Cricket

For the insect, see Cricket (insect).

See also: Glossary of cricket terminology

Cricket is a sport. It is an outdoor bat-and-ball game played by two teams of eleven players on a large, grassy field. At the centre of the field is a rectangular pitch with a wooden structure called a wicket sited at each end. As in other sports, there are separate men's and women's games, both played internationally.

Muttiah Muralitharan of Sri Lanka bowls to Adam Gilchrist of Australia in a Twenty20 International match.
The pale area of the field is the pitch, with a wicket in place at each end. The batter (Gilchrist) is using his bat to defend the wicket against the white ball which Murali has just bowled. Sri Lanka's wicket-keeper (#11) is crouching just behind the wicket which Gilchrist is defending. The other Sri Lanka player (#55) is a fielder operating in the "first slip" position. Gilchrist's partner, the "non-striker", stands by the other wicket at the bowler's end of the pitch. Behind that wicket stands one of the two umpires. The lines on the pitch are the various creases.

In all levels of cricket, the essence of the game is that the wicket is a target being attacked by a bowler using the ball, and defended by a batter using a bat. The bowler is a member of the fielding team; the batter is a member of the batting team. The objective of the batting team is to score as many runs as possible. The objective of the fielding team is to restrict scoring and, by various means, dismiss the batters. If ten batters are dismissed, the batting team is all out and the teams change roles. Generally, the winning team is the one scoring the most runs, although some matches can result in a draw or, occasionally, a tie.

Probably created as a children's game in south-east England, cricket is known to have been played in the mid-16th century. It has expanded to become the national summer sport of several English-speaking countries. Matches range in scale from informal weekend afternoon games played on village greens to top-level international contests played by professionals in modern, all-seater stadiums. Globally, the sport has a high level of player participation and is, apart from football, the world's most popular spectator sport.

The Laws of Cricket

Like all other sports, cricket has rules and regulations. These are called The Laws of Cricket, a code which was first written in 1744, and first published in November 1752.^[1][a] There was a significant revision in 1774.^[3]

Copyright of The Laws is held by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), founded in 1787, which issued a revised version on 30 May 1788.^[4] Although MCC still has responsibility for drafting and publishing revisions, it does so in consultation with the sport's governing body, the International Cricket Council (ICC), which has over 100 member countries. Following the 2017 revision, there are now 42 Laws headed by a preamble on the "Spirit of Cricket".^[5]

The field

The cricket field is of variable size and shape, though normally round or oval with a diameter of 140 to 160 yards. Professional venues tend to have names including Ground, Oval, Park, or Stadium. There are several famous Ovals, especially The Oval in the Kennington district of south London; Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados; and the Adelaide Oval. Among the Grounds are the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), and the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG). Sabina Park is a famous venue in Jamaica. The Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad seats 132,000 and is the world's largest sports stadium.

The playing field's perimeter is known as the boundary.^[6] It is often defined by a rope encircling the outer edge of the playing area, with spectator seating beyond. During play, a shot by the batter which clears the boundary on the full is worth six runs—this is similar to a home run in baseball. A shot which reaches the boundary after the ball has been in contact with the ground is worth four runs, and that is often called "scoring a boundary".^[6] One of the most famous books written about cricket is Beyond A Boundary by the radical Trinidadian writer, C. L. R. James.^[7]

The pitch

Main article: Pitch (cricket)

Most of the action in a match takes place on the pitch, a specially prepared rectangular area of the field on which the wickets are sited and creases are painted as shown in the diagram below.

The pitch is 22 yards long (the length of an agricultural chain) between the wickets and is ten feet wide. It is a flat surface and has very short grass that tends to be worn away as the game progresses. As can be seen in the above photo of Murali bowling to Adam Gilchrist, the pitch is always much paler than the main part of the field.^[8]

Pitch conditions have a significant bearing on the match and team tactics are always determined with the state of the pitch, both current and anticipated, as a key factor. Groundsmanship is very important in cricket as considerable care — mowing, watering, and rolling — is necessary to prepare and maintain pitch surfaces. In addition, there are rules about covering the pitch during a match when bad weather occurs.^[9]

Sited at each end of the pitch is a small structure called the wicket. Made entirely of wood (usually polished ash), a wicket consists of three upright stumps placed in a straight line and surmounted by two horizontal bails which are placed across the two gaps. The dimensions of a wicket are 28.5 inches high by 9 inches wide.^[10]

Creases are painted lines at both ends of the pitch. There are three types of crease, and each has a special purpose. As can be seen in the diagram above, the stumps at each end are aligned in the centre of the bowling crease, which is 8 feet 8 inches long. Parallel with the bowling crease, and four feet forward of it, is the popping crease. This marks the limit of the batter's "safe territory", and is where the batter stands when "taking guard" while the ball is being bowled. The popping crease and the return creases define the area within which the bowler must complete their delivery. As the bowler releases the ball, their back foot must land within the two return creases, and their front foot must land on or behind the popping crease.^[11]

Types of match and competition

Cricket is a multi-faceted sport. The Laws allow for many variations of contest and competition according to duration, location, timing, playing standards, qualification and other factors. In very broad terms, cricket can be divided into matches in which the teams have two innings apiece and those in which they have a single innings each. The former has a duration of three to five days (in earlier times there were timeless matches too); the best-known form of the latter, known as limited overs cricket (or one-day cricket) because each team bowls a limit of typically 50 overs, has a planned duration of one day only (a match can be extended if necessary due to bad weather, etc.). Historically, a form of cricket known as single wicket was extremely popular and many of these contests in the 18th and 19th centuries qualify as top-class matches. Single wicket has rarely been played since limited overs cricket began.

Test cricket

Test cricket is the highest standard of cricket. A Test match is an international fixture, invariably part of a series of three to five games, between two national teams that have full member status within the International Cricket Council (ICC). The teams have two innings each, and the match lasts for up to five days with a scheduled six hours of play on each day (this varies if there are interruptions due to the weather, or if an agreed number of overs is not completed within the six hours).

Men's Test cricket began with Australia versus England in 1877, although the early Tests were in fact classified as such retrospectively. Women's Test cricket began in 1934, again with Australia Women hosting England Women.

Subsequently, ten other countries have achieved men's Test status: South Africa (1889), West Indies (1928), New Zealand (1929), India (1932), Pakistan (1952), Sri Lanka (1982), Zimbabwe (1992), Bangladesh (2000), Afghanistan (2017), and Ireland (2017). The West Indies is a federation whose team is made up of players from nations including Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago, the Leewards and the Windwards. England is actually England and Wales combined (Scotland is separate, although many Scots have played for England); similarly, Ireland is an all-Ireland combination. In women's cricket, the teams that have played Test matches are Australia Women, England Women, India Women, Netherlands Women, New Zealand Women, South Africa Women and West Indies Women.

First-class cricket

Test cricket is a form of first-class cricket. This term, which has an official definition, is generally used in reference to the highest level of domestic cricket, especially in the Test-playing nations. National championships, such as the English and Welsh County Cricket Championship, are first-class competitions. A first-class match has a duration of three to five days, the teams having two innings each.

The draw is a possible result in first-class matches and this happens if playing time expires while the losing team is still batting (in other words, if the team batting last have not reached their target total and are not all out when time is up). Another feature of first-class matches is the follow-on, whereby the team batting second can be asked by the fielding captain to bat again in the third innings if they have been dismissed for a total that is over 150 less (200 less in a Test) than the first innings score of their opponents. This, in turn, can lead to an innings defeat if the team following on are all out for another low score and the combined totals of their two innings is less than that scored by their opponents in one innings.

Limited overs

A One Day International (ODI), also called a Limited Overs International (LOI), is the highest standard of limited overs cricket. In men's cricket, as well as the countries that play Test matches, this class includes those that have ICC associate member status, although they rarely play against the Test teams. Prominent associate members are Bermuda, Canada, Kenya, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands, Scotland, and the United States. The ICC Women's Cricket World Cup was inaugurated in 1973, and the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup in 1975. Women's teams playing in LOIs, in addition to the seven Test countries, are Bangladesh Women, Pakistan Women, and Sri Lanka Women.^[source?]

Limited overs matches are scheduled for a single day but they can be extended if necessary due to bad weather. Each team has one innings and the overs limit is usually fifty per side. There are various competitions in domestic cricket, beginning in England with the Gillette Cup knockout in 1963. There is no draw result except in the form of a tie, when the scores are level, or a no result due to rain or other factors.^[source?]

Twenty20

Twenty20 (T20) is a variant of limited overs in which each team has twenty overs. The match lasts two to three hours and so can be fitted into an evening. It was introduced into English cricket in 2003 and has become extremely popular in India where the Indian Premier League (IPL) is contested. The Twenty20 International (T20I) was soon introduced, and there is an ICC Men's World Twenty20 Championship, first held in 2007, and an ICC Women's World Twenty20 Championship, first held in 2009.^[source?]

National championships

These are held in each country and the matches are the main instances of first-class cricket. For example, England and Wales have the County Championship which has tentative origins stretching back to the 1720s, and was formally organised as an official competition in 1890. Since 2000, this involves 18 county clubs who are split into two divisions. Each team plays the other eight in its division, both home and away, in double innings fixtures with a duration of up to four days. The oldest county club is Sussex, founded in 1839. The most successful club is Yorkshire, founded in 1863, who have won the title outright on 32 occasions, most recently in 2014 and 2015.

All the other Test countries have a similar setup. Australia's national championship involves the various state sides playing for the Sheffield Shield; in India, the championship is the Ranji Trophy; in South Africa, the CSA 4-Day Series; and so on. Women's national championships take place in a number of countries; for example, the one in England is a 50-over competition involving sixteen county teams.

Minor cricket

Below the national championship level in each country there are various leagues, often organised on a state, county or regional basis, that include clubs which are classed as minor although in many cases the playing standards are anything but minor. Again using England as an example, the main minor competition is the Minor Counties Championship which began in 1895, and includes 20 county clubs that are not qualified for the County Championship, although it is possible for a minor county to achieve this qualification. The last to do so was Durham in 1992.

Below that level are numerous regional leagues which involve town and village clubs whose players are generally local residents. These tend to play at weekends only. Some of the leagues are notable for high standards, especially as professionals have frequently been employed. For example, the great Gary Sobers played for Radcliffe Cricket Club in the Central Lancashire League for several seasons around 1960. Other notable leagues in England are the Lancashire League and the Bradford League.

Schools cricket has always been very important for giving youngsters an introduction to the skills of the sport, and this has always been most effective where good quality coaching has been available.

Olympics

So far, the only time cricket has been played in the Olympic Games was in 1900 when just two teams, nominally Great Britain and France, took part. Neither was nationally representative but the "British" team won the only match staged. Subsequently, cricket showed no interest in the Olympics until the 2010s when the ICC began a dialogue with the International Olympic Committee.

Details are yet to be finalised but it has been announced that men's and women's Twenty20 competitions will form part of the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.

Other types of cricket

In domestic competitions, limited-overs games of differing lengths are played. There are also numerous informal variations of the sport played throughout the world that include beach cricket, French cricket, Indoor cricket, Kwik cricket, and all sorts of card games and board games that have been inspired by cricket.

Notes

1. The 1744 code consisted of seven paragraphs. Ian Maun included the full text in an appendix to his From Commons to Lord's.^[2]