When I “talk cricket” to my American friends, they either look confused or their eyes glaze over. You see, this country is split between those who’ve never watched it, and those who have and think it’s dull and ridiculous.

But cricket, which has more fans than any other sport in the world except soccer, is rarely boring or silly — honest! In fact, it’s hugely entertaining. But don’t take my word for it. Just ask the hundreds of millions of Indians who follow it, or the tens of millions of Pakistanis, or the millions of Australians, Bangladeshis, Brits, and South Africans.

For those new to the sport, the rules —and there are many — can be difficult to comprehend. With that in mind, always remember this: cricket is similar to baseball but the games are longer.

Here are some other basics:

Cricket is played between two teams of 11 players. One team bats and the other pitches (or bowls). The bowler tries to get the batsmen out by bowling the ball at and hitting the stumps — three sticks stuck in the ground. The “in” batsman attempts to defend the stumps by swinging a flat wooden bat at the ball. A run is scored if the batsman hits the ball and runs to where the bowler released it from. If the batsman hits it harder, and the ball runs off the field, that’s four runs; if it exits without bouncing, that’s six.

In addition to the ball hitting the stumps, a batsman can get out in a number of ways: He can be caught (like a fly out in baseball), run out (similar to being thrown out), and lbw (leg before wicket), whereby the ball hits the batsman’s legs and would have gone on to hit the stumps.

When 10 of the batsmen are out, the other team has a chance to bat. If they score more runs than their opponents (before their batsman get out), they win the game.  

Still with me? Good. Now, to complicate matters, not every game follows the same format. At international level, there are three variations: Twenty20, One-Day, and Test Cricket.  

In a Twenty20 game, each team bats for 20 overs (there are six throws, or balls, in an over). In a One-Day game, each teams bats for 50 overs. Test Cricket, on the other hand, lasts far longer — a game can go on for five days. Each team bats twice, and the batsmen, with time on their side, score slowly. And yes, I can see how people might find that tedious.

But most of the time, cricket is a whole lot of fun. A single ball can yield many different results, because there are many ways a bowler can bowl it (fast, swing, spin, etc.) and many ways a batsman can play it (the hook, the pull, the cut, and so on). That’s what makes it exciting; that and watching the top players. Current greats include the Indian Sachin Tendulkar, aka “The Little Master,” a quite brilliant batsman and possibly the most famous person you’ve never heard of.

Still unconvinced?  Well, you’ve come this far, so why not give cricket a chance. Catch a game in a local park or, better still, in cricket vernacular, pad up and head out to the middle. You might find it’s not nearly so boring as you thought.

Ed. Note: Originally from England, James Fergusson is the editor of the Mount Hope Monitor. He is often seen searching in vain for cricket matches on American television.