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to play cricket

to play cricket

4 2.5
To take part in the sport of cricket
  • phrasal verb
  • UK
translation icon : jugar al cricket
  • And you play cricket?
  • learn to play cricket
  • kids play cricket
  • boys play cricket

But I thought I'd retire, I thought I'd play cricket, I play golf and I go fishing.

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Examples

Synonyms

to cricket
vsto play cricket
  • UK
1.8

To play a team game with bat and ball where players score runs

is identical in meaning but given as a multiword verb phrase

Surface Forms

play cricket infinitive
played cricket past participle
playing cricket present participle
plays cricket third person singular

Morphology

play + cricket

The meaning is directly compositional: 'play' (to participate in a game) combined with 'cricket' (the sport) yields 'take part in the sport of cricket.' This verb + sport pattern is common cross-linguistically and follows a standard English construction, so a B1 learner who knows both words will readily understand it.

Etymology

Play cricket comes from the simple picture of people using a bat and ball in open fields in England. To play meant to join a game and cricket was the name of that sport, so play cricket means 'to take part in the sport of cricket'.