| You
will need a table for your
playing surface, a ping pong
ball,a wicket, 4 or more
bendy drinking straws and
four or more players for
this breathtakingly cheap
game.
It
is probably best if you don't
use the highly polished dining
table that has been in the
family forever because you
will need to make some field
markings somehow.
About
Blow-off Cricket
The
game is based, loosely, on
indoor cricket but is an
individual game not a team
one.The 'bowler' tries to
hit the wicket by rolling
the ball toward it and the
'batsman' tries to stop it
hitting the wicket and also
get 'runs', by blowing through
the straw at the approaching
ball.Fielders are placed
around the table, with straws,
to attempt to stop the 'batsman'
getting any 'runs.'Let's
say that you have six players.
One player goes into bat
and the other five form the
fielding team.
Each of these five will take
turns to roll six balls down
to the batsman.
When the 30 balls are rolled
the batsman hands over the
position to the next player
in line until all players have
'had a bat'One point is lost
by any player, except the 'bowler'
during the roll, who touches
the ball with the body or the
straw.
- Set
up the playing field
(table) by placing a
'bowling line' about
30 cm (1 foot) in from
one end of the field
and placing a wicket
about 15 cm (6 inches)
in and in the centre,
at the other end.You
can use an old floppy
disk for the wicket,
or something of similar
size, laying down flat
on the table.
- Please
only use bendy drinking
straws with the little
end in your mouth because
when the game gets rough
you really don't want
the big end down your
throat, do you?
|
The
Rules of Blow-off Cricket
Batting
-
The
batsman stands behind
the wicket and attempts
to deflect the ball away
from the wicket by blowing
through the straw
-
The
batsman, that person
who, at any given time
is facing the bowler,
has to attempt to score
runs without getting
out.
-
Runs
are scored by the batsman
blowing the ball over
any of the front three
edges of the table (not
the batting edge)
-
The
batsman is 'out' if on
rolling the ball down
the bowler can hit the
wicket of the playing
batsman.
-
The
batsman faces six rolls
from each of the fielders
and then hands the position
over to the next player
in line until all players
have batted.
Scoring
-
To
score, the ball must
be Blown-off the edge
of the table by the batsman.
-
One
run (score) is achieved
for each time the ball
is blown over the side
boundaries on the batsman's
side of the bowling line,
4 runs are scored for blowing
the ball off either side
of the table beyond the
bowling line and 6 runs
for blowing the ball off
over the bowler's end of
the table.
-
Each
time a player is OUT
s/he loses 5 runs though
that player continues
for the full number of
overs allocated.
Bowling
-
Each
person on the fielding
team rolls for one over
of six rolls to each
batsman.
-
The
ball must be rolled by
the bowler flat on the
table and from behind
the bowling line
-
Chucks
not meeting this rule
are declared a no
roll resulting
in one run going to the
batsman and requiring
that roll be had again.
Getting
Out
-
If,
when playing the ball,
the batsman misses and
the ball hits his/her
wicket the batsman is
out.
-
when
a fielder blows the ball
to stop a run being scored,
after the batsman has
blown it, and it hits
the wicket the batsman
is out.
Fielding
-
The
fielding is done by all
players except the batsman.
-
Balls
can only be stopped or
deflected by blowing
through the straw.
-
Bearing
in mind the style and
ability of a batsman
the fielding team should
be placed to stop any
scoring blows.
|
