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Cricket

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Cricket is a team sport originating in the United Kingdom and extremely popular mainly in areas that were formerly in the British Empire. It is generally considered to be ancestral to baseball.

Description of Grounds and Positions

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, (usually 22 yards long), called 'the wicket' (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'. A chalk outline is drawn in front of each set of stumps and is called a 'crease'. The game is refereed by two 'umpires'. See fielding positions in cricket.

Structure of a Match and Scoring

The length of games can vary in duration of time (most games last either one or 3-5 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 a single inning, each team bats once (until they get ten outs) and fields once (until they bowl ten batters). 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 as quickly as possible. Each inning is subdivided into overs, which consist of six bowls to one wicket. At the end of an over, the fielding team must switch bowlers and bowl to the other wicket.

There may be only one inning (typically in 'one-day' or 'limited overs' cricket) or two innings, as in county or international 'test-match' cricket, in a match.

Runs can be scored in a number of ways: each time that the batting pair is able to run between the wickets after a ball has been bowled (and before the stumps are or potentially can be touched with the ball) a run is scored. If the ball travels outside of the playing area, and it has touched the ground prior to leaving the playing area, 4 runs are scored. If the ball does not touch the ground on its way out, 6 runs are scored. A batsman who scores 100 runs in an inning is said to have scored a century, a respectable achievement in cricket.

Additionally, runs can be accrued through the failure of the bowler to correctly deliver the ball; either through an incorrect bowling action, when this is deemed a 'no-ball', or through the ball being delivered too wide for the batsman to strike it, known as a 'wide'. The number of runs accrued can be affected by where the ball ends up; a no-ball which crosses the boundary will count for 4 runs (however the recent rule changes allow for an extra run to be granted for the no-ball in addition to the runs scored either off the bat or otherwise). Additionally, any balls which are deemed foul have to be bowled again by the same bowler before his over is deemed complete.

Dismissal of the batsmen can occur in a number of ways. The batsman facing the bowler can be 'bowled' out, i.e. the ball will hit the stumps without him being able to prevent it. If the batsman strikes the ball with the bat and it is caught by the bowler or one of the bowler's side who are dotted around the ground to field the ball before it hits the ground, then he is deemed to be out. A batsman can also be stumped by the specially equipped wicket-keeper, a player who stands immediately behind the batsman to retrieve balls coming through from the bowler, if the batsman steps in front of the crease leaving no part of his anatomy or the bat behind, and the wicket keeper is able to remove the bails from the wicket with the ball. A batsman can also be out 'leg before wicket' or 'lbw': this is one of the more complex and vexatious rules and (usually) involves the ball striking the batsman's leg-protectors or 'pads'. This is considered an out if it is likely based on the trajectory of the ball that it would have struck the wicket had the player's anatomy not intervened. However, if it seems that the ball would not have struck the wicket if the player had not been in the way, it is not considered an out.

Either player can be 'run-out' if the wicket towards which they are running during the course of play is struck with the ball prior to their reaching the safety of the crease.

Countries participating in international cricket

The major international Test teams are Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka, the West Indies, and Zimbabwe. Additionally, the various World Championship events of cricket include teams from Argentina, Canada, Chile, Hong Kong, Israel, Kenya, Namibia, The Netherlands, Scotland, Singapore, and the United States, although the game does not have a high profile in most of those countries.

Forms of cricket

Famous Cricketers