06/12/07

Hi Welcome Everyone to My web site ,this site is basically about the game Cricket. It will provide information regarding how to play this game what are the various rules, what teams are involved in it.

Cricket is a team sport for two teams of eleven players each. A formal game of cricket can last anything from an afternoon to several days.

Although the game play and rules are very different, the basic concept of cricket is similar to that of baseball. Teams bat in successive innings and attempt to score runs, while the opposing team fields and attempts to bring an end to the batting team's innings. After each team has batted an equal number of innings (either one or two, depending on conditions chosen before the game), the team with the most runs wins.

Cricket Ball:

Hard, cork and string ball, covered with leather. A bit like a baseball (in size and hardness), but the leather covering is thicker and joined in two hemispheres, not in a tennis ball pattern.  Traditionally the ball is dyed red, with the stitching left white. Nowadays white balls are also used, for visibility in games played at night under artificial lighting.

Cricket Bat:

Blade made of willow, flat on one side, humped on the other for strength, attached to a sturdy cane handle.

Wickets:

There are two wickets - wooden structures made up of a set of three stumps topped by a pair of bails. These are described below.

Stumps:

Three wooden posts,  They have have spikes extending from their bottom end and are hammered into the ground in an evenly spaced row, with the outside edges of the outermost stumps 228 millimeters' (9 inches) apart. This means they are just close enough together that a cricket ball cannot pass between them.

Bails:

Two wooden crosspieces which sit in grooves atop the adjacent pairs of stumps

The playing field:

The cricket field consists of a large circular or oval-shaped grassy ground. There are no fixed dimensions for the field but its diameter usually varies between 450 feet (137 m) to 500 feet (150 m). On most grounds, a rope demarcates the perimeter of the field and is known as the boundary

The Two Forms of Cricket

Cricket is played in two very distinct forms. The first is limited duration, in which a specific number of hours of playing time are allocated and each team plays two innings.

The second is limited over's, in which each team plays one innings of a p re-determined number of over's.

First Class Cricket

First class cricket matches are the most prestigious games, played at a professional level. The top level games are international Test matches, played between countries. There are also domestic first class cricket competitions. First class matches are of limited duration. Test matches will be described first, then any differences for other first class matches will be described.

Test matches are played over five days, with six hours play each day. Each day's play is divided into three sessions of two hours each.

Each team has two innings, usually played in alternating order. Each innings is over when either ten batsmen are out, or the captain of the batting side declares the innings closed When all the innings are completed, the team with the most runs wins. If there is a tie, the result stands .

If by the end of the final day's play all the innings are not completed, the game is a draw, no matter who appeared to be ``winning''. Thus the strategic importance of sometimes declaring an innings closed, in order to have enough time to dismiss the other team and so win the game.

Test matches are played in Series between two of the official Test nations. A Test Series consists of a set number of matches, from one to six, all of which are played to completion, even if one team gains an unassailable lead in the Series. Series of three or five matches are most common. Some pairs of nations compete against one another for a perpetual trophy. If a Series between two such nations is drawn, the holder of the trophy retains it.

Non-Test first class cricket differs from Test cricket in only a few respects. A non-Test first class match is usually four days long, not five. In a four-day game, the cut-off figure for enforcing the follow-on is 150 or more runs behind the first team. The formula used to determine the minimum number of overs bowled in a non-Test first class match may be different to that used for a Test match; there is no standard regulation.

One-Day Cricket

One-day cricket differs significantly from first class cricket. A one- day match is played on a single day. Either a red or a white cricket ball may be used, and play under artificial lighting is allowed.

Each team gets only one innings, and that innings is restricted to a maximum number of overs. Usual choices for the number of overs are 50, 55, or 60. Each innings is complete at the end of the stipulated number of overs, no matter how many batsmen are out. If ten batsmen are out before the full number of overs are bowled, the innings is also over. If the first team's innings ends in this manner, the second team still has its full number of overs to score the required runs. The timing of the innings and the break between them are not regulated.

Whichever team scores the most runs wins. A tied score stands. There is no draw result. If the match is washed out, so that the innings are not played, the game is declared a no-result.

In each innings, each bowler is restricted to bowling a maximum number of overs equal to one fifth of the total number of overs in the innings. Either a single new ball is used for each innings, or two new balls which are alternated between overs.  New balls are never taken during an innings, but replacements for lost or damaged balls are taken as in first class matches.

One-day competitions are played either as Series between pairs of international teams, round-robin competitions between groups of international teams, or round-robins between domestic teams. A World Cup one-day competition is played between all the Test nations each four years.

International Cricket Council

The International Cricket Council (ICC) is the governing body for International Test Match and One Day International Cricket. It is based at Lord's Cricket Ground. It was founded on 15th June 1909. The founder Members were England, Australia and South Africa.

FULL MEMBERS
Full Members are countries which are authorised to play Official International Test Cricket.

There are 10 Full Members of the ICC. They are :

●      Australia

●      Bangladesh

●      England

●      India

●     New Zealand

●      Pakistan

●      South Africa

●      Sri Lanka

●      West Indies

●      Zimbabwe

ASSOCIATE MEMBERS
These are countries where cricket is firmly established and organized but do not qualify for full membership.

There are 27 Associate Members of the ICC. They are :

●      Argentina

●      Bermuda

●      Canada

●      Cayman

●      Islands

●      Denmark

●      Fiji

●      France

●      Germany

●      Gibraltar

●      Hong

●      Kong

●      Ireland

●      Israel

●      Italy

●      Kenya

●      Malaysia

●      Namibia

●      Nigeria

●      The Netherlands

●      Nepal

●      Papua

●      New Guinea

●      Scotland

●      Singapore

●      Tanzania

●      Uganda

●      United

●      Arab Emirates

●      United States of America

●      Zambia