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10/12/1995 12:08:00 AM

Covering All the (Cricket) Bases

It's Not Quite Baseball, But Rice Club Members Are Still on the Ball

Kimberly Patrick Boetsch
Rice News Correspondent

Photo caption: Cricket is a complicated game, involving two teams of 11 players who try to score the most runs.

The Rice student stands with a ready pose, his eye on the ball, his bat ready to swing. Here comes the ball, thrown with dizzying force. He swings and hits. The ball goes flying as fielders rush to catch it.

But wait. The student hasn't dropped his bat. He's not running to first base. The fielders don't have gloves on, and there isn't a shortstop to relay the ball home.

This is not a baseball game. It's cricket, that weird pseudo-baseball game played by Englishmen in their white uniforms with unrecognizable bats. What are they doing out there, anyway?

Cricket has come a long way from its beginnings in an English field where country boys "bowled" (or pitched) a rock at a tree stump or threw it at the hurdle gate of a sheep pen.

More than 250 years old, the English sport of bats and balls, outfielders and bowlers probably influenced the inventors of the all -American game of baseball.

Crickett has evolved from an obscure country game to the national summer sport of England and an international sport that is followed by millions, including a few at Rice.

Although there aren't many cricket followers at Rice, some people do turn out for cricket matches. That makes Cricket Club Captain Shiva Kumar happy.

"We occasionally get people who are curious about the game, and they'll watch us play a match," he said. "But it's nothing like the enthusiasm in India, where people go crazy for cricket. It's the most popular sport there."

Kumar, a native of Madras, India, came to Rice several years ago to pursue his doctorate in civil engineering. A cricket player in his native country, he immediately joined the 20 to 25 people who belonged to the Rice Cricket Club.

Club President Sanjay Prasad, who is working on a master's in chemical engineering, played cricket while attending the Indian Institute of Technology in Kharagpur, India before coming to the United States in 1993.He has been a member of the club since coming to Rice in 1993 and was named president in May 1995. Also serving in the club are vice president Pallav Jain and treasurer Sushil Rijhwani.

The club members, while not part of an official Rice cricket team, play regular matches-once a week during the semester and twice weekly when classes are not in session. They occasionally play other universities in Texas and out of state.

"We've played the University of Texas at Austin, Texas A&M, the University of Houston and Tulane," said Kumar.

All the current players are from India and Pakistan, though past members from Australia and New Zealand have populated the club. Three Cricket Club members are women and some club members also play in the Cricket League of Houston.

Cricket is a complicated game, involving two teams of 11 players who try to score the most runs. Players use a small hard ball, much like a baseball, wrapped in red leather. The paddle-shaped bat is made of willow.

Players wear trousers and shirts. Only batsmen wear protective helmets and fielders use no gloves. The "wicketkeeper," like a baseball catcher, wears protective pads and a glove.

The game is played for one "innings" (always plural) which can last from one day to more than three days on the professional circuit. Two batsmen stand at each end of a playing area called a"pitch." At each end is a gate made of three upright stakes topped with two loose crosspieces called "bails."

The bowler, equivalent to a baseball pitcher, tries to throw the ball at the far wicket and knock the bails loose. The batsman's job is to guard the wicket and to score runs by hitting the ball out of the fielders' reach.

On a good hit, the batsman and his partner at the opposite end of the pitch exchange places up to six times by running and touching the opposite area near the wicket with their bats.

Fielders try to stop the runs and "dismiss" the batsman and his partner by throwing the ball at the wickets. The wicketkeeper stands behind the far wicket to stop balls returned by fielders, to watch that the batsman toes various boundary lines and to stop a ball that flies past the wicket.

Sounds fairly simple, right? Consider that there are 10 different ways to "dismiss" a batsman. The captain may decide to end the innings for various reasons. The batsman may decide to run when he gets a hit, or he may decide to stay. A bowler may run any number of paces before he releases the ball, but he can't cross the"popping crease" and he can't bend his elbow. And " you get the picture.

Cricket is a fascinating game with enough strategy and action to suit the most die-hard sports fan. To get a feel for the game loved by millions worldwide, catch a Cricket Club match just about any Saturday at Rice's field near Entrance No. 6. Who knows? You might find yourself cheering a favorite batsman.