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
This is cricket.OGG

2 and 1/2 minutes overview of Cricket.
Highest governing body International Cricket Council
Characteristics
Team Members 11 at a time
Category Bat-and-ball
Ball Cricket ball
Bowler Shaun Pollock bowls to batsman Michael Hussey. 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.
Bowler Shaun Pollock bowls to batsman Michael Hussey. 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.
A Test match between South Africa and England in January 2005. The men wearing black trousers on the far right are the umpires. Test cricket, first-class cricket and club cricket are played in traditional white uniforms and with red cricket balls, while professional One-day cricket is usually played in coloured uniforms and with white balls.
A Test match between South Africa and England in January 2005. The men wearing black trousers on the far right are the umpires. Test cricket, first-class cricket and club cricket are played in traditional white uniforms and with red cricket balls, while professional One-day cricket is usually played in coloured uniforms and with white balls.
A One Day International match at The Melbourne Cricket Ground between Australia and India. The Australian batsmen are wearing yellow, while the fielding team, India, is wearing blue.
A One Day International match at The Melbourne Cricket Ground between Australia and India. The Australian batsmen are wearing yellow, while the fielding team, India, is wearing blue.

Cricket is a bat-and-ball sport contested by two teams, usually of eleven players each.[1] A cricket match is played on a grass field, roughly oval in shape, in the centre of which is a flat strip of ground 22 yards (20.12 m) long, called a cricket pitch. A wicket, usually made of wood, is placed at each end of the pitch.

The bowler, a player from the fielding team, bowls a hard, fist-sized cricket ball from the vicinity of one wicket towards the other. The ball usually bounces once before reaching the batsman, a player from the opposing team. In defence of the wicket, the batsman plays the ball with a wooden cricket bat. Meanwhile, the other members of the bowler's team stand in various positions around the field as fielders, players who retrieve the ball in an effort to stop the batsman scoring runs, and if possible to get him or her out. The batsman — if he or she does not get out — may run between the wickets, exchanging ends with a second batsman (the "non-striker"), who has been waiting near the bowler's wicket. Each completed exchange of ends scores one run. Runs are also scored if the batsman hits the ball to the boundary of the playing area. The match is won by the team that scores more runs.

Cricket has been an established team sport for hundreds of years and is thought to be the second most popular sport in the world, after football (soccer).[2] More than 100 countries are affiliated to the International Cricket Council, cricket's international governing body. The sport's modern form originated in England, and is most popular in the present and former members of the Commonwealth. In many countries including Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and the English-speaking countries of the Caribbean, which are collectively known in cricketing parlance as the West Indies, cricket is the most popular sport. In Australia, while other sports are more popular in particular areas, cricket has been described as the "national sport" and has had a role in forming the national identity.[3] It is also a major sport in England, New Zealand, South Africa and Zimbabwe . Many countries also have well-established amateur club competitions, including the Netherlands, Kenya, Nepal and Argentina.

The sport is followed with passion in many different parts of the world. It has even occasionally given rise to diplomatic outrage, notoriously the Basil D'Oliveira affair (which led to the banning of South Africa from sporting events) and the Bodyline Test series in the early 1930s (which led to a temporary deterioration in relations between Australia and the United Kingdom).

Summary Provided Under GNU Free Documentation License


Recent Videos

   

Cricket League Now Featured in New York City Public High Schools 04-02-2008 10:16 am   -  The Wall Street Journal

"There was a lot of demand and I think we tapped into this demand."

Naked Streaker Gets Clobbered by Cricket Player 03-04-2008 6:18 pm   -  Nine News

"I haven't seen it yet, there's been a bit of talk and laughter around the dressing room, but I haven't spoken to Symmo about it."


Live From The Blogosphere!

No NCA clearance, but Parmar gets berth
Watching off-spinner Mohnish Parmar bowl will surely remind one of Muralitharan. For, the Gujarat bowler's action resembles that of the Lankan legend.

Cricket: Umpires courses
The International Institute of Cricket Umpires & Scorers (IICUS) are holding the first cricket umpiring course to be accredited by an educational validation.

'Vaas wanted to know how I swung the ball back'
After seven months of agony, following his troublesome heel injury, Zaheer Khan proved his pedigree all over again in the just-concluded Sri Lanka tour.

Cricket at the Olympics?
The game has captured the hearts of a billion people for the last few decades. Will it be long before this sport becomes a rage all across the world? An inclusion in the Olympics will be just the shot in the arm cricket needs to spread.

Is the Indian Cricket fan ready for a Change in order?
As somebody who grew up on a staple diet of Test and One-day cricket, I was skeptical when T20 cricket was introduced as a serious format in England. For long I felt it was a foreign phenomenon that may not affect Indian shores. ...

Cricket Club Celebrates First Home Win
The fruit of more than 20 years' effort blossomed on Johnson Field in late July when the UNM Cricket Club took the field against visiting UTEP. For the UNM cricketers, this was their inaugural home game on their new cricket pitch, ...

Club franchises future of cricket
FORMER India coach Greg Chappell believes cricket's future lies in privately-owned Twenty20 club franchises around the world, with Tests taking a back seat.

Abhinav Bindra says he is not against cricket
The Olympics gold medalist said that he is not against cricket but he wants the other sports like football, hockey, shooting, atheletics and other events should be encouraged. Cricket alone wont give the nation pride but its the ...

Lifeline thrown to Zimbabwean cricket
By Our Correspondent HARARE - The Zimbabwe cricket team has been thrown a lifeline after being confirmed for a three-nation one-day-international series against Kenya and Ireland in Nairobi next month. After struggling to find opponents ...

Cricket continues from today
But, in a match of the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) today, unbeaten Malteenoes Sports Club (MSC) will be looking to extend their run when they oppose Demerara Cricket Club (DCC) in the nationwide Neal and Massey 50 overs-a side match. ...









Go Home