From my limited exposure to the sport, it is a sort of, kind of, like USA baseball. Hit a ball with a stick. From there, I am totally lost. I would do a Wiki search, but probably end up more confused than ever.
In layman’s terms, what is going on here.
(I enjoy watching, but am totally clueless about it).
One team bats, and tries to score. The other team fields and tries to stop them from scoring. And get the batters out.
Then the teams change over. The other side bats and tries to score.
Team with most runs wins.
Unless it’s England in a World Cup Final.
In really abstract terms, that is exactly what is going in: hit the ball with the stick. You can see how such games might originate organically and continue to be popular over centuries, including among kids.
Proceeding from there, one team bats while the other fields, and the first team tries to score runs while the other team tries to get all their batters out. Kind of like baseball 
Some obvious differences are, there are two batsmen out on the pitch instead of one like in baseball, there are a couple of wickets rather than “bases”, and there isn’t a “strike zone” like there is in baseball. Also, the scores will be way higher, and test matches can last for days (a bit hard-core compared to a baseball game which might be over in a couple of hours)
lol
Most matches will not be ‘test’ matches these days, and various modified versions of the game, designed to finish in a day, have been marketed in recent years to try to improve the amount of interest in the game from millennials. Hardcore fans will be rather sniffy about these. The Packer Cricket Circus (as the British press invariably called it ) in the 1970s was the start of this trend, and while Packer’s venture did not endure many of the innovations he started did.
The traditional explanation for foreigners is this
However, as a non-enthusiast, it seems to me that the appeal is in the not-quite-infinite variables of skill when there are eleven players on each side, and what they can do with variable pitch conditions. This offers no end of tactical choices, not only to team captains deciding the order of bowling or batting, and who fields where, but also to individual bowlers and batsmen facing each other. And the number of possible outcomes to those choices is even bigger.
It can be played in various formats: enough for a single afternoon village match where the mid-match tea may be more important to many, or at the international (“test match”) level over five days, where the ups and downs for both sides can keep the spectators guessing. Sometimes it’s a complete whitewash for one side or the other, sometimes it all depends on the last ball to be played. It’s not uncommon for the choice to be whether to play safe for a draw, or be bold and aim for a winner that might actually risk losing.
*There’s a breathless hush in the Close to-night—
Ten to make and the match to win—
A bumping pitch and a blinding light,
An hour to play and the last man in.
And it’s not for the sake of a ribboned coat,
Or the selfish hope of a season’s fame,
But his captain’s hand on his shoulder smote
'Play up! play up! and play the game! ’
*
This is true.
England are the current holders of the Cricket World Cup.
The last nation to win the Cricket World Cup was Australia in 2015
There are some stark differences to American baseball.
[ul][li]The batsman does not have to run if he hits the ball. [/li][li]The batsman stands in front of a wicket composed of three vertical stumps (sticks) with short bails balanced horizontally on top of the stumps. The runner stands if front of the other wicket. There is a line drawn on the ground in front of each wicket. The line is perpendicular to the line from one wicket to the other. [/li][li]Each time the batsman exchanges places with the runner a run is scored. They can try to score more than once upon each time the batsman hits the ball.[/li][li]The playing field is 360 degrees from the batsman. There is no foul territory as in American baseball.[/li][li]There is a boundary to the field somewhat analogous to the outfield fence at an American baseball field. The boundary is often marked on the ground by a rope. [/li][li]If a batsman hits the ball over the boundary on the fly in any direction then the batsman scores 6 runs.[/li][li]If the batsman hits the ball to the boundary on the ground in any direction then the batsman scores four runs.[/li][li]There are no balls and strikes as in American baseball.[/li][li]The batsman is not required to swing at a bowled ball.[/li][li]If the bowled ball hits the wicketknocking the bail off then the batsman is out (dismissed, in cricket parlance), so the batsman has a strong incentive to swing at any ball that is somewhat close since he only need deflect it from hitting the wicket. Again, the batsman is not required to run.[/li][li]The batsman cannot block the wicket with his body. If a bowled ball hits the batsman and the umpire judges that it would have hit the wicket had it not been blocked by the batsman’s body then the batsman is dismissed. (Leg before wicket).[/li][li]The batsman is dismissed if a fielder catches a batted ball on the fly. [/li][li]The batsman or runner is dismissed if the batsman and runner choose to run to attempt to score runs and the fielding team catches the ball and then throws it and hits the wicket before the batsman (or runner) touch the ground beyond line in front of the wicket. The batsman may touch his bat to the ground there to be considered safe (not out).[/li][li]There are a plethora of other means by which a batsman may be dismissed and cricket purists seem to glory in the trivia of what constitutes a dismissal.[/li][li]Six consecutive legal pitches constitute an over.[/li][li]Some formats of the game continue until each team bowls the same number of overs. (e.g. 20/20 cricket) while some continue until each batsman for a team has been dismissed. This can result in a match lasting a couple of hours or continuing for a few days (a Test Match).[/li][li]The same team continues at bat until all of their batsman have been dismissed and then the teams switch position and the second team bats. The time at which one team is continuously at bat is referred to as their Innings. None of the American baseball style of 3 outs to an inning.[/li][/ul]
“Runs” are scored by either the two bats(wo)men running the length of the wicket (22 yards) or when the bats(wo)man hits the ball over the boundary for four or six.
Kids can play using a plank of wood for a bat, a tennis ball and three lines on a wall for a wicket.
Whew! More than I can digest at this early morning hour, but explains a lot. Thanks, but I am even more confused. Where did all these rules develop? Sounds like a committee just made them up to complicate it all. I enjoy watching, but still puzzled by all of it. The television commentators don’t help. They assume me, the viewer, knows what they are talking about.
Thanks to all for explaining Cricket to me. Not a common sport here in the USA, so I am totally ignorant of the game, but it is fun to watch on the few channels here that broadcast the matches. Beside learning new words to add to my vocabulary, I would love to go see a live event in person. If for no other reason than to get a bit rowdy cheering the wrong team on. 
The rules developed the same way rules develop in every other sport. Over time, as people play the game, rules are added and tweaked to keep it a) fair and b) interesting. Some are more complex. Some are simple. It’s probably easier to help if you pick one or two you are having trouble with and we can try to explain them. I’m assuming, for example, that you’re OK with the idea that batter is out if the ball is caught, or if the bowler hits the wickets. LBW might be trickier (and it is more complex) but it developed like this:
Back in the 18th century, cricket was played with a hard ball and no protective equipment. Bowlers tried to knock down the stumps, batters tried to defend them. It was open to batters to try to use their feet or legs rather than the bat to protect the stumps, but they didn’t. The ball is hard, blows to the shin really hurt and tend to affect your ability to run.
However, just because batters didn’t try to get their legs in the way of the ball didn’t mean they didn’t get hurt by accident. So they started wearing pads. Once they had pads, it became much less costly to block the ball with the body rather than the bat. So batters did. This made the game unfair and boring. So the governing body of cricket made a rule to the effect that you couldn’t block the ball with your legs. There are some technicalities regarding where the ball bounces and where it makes contact with the batter, but all you really need to understand is that if the ball was going to hit the wicket but was blocked by the batters body, the batter is out.
But again, if you pick something you’ve seen but don’t understand it’ll be easier to explain a concrete example.
Still sounds like North American baseball. Just with extra ‘rules’. Wish I had someone to take me to a live event and talk me through the strategy and all.
All competitive sport is governed by a whole plethora of rules, many of them arcane. Try golf; just a walk in the park while whacking a small ball into holes in the ground? (The R&A - Rules Of Golf) or baseball (http://mlb.mlb.com/documents/0/8/0/268272080/2018_Official_Baseball_Rules.pdf)
I suppose that the original game was pretty simple. A bunch of kids, with a piece of wood and a ball, were probably the beginning of the game and it had spread to adults by the seventeenth century; not surprisingly gambling was involved and that meant - rules. As it became more competitive, people would push the limits; for example, there were few rules about the size and shape of the bat at first, so naturally, someone turned up with a bat wider than the wicket.
Thank you. I may do that. I truly want to understand this game. I enjoy watching on TV, but totally clueless about just everything about the whole game.
Whenever I have been to see a match, I have watched from the stand and followed the game on the radio. The commentators have a better view and a better understanding of what is going on than I ever could.
Moderator Action
Moving thread from GQ to the Game Room.
Teams play just one inning (instead of 9)
Home-Run hits are awarded 6 runs (4 if it bounces or rolls and makes it to the end)
You can punt and not run. So, batters use this as a defense strategy.
The entire field is available to hit.
Batters have to get out to be replaced.
Pitchers change after every 6 pitches.
Outs are more valuable than Runs.
You could try following the bigger matches at the same time on https://www.espncricinfo.com/scores/ Here is a link to the commentary for the First Test of the current Ashes series - England vs Australia. It will provide you with an ongoing live text summary of what is happening. Some of the conversation about different events may further your knowledge. Or confuse you more.
Each team gets 2 innings in matches that are played over a few days. Fours are far more common than sixes in longer games.