Cricket (sport)

This article is about the sport of cricket – for variants such as the insect, see the disambiguation page called cricket

Cricket is a global team sport that originated in England and is now played in more than 100 countries. It is widely perceived as a men's sport but in fact women's cricket, which is organised and played separately, has also achieved international standard.

Cricket is essentially an outdoor sport, certainly at major level, and some games are played under floodlights. It cannot be played in poor weather due to the risk of accidents and so it is a seasonal sport. For example, it is played during the summer months in Great Britain, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. Paradoxically, it is played during the winter months in the West Indies, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh to escape the hurricane and monsoon seasons.

Governance rests primarily with the International Cricket Conference (ICC) which organises the sport worldwide via the domestic controlling bodies of the member countries.

The game of cricket and its objectives

A cricket match is played between two teams (or sides) of eleven players each on a field of variable size and shape. Field diameters of 140-160 yards are usual. The perimeter of the field is known as the "boundary" and this is sometimes marked by a rope that encircles the outer edge of the field with spectator seating beyond. The field may be round, square or oval – one of cricket's most famous venues is called The Oval.

The key action takes place in a specially prepared area of the field (generally in the centre) that is called the "pitch". At either end of the pitch, 22 yards apart, are placed the "wickets". These serve as a target for the "bowling" aka "fielding" side and are defended by the "batting" side which seeks to accumulate "runs".

The bowling side seeks to "dismiss" the batsmen by various means until the batting side is "all out", whereupon the side that was bowling takes its turn to bat and the side that was batting must "take the field".

In normal circumstances, there are 15 people on the field while a match is in play. Two of these are the "umpires" who regulate all on-field activity. Two are the "batsmen", one of whom is the "striker" as he is facing the bowling; the other is called the "non-striker". The roles of the batsmen are interchangeable as runs are scored and "overs" are completed. The fielding side has all 11 players on the field together. One of them is the "bowler", another is the "wicketkeeper" and the other nine are called "fielders". The wicketkeeper (or keeper) is nearly always a specialist but any of the fielders can be called upon to bowl.

Before play commences, the two captains toss a coin to decide which team shall bat or bowl first. The captain who wins the toss makes his decision on the basis of tactical considerations including the current and expected pitch and weather conditions. Tactics play a much greater part in cricket than in most other sports.

In simple terms, the object of each team is to score more runs than the other team and so win the game. However, in certain types of cricket, it is also necessary to completely dismiss the other team in order to win the match which would otherwise be drawn.

Pitch, wickets and creases

The pitch is 22 yards long between the wickets and is 10 feet wide. It is a flat surface and has very short grass that tends to be worn away as the game progresses. The "condition" of the pitch has a significant bearing on the match and team tactics are always determined with the state of the pitch, both current and anticipated, as a deciding factor.

Each wicket consists of three wooden stumps placed in a straight line and surmounted by two wooden bails; the total height of the wicket including bails is 28.5 inches and the combined width of the three stumps is 9 inches.

Four lines (aka creases) are painted onto the pitch around the wicket areas to define the batsman's "safe territory" and to determine the limit of the bowler's approach. These are called the "popping" (or batting) crease, the bowling crease and two "return" creases.

The stumps are placed in line on the bowling creases and so these must be 22 yards apart. A bowling crease is 8 feet 8 inches long with the middle stump placed dead centre. The popping crease has the same length, is parallel to the bowling crease and is four feet in front of the wicket. The return creases are perpendicular to the other two; they are adjoined to the ends of the popping crease and are drawn through the ends of the bowling crease to a length of at least eight feet.

When bowling the ball, the bowler's back foot in his "delivery stride" must land within the two return creases while his front foot must land on or behind the popping crease. If he breaks this rule, the umpire calls "No ball".

The batsman uses the popping crease at his end to stand when facing the bowler but it is more important to him that because it marks the limit of his safe territory and he can be stumped or run out (see Dismissals below) if the wicket is broken while he is "out of his ground".

Bat and ball

The essence of the sport is that a bowler delivers the ball from his end of the pitch towards the "batsman" who, armed with a "bat", is "on strike" at the other end.

The bat is made of wood and takes the shape of a blade topped by a cylindrical handle. The blade must not be more than 4.25 inches wide and the total length of the bat not more than 38 inches.

The bowler must employ a straight-armed action to "bowl" the ball, which is a hard leather seamed spheroid projectile with a circumference limit of 9 inches.

The hardness of the ball, which can be delivered at speeds of more than 90mph, is a matter for concern and batsmen wear protective clothing including "pads" (designed to protect the knees and shins), "batting gloves" for the hands, a helmet for the head and a "box" inside the trousers (for the more delicate part of the anatomy). Some batsmen wear additional padding inside their shirts and trousers such as thigh pads, arm pads, rib protectors and shoulder pads.

Umpires and scorers

The game on the field is regulated by two "umpires", one of whom stands behind the wicket at the bowler's end, the other in a position called "square leg" which is several yards behind the batsman on strike. When the bowler delivers the ball, the umpire at the wicket is between the bowler and the non-striker.

Off the field, the match details including runs and dismissals are recorded by "scorers". In televised matches, particularly those played at international level, there is often a "third umpire" who can make decisions on certain incidents with the aid of video evidence.

Overs

The bowler bowls the ball in sets of six deliveries (or "balls") and each set of six balls is called an over. This name came about because the umpire calls "Over!" when six balls have been bowled. At this point, another bowler is deployed at the other end and the fielding side changes ends. A bowler cannot bowl two successive overs, although a bowler can bowl unchanged at the same end for several overs. The batsmen do not change ends and so the one who was non-striker is now the striker and vice-versa. The umpires also change positions so that the one was at square leg now stands behind the wicket at the non-striker's end and vice-versa.

Innings

In theory, all eleven members of the batting side take a turn to bat but an "innings" can end before they all do so. The innings (always used in the plural form) is the term used for the collective performance of the batting side. Each team has one or two innings each depending on the type of contest being played. The term innings also applies to a batsman's individual performance and it is often said that a batsman had an innings (meaning score) of so many runs.

The main aim of the bowler, supported by his fielders, is to dismiss the batsman. A batsman when dismissed is said to be "out" and that means he must leave the field of play and be replaced by the next batsman on his team. When ten batsmen have been dismissed (i.e., are out), then the whole team is dismissed and the innings is over. The last batsman, the one who has not been dismissed, is not allowed to continue alone as there must always be two batsmen "in". This batsman is termed "not out".

If an innings should end before ten batsmen have been dismissed, there are two "not out" batsmen. An innings can end early because the batting side's captain has chosen to "declare" the innings closed, which is a tactical decision; or because the batting side has achieved its target and won the game; or because the game has ended prematurely due to bad weather or running out of time. In limited overs cricket, there might be two batsmen still "in" when the last overs has been bowled.

Fielding

All eleven players on the fielding side take the field together. One of them is the wicketkeeper who operates behind the wicket being defended by the batsman on strike. Besides the one currently bowling, the other fielders are tactically deployed by the team captain in chosen positions around the field. These positions are not fixed but they are known by specific and sometimes colourful names such as "slip", "third man", "silly mid on" and "long leg". The captain is the most important member of the fielding side as he determines all the tactics including who should bowl (and how); and he is responsible for "setting the field", though usually in consultation with the bowler.

Bowling

The bowler reaches his delivery stride by means of a "run-up", although some bowlers with a very slow delivery take no more than a couple of steps before bowling. A fast bowler needs momentum and takes quite a long run-up, running very fast as he does so.

The fastest bowlers can deliver the ball at a speed of over 90mph and they sometimes rely on sheer speed to try and defeat the batsman, who is forced to react very quickly to a ball that reaches him in an instant. The Australian fast bowler Jeff Thomson, who played in the 1970s, was a classic example of this type of bowler.

Other fast bowlers rely on a mixture of speed and guile. Some fast bowlers make use of the seam of the ball so that it "curves" or "swings" in flight and this type of delivery can deceive a batsman into mistiming his shot so that the ball touches the edge of the bat and can then be "caught behind" by the wicketkeeper or a slip fielder. The great England fast bowler Fred Trueman, who played in the 1950s and 1960s, was a brilliant exponent of the "outswinger".

At the other end of the bowling scale is the "spinner" who bowls at a relatively slow pace and relies entirely on guile to deceive the batsman. A spinner will often "buy his wicket" by "tossing one up" to lure the batsman into making an adventurous shot. The batsman has to be very wary of such deliveries as they are often "flighted" or spun so that the ball will not behave quite as he expects and he could be "trapped" into getting himself out. There are two great spin bowlers operating in 21st century cricket: Shane Warne of Australia and Muttiah Muralitharan of Sri Lanka.

In between the pacemen and the spinners are the "medium pacers" who rely on persistent accuracy to try and contain the rate of scoring and wear down the batsman's concentration.

All bowlers are classified according to their pace or style. The classifications, as with much cricket terminology, can be very confusing. Hence, a bowler could be classified as LF, meaning he is a left arm fast bowler; or as LBG, meaning he is a right arm spin bowler who bowls deliveries that are called a "leg break" and a "googly"!

Batting

At any one time, there are two batsmen in the playing area. One takes station at the striker's end to defend the wicket as above and to score runs if possible. His partner, the non-striker, is at the end where the bowler is operating.

If a batsman "retires" (usually due to injury) and cannot return, he is actually "not out" and his retirement does not count as a dismissal, though in effect he has been dismissed because his innings is over. Substitute batsmen are not allowed, although substitute fielders are.

A skilled batsman can use a wide array of "shots" or "strokes" in both defensive and attacking mode. The idea is to hit the ball to best effect with the flat surface of the bat's blade. Batsmen do not always seek to hit the ball as hard as possible and a good player can score runs just by making a deft stroke with a turn of the wrists or by simply "blocking" the ball but directing it away from fielders so that he has time to take a run.

Cricket is very fond of naming things, as with the field placings, and each shot or stroke in the batsman's repertoire has a name too: e.g., "cut", "drive", "hook", "pull", etc.

Note that a batsman does not have to play a shot and can "leave" the ball to go through to the wicketkeeper, providing he thinks it will not hit his wicket. Equally, he does not have to attempt a run when he hits the ball with his bat. He can deliberately use his leg to block the ball and thereby "pad it away" but this is risky because of the lbw rule.

Runs

The primary concern of the batsman on strike (i.e., the "striker") is to prevent the ball hitting the wicket and secondarily to score runs by hitting the ball with his bat so that he and his partner have time to run from one end of the pitch to the other before the fielding side can return the ball. Each completed run increments the score. More than one run can be scored from a single hit but, while hits worth one to three runs are common, the size of the field is such that it is usually difficult to run four or more. To compensate for this, hits that reach the boundary of the field are awarded four runs if the ball touches the ground en route to the boundary or six runs if the ball clears the boundary on the full. Hits for five are unusual and generally rely on the help of "overthrows" by a fielder returning the ball. If an odd number of runs is scored by the striker, the two batsmen have changed ends and the one who was non-striker is now the striker. Only the striker can score individual runs but all runs are added to the team's total.

Extras

Additional runs can be gained by the batting team as "extras" or "sundries" by courtesy of the fielding side. This is achieved in four ways:

1. No ball – a penalty of one extra that is conceded by the bowler if he breaks the rules of bowling either by (a) using an inappropriate arm action; or (b) overstepping the bowling crease
2. Wide – a penalty of one extra that is conceded by the bowler if he bowls so that the ball is out of the batsman's reach
3. Bye – extra(s) awarded if the batsman misses the ball and it goes past the wicketkeeper to give the batsmen time to run in the conventional way (note that the mark of a good wicketkeeper is one who restricts the tally of byes to a minimum)
4. Leg bye – extra(s) awarded if the ball hits the batsman's leg, but not his bat, and it goes away from the fielders to give the batsmen time to run in the conventional way.

When the bowler has bowled a no ball or a wide, his team incurs an additional penalty because that ball (i.e., delivery) has to be bowled again and hence the batting side has the opportunity to score more runs from this extra ball.

The batsmen have to run (i.e., unless the ball goes to the boundary for four) to claim byes and leg byes but these only count towards the team total, not to the striker's individual total for which runs must be scored off the bat.

Dismissals

There are several ways in which a batsman can be dismissed and some are so unusual that only a few instances of them exist in the whole history of the game. The most common forms of dismissal are "bowled", "caught", "leg before wicket" (lbw), "run out", "stumped" and "hit wicket". The unusual methods are "hit the ball twice", "obstructed the field", "handled the ball" and "timed out".

Before the umpire will award a dismissal and declare the batsman to be out, a member of the fielding side (generally the bowler) must "appeal". This is invariably done by asking (or shouting) the term "Owzat?" which means, simply enough, "How is that?" If the umpire agrees with the appeal, he will raise a forefinger and say "Out!". Otherwise he will shake his head and say "Not out". Appeals are particularly loud when the circumstances of the claimed dismissal are unclear, as is always the case with lbw and often with run outs and stumpings.

1. Bowled – the bowler has hit the wicket with the ball and the wicket has "broken" with at least one bail being dislodged (note that if the ball hits the wicket without dislodging a bail it is not out)
2. Caught – the batsman has hit the ball with his bat or with his hand and the ball was caught on the full by a member of the fielding side
3. Leg before wicket (lbw) – is complex but basically means that the batsman would have been bowled if the ball had not hit his leg first
4. Run out – a fielder has broken the wicket with the ball while a batsman was out of his ground; this usually occurs by means of an accurate throw to the wicket while the batsmen are attempting a run
5. Stumped – is similar except that it is done by the wicketkeeper after the batsman has missed the bowled ball and has stepped out of his ground; the keeper must break the wicket with the ball in his hand for a stumping (if the keeper throws the ball at the wicket, it is a run out)
6. Hit wicket – means simply that a batsman did just that, often by hitting the wicket with his bat or by falling onto it or running into it
7. Hit the ball twice – is very unusual and was introduced as a safety measure to counter dangerous play and protect the fielders, although when it does occur it is usually because the batsman has tried to stop the ball hitting the wicket after he has already played it
8. Obstructed the field – another unusual dismissal which tends to involve a batsman deliberately getting in the way of a fielder
9. Handled the ball – a batsman must not deliberately use his hand to protect his wicket (note that the bowled ball often hits the batsman's hand but this is not intentional by the batsman and so is not out; though he can of course be caught off his hand)
10. Timed out – usually means that the next batsman did not arrive at the wicket within two minutes of the previous one being dismissed.

Note that it is usually the striker who is out when a dismissal occurs but the non-striker can be dismissed, invariably by being run out.

Types of match and competition

Cricket is a multi-faceted sport whose rules 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 major cricket and minor cricket based on playing standards. A more pertinent important division is between 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 (there have been examples of "timeless" matches too); the latter, known as limited overs 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.). Test matches have a duration of up to five days.

Origin and development

According to the former British Prime Minister John Major in his book entitled More Than A Game, cricket is a club striking a ball (like) the ancient games of club-ball, stool-ball, trap-ball, stob-ball. As he says, each of these have at times been described as "early cricket".

Early times

Cricket has an immemorial existence. It was "invented" and developed in England, probably in Saxon, Norman or Plantagenet times. It is generally believed that it began in the south eastern counties of Kent and Sussex as a children's game and, despite some possibly spurious earlier references, it was first definitely mentioned in 1597 as a game played by boys at the Royal Grammar School in Guildford, Surrey, around 1550. It is the world's oldest professional team sport. Having been a boy's game in 1550, it became an adult game in the early 17th century with inter-parish matches taking place by the time of the English Civil War and then, almost certainly, a professional sport in or soon after 1660 in the wake of the Restoration.

17th century

Professionalism came about because of the influence of gambling, particularly by rich and sometimes aristocratic patrons. These men, always looking to improve their chances of winning, began to form teams that were representative of more than the fundamental parish eleven by hiring good players from elsewhere. As a result, the parish teams evolved into county teams and, in due course, inter-county matches began to be played in front of large crowds with considerable sums of money at stake.

Freedom of the press was not allowed in England until 1696 and sport could not be reported until that historic breakthrough occurred. In 1697, a match in Sussex was the subject of the earliest known newspaper report about cricket. By this time, cricket had spread across the south east of England and had already gained its vital footholds in London and in the public schools, although it was not yet a part of any school's curriculum. The original London Cricket Club was almost certainly formed about 1700, though it is not definitely mentioned in sources until 1722. Cricket was already known at some public schools including Eton, Westminster and Winchester by 1700.

18th century

This was the key period in the sport's history as it spread throughout England to become a truly "national sport". But, curiously, because of military and trading expeditions, cricket was introduced to North America and India decades before it is first known in Yorkshire, the county with which it is now most famously associated! Although it was a major sport by 1800, it relied (like horse racing and prizefighting) on gambling and patronage for its existence.

The 18th century is noted for the earliest codification of the rules as the Laws of Cricket in 1744, with subsequent amendments, and it saw several important changes in the way the game is played. In early times, the wicket had only two stumps and the middle stump was introduced in the 1770s. Leg before wicket was introduced as a means of dismissal at about the same time. These were rule changes but there was also an evolution in the 1760s when bowlers began to "pitch" the ball whereas formerly they had rolled it along the ground as in true bowls. Batsmen had used a bat shaped like a modern hockey stick to combat the rolled ball and, in response to the bounce of the pitched delivery, the modern straight bat was introduced.

Numerous great players were active in the 18th century, including Robert Colchin, John Small, "Lumpy" Stevens, David Harris, William Beldam and Tom Walker. Several famous clubs were formed including the legendary Hambledon and Slindon. The most important club of all, MCC, was founded in 1787 from the remnants of the old London club after its members began using the new Lord's Cricket Ground in Marylebone. Towards the end of the century, the important Sheffield Cricket Club and Nottingham Cricket Club were established in the north of England.

19th century

Investment in major cricket had already been impacted by the Seven Years War but it had recovered and gained strength in the aftermath. The sport faced an even greater threat to its existence from the Napoleonic War but again it made a solid recovery.

The influence of Muscular Christianity was significant through the 19th century and cricket was something of a talisman in the days of empire building and post-Industrial Revolution society. The sport became established as a feature of public school and university life, taking on an importance that no sport should have in a society that was otherwise weighed down with the real problems of poverty and disease. Cricket was viewed as an activity that developed character, especially in its emphasis on teamwork. The two great universities, Cambridge and Oxford, are said to have been as intent on enrolling potential "blues" as potential "firsts". The public schools at Eton, Harrow, Charterhouse, Winchester, Repton, etc. produced a succession of top-class players who firmly established an "amateur tradition" of well-to-do players who played, in theory, for expenses only.

The other side of the coin was professionalism without which the game could not have survived as a major sport. In 1846, William Clarke launched the All-England Eleven, which was deserving of its title, as a commercial venture to tour the country and play against allcomers. The majority of Clarke's players were professionals and the venture was an outstanding success that spawned several imitations.

Despite the success of the amateurs and the touring professional, the most important development in English cricket during the 19th century was the formation of county clubs, which led in 1890 to the formalisation of the County Championship, hitherto an unofficial and sometimes retrospective "title". The earliest county club was Sussex CCC in 1839 and many more followed in the next fifty years. As well as being part of an organised structure in championship terms, the clubs pulled together the disparate strands of itinerant amateurism and professionalism into a cohesive whole. From this, it was possible to properly organise an England international team to take on the growing might of Australia and, in due course, several other countries.

The first Test matches between England and Australia took place in 1877 and this fixture soon acquired enormous popular and media interest. South Africa began playing Test matches in 1889. By 1900, major cricket was established in India, New Zealand and the West Indies although these three did not play Test matches until the 1920s and 1930s.

The greatest player of the 19th century was unquestionably William Gilbert Grace, known throughout England as "WG". His career in major cricket was from 1865 to 1908 and he set standards, particularly in batting, that revolutionised the sport and raised its profile to the levels of national and international consciousness. Other great players included Alfred Mynn, William Caffyn, Arthur Shrewsbury and the Australian fast bowler Fred Spofforth, who is known to all cricket followers as the original "Demon Bowler".

Bowling was the cause of the sport's greatest controversies in the 19th century. During the Napoleonic period and soon afterwards, bowlers began to develop an action that involved raising the arm at the point of delivery. Although pitching had begun in the 1760s, the bowlers had still retained the basic underarm action they had used for rolling or skimming the ball along the ground. The new style, known as roundarm bowling because the arm was extended outwards from the shoulder, was condemned in many quarters as "throwing", even though the arm was kept straight. In 1827, a set of "roundarm trial matches" was staged and after that, the new style was at first grudgingly and then legally adopted. By the 1860s, bowlers were beginning to raise their arms higher still and following a confrontation at The Oval in 1862, the modern style of overarm bowling was legalised from the 1864 season.

20th century

Cricket thrived throughout the 20th century despite the massive impact of the two World Wars and continued to expand internationally. By 2000, ten countries were playing Test cricket and many more had become involved in the sport's new variation, limited overs cricket, which was introduced in the 1960s.

Cricket's first World Cup was introduced in 1975 as a limited overs competition and by the end of the century a World Test Championship in the form of an ongoing ratings system had gradually been introduced.

The greatest player of the 20th century was undoubtedly the Australian batsman Don Bradman who set statistical records that may never be equalled. Other great players included Gary Sobers, Wilfred Rhodes, Jack Hobbs, Walter Hammond, Victor Trumper, Shane Warne, Richard Hadlee, Sunil Gavaskar, Imran Khan, Viv Richards and Malcolm Marshall.

21st century

Cricket in the 21st century is a major international sport which attracts enormous media coverage.

Although Test cricket remains the standard by which excellence is recognised, the two innings format of the sport is increasingly under pressure because of social change. There is a growing view that a cricket match needs a short duration, along the lines of baseball and football, so that a busy public can see a whole match in an afternoon or evening.

As a result, limited overs cricket is probably the way forward, especially given the spectacular commercial success of Twenty20 cricket which was introduced as an evening entertainment in England in 2003 and had its first World Cup in 2007.

The significance of cricket

Cricket has high player participation with numerous minor competitions at all age levels widespread in every country in which it is played. It is one of the world's greatest spectator sports and attracts massive media coverage. Its social and cultural influence is considerable and many leading players have acquired "celebrity status".

Cricket's global spread is directly attributable to the British Empire. It is generally viewed as the quintessential English sport that has followed British colonists, traders and military expeditions everywhere. It is thus no coincidence that it is mostly found in English-speaking countries.

Cricket is hugely popular in those countries where major playing standards have been achieved and where Test cricket is played: i.e., Great Britain, Australia, South Africa, India, the West Indies, New Zealand, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe. The sport is also well-established in several other countries which operate at international level but as yet do not play Test cricket, including United States, Canada, Ireland, Kenya, Argentina, Namibia and the Netherlands.