Has the other side batted yet? If so, how many runs did they get? Is it a one-innings match or two? Is the game limited as to the number of overs that can be bowled? In a 5-day test match 236-5 in your first innings is an OK performance not great, but it will do. Is that good or bad? Well, it depends on the state of the game. So one team has 236 runs and has lost 5 wickets. With a baseball score of 5-2 it is very clear which team is on top, but if you follow cricket you have to work things out for yourself. Note immediately that this is different from just about any other sport in the world, because it does not tell you who is winning. (Australians, because they live upside down, will write the same score as 5-236). A cricket score is generally expressed in the form of 236-5, meaning that the team batting has 236 runs and has lost 5 wickets. The most important thing is, of course, the overall score in the game.
But, just as not everyone who follows baseball knows how to read a box score, the numbers pumped out by cricket commentators have a jargon of their own and need a little explanation at times. It is also a game with a long history, and much time is spent talking about great players of the past. Like baseball (and gridiron), cricket is a game that is obsessed with statistics.
