A self-consistent scheme called the effective field method (EFM) is developed for the calculation of the velocities of elastic waves propagating in cracked rocks. The latter are simulated by a homogeneous elastic medium containing thin ellipsoidal inhomogeneities (crack-like inclusions), with material much softer than the one of the medium. Spatial distribution of cracks in the medium is taken into account via a special two-point correlation function of the random crack field. The results of the calculation of the elastic properties of rocks containing isotropic fields of cracks and rocks with some nonisotropic spatial distributions of cracks are presented. Predictions of the EFM are compared with available experimental data and with predictions of other self-consistent methods (the effective medium approximation and the differential effective medium approximation).