Cricket
Cricket is a team sport which ranks second to only to football (soccer) as the world's most popular sport in terms of spectatorship. The game originated in its organised form in England and is popular mainly in the countries of the Commonwealth. In countries of South Asia, such as India and Pakistan, it is a chief mass participation and spectator sport, while it is a major summer sport in places such as England, New Zealand, South Africa and Australia.
The rich jargon of cricket can often leave newcomers exasperated; the rules are of similar complexity to those of its cousin baseball. Cricket fosters die-hard afficionados, for whom matches provide passionate entertainment. Occasionally, rival nations have lampooned each other over cricket matches, provoking diplomatic outrage.
Objective
Cricket is a game between bat and ball played with two teams of 11. The object of the game is to score more runs than the opposing team.
A match is divided into innings. During an innings, one team bats while the other team bowls and fields. Depending on the form of cricket, each team may have one or two innings (so, for example, each team has two innings in a Test match but only one innings in an ODI). Each innings is subdivided into overs—each over consists of six consecutive balls delivered by the same bowler.
When all of the innings are completed, the team which has scored the most runs is the winner. If both teams have scored the same number of runs, the match is a tie. If the innings cannot be completed before the allotted time for the match expires, the result is a draw (or, in some forms of cricket, no result).
Players and officials
Each team consists of eleven players. One player will typically be a specialist fielder known as the wicket-keeper. The other ten players can be classified either as a batsman or a bowler depending on their skills. A player who excels in both fields is known as an all-rounder. A balanced team usually has five or six specialist batsmen and four or five specialist bowlers. These classifications are merely descriptive of the players role within the team, and have no effect on the play of the game.
One player, who marshals their team during the course of the game, is ranked as the captain; he may also be assisted by a vice-captain, but such a position is not obligatory.
Two on-field umpires preside over a match. One umpire will stand behind the stumps at the end from which the ball is bowled, and adjudicate on most decisions. The other will stand near the fielding position called square leg and assist on decisions for which he has a better view. In some professional matches, they may refer a decision to an off-field third umpire, who has the assistance of television replays. An off-field match referee ensures that play is within the Laws of Cricket and the spirit of the game. Match referees may use their ex-cathedra powers to reprimand players who breach the ICC Cricket Code of Conduct. In some matches, a reserve umpire is kept on hand if something untoward happens to one of the other umpires.
The playing field
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The cricket field consists of a large circular or oval-shaped grassy ground. There are no fixed dimensions for the field but its radius usually varies between 450 feet (137 m) to 500 feet (150 m). In most stadiums, a rope demarcates the perimeter of the field and is known as the boundary.
- The pitch
Main article: Pitch
The most of the action takes place in the centre of this ground, on a rectangular clay strip usually with short grass called the pitch. The pitch measures 12 feet × 74 feet (3.65 m × 22.26 m). The pitch is also sometimes mistakenly referred to as the wicket.
At each end of the pitch three upright wooden poles, called the stumps, are hammered into the ground. Two wooden crosspieces, known as the bails, sit in grooves atop the stumps, linking each to its neighbour. Each set of three stumps and two bails is collectively known as a wicket. One end of the pitch is designated the batting end where the batsman stands and the other is designated the bowling end where the bowler runs in to bowl.
- Creases
Lines known as creases are drawn or painted on the pitch. The creases are used to determine dismissal of batsmen and Extras.
The stumps are aligned on a crease drawn across the width of the pitch. This line is known as the bowling crease and is 8 feet 8 inches (264 cm) in length. The two bowling creases are separated by a distance of 22 yards (20.12 m). Inwards of each bowling crease and parallel to it, at a distance of 4 feet (1.2 m), is another crease. These are the popping creases, though the one at the batting end is also commonly known as the batting crease. The length of these creases is considered infinite, but is usually drawn for 30 yards (27 m) on either side of the pitch.
Perpendicular to these creases are drawn two parallel lines centred on the wicket and 8 feet 8 inches (2.64 m) apart, which extend backwards from the popping creases to a length of 8 feet (2.44 m), known as the return creases.
- Parts of the field
For a match under one-day rules, there are two additional field markings. A painted oval is made by drawing a semicircle of 30 yards (27 m) radius from the centre of each wicket and joining them with straight lines parallel to the pitch. This line, commonly known as the circle, divides the field into an infield and outfield. Two circles of radius 15 yards (13.7 m), centred on each wicket and often marked by dots, define the close infield. The infield, outfield, and the close infield are use to enforce fielding restrictions.
See also: Cricket clothing and equipment
- Field placements
Main article: Fielding positions
The team batting always has two batsmen on the field. One batsman stands at the batting end of the pitch. He is known as the striker, as he faces and plays the balls bowled by the bowler. His partner stands at the bowling end and is known as the non-striker. The wicket-keeper stands behind the striking batsman. (The terms striker and batsman are used interchangeably in this article.)
The captain of the fielding team spreads his remaining nine players—the fielders—around the ground to cover most of the area. Their placement may vary dramatically depending on strategy. No fielder may be placed directly behind the bowler, to avoid the batsman from getting distracted. Each position on the field has a unique label.
The bowler's end umpire stands directly behind the wicket at the bowler's end, facing the batsman. The striker's end umpire, more commonly known as the square-leg umpire, stands in line with the batsman as indicated in the diagram. The bowler's end umpire is often referred to simply as the umpire, as he is responsible for most decisions. (This article will follow this practice.)
When a bowler bowls, he must run to one side of the umpire. If a right-handed bowler runs in to bowl to the left of the umpire, it is called over the wicket. Bowling to the umpire's right is known as around the wicket. The terminology is reversed for left-handed bowlers.
An imaginary line divides the field in half down the long axis of the pitch. The half to the right of a right-handed batsman is the off side while the half to his left is the on side. This terminology is reversed for a left-handed batsman.
Match structure
An innings is divided into overs. An over consists of six balls bowled by a bowler. In Test cricket, an unlimited number of overs may be bowled in an innings. In one-day cricket, an innings consists of 50 overs. No bowler is allowed to bowl consecutive overs. After the completion of an over, the bowler takes up a fielding position, while a fielder takes the bowling role.
After every over, the batting and bowling ends are swapped, and correspondingly the field positions are adjusted. However, the striker and non-striker do not swap ends and the non-striker now becomes the striking batsman.
During an innings, all eleven players of the batting team are expected to bat. The fielding team may use as many bowlers as it deems strategically useful, but the number of overs that a player may bowl is limited in a one-day match so that no player may bowl more than 1/5 of the total overs. Thus, a minimum of five players must bowl.
Batsmen bat in an order which is determined by the team captain during the course of a game, and the order may be changed at any time. Usually, the team bats in descending order of batting skill. The top four or five batsmen are usually the best batsmen in the team. After that the all-rounders follow and finally the bowlers (who are usually not known for their batting abilities).
An innings is completed if:
- Ten out of eleven batsmen are out (dismissed).
- A team chasing a given target number of runs to win manages to do so.
- The predetermined number overs are bowled (in a one-day match only).
- A captain declares his innings closed (extremely rare in one-day matches).
See also: End of an innings for more details.
- Victory margin
If the team batting last completes its innings and fails to equal or overtake the opposition's score, the winning team is said to have won the match by m runs, where m is the difference in scores between the teams.
If the team batting last wins the match, they are said to have won the match by n wickets, where n is the number of batsmen who are not out (including the batsmen who are batting at that time, any batsmen who have retired "not out" and the batsmen who have not yet batted).
Play of the game
- The toss
Main article: The toss
On the day of the match, the captains inspect the pitch to determine the type of bowlers whose bowling would be suited for the offered pitch surface. Before the match starts, the captains select their eleven players. The two opposing captains then toss a coin. The captain winning the toss may choose either to bat or bowl first.
- Batting
Main article: Batsman, batting
Batsmen stand waiting for the ball at the batting crease. If the bowling is slow, and the opposing wicket keeper is standing close to the stumps, the batsman will usually have their back foot behind the crease in order to prevent being out stumped. This is not a requirement though, and many batsmen stand outside their crease to faster bowlers. If the batsman hits the ball with his bat, it is called a shot. If the ball brushes the side of the bat it is called an edge. A shot is named for the region in the field to which the batsman hits the ball. Depending on the team's strategy, he may be required to bat defensively in an effort to not get out, or to bat aggressively in an effort to score runs quickly.
- Bowling
Main articles: Bowlers, Bowling, Bowling strategy
The bowler's primary job is to take wickets; that is, to get a batsman out. Generally, the quicker the bowlers manage to take wickets, the fewer runs the opposition will score.
Their next task is to limit the numbers of runs scored per over they bowl. This is known as the Economy rate. Bowlers usually strive for low economy rates in most matches. If a bowler gets a batsman out, he may be credited for this achievement depending on the mode of dismissal. There are two main kinds of bowlers: pace bowlers and spin bowlers.
See also: Types of bowlers in cricket
When bowling, bowlers must release the ball with at least one foot inside the area bounded by the popping crease and the return creases to prevent it from being called a no ball.
- Fielding
Main articles: Fielder, Fielding strategy
Fielders assist the bowlers to prevent batsmen from scoring too many runs. They do this in two ways: by taking catches to dismiss a batsman, and by intercepting hit balls and returning them to the pitch to attempt run outs and restrict the scoring of runs.
Captains may change the field positions according to the batsman's skill, a bowler's type of bowling, a left or right handed batsman etc.
- Wicket-keeping
Main article: Wicket-keeper
The wicket-keeper stands behind the batsman's wicket throughout the game. His primary job is to gather balls that the batsman fails to hit, to prevent them running into the outfield and the batsman scoring byes. Due to his proximity to the striker, the wicket-keeper has a good chance of getting a batsman out caught off a fine edge from the bat. The wicket-keeper is also the only person who can get a batsman out stumped.
Scoring runs
- Runs off the bat
Main articles: Runs, Scoring runs in cricket
To score a run, a striker must hit the ball and run to the opposite end of the pitch, while his non-striking partner runs to his end. Both runners must touch the ground behind the popping crease with either his bat or his body to register a run. If the striker hits the ball well enough, the batsmen may double back to score two or more runs. At times, four or more runs may be scored off a single ball in this fashion. This is known as running between wickets. However, if a fielder knocks the bails off the stumps with the ball while no batsman is grounded behind the nearest popping crease, the nearest batsman is run out. (See: Dismissal of a Batsman for more details.)
The batsmen will elect to run only when they believe they have a good chance of scoring runs without getting out in this fashion. If the striker hits the ball to a nearby fielder, the batsmen may simply choose not to run.
If the batsman hits the ball such that the fielders fail to stop it reaching the boundary of the field, four runs are credited to him immediately, irrespective of the number of times he ran between the wickets. If the ball flies directly over the boundary without touching the ground inside the field, then the batsman scores six runs instead of four.
Runs are credited to a batsman if he hits the ball with his bat, or with a gloved hand holding the bat. Runs may also be accrued directly to the team's score through extras and penalty runs.
- Extras
Main article: Extras
Every run scored by the batsmen contributes to the team's total. A team's total also includes a number of runs which are unaccredited to any batsmen. These runs are known as extras, or sometimes sundries. Extras consists of byes, leg byes, no balls, and wides. The latter two are types of fouls committed by the bowler.
For serious infractions (such as tampering with the ball, deliberately time-wasting, and damaging the pitch), the umpires may award penalty extras. The amount of the penalty is in each case five runs; additional sanctions (for example, banning an offending bowler from bowling again in the same innings) may also be imposed. A team need not be batting in order to receive penalty extras.
Dismissal of a batsman
Main article: Dismissal (cricket)
A batsman is allowed to bat as long as he doesn't get out (also known as being dismissed). There are eleven ways of getting a batsman out, of which the first five in the following list are most common. If the batsman is dismissed, another player from the batting team replaces him. After ten batsmen are out, the innings is over. Only one batsman can be dismissed per ball bowled.
Many modes of dismissal require the wicket to be "put down." The wicket is down if a bail is removed from the top of the stumps or a stump is struck out of the ground, whether by the ball, the bat, or the striker's person. Briefly, the eleven modes of dismissal are:
- Bowled – if a delivered ball puts down the wicket at the batsman's end.
- Leg before wicket – if a delivered ball strikes the batsman, and the umpire judges that it would have otherwise gone on to strike the stumps, and certain other criteria are fulfilled (see leg before wicket for details).
- Caught – if a fielder catches the ball on the fly after the batsman strikes it.
- Stumped – if the batsman leaves his crease to play a delivery, but misses the ball, and the wicket-keeper uses the ball to put the wicket down.
- Run out – if a fielder puts a wicket down with the ball whilst a batsman is still running between the creases.
- Hit wicket – if the batsman puts the wicket down with his own bat or body, either in playing a stroke or in taking off for the first run.
- Handled the ball – if the batsman deliberately touches the ball with his hand.
- Hit the ball twice – if the batsman hits the ball twice, except in order to prevent it from rolling and striking his stumps.
- Obstructing the field – if a batsman deliberately interferes with a fielder attempting to field the ball.
- Timed out – if a new batsman takes over three minutes to appear on the field to replace a dismissed batsman. (If the delay is even more protracted, the umpires may forfeit the match.)
- Retired out – if a batsman elects to declare himself out.
Additionally, a batsman may leave the field if injured. This is known as retired hurt or retired not out. As the latter name suggests, the batsman is not out; he may return to bat later in the same innings if sufficiently recovered. (See: Retired hurt for more details.)
An individual cannot be out caught, bowled, leg before wicket, stumped, or hit wicket off a no ball. An individual cannot be out caught, bowled, leg before wicket, or hit the ball twice off a wide.
Player roles
- Captain
Main article: Role of a cricket captain
Unlike his counterparts in other sports, the captain's acumen in deciding the strategy is crucial to the team's success. The captain makes a number of important decisions, including:
- setting the fielding positions;
- choosing which bowlers should bowl and from which end;
- choosing which batsman comes in after a wicket falls;
- declaring an innings closed (usually done to set the other team a target);
- enforcing the follow-on (requiring the team batting second in a two-innings match to start their second innings immediately because their first innings total is far adrift of the first team's first innings total); and
- forfeiting an innings (this happens on rare occasions in two-innings matches where time is lost due to bad weather or bad light: each captain forfeits one innings, effectively declaring the innings closed before it starts and thus converting the match into a one-innings match, so that a result other than a draw can be obtained).
- Runner
Main article: Runner
In the event of a batsman being fit to bat but too injured to run, he may request the umpire and the fielding captain for a runner. The runner chosen must bat low down the batting order, or be a batsman who has already been out. After a batsman hits the ball, the runner's task is just to run between the wickets instead of the injured batsman.
- Substitutes
All team members must pass a fitness test before a match. Failure to do so may result in the denial of runners or substitutes. A substitute cannot bowl, bat, or keep wicket. The only task entrusted to a substitute is fielding. In the case of a wicket-keeper being incapacitated, a member or the original team must take up the wicket-keeping responsibilities.
History of cricket
Main article: History of cricket
A rudimentary form of the sport can be traced to the 12th century. Written evidence exists for a sport known as creag being played by Prince Edward, the son of Edward I, in England in around 1300. A number of words are thought to be possible sources for the term cricket. The name may derive from a term for the cricket bat: old French criquet (meaning a kind of club) or Flemish krick(e) (meaning a stick) or in old English cricc or cryce (meaning a crutch or staff). Alternatively, the French criquet apparently derives from the Flemish word krickstoel, which is a long low stool on which one kneels in church and which resembles the long low wicket with two stumps used in early cricket.
The game was banned by the Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell, whose Puritan ideals were at odds with recreational activities. Even after the Puritan government was overthrown and an Anglican monarchy restored, cricket remained illegal until 1748. In 1788, the Marylebone Cricket Club framed the first set of rules to govern matches played between English counties. The first official international Test cricket match was played between England and Australia on March 15–March 19, 1877, at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Cricket entered a new era in 1961, when English counties modified the rules to provide a variant match form that produced an expedited result. This gained widespread popularity and resulted in the birth of one-day international (ODI) matches in 1971. The governing International Cricket Council quickly adopted the new form and held the first ODI Cricket World Cup in 1975. Since then, ODI matches have gained mass spectatorship, at the expense of Test cricket and to the consternation of fans who prefer the longer form of the game. As of the early 2000s, however, Test cricket is experiencing a growing resurgence in popularity.
International structure of cricket
Main article: International structure of cricket
The International Cricket Council (ICC) is responsible for framing the laws of the game. The ICC is headquartered in London and includes representatives of each of the ten Test-playing nations, as well as an elected panel representing non-Test-playing nations.
Responsibilities of the ICC:
- Framing and executing the laws of the game.
- Appointing umpires and referees for international matches.
- Ranking of national teams.
- Maintaining cricket statistics.
- Reprimanding players for breach of conduct.
- Organising the Cricket World Cup and the Champions Trophy.
- Authorising new national teams to play official Test or ODI matches.
- In extreme cases, banning teams from international cricket.
Each nation has a national cricket board which regulates cricket matches played in their country. The cricket board also selects the national squad and organises home and away tours for the national team.
Nations playing cricket are separated into three tiers depending on the level of cricket infrastructure in that country. At the highest level are the Test-playing nations. They qualify automatically for the quadrennial World Cup matches. A rung lower are the Associate Member nations. The lowermost rung consists of the Affiliate Member nations.
See also: Non-Test teams to have played ODI matches.
Forms of cricket
- Test cricket
Main article: Test cricket
Test cricket is 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 15 March, 1877 and had a timeless format with four balls per over. It ended on 19 March, 1877 with Australia winning by 45 runs.
Since then, over 1,600 Test matches have been played and the number of Test match playing nations has increased to ten with Bangladesh, the most recent nation elevated to Test status, making its debut in 2000.
- One-day cricket
Main article: One-day international
One-day matches, also known as limited overs or instant cricket, were introduced due to the growing demands of commercial television for a shorter and more dramatic form of cricket. The abbreviation ODI is used for international matches of this type. In one-day cricket, each team bats for only one innings, and it is limited to a number of overs, usually 50 in international matches. Innovations such as a coloured clothing, evening matches and result oriented games often resulting in nail biting finishes has seen ODI cricket gain many supporters. Strategies such as quick scoring, gravity defying fielding and accurate bowling make the form more energetic as compared to the laid back Test matches. In most cricket-playing nations there is also a domestic one-day competition, usually contested by the same teams which play in the first-class competition.
There is an increasing trend for players to specialise in one form of the game, or to be selected to represent their country only in one of the ODI team or test team.
- First-class matches
Main article: First-class cricket
A first-class match is a high-level international or domestic match that takes place over at least three days on natural (as opposed to artificial) turf. The status of a match depends on the status of the teams contesting it. All Test-playing nations are allowed to play first-class matches, as are their regional, state, provincial or county teams. Kenya, one of the foremost non-Test-playing nations, is also considered a first-class level team. Generally speaking, a match can be considered first-class only if both teams have first-class status. Thus, a match between two Test nations, between two domestic teams, or between a Test nation and another Test nation's domestic team, may be considered first class. A Test match is also considered to be a first-class match, but one-day matches are not.
- Other forms of cricket
Main article: Forms of cricket
The game of cricket has also spawned a set of matches with modified rules to attract more fans. These matches are not recognised by the ICC as official matches. Other variants of the sport exist and are played in areas as diverse as on sandy beaches or on ice.
- Variances in international cricket
The rules of the two types of international cricket are almost the same with a few differences. However, strategies between the two forms have little in common. The table below summarises the main differences in the rules between these two forms.
| - | Test cricket | One-day international cricket |
|---|---|---|
| Max match duration: | Five days | One day (seven hours) |
| Max No of innings per team: | Two | One |
| Wides: | Relaxed | Restricted |
| Bouncers: | Two per batsman per over | One per over |
| Fielding restrictions: | Partial | Fifteen overs heavy restriction |
| Colour of ball: | Red | White |
| Colour of clothing: | White (helmets and caps: Team colours) | Team colours |
See also
- Cricket statistics
- Cricket terminology
- List of cricket topics
- List of cricketers
- List of cricketers by country
- List of Test cricket grounds