Cricket

Cricket is a team sport played between two groups of eleven players each. It originated in its modern form in England, and is popular mainly in the countries of the Commonwealth. In some countries in South Asia, including India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, cricket is by far the most popular sport. Cricket is also a major sport in England and Wales, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Zimbabwe and the English-speaking Caribbean (called the West Indies).

 

The length of the game — a game can last six or more hours a day, for up to five days (and occasionally more) — the numerous intervals for lunch and tea, and the rich terminology are notable aspects which can confuse those not familiar with the sport. For its fans, the sport and the intense rivalries between the top cricketing nations provide passionate entertainment that has occasionally given rise to diplomatic outrage, especially the infamous Bodyline series played between England and Australia.

 

The batting team keeps two batsmen on the field. Each player bats until he is out, and then is replaced and does not bat again in that innings. Once ten of the eleven players of the batting team have been dismissed (i.e., ten wickets have been taken) the team is said to be 'All Out' and their innings comes to an end. A team's innings may also be declared closed by the batting team's captain.

 

Matches may be played over one or two innings – that is, one or two turns at bat for each team, so that a "two innings match" contains four innings in total. For most one innings matches such as one-day matches, each team's innings is limited to a set number of overs. An over is a set of six legal (fair) deliveries or balls. This type of match is often called limited-overs cricket.