Week 04 - Entry 04

The game I decided to learn about from Mr. Animate was Blind Cricket. Blind Cricket is a modified version of the normal game of Cricket, which has been modified to assist those who are partially or fully blind players. Each team has 7 players, and is balanced with the other in terms of the number of blind or partially blind athletes. The objective of Blind Cricket, is similar to baseball (or regular cricket), in that the team that scores the most runs wins, while the bowling side tries to bowl the hitting team out.  A run is when the batter hits the ball and the 2 batsman at each wicket successfully run to the other (opposite) end. A few differences in blind cricket is that they use a significantly larger ball than the original game, the bowlers give audible cues such as yelling "play" before they are about to bowl. and the ball must bounce a minimum number of times depending on the level of blindness of the batter. (once for partially blind and twice for fully blind.) 

I believe that Blind Cricket uses forms of Competitive Play, Cooperative Play, Skill-Based Play, and Experience-Based Play. In terms of Competitive play, one team comes out on top while the other loses. The teams play to win but due to the high stakes or competitiveness on the game, one will come out on top if they want it more.

Cooperative play can be seen in Blind Cricket as well. Teammates cooperate with each other to make strategies or techniques that will help them outsmart or outplay the opposing team. They may not bat together or bowl together within the game, but teammates will always cooperate with each other in more ways than being immediately by each others side.

I believe skill-based play and experience based play are more or less the same when talking about them in terms of the game of blind cricket. Skill can be formed and tuned through experience, and in turn the more skills you pick up and practice, the more experience you will earn.  Skills are always popping in and out of games throughout time and Blind Cricket players are guaranteed to learn different styles or techniques that may assist them during their games. Though the experience that I am talking about isn't exactly what Macklin writes of in the summary of "Experience-Based Play", I believe that game or play experience in sports is extremely important. Someone who has much more experience playing or practicing the game will have a better understanding than someone like you or I, who reads about the game and attempts to try it out for the first time.

Bennett Foddy talks about how sports are dramatic due to the stakes, and although Blind Cricket may have decently high stakes, such as tournaments it is not as dramatic because of the lack of spectators. A lot of people do not see it to be exciting and therefore do not attend these games. Many people (like you and I) probably didn't know it existed until today. That being said, I still believe that playing well makes these players feel proud as Foddy mentions at around 9:55 in the Making it Matter video.