a must.

7. Positions

To learn how to play soccer you will need to study different soccer positions. The first standing player in the front of the goalie is called a defender. Your main duty when playing as a defender is to prevent your opponents from getting past you. If you want to play as defender you will need to pose good heading and passing skills, be able to read the game and also be prepared to work hard. The players in front of the defense line are called midfielders. While playing as midfielder you should provide your forwards with quality passes, participate in the offense game and support your defenders. There are three types of midfielders.

The first one is called an offensive midfielder which means playing higher upon the field. The second type of midfielder is called defensive and has more responsibility in defense. The third and last types of midfielders are playing at the flank and they can also be more defensive or offensive depending on the tactic.

The two players in front of the midfield line are called forwards or centers. The main difference between a forward and center is that a forward is generally faster than a center while centers are good target players. This means that midfielders can often pass the ball into space and let the forwards chase it while strikers needs to get the ball on their bodies.

8. Kicking

Learning how to kick a soccer ball is not the same as learning how to shoot. There are seven different types of soccer kicks. These are: free kick, indirect kick, penalty kick, goal kick, corner kick, bicycle/overhead kick and instep/lofted kick. The most acrobatic and dangerous kick of all mentioned above is the bicycle or over head kick. A bicycle kick should not be the first kick to learn as you could injure yourself seriously.

9. Nutrition

Many amateurs players tend to forget the importance of a well balanced diet. This is what separates the winners from losers. Simply, it doesn’t matter how good you are at soccer if you don’t eat right food.

10. Fitness

To learn how to play soccer you will need to have a solid fitness level. During a regular soccer game you will usually spend 88 minutes chasing the ball and only 2 minutes with having the ball at your feet. Good fitness level will also give you a big advantage on your opponents. If you are a good runner you will often play well both in defense and offense. It will also be much harder to mark you as you will be sprinting up, down, left and right. However, if you have poor fitness level you will get tired pretty fast and the opponents will not have any problems with marking you.

11. Tactics

There are countless tactics in soccer and knowing them all is not necessary. But, if you want to play in a soccer team you will need to learn some basic offense and defense tactic skills. These may include possession of the ball, long ball crosses, man to man marking, zonal marking etc. Soccer tactics should not be your primary goal while learning how to play soccer. However, after a while or so you should try to put little more effort and study the above mentioned tactics.

12. Receiving

It doesn’t matter how good passing skills you have if you don’t know how to receive the ball. While learning how to play soccer, you will need to learn several different receiving techniques. However, the most important one is receiving the ball by using the inside of your foot. While playing a regular soccer game you will generally have little time to put the ball under control. So the first touch on the ball is crucial in order to gain advantage on your opponents.

13. Trapping

This is another skill you will need to learn as soccer player. Trapping can be made with any part of your body but you will generally use your feet, thighs and chest to trap the ball. However, some very skillful players like Ronaldinho are able to trap the ball by using their back.