The game is played between two competing teams of eleven players on each side, on a large expanse of (usually grassy), oval-shaped ground. There are no fixed dimensions for the grounds, but most international-standard grounds are considerably larger in area than a soccer pitch. The teams are usually comprised of players with a mixture of abilities, some who specialise in batting, some in bowling, occasionally some who excel in both capacities, and one highly specialist player who acts as 'wicket-keeper'. In the centre of the ground is a length of close-cut, heavily rolled grass, called the wicket or the pitch (some club cricket is played on wickets made from synthetic grass). At each end of the wicket are placed three sticks adjacent to each other in an upright position: these are the stumps. They are separated by a gap not greater than the diameter of a cricket ball. On top of each set of stumps are placed two smaller sticks, or bails, forming what is known as a set of stumps or a wicket (note, then, that there are two definitions of wicket!). The regulation distance between the sets of stumps is 22 yards. A chalk outline drawn on the pitch is called a crease. The crease in front of each set of stumps and is the popping crease. Another crease is drawn so that the stumps pass through it; this crease is the "bowling crease." Finally, a "return crease" is drawn on each side of the stumps along the sides of the pitch.
The game is refereed by two on-field umpiress who can at times refer decision to a third umpire who has the aid of television replays. See fielding positions in cricket.
The length of games can vary in duration of time (most games last either one day or three to five days), and number of balls bowled. Batsmen play in pairs, each equipped with a bat, one at each end of the wicket. The team that scores the most runs wins the match.
The match is divided into innings. In each innings (the word is both the singular and plural) one team bats (this team is in, and it is their innings) and the other fields. The object for the batting side is to score the highest number of runs (points) before the fielding side have dismissed them. The object for the fielding side is to dismiss the batsmen for as low a score as possible. The batting side has two men in at once (this is the batting pair, one at each end of the wicket. To get the team all out, therefore, the fielding team needs to dismiss ten of them, the remaining player being called the not out.
Each innings is subdivided into overs, which consist of six balls (previously, when each country could decide the length of the over, overs varied in length from four to eight balls) bowled to one end of the wicket. At the end of an over, the fielding team must switch bowlers and bowl to the other end of the wicket, and hence to the other member of the batting pair.
A match may consist of one innings per team (typically in one-day or limited overs cricket) or two (as in county or international test-match cricket).
Dismissal of the batsmen, also known as taking a wicket or getting the batsman out, can occur in a number of ways.
The bowler only "gets credit" for bowled, leg before wicket, caught, stumped, and hit wicket. But, if the ball is a no ball, then the batsman cannot be out in any of these ways. The batsman can, however, be out run out, handled the ball, hit the ball twice, obstructing the field, or timed out on any ball.
"Runs" can be scored in a number of ways.
The batsman gets credit for "runs scored off his bat." A batsman who scores 100 runs in an innings is said to have scored a century, a respectable achievement in cricket. Similarly, players can score double centuries, triple centuries, quadruple centuries (never achieved in test cricket), or quintuple centuries (only achieved once in first class cricket). The batsman gets credit for runs scored as follows:
The laws of cricket are a set of rules framed by the Marylebone Cricket Club which serve to standardise the format of matches across the world to ensure uniformity and fairness.
Historically, they have always (since 1775) governed
The Marylebone Cricket Club is the framer of the Laws of Cricket, the rules governing play of the game. The Laws are intended apply to all two innings matches; the International Cricket Council has implemented "Standard Playing Conditions for Test Matches" and "Standard Playing Conditions for One Day Internationals" to augment the Laws of Cricket. Similarly, each cricketing country has implemented Playing Conditions to govern domestic cricket. Note that the Laws do not provide for One Day or Limited Overs cricket; these modifications have been made by the Playing Conditions for One Day Internationals.
The Laws are organized into a Preface, a Preamble, forty-two Laws, and four appendices. The Preface relates to the Marylebone Cricket Club and the history of the Laws. The Preamble is a new addition and is related to "the Spirit of the Game;" it was introduced to discourage the increasing practices of ungentlemanly conduct. The Laws themselves deal with the following:
The sport of cricket requires gentlemanly conduct from all players. Under the ICC regulations, players may be fined a percentage of the salary, banned for number of matches, or even banned for a number of years or life. The ICC appoints a Match Referee for each Test match and One-day International; the Referee has the power to set penalties for most offences, the exceptions being the more serious ones.
The following are the general categories of serious offences, carrying the highest penalties:
The format "Test cricket" - a form of international cricket - started in 1877 during the 1876/77 English cricket team's tour of Australia. The first test match began on 15th March, 1877 and had a timeless format with 4 balls per over. It ended on 19th March, 1877 with Australia winning by 45 runs.
Since then, over 1000 test matches have been played and the number of test match playing teams has increased to 10 with the 10th international team making its debut in 2000. Test matches are now played continuously over a period of 5 days with no rest day.
Modern day test cricket (since 1979/80) has been played all over the world with six balls per over. However, test cricket started with 4 balls per over and has had varying number of balls per over around the world upto 1979/80.
Balls per over
In England
First-class cricket is just like Test cricket, but it takes place over three days or more. Tests are technically first-class, but the term is usually used to describe domestic matches. Domestic competitions take place between regional, city, county, or state teams.
Due to the growing demands of commercial television for a shorter and more "dramatic," form of cricket, the experiment of one-day cricket was introduced. In one-day cricket, each team bats for only one innings, and it is limited to a number of overs, usually fifty in international matches. Since spectators did not need to commit five days of their time, due to innovations such as matches at night under floodlights, as well as the colored clothing (opposed to the somber white uniforms of Test cricketers), and finally because of the greater sense of urgency in the new form of the game, one-day cricket has gained many supporters. Meanwhile, many traditionalists have objected that Test cricket involves more strategy and encompasses all the aspects of the game, while one-day cricket, by limiting the number of overs, puts an undue emphasis on the quick scoring of runs. One-day cricket is not classified as first-class.
List A cricket is to one-day cricket as first-class is to tests. Most cricketing nations have some form of domestic List A competition. The over limits range from forty to sixty. The categorization of "List A" is not one endorsed by the ICC; the Association of Cricket Historians and Statisticians created it for the purpose of providing a parallel to first-class cricket in their record books.
Club cricket is amateur, but still formal, cricket. The games are almost always Limited Overs, with each innings usually lasting between thirty and forty-five overs. Club cricket is played extensively in cricketing nations, and also by immigrants of cricketing nations. Club cricket often takes place on an artificial turf pitch, though the rest of actual field may be natural grass.
"Beach cricket" is a term applied to all informal cricket, regardless of the actual location. The rules are often made up on the spot, and the subtle and complex laws of cricket, such as those involving Leg Before Wicket, penalty runs, and others, are ignored or modified.
The Test (that is major international match) teams are, in order of receiving such status, Australia, England, South Africa, West Indies, New Zealand, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe and Bangladesh. One nation, Kenya, has "one-day international status." While Kenya still cannot play test cricket, it is, like the test nations, exempt from qualifying tournaments for the World Cup
Additionally, the various cricket events include teams from Argentina, Canada, Chile, Hong Kong, Israel, Namibia, The Netherlands, Scotland, Singapore, and United States, although the game does not have a high profile in most of those countries.
The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) has always been the Framer of the Laws of Cricket. However, the International Cricket Council (ICC) regulates international cricket. Each cricketing nation also has a body that selects international teams for that country as well as governs domestic competition. The bodies in the test playing nations are:
International cricket has no fixed form or structure. However, it has always been traditional for the countries, without any interference from a body such as the ICC, to organize for themselves the various cricket matches. Most Test matches and One-Day series take place in the form of "tours." In a tour, one nation travels to another and plays warm-up matches, first-class matches against domestic teams such as county or state teams, a series of test matches against the host nation, and either a series of one-day matches against the host nation or a tournament involving the host nation and another touring nation. The "triangular tournament" format is often used when one tour is about to conclude and the other has just begun. In the tournament, the three teams play each other either two or three times. The two teams with the most points (usually two points for a win, one point for a no-result or tie, and no points for a loss) qualify for the one-game final.
The test series can last from one match (known as a "one-off match") to six matches. Six-match series are extremely rare. Most important series last five matches, while the less important ones last two to four matches. The length of the series is based on the home country's attitude towards the modern form of cricket, one-day internationals; traditional nations such as England and Australia usually organize five-match series, while one-day crazy nations such as India favour three-match series. At most, a perpetual trophy such as The Ashes (for England versus Australia) or the Frank Worrell Trophy (for Australia versus the West Indies) exists, with the trophy being awarded to the last team to win a series.
The One-day series lasts from three to seven matches. Usually, the shorter one-day series are played at the same time as longer test series. In addition to tours, nations may organize one-day matches at neutral venues. The Sahara Cup was a one-day series played annually between India and Pakistan in Toronto, until the Indian government ordered the suspension of most cricketing ties with Pakistan. Similarly, a semiannual Triangular Tournament was organized at Sharjah, in the United Arab Emirates. The tournament almost always involved the traditional rivals India and Pakistan. However, the tournament has lost its luster due to the fact that the overwhelming number of cricket matches has spoiled the pitch. In contrast to the one-dayers, tests are never held in neutral venues. One notable recent exception occurred when Pakistan played some test matches in Sharjah; many other nations had decided to boycott Pakistani grounds due to violence, including bombings, that had occurred during a tour by the New Zealand cricket team.
In addition to the one-day series and tournaments organized by the nations themselves, the ICC organizes two tournaments. The World Cup is held every four years; it involves all the test playing nations, Kenya, and also a number of qualifying nations. The Champion's Trophy, also known as the ICC Knockout Cup, is held every four years in between World Cups. In the Champion's Trophy, a single loss eliminates a team from the tournament.
The ICC instituted the Test Championship table to permit fans to compare all the test teams. The Table is a running one, that is, whoever is on top at a certain time will formally hold the Test trophy. (The Table is not like a league standings table, where the top team at the end of a certain period of time becomes Champion.)
The calculations for the Table are performed as follows:
The ODI (One Day International) championship was created for reasons similar to the Test one, and it has a similar structure. The championship does not replace the World Cup; the latter still carries much more significance to most cricket fans.
The calculations for the Table are performed as follows:
In most nations, domestic cricket is more organized than international cricket. There are usually separate limited overs and first-class trophies. At some times, there may be more than one limited overs trophy. The teams are usually city, county, state, or other regional teams. However, at some times, "department teams," which are teams composed of employees of a certain institution, may play.
Cricket is a statistics-laden sport. The statistics of runs, no-balls, wide balls, byes, and leg byes are covered in the above section on the Structure of the Match and Scoring.
Description of grounds and positions
Structure of a match
Dismissal of a batsman
The aforementioned are the main ways to be out, though a batsman may also be out in certain rarer manners:
Finally a player may be "retired, not out" (more commonly known as "retired hurt") in which case he still has the option to return after treatment, though he would have to wait for a teammate to be given out. The umpire has discretion over whether to allow a batsman to retire hurt. If a batsman still intends to go off the field without the umpire's consent, he may do so, but, he is "retired, out," and cannot return to the field of play.Scoring
Runs can be accrued through the failure of the bowler to correctly deliver the ball.
Laws of cricket
They were first printed in book form in 1775. The laws have changed a lot since then but the basic form of the game remains the same.Important Historical changes to the laws
1809
1829
1884
1889
1900
1922
1947
2000
Today's laws
The four appendices to the laws are as follows:
Conduct
Other offences are categorized as Level 1, Level 2, Level 3, or Level 4 as follows:Level 1
Level 2
Level 3
Level 4
The penalties available for each offence are based on the level. The penalties are as follows:
Fines in Level 3 and 4 Offences are determined by the ICC without regard to match fee. Also, offences relating to gambling or match-fixing carry penalties of bans from 12 months to life, and also unlimited fines.
Note: If an offence occurred in a Test match, then the ban for a number of tests applies. If an offence occurred in an ODI, then the ban for a number of ODIs applies.Forms of cricket
Test cricket
Balls per over in test cricket
In Australia
In South Africa
In New Zealand
In Pakistan
In India, West Indies, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe and United Arab Emirates (venue, not host) all test matches were played with 6 ball overs.First-class cricket
One-day cricket
List A cricket
Club cricket
Beach cricket
Countries participating in international cricket
Governance of cricket
The ICC appoints a Match Referee for each International match. The Match Referee has no power during the game; he is more of a disciplinary official. The Match Referee has the power to receive complaints from players, team officials, or umpires, hold hearings, fine players a percentage of the "match fee", or ban players for a limited number of matches. The Match Referee can also recommend a hearing by a higher panel, which can go as far as banning a player for life.Structure of international cricket
General structure
Test Championship
ODI Championship
Structure of domestic cricket
Cricket statistics
General statistics
Batting statistics
Bowling statistics
Famous cricketers
Writers and commentators
Note that in addition to those listed here, a number of famous players have had a second career as writers or commentators; Richie Benaud is a notable example.
Other commentators
Many commentators never played the game at a professional level, yet they have gone on to become famous names associated with the game. Henry Blofeld is a notable example.See also
External links
Origins and derivations of common cricket terms and expressions