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Bemused and baffled by cricket? Puzzled by what is a googly? Stupefied by Silly-Mid On? And why on earth does the bowler rub the ball on his groin? The great universal questions pale into insignificance compared to these elusive mysteries. But before we dwell on these imponderables perhaps it's wise to explain in rudimentary terms, what cricket actually is.

A cricket match is contested between two opposing sides each of eleven players. When one side is in, the other side is out, and it is the job of the "out" side to get the "in" side out. This is achieved by dismissing the batsmen by several methods.

When a side is batting it is called an "innings", and will last as long as each batsman can hold his wicket. Unless that is, if they hold their innings for quite a long period and score an extremely high number of runs, in which case the captain will "declare" or forfeit the remainder of his innings. It's a tactical decision, and he is hoping the opposition will not be able to match his side's number of runs in the available number of overs. Failure to declare can result in the match drawn, even though one side has more runs than another.

See, it's all quite simple! When a batsman is bowled out, a new batsman goes in. When both sides have been in and out, they do it all over again, and this is called the second innings.

Eventually, if all goes to the wire, only one batsman will remain, who will not be allowed to bat on his own - he's the last man standing. This last man, however, may not necessarily be the eleventh or last man who went in to bat. Indeed, the last man standing could have been one of the first men in, if he was never out.

Still with it? Right. Time for some explanations. Two innings per side will occur in international test matches. A test lasts for five days. Up to five tests can be played over several weeks, called the First to the Fifth Test respectively, when the event is hosted by one country, whose opponent is another (the tourists). Whilst many matches may result in a grand trophy, England and Australia play each other every two years for a small urn of cremated wooden bails from 1882 -The Ashes - which is a prize more sought than any silver or gold cup.

The five test 2009 Ashes Series begins on July 8th in Cardiff, with the second test at Lords (the home of cricket and the Marylebone Cricket Club - MCC), and the third and fourth tests at Edgbaston and Headingley, with the fifth test culminating at the Oval in south London between the 20th

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