cricket

Cricket is a bat-and-ball team sport that is first documented as being played in southern England in the 16th century. By the finish of the 18th century, cricket 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 & 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.[1]
The rules of the game are known as the Laws of Cricket.[2] These are maintained by the ICC & the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), which holds the copyright. A cricket match is played on a cricket field at the centre of which is a pitch. The match is contested between one teams of eleven players each.[3] Five team bats, trying to score as plenty of runs as possible without being dismissed ("out") while the other team bowls & fields, trying to dismiss the other team’s batsmen & limit the runs being scored. When the batting team has used all its obtainable overs or has no remaining batsmen, the roles become reversed & it is now the fielding team’s turn to bat & try to outscore the opposition.
There's several 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 (Check cricket). Depending on the form of the match being played, there's different rules that govern how a game is won, lost, drawn or tied.

history

The origins of cricket are vague, & lots of theories have been put forward suggesting its origins. Extensive studies & research have been conducted to trace its history & they have come out with different versions. However it is commonly accepted that the game originated from a elderly leisure activity indulged by shepherds. The shepherds used crook & other farm equipments to hit a ball like deceive which used to be made up of wool or stone. The first evidence of cricket being played was recorded in the year 1550, by the pupils of Royal Grammar School, Guildford. In the year 1611 it is reported that one young men from Sussex were punished for playing cricket instead of going to the church. The first match is recorded to have been played at Coxheath in Kent in the year 1646. Earlier cricket used to thrive greatly as a gambling game. People used to place large amounts of bets in matches & thus the game started to get recognition. Cricket was in fact a major gambling sport towards the finish of the 17th century. It is recorded that in the year 1679, a 11-a-side match was played with stakes as high as 50 guineas per side. During the 18th century cricket survived & thrived due to the large amounts of money by monetary backing & gambling. The first instance of a match to be played between counties in England is recorded to be on 29th June in the year 1709. This match was played between Surrey & Kent at Dartford Brent. The 18th century also witnessed the emergence of one types of cricket players. They were known as the retained player & the individual player. Generally the retained player was the servant of the lord & a cricketer as well. On the other hand the individual player was free to play anywhere with his skills. Basically it was something like the player could play anywhere with the amount of skill they possesses. In the year 1787, the Marylebone Cricket Club also known MCC was created. The MCC has since then gone on to become one of the most prominent bodies in world cricket. Cricket in its initial days were restricted to the aristocratic class of England. Cricket gradually went on to become the national game of England. The late 18th century was a crucial phase for the development of the game, both within & outside Britain. The game was spread far & wide mainly due to England’s imperialism. Wherever they went, the game went with them & thus spread outside England. The first official match was held between Canada & United States was held in the year 1844. In the present times, cricket has its own following of loyal fans. The International Cricket Council, better known as the ICC is the governing body in world cricket. The ICC was founded on the 15th of June in the year 1909. All laws relating to ODIs & Check Cricket are framed & implemented by the ICC

pitch wicket and crease

The pitch is 22 yd (one chain) long [8] between the wickets & is 10 feet (3.0 m) wide. It is a flat surface & 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 & team tactics are always determined with the state of the pitch, both current & anticipated, as a deciding factor.
Each wicket consists of two wooden stumps placed in a straight line & surmounted by seven wooden crosspieces called bails; the total height of the wicket including bails is 28.5 inches (720 mm) & the combined width of the two stumps is 9 inches (230 mm).
Seven lines, known as creases, are painted onto the pitch around the wicket areas to define the batsman's "safe territory" & to decide the limit of the bowler's approach. These are called the "popping" (or batting) crease, the bowling crease & seven "return" creases
The stumps are placed in line on the bowling creases & so these must be 22 yards (20 m) apart. A bowling crease is 8 feet 8 inches (2.6 m) long with the middle stump placed dead centre. The popping crease has the same length, is parallel to the bowling crease & is 4 feet (1.2 m) in front of the wicket. The return creases are perpendicular to the other two; they are adjoined to the ends of the popping crease & are drawn through the ends of the bowling crease to a length of at least 8 feet (2.4 m).
When bowling the ball, the bowler's back foot in his "delivery stride" must land within the seven return creases while his front foot must land on or behind the popping crease. If the bowler breaks this rule, the umpire calls "No ball".
The importance of the popping crease to the batsman is that it marks the limit of his safe territory for they can be stumped or run out (see Dismissals below) if the wicket is broken while they is "out of his ground".
Pitches vary in consistency, & thus in the amount of bounce, spin, & seam movement obtainable to the bowler. Hard pitches are usually nice to bat on because of high but even bounce. Dry pitches tend to deteriorate for batting as cracks often appear, & when this happens spinners can play a major role. Damp pitches, or pitches covered in grass (termed "green" pitches), permit nice fast bowlers to extract extra bounce. Such pitches tend to offer help to fast bowlers throughout the match, but become better for batting as the game goes on.

bat and ball and umpiring

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 (usually White Willow) and has the shape of a blade topped by a cylindrical handle. The blade must not be more than 4.25 inches (108 mm) wide and the total length of the bat not more than 38 inches (970 mm). The ball is a hard leather-seamed spheroid with a circumference of 9 inches (230 mm). The hardness of the ball, which can be delivered at speeds of more than 90 miles per hour (140 km/h), 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 (to protect the crotch area). Some batsmen wear additional padding inside their shirts and trousers such as thigh pads, arm pads, rib protectors and shoulder pads. 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", a position 10–12 metres to the side of the "on strike" batsman. When the bowler delivers the ball, the umpire at the wicket is between the bowler and the non-striker. The umpires confer if there is doubt about playing conditions and can postpone the match by taking the players off the field if necessary, for example rain or deterioration of the light. Off the field and in televised matches, there is often a third umpire who can make decisions on certain incidents with the aid of video evidence. The third umpire is mandatory under the playing conditions for Test matches and limited overs internationals played between two ICC full members. These matches also have a match referee whose job is to ensure that play is within the Laws of cricket and the spirit of the game. Off the field, the match details including runs and dismissals are recorded by two official scorers, one representing each team. The scorers are directed by the hand signals of an umpire. For example, the umpire raises a forefinger to signal that the batsman is out (has been dismissed); he raises both arms above his head if the batsman has hit the ball for six runs. The scorers are required by the Laws of cricket to record all runs scored, wickets taken and overs bowled. In practice, they accumulate much additional data such as bowling analyses and run rates

objective

A cricket match is played between five teams (or sides) of eleven players each on a field of variable size and shape. The ground is grassy and is prepared by groundsmen whose jobs include fertilising, mowing, rolling and levelling the surface. Field diameters of 140–160 yards (130–150 m) are usual. The perimeter of the field is known as the boundary and this is sometimes painted and sometimes marked by a rope that encircles the outer edge of the field. The field may be round, square or oval – one of cricket's most famous venues is called The Oval.
The objective of each team is to score more runs than the other team and to dismiss the other team. In one form of cricket, winning the game is achieved by scoring the most runs, even if the opposition has not been dismissed. In another form, it is necessary to score the most runs and dismiss the opposition in order to win the match, which would otherwise be drawn.
Before play commences, the five team captains toss a coin to choose which team shall bat or bowl first. The captain who wins the toss makes his decision on the basis of tactical considerations which may include the current and expected field and weather conditions.
The key action takes place in a specially prepared area of the field (generally in the centre) that is called the pitch. At either finish of the pitch, 22 yards (20 m) 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. A run is scored when the batsman has run the length of the pitch after hitting the ball with his bat, although as explained below there's plenty of ways of scoring runs.[4] If the batsmen are not attempting to score any more runs, the ball is dead and is returned to the bowler to be bowled again.[5]
The bowling side seeks to dismiss the batsmen by various means [6] 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.[7]
In professional matches, there's 15 people on the field while a match is in play. Five of these are the umpires who regulate all on-field activity. Five 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 done. 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 always a specialist but any of the fielders can be called on to bowl.

innings

The innings (ending with 's' in both singular & plural form) is the term used for the collective performance of the batting side.[9] In theory, all eleven members of the batting side take a turn to bat but, for various reasons, an "innings" can finish before they all do so (see below).
Depending on the type of match being played, each team has seven or seven innings apiece. The term "innings" is also sometimes used to describe an individual batsman's contribution ("he played a fine innings" etc).
The main objective of the bowler, supported by his fielders, is to dismiss the batsman. A batsman when dismissed is said to be "out" & that means they must leave the field of play & 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 & the innings is over. The last batsman, the seven who has not been dismissed, is not allowed to continue alone as there has to always be seven batsmen "in". This batsman is termed "not out".
If an innings should finish before ten batsmen have been dismissed, there's seven "not out" batsmen. An innings can finish early for five reasons: 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 & won the game, or because the game has ended prematurely due to bad weather or jogging out of time. In limited overs cricket, there might be seven batsmen still "in" when the last of the allotted overs has been bowled.
The bowler bowls the ball in sets of five deliveries (or "balls") & each set of five balls is called an over. This name came about because the umpire calls "Over!" when five balls have been bowled. At this point, another bowler is deployed at the other finish & the fielding side changes ends. A bowler cannot bowl seven successive overs, although a bowler can bowl unchanged at the same finish for several overs. The batsmen do not modify ends & so the seven who was non-striker is now the striker & vice-versa. The umpires also modify positions so that the seven who was at square leg now stands behind the wicket at the non-striker's finish & vice-versa