basics of cricket

Cricket

This article is about the sport. For the insect, see Cricket (insect). For other uses, see Cricket (disambiguation).

"Cricketer" redirects here. For other uses, see Cricketer (disambiguation).

Cricket

A bowler bowling to a batsman. The paler strip is the cricket pitch. The two sets of three wooden stumps on the pitch are the wickets. The two white lines are the creases.

Highest governing body International Cricket Council

                                                              Nickname(s) "The Gentleman's game"

                                                              First played 16th century (modern)

           Characteristics

                 Oly  Team members 11 players per side


                   substitute fielders (only) are permitted in cases of injury or illness


                    Mixed gender Yes, separate competitions


                   Categorization Team, Bat-and-ball


                  Equipment Cricket ball, cricket bat,wicket: stumps, bails


                  Venue Cricket field


                 Olympic 1900 Summer mpics only



Cricket is a bat-and-ball team sport. Many variations exist, with its most popular form played on an oval     -shaped outdoor arena known as a cricket field at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard (20.12 m) long pitch that is the focus of the game. A game (or match) is contested between two teams of eleven players    each. One team bats, and will try to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the runs scored by the batting team. When the batting team has used all its remaining batsmen within the available overs, the roles reverse and it is now the fielding team's turn to bat and try to outscore the opposition.                                                                                             



There are also variations in the length of a game of cricket. In professional cricket this ranges from a limit of 20 overs per side (Twenty20) to a game played over 5 days (Test cricket, which is considered the highest level of the game). Depending on the form of the match being played, there are different rules that govern how a game is won, lost, drawn or tied. The rules of two-innings games are known as the Laws of Cricket and maintained by the ICC and the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC); additional Standard Playing Conditions for Test matches and One Day Internationals augment these laws.[1] In one version of Indoor Cricket, matches include just 6 players per side and include two 12-over innings.[2]



Cricket was first documented as being played in southern England in the 16th century. By the end of the 18th century, it had developed to the point where it had become the national sport of England. The expansion of the British Empire led to cricket being played overseas and by the mid-19th century the first international matches were being held. Today, the game's governing body, the International Cricket Council (ICC), has 104 member countries.[3] With its greatest popularity in the Test playing countries, cricket is the world's second most popular sport after Association football.[4][5][6]