Cricket

Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players. It is set on
a cricket field centred on a 20-metre (22-yard) pitch with two wickets each comprising
a bail balanced on three stumps. For each phase of play, or innings, a batting side tries
to score as many runs as possible after striking the cricket ball thrown at the wicket
(or delivery) with the bat, while a bowling and fielding side tries to prevent this
and dismiss each player (so they are "out"). Means of dismissal can include
being bowled, when the ball directly hits the stumps and dislodges the bails, and by the
fielding side catching the ball after it is hit by the bat, but before it hits the ground. When
ten players have been dismissed, the innings end and the teams swap roles. The side
with the most runs generally wins, though there are exceptions where the game is
drawn instead. The game is adjudicated by two umpires, aided by a third
umpire and match referee in international matches. There are
various formats ranging from Twenty20, played over a few hours with each team batting
for a single innings of 20 overs (i.e. 120 deliveries), to Test matches, played over five
days with unlimited overs and the teams each batting for two innings of unlimited
length.

HISTORY
cricket's origins are uncertain and the earliest definite reference is in south-east England in the
middle of the 16th century. It spread globally with the expansion of the British Empire, leading to
the first international matches in the second half of the 19th century. The game's governing
body is the International Cricket Council (ICC), which has over 100 members, twelve of which
are full members who play Test matches. The game's rules are held in a code called the Laws
of Cricket which is owned and maintained by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) in London.

The cricket historian Harry Altham identified three "groups" of "club ball" games: the "hockey group",
in which the ball is driven to and fro between two targets (the goals); the "golf group", in which the
ball is driven towards an undefended target (the hole); and the "cricket group", in which "the ball is
aimed at a mark (the wicket) and driven away from it".[4]
It is generally believed that cricket originated as a children's game in the south-eastern counties of
England, sometime during the medieval period.[3] Although there are claims for prior dates, the
earliest definite reference to cricket being played comes from evidence given at a court case
in Guildford on Monday, 17 January 1597 (Julian calendar; equating to 30 January 1598 in
the Gregorian calendar). The case concerned ownership of a certain plot of land and the court heard
the testimony of a 59-year-old coroner, John Derrick, who gave witness that:[5][6][7]
 Laws of Cricket
The Laws of Cricket is a code which specifies the rules of the game
of cricket worldwide. The earliest known code was drafted in 1744 and, since 1788, it
has been owned and maintained by its custodian, the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC)
in London. There are currently 42 Laws (always written with a capital "L") which outline
all aspects of how the game is to be played. MCC has re-coded the Laws six times, the
seventh and latest code being released in October 2017. The first six codes prior to
2017 were all subject to interim revisions and so exist in more than one version.

A summary of the main points vis-à-vis the 1744 code: [14]

 the bat must not exceed four inches and one quarter in the widest part;
 the bowler must deliver the ball with one foot behind the bowling-crease, and within the return-
crease; and shall Bowl four balls before he changes wickets, which he shall do but once in the
same innings;
 the striker is out if he puts his leg before the wicket with a design to stop the ball, and actually
prevent the ball from hitting his wicket.

The Laws today[edit]

Starting on the 1st October 2017, the current version of the Laws are the "Laws of Cricket 2017
Code" which replaced the 6th Edition of the "2000 Code of Laws". Custodianship of the Laws
remains one of MCC's most important roles.

Law 1: The players

Law 2: The umpires.
Law 3: The scorers.
Law 4: The ball.
Law 5: The bat.
Law 6: The pitch
Law 7: The creases

Law 8: The wickets.

Law 9: Preparation and maintenance of the playing area
Law 11: Intervals.
Law 12: Start of play; cessation of play.
Innings and Result[edit]
Laws 13 to 16 outline the structure of the game including how one team can beat the other.
Law 13: Innings.
Law 14: The follow-on
Law 15: Declaration and forfeiture.
Law 16: The result

Overs, scoring, dead ball and extras[edit]

The Laws then move on to detail how runs can be scored.
Law 17: The over
Law 18: Scoring runs
Law 19: Boundaries
Law 20: Dead ball.
Law 21: No ball
Law 22: Wide ball.
Law 23: Bye and leg bye

Players, substitutes and practice[edit]

Law 24: Fielders' absence; Substitutes
Law 25: Batsman's innings; Runners
Law 26: Practice on the field.
Law 27: The wicket-keeper.
Law 28: The fielder.

Appeals and dismissals

Laws 29 to 31 cover the main mechanics of how a batsman may be dismissed.
Law 29: The wicket is down.
Law 30: Batsman out of his/her ground
Law 31: Appeals.
Laws 32 to 40 discuss the various ways a batsman may be dismissed. In addition to these 9
methods, a batsman may retire out, which is covered in Law 25. Of these, caught is generally the
most common, followed by bowled, leg before wicket, run out and stumped. The other forms of
dismissal are very rare.
Law 32: Bowled.
Law 33: Caught.
Law 34: Hit the ball twice.
Law 35: Hit wicket
Law 36: Leg before wicket (LBW).
Law 37: Obstructing the field.
Law 38: Run out
Law 39: Stumped
Law 40: Timed out

Unfair play
Law 41: Unfair play.
Law 42: Players' conduct

Fundamental Skills of Cricket

1.Batting Skills

Given the goals of batting, a batsman must possess good hand-eye coordination,
reflexes, strength, running speed, soundudgment, and of course knowledge of cricket
rules and an understanding of cricket strategy and tactics.

These basic skills are put to use in specific actions such as:

* Preventing the ball from hitting the wicket (which would result in the batsman being out
bowled).

* Avoiding being hit in the legs in front of the wicket (which may result in the batsman
being out leg before wicket).

* Avoiding hitting catches to any fielders (which would result in the batsman being out
caught).

* Avoiding being hit by the ball in a way that might cause injury.

* Hitting the ball with the bat with precise placement, timing, and strength to avoid
fielders.
* Judging when it is safe to take a run, and taking the run.

2.Bowling skills
I
n the sport of cricket, bowling is the action of propelling the ball toward the wicket
defended by a batsman. A player skilled at bowling is called a bowler.

A single act of bowling the ball towards the batsman is called a ball or a delivery.
Bowlers bowl deliveries in sets of six,called an over. Once a bowler has bowled
their over, one of their team mates will bowl an over from the other end of thepitch.

There are rules in the Laws of Cricket governing how a ball must be bowled.
I
f a ball is bowled illegally, an umpire willrule it a no ball.
I
f a ball is bowled too wide of the stumps or high for the batsman to be able to hit it, an
umpire will rule ita wide.

Goals of Bowling

I
n terms of strategic importance in a game, the priorities of a bowler are, in order
of importance:

1. Get batsmen out.

2. Prevent batsmen from scoring runs.

3. Wicket Keeping

The wicket-keeper's major function is to stop deliveries that pass the batsman (in order to prevent runs
being scored), but often hecan also attempt to dismiss the batsman in various ways. The most
common dismissal effected by the wicket-keeper is for him tocatch a ball that has nicked the
batsman's bat, called an edge, before it bounces. Sometimes the keeper is also in the best positionto
catch a ball which has been hit high in the air. The keeper can also stump the batsman by using the
ball to remove the bails fromthe stumps if the batsman has come out of his crease during a delivery.
Finally, when the ball is hit into the outfield, the keeper moves close to the stumps to catch the return
throw from a fielder and, if possible, to run out a batsman.

.
Fielding
Fielding in some ways, is the most spontaneous of cricketing skills

Cricket - Tournaments
ICC is the supreme governing body of all the international cricket events
and tours. All the international teams are ranked based on their
performance in a calendar year. Ranking for cricket teams is based on their
progress during international events and tours. These ranks are assigned
individually for each format.

Currently, there are 10 test playing nations that are eligible for all three
formats. Rest of the countries have to play qualification rounds for entry
into international events like ODI World Cup and T20 World Cup. The World
Cup is conducted at senior and under-19 levels.

Test status is given to a national team depending on the performance at

domestic level and global events. We will look at champions of different
formats in the last chapter. Here is a list of all the global events organized
recently by ICC and multiple nations participate for the ultimate trophy.

Tournament Name

T20 World Cup

ODI World Cup

ICC Champions Trophy

ICC U-19 World Cup

ICC Women’s World Cup

The venue for all the international events are finalized by ICC based on its
facilities, playing area standards, and security measures.
All the cricket playing nations have their individual bodies that manage
cricket events at the domestic level. The domestic level matches are also
played as one-day and five-day games. The one-day games at domestic
level are called List-A and five-day format is called First-class. Best
players are picked from the domestic tournaments to represent country at
the highest level. These national cricket boards also manage venues when
another national team is touring their country. They are responsible for
visiting player’s facilities and security.

The following table illustrates the domestic tournaments with respect to

country and format.

Tournament Name Country Format

Ranji Trophy India Five-day

Challenger Trophy India One-day

Big Bash League Austrialia T20

The Sheffield Shield Austrialia Five-day

English County Cricket England Five-day

Caribbean T20 League West Indies T20

 FAMOUS PERSONALITIES

Don Bradman

Sir Donald George Bradman, AC (27 August 1908 – 25 February 2001), often referred to as "The
Don", was an Australian international cricketer, widely acknowledged as the greatest batsman of all
time.[2] Bradman's career Test batting average of 99.94 has been cited as the greatest achievement
by any sportsman in any major sport.[3]

Sir Donald Bradman

Personal information

Full name Donald George Bradman

Born 27 August 1908

Cootamundra, New South Wales, Australia

Died 25 February 2001 (aged 92)

Kensington Park, South Australia, Australia

Nickname The Don, The Boy from Bowral, Braddles, the

White Headley

Height 5 ft 8 in (173 cm)[1]

Batting Right-handed

Bowling Right-arm leg break

Role Batsman

International information

 Australia
National side

Test debut (cap 124) 30 November 1928 v England

Last Test 18 August 1948 v England

Domestic team information

Years Team

1927–34 New South Wales

1935–49 South Australia

Career statistics

Competition Test FC
 Matches 52 234

Runs scored 6,996 28,067

Batting average 99.94 95.14

100s/50s 29/13 117/69

Top score 334 452*

Balls bowled 160 2114

Wickets 2 36

Bowling average 36.00 37.97

5 wickets 0 0
in innings

10 wickets in 0 0
match

Best bowling 1/8 3/35

Catches/stumpings 32/– 131/1

Source: ESPNcricinfo, 4 December 2014

Sachin Tendulkar
Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar (/ˌsʌtʃɪn tɛnˈduːlkər/ ( listen); born 24 April 1973) is a former Indian
international cricketer and a former captain of the Indian national team, regarded as one of the
greatest batsmen of all time.[4] He is the highest run scorer of all time in International cricket.
Tendulkar took up cricket at the age of eleven, made his Test debut on 15 November 1989
against Pakistan in Karachi at the age of sixteen, and went on to represent Mumbai domestically
and India internationally for close to twenty-four years. He is the only player to have scored one
hundred international centuries, the first batsman to score a double century in a ODI, the holder of
the record for the most number of runs in both Test and ODI, and the only player to complete more
than 30,000 runs in international cricket [5]. Cricket world calls him Little Master or Master
Blaster[6][7][8][9] and often referred to as the God of Cricket by Indian cricket followers[10][11]. Despite his
reputation, he is known for his modesty and humility, once stating "I am not the God of cricket. I
make mistakes, God doesn’t".[12]
 Sachin Tendulkar

Tendulkar with the ICC Cricket World Cup

Personal information

Full name Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar

Born 24 April 1973 (age 45)[1]

Bombay (now Mumbai), Maharashtra

Nickname God of Cricket, Little Master,[1]Master Blaster[2][3]

Height 5 ft 5 in (165 cm)

Batting Right-handed

Bowling Right-arm medium, leg break, off break

Role Batsman

International information

 India (1989–2013)
National side
Test debut (cap 187) 15 November 1989 v Pakistan

Last Test 14 November 2013 v West Indies

ODI debut (cap 74) 18 December 1989 v Pakistan

Last ODI 18 March 2012 v Pakistan

ODI shirt no. 10

Only T20I (cap 11) 1 December 2006 v South Africa

Domestic team information

Years Team

1988 Cricket Club of India

1988–2013 Mumbai

1992 Yorkshire

2008–2013 Mumbai Indians (squad no. 10)

2014 Marylebone Cricket Club

Career statistics

Competition Test ODI FC LA

Matches 200 463 310 551

Runs scored 15,921 18,426 25,396 21,999

Batting average 53.78 44.83 57.84 45.54

100s/50s 51/68 49/96 81/116 60/114

Top score 248* 200* 248* 200*

Balls bowled 4,240 8,054 7,605 10,230

Wickets 46 154 71 201

Bowling average 54.17 44.48 61.74 42.17

5 wickets 0 2 0 2
in innings

10 wickets in 0 n/a 0 n/a

match

Best bowling 3/10 5/32 3/10 5/32

Catches/stumpings 115/– 140/– 186/– 175/–