The 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup kicked off on Thursday, with match play beginning this weekend. What are the rules to the game and how does it work? Let’s take a look.
If you weren’t aware, the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup began with the opening ceremonies at North Hagley Park in Christchurch, New Zealand. It was a festive event, as countries proudly showed off their colors and celebrated the official start of the sport’s biggest event.
While the sport of cricket and the Cricket World Cup may not be a needle mover in the United States, it is huge deal to just about everyone else.
In fact, Cricket is the second most popular sport in the world behind only soccer, with between 2-3 billion fans. Yes, billion. To the rest of us, cricket may seem like a bizarre version of baseball since we don’t understand the rules.
However, thanks to the lovely folks at the Worldwide Leader, we get an easy-to-understand video explaining the rules of the game.
Okay, that is a bit helpful.
The 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup will run from Feb. 14 through March 29. It is a round robin tournament to kick off match play, before an elimination round leading up to the final. In total, there will be 49 matches played during the Cricket World Cup, with 14 nations participating — England, South Africa, India, Australia, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, West Indies, Bangladesh, New Zealand, Zimbabwe, Ireland, Afghanistan, Scotland and the United Arab Emirates.
New Zealand and Australia are serving as the host countries.
The Cricket World Cup will begin match play on Feb. 14, with a double-header featuring the host nations. First, New Zealand will face Sri Lanka in Pool A play, before Australia and England go head-to-head.
The following day, Pool B will kickoff their matches, with South Africa vs. Zimbabwe and India vs. Pakistan.
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