Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field, at the centre of which is a 22-yard (20-metre; 66-foot) pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails (small sticks) balanced on three stumps. Two players from the batting team, the striker and nonstriker, stand in front of either wicket holding bats, while one player from the fielding team, the bowler, bowls the ball toward the striker's wicket from the opposite end of the pitch. The striker's goal is to hit the bowled ball with the bat and then switch places with the nonstriker, with the batting team scoring one run for each of these exchanges. Runs are also scored when the ball reaches the boundary of the field or when the ball is bowled illegally.
John Barton "Bart" King (October 19, 1873 – October 17, 1965) was an American cricketer, active in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. King was part of the Philadelphia team that played from the end of the 19th century until the outbreak of World War I. This period of cricket in the United States was dominated by "gentlemen cricketers"—men of independent wealth who did not need to work. King, an amateur from a middle-class family, was able to devote time to cricket thanks to a job set up by his teammates.
A skilled batsman who proved his worth as a bowler, King set numerous records in the continent of North America during his career and led the first-class bowling averages in England in 1908. He successfully competed against the best cricketers from England and Australia. King was the dominant bowler on his team when it toured England in 1897, 1903, and 1908. He dismissed batsmen with his unique delivery, which he called the "angler", and helped develop the art of swing bowling in the sport. Sir Pelham Warner described Bart King as "one of the finest bowlers of all time", and Donald Bradman called him "America's greatest cricketing son." (Full article...)
Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting (pictured) holds several Cricket World Cup records. The Cricket World Cup is the international championship of One Day International (ODI) cricket. The event is organised by the sport's governing body, the International Cricket Council (ICC), and is held once every four years. ODI cricket is one of three forms of cricket played at international level. Unlike Test cricket, ODIs consist of one innings per team and is played over the course of single day. Australia and England played in the inaugural ODI match on 5 January 1971 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. The inaugural Cricket World Cup took place in England in 1975 and 12 tournaments have been held since. The first three editions were all held in England and each innings was limited to a maximum of 60 overs. Since the 1987 Cricket World Cup, all matches have consisted of 50 overs per innings.
Top order batsman and former Australian captainRicky Ponting holds several World Cup records. Playing in five tournaments between 1996 and 2011, he has played in more World Cup matches than any player with 46. He also holds the record for the most consecutive matches played. As a slip fielder, Ponting has also taken the most catches at the World Cup with 28. Captaining his side from 2003 to 2011, Ponting holds the World Cup record for the most matches played as captain with 29. India batsman Sachin Tendulkar has scored 2,278 runs making him the only player to score more than 2,000 runs at the World Cup. He has also scored the most World Cup half-centuries with 15 and shares the record with Pakistan's Javed Miandad for the most number of World Cup tournaments played with 6. (Full article...)
Dennis Lillee is a former Australiancricketer who took 24 five-wicket hauls during his career in international cricket. A five-wicket haul (also known as a "five–for" or "fifer") refers to a bowler taking five or more wickets in a single innings. This is regarded as a notable achievement, and as of October 2024[update], only 54 bowlers have taken 15 or more five-wicket hauls at international level in their cricketing careers. A fast bowler who represented the Australian cricket team between 1971 and 1984, Lillee was described by one writer as "the heart of Australia['s] bowling attack for more than a decade" and was rated "the outstanding fast bowler of his generation" by the BBC. He was the first bowler to capture 350 Test wickets and held the record for almost two years before Ian Botham surpassed the feat. Lillee was named one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 1973 and the South African Cricket (Annual) Cricketer of the Year three years later. The International Cricket Council (ICC) inducted him into its Cricket Hall of Fame in 2009.
Lillee made his Test debut during the sixth Test of the 1970–71 Ashes series where he claimed a five-wicket haul on debut. He was subsequently selected for the 1972 tour of England and took a pair of five-wicket hauls for the first time in a single match during the final Test of the same series. He ended the series with 31 wickets at an average of 17.67. He went on to claim five-wicket hauls in both innings of a Test match on three more occasions. Lillee's career-best figures for an innings were 7 wickets for 83 runs against the West Indies in 1981. He was most successful against England with eleven five-wicket hauls against them, and was most effective at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, where he took seven of his twenty three five-wicket hauls. When Lillee retired from Test cricket in 1984, he had taken ten or more wickets in a match on seven occasions. (Full article...)
He is England's fourth-highest wicket-taker, as of June 2023, behind James Anderson, Stuart Broad and Ian Botham. Willis took 899 first-class wickets overall, although from 1975 onwards he bowled with constant pain, having had surgery on both knees. He nevertheless continued to find success, taking a Test career-best eight wickets for 43 runs in the 1981 Ashes series against Australia, one of the all-time best Test bowling performances. He was a Wisden Cricketer of the Year for 1978. (Full article...)
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West IndianChris Gayle playing in his World XI uniform during an ICC Super SeriesOne Day International The ICC World ODI XI was a team chosen by the International Cricket Council (ICC), representing the most talented One Day Internationalcricketers playing international cricket at the time. A One Day International (ODI) is an international cricket match between two representative teams, each having ODI status, as determined by the ICC. An ODI differs from a Test match in that the number of overs per team is limited, and that each team has only one innings. The ICC World XI has played four matches, one for the 2005 World Cricket Tsunami Appeal (where the World XI was made up of the best non-Asian players), and three in the 2005 ICC Super Series (where the World XI was made up of the best non-Australian players). The list is arranged in the order in which each player won his first ODI cap. In cases in which more than one player won his first ODI cap in the same match, these players are listed alphabetically by surname. All these players have represented their respective national teams too, but only the records of their games for the ICC World XI are given.
The ODI between the World XI and Asian XI ended in a World XI victory by 112 runs. Ricky Ponting, captaining the side, scored 115 as the World XI batted first and scored 344/8, with Chris Cairns and Brian Lara both scoring half centuries. The Asian XI was unable to reach 345 for victory but did make 232 from their innings. For every run scored in the match, $1,000 was donated to the tsunami appeal. Over 70,000 people attended the match which was televised in 122 countries. The endeavour raised over A$14 million. A second fund-raising match between the two teams was cancelled due to unsuitable playing conditions. (Full article...)
Pune Warriors India (PWI) was a Pune-based franchise cricket team that participated in the Indian Premier League (IPL). They played their first Twenty20 match in the 2011 season of the IPL against Kings XI Punjab. PWI played in three editions of the IPL, failing to reach the playoffs on all occasions. They came last in the 2012 IPL, and came second-last in the 2011 and the 2013 IPL. After the 2013 season, PWI owners withdrew from the IPL due to financial differences with the Board of Control for Cricket in India. In total, 46 players had played for PWI, of whom Robin Uthappa had played the most matches (46, since his debut for the franchise in 2011).
The leading run-scorer for PWI was Uthappa, who had scored 1,103 runs. Jesse Ryder scored 86 runs against Delhi Daredevils in 2012, which was the highest individual score in an innings by a PWI batsman. Steve Smith had the team's best batting average: 40.07. Among PWI's bowlers, Rahul Sharma had taken more wickets than any other, claiming 34. The best bowling average among bowlers who had bowled more than 20 overs was Yuvraj Singh's 22.93. Ashok Dinda had the best bowling figures in an innings; he claimed four wickets against Mumbai Indians in a 2012 match, conceding 18 runs. Uthappa had taken the most catches as wicket-keeper for PWI, with 24, and had also made the most stumpings: six. Smith and Manish Pandey had claimed the highest number of catches among fielders, taking 14 each. (Full article...)
Hildreth is Somerset's leading run-scorer in Twenty20 cricket, aggregating 3,906 runs. He is also one of only nine batsmen to have scored a century for Somerset in the format, along with Tom Abell, Babar Azam, Tom Banton, Chris Gayle, Johann Myburgh, Graeme Smith, Marcus Trescothick and Cameron White. Gayle's score of 151 not out, scored in 2015 against Kent is the highest score by a Somerset batsman, and Gayle also has the county's best batting average: 84.16. Among the bowlers, Lewis Gregory has taken more wickets than any other bowler, both claiming 150, 11 more than Max Waller. The best bowling average is Matt Henry's 13.25. Arul Suppiah has the best bowling figures in an innings: he claimed six wickets against Glamorgan in a 2011 match, while only conceding five runs. Suppiah's figures in that match were the best by any bowler in Twenty20 cricket at the time. Tom Banton has taken the most catches as wicket-keeper for Somerset, with 45, and Craig Kieswetter has made the highest number of stumpings: 14. Max Waller has claimed the highest number of catches among fielders, taking 86. (Full article...)
The 16 competing teams were initially divided into four groups, with the two best-performing teams from each group moving on to a Super 8 format. Every team played a total of 6 matches in the Super 8 round; they didn't played with teams of their own group. They played a total of 6 teams from another three groups (the top 2 teams of all three groups) From this, Australia, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, and South Africa won through to the semi-finals, with Australia defeating Sri Lanka in the final to win their third consecutive World Cup and their fourth overall. Australia's unbeaten record in the tournament increased their total to 29 consecutive World Cup matches without loss, a streak dating back to 23 May 1999, during the group stage of the 1999 World Cup. The tournament also saw upsets and surprise results, with pre-tournament favourites India and Pakistan failing to make it past the group stage, while Bangladesh, the second-lowest ranked ICC Full Member at the time, and World Cup debutant Ireland, which was an ICC Associate Member at the time, made it to the "Super 8", beating India and Pakistan respectively en route. Ireland became only the second associate nation to make it past the first round of a Cricket World Cup, the first being Kenya in 2003. (Full article...)
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Kensington Oval during the Final of the 2007 Cricket World Cup, looking towards the Worrell, Weekes and Walcott stand. The Kensington Oval is a 15,000-capacity sports stadium located in Bridgetown on the island nation of Barbados. Used mainly for cricket, the Kensington Oval hosted its first Test in 1930 and its first One Day International (ODI) in 1985. The ground has seen 51 Tests—all including the West Indies—along with 30 ODIs, and has been the scene of 108 Test and 14 ODI centuries. Additionally, the ground hosted a pair of World Series Cricket one-day games and a Supertest between the WSC West Indies and WSC Australian teams.
West Indian Clifford Roach became the first player to score a century at the venue, managing 122 runs in the ground's inaugural match. Two other batsmen, Andy Sandham and George Headley from England and the West Indies respectively, also scored centuries in this match. However, it took a further four Tests until West Indian Clyde Walcott scored the next hundred, 220 in 1954. The innings was also the first double century to be scored at the Kensington Oval. PakistaniHanif Mohammad's score of 337, which was achieved in 1958, remains the highest score seen at the ground, while West Indian Lawrence Rowe is the only other batsman to score a triple century at the venue, hitting 302 against England in 1974. Desmond Haynes, Clive Lloyd and Shivnarine Chanderpaul are the only players to score four Test centuries at the Kensington Oval, while Garry Sobers, Viv Richards and Brian Lara have all stuck three hundreds. As of January 2019, 9 batsmen have scored double centuries and two triple centuries has scored at the venue. (Full article...)
Jayawardene's debut Test match was against India in August 1997, in which the Sri Lankan team made a world record 952 runs for 6 wickets. He scored his maiden Test century in his fourth match, played in June 1998 against New Zealand. The 150 he scored against Bangladesh in September 2001 is the fastest Test century made by a Sri Lankan player. However, this innings came to an unusual end when he retired out just after reaching 150 runs. Jayawardene's best innings was made against South Africa in July 2006 when he scored 374 runs, surpassing Sanath Jayasuriya's record of 340 for the highest individual score by a Sri Lankan batsman. It is also the fourth-highest score in Test cricket, as well as part of the world's highest Test partnership—624 runs—which he established with teammate Kumar Sangakkara. Jayawardene has scored a total of 34 centuries during his career, the second highest number by a Sri Lankan player, after Kumar Sangakkara. He has scored more than 200 runs on seven of these occasions. This is the second-highest number of double centuries by a Sri Lankan player, behind Kumar Sangakkara. He is also one of only three players who have scored a triple century for Sri Lanka; the other two being Jayasuriya and Sangakkara. (Full article...)
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Nasser Hussain is one of fifteen England captains to have won the award. The Cricket Writers' Club Young Cricketer of the Year is an annual cricket award, presented to the young player who is adjudged to have been the best of the year in English county cricket. The award has been presented since the 1950 season and the winner is chosen by a vote amongst the members of the Cricket Writers' Club. Only players that are qualified to represent the England cricket team, and are aged under 23 on 1 May of the awarding year, are eligible for the prize. With the exception of 1986, when a joint award was made, the accolade has been presented to one individual each season. The award has been described by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) as "prestigious". Although not a firm rule, once a player has won the award, they are considered ineligible to receive it in the future.
Archie Ledbrooke, a sports reporter for the Daily Mirror and the first treasurer of the Cricket Writers' Club, came up with the idea for the award. It was first presented in 1950, when Roy Tattersall of Lancashire was the recipient. In 1986, the vote was tied, and the award was made jointly to Ashley Metcalfe of Nottinghamshire and James Whitaker of Leicestershire. The 1995 winner, Andrew Symonds, went on to make over 200 international appearances for Australia, but at the time of his award was eligible to play for England, as he was born in Birmingham. As of 2021[update], representatives of seventeen of the eighteen first-class cricket counties have won the award; no player from Worcestershire has ever won. Yorkshire players have collected the award most frequently, doing so on eleven occasions. Only seven winners have not gone on to play international cricket. (Full article...)
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Allan Donald took a five-wicket haul for South Africa in its first ever ODI. In cricket, a five-wicket haul (also known as a "five-for" or "fifer") refers to a bowler taking five or more wickets in a single innings. This is regarded as a significant achievement. As of July 2024, more than 4700 ODIs have been played, however there have only been 15 occasions where a player achieved this feat on his ODI debut. Players from the eight of the twelve teams that have Full member status—Australia, Bangladesh, England, Ireland, South Africa, Sri Lanka, West Indies and Zimbabwe—have taken five-wicket hauls on debut. Sri Lankans have performed this feat on three occasions, while the Bangladeshis and South Africa have two each. In addition, three players from Associate teams—Canada, Namibia and Scotland—have taken a five-wicket haul on debut. Afghanistan, India, New Zealand and Pakistan are yet to have a debutant take a five-wicket haul.
Sri Lankan cricketer Uvais Karnain was the first to take a five-wicket haul on ODI debut; he took 5 wickets for 26 runs against New Zealand in March 1984. His figures were bettered by Australian cricketer Tony Dodemaide who took 5 wickets while conceding 21 runs in a match against Sri Lanka in January 1988. In 1991, Allan Donald became the first South African cricketer to take an ODI five-wicket haul for his team. Although South Africa lost the game by three wickets, Donald received a man of the match award. Canada cricketer Austin Codrington's tally of 5 wickets for 27 runs against Bangladesh in the group stage of the 2003 Cricket World Cup is the only five-wicket haul taken during the Cricket World Cup; his figures helped Canada secure a 60-run victory. Scottish cricketer Charlie Cassell is the most recent debutant to take a five-wicket haul, with figures of 7 wickets for 21 runs against Oman, which are the best by a bowler on debut. Of the 15 occasions a cricketer has taken a five-wicket haul on debut, his team has lost only 2 times. (Full article...)
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Vernon Philander has conceded the fewest runs while taking a five-wicket haul. In cricket, a five-wicket haul (also known as a "five–for" or "fifer") refers to a bowler taking five or more wickets in a single innings. A five-wicket haul on debut is regarded by the critics as a notable achievement. As of September 2024, 174 cricketers have taken a five-wicket haul on Test match debut, out of which twenty-five were from the South Africa national cricket team. The five-wicket hauls have come against six different opponents, and the South Africans have performed this feat fifteen times against England. Of the twenty-two matches where a South African debutant has taken a five-wicket haul, twelve have ended in defeat, six in victory and the other four in a draw. The five-wicket hauls were taken at eleven different venues, six of them being taken at the Newlands Cricket Ground, Cape Town.
Albert Rose-Innes was the first South African to take a five-wicket haul on Test cricket debut. He took 5 wickets for 43 runs against England in 1889. In the second Test of the series, Gobo Ashley took 7 wickets for 95 runs, in what turned out to be his only appearance in Test cricket. When the country was re-admitted to play competitive cricket in 1991, Lance Klusener became the first debutant to take a five-wicket haul. His 8 wickets for 64 runs against India in November 1996 remain the best bowling figures in an innings by a South African on debut. Sydney Burke and Alf Hall are the only South African debutants to collect 10 or more wickets in a match as of February 2015. Klusener's figures, along with George Bissett's 5 for 37 runs, were included among the "Top 100 Bowling performances of all time" by the Wisden Cricketers' Almanack in 2002. Neil Brand is the latest cricketer to achieve this feat; he took 6/119 against New Zealand in February 2024. (Full article...)
In cricket, a five-wicket haul (also known as a "fifer") refers to a bowler taking five or more wickets in a single innings. This is regarded as a notable achievement, and as of October 2024[update], only 54 bowlers have taken 15 or more five-wicket hauls at international level in their cricketing careers. A right-arm off break bowler, Harbhajan Singh has taken 417 wickets in Test, 269 wickets in One Day International (ODI) and 25 wickets in Twenty20 International (T20I) matches for India. He has the second-highest number of five-wicket hauls (28) in international cricket—next to Anil Kumble—among Indian cricketers and the eleventh among overall.
Harbhajan made his Test debut against Australia in 1998. His first five-wicket haul came against the same team during the second Test of the 2000–01 series at Eden Gardens. His six wickets for 73 runs in the second innings of the match raised his tally to thirteen wickets in the match; his performance was instrumental in India winning the match after being forced to follow-on. In the third Test of the series, he claimed fifteen wickets for 217 runs, including career-best figures of eight wickets for 84 runs. The majority of his five-wicket hauls in Test cricket—seven out of his twenty-five—have come against Australia. (Full article...)
Since the team made its first appearance in 2009, 55 women have represented Pakistan in T20I cricket. This list includes all players who have played at least one T20I match and is initially arranged in the order of debut appearance. Where more than one player won their first cap in the same match, those players are initially listed alphabetically by last name at the time of debut. (Full article...)
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Don Bradman scored 29 centuries in Test Cricket. Australian cricketer Sir Don Bradman, often recognized as the greatest batsman of all time, scored twenty-nine Test cricketcenturies during his international career which lasted from 1928 to 1948. However, his cricketing career was interrupted from 1940 to 1946 due to the outbreak of World War II, followed by poor health. He assumed captaincy of the Australian side in 1946, and scored fourteen of his centuries as captain. Bradman holds the world record for the most double centuries scored by a single batsman, with twelve to his name. He was the first of four batsmen to have twice scored triple centuries, Brian Lara, Virender Sehwag and Chris Gayle. His total of nineteen centuries against England remains the world record for the highest number of centuries against a single team.
When he made 334—his first triple century—against England in the 1930 Ashes, Bradman scored 309 of those runs on 11 July 1930, which remains as the highest number of runs scored by a single batsman in one day. It was the highest individual Test score until Wally Hammond scored 336 in 1933. Len Hutton then surpassed Wally Hammond with 364 in 1938 which stood until 1958 when Garfield Sobers scored 365 not out. Later Brian Lara scored 400 in 2004. In the same series, Bradman went on to score a further century and two more double centuries, accumulating 974 runs in 7 innings—the most runs scored by one batsman in a single series. In 1937, Bradman, suffering from influenza and coming in at the seventh position, scored 270 to guide his team to victory against England. It was rated as the best Test innings of all time by the Wisden Cricketers' Almanack in 2001. It is also the highest score made by a number 7 batsman, while his 304 against England in 1934 was the highest score made by a number 5 batsman, until January 2012, when Michael Clarke made 329* against the touring Indians. (Full article...)
The following are images from various cricket-related articles on Wikipedia.
Image 1In men's cricket the ball must weigh between 5.5 and 5.75 ounces (155.9 and 163 g) and measure between 8.81 and 9 in (22.4 and 22.9 cm) in circumference. (from Laws of Cricket)
Image 2A wicket consists of three stumps, upright wooden poles that are hammered into the ground, topped with two wooden crosspieces, known as the bails. (from Laws of Cricket)
Image 3Afghan soldiers playing cricket. Afghan refugees in Pakistan brought the sport back to Afghanistan, and it is now one of the most popular sports in the country. (from History of cricket)
Image 4Broadhalfpenny Down, the location of the first First Class match in 1772 is still played on today (from History of cricket)
Image 5The boundary can be marked in several ways, such as with a rope. (from Laws of Cricket)
Image 6A Game of Cricket at The Royal Academy Club in Marylebone Fields, now Regent's Park, depiction by unknown artist, c. 1790–1799 (from History of cricket)
Image 12Plaquita, a Dominican street version of cricket. The Dominican Republic was first introduced to cricket through mid-18th century British contact, but switched to baseball after the 1916 American occupation. (from History of cricket)
Image 13Photograph of Miss Lily Poulett-Harris, founding mother of women's cricket in Australia. (from History of women's cricket)
Image 15A wicket can be put down by throwing the ball at it and thereby dislodging the bails. (from Laws of Cricket)
Image 16A 1793 American depiction of "wicket" being played in front of Dartmouth College. Wicket likely came to North America in the late 17th century. (from History of cricket)
Did you know
... that the relatively low standards of player selection for Somerset County Cricket Club in 1883 have been described as being "determined with a nod and a wink over drinks"?
The International Cricket Council (ICC) is the international governing body of cricket, and produces team rankings for the various forms of cricket played internationally.
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