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.
Sir Donald George BradmanAC (27 August 1908 – 25 February 2001), nicknamed "The Don", was an Australian international cricketer, widely acknowledged as the greatest batsman of all time. His cricketing successes have been claimed by Shane Warne, among others, as making Bradman the "greatest sportsperson" in history. Bradman's career Testbatting average of 99.94 is considered by some to be the greatest achievement by any sportsman in any major sport.
The story that the young Bradman practised alone with a cricket stump and a golf ball is part of Australian folklore. His meteoric rise from bush cricket to the Australian Test team took just over two years. Before his 22nd birthday, he had set many records for top-scoring, some of which still stand, and became Australia's sporting idol at the height of the Great Depression. This hero status grew and continued through the Second World War. (Full article...)
South Africa women at Taunton, 2009 ICC Women's World Twenty20 The South Africa women's national cricket team has represented South Africa in international women's cricket since 1960, when they hosted England, contesting four Test matches. Their next officially recognised series was against New Zealand, more than eleven years later. In 1977, they were excluded from competing in international sporting events, when the Commonwealth of Nations signed the Gleneagles Agreement as part of the international campaign against apartheid. Although the men's national team returned to international cricket in 1991, the women's team did not compete again until 1997, when they toured Ireland and England. Since then, the team has played regularly in One Day Internationals (ODI). The introduction of Twenty20 cricket in the early part of the 21st century has all but eliminated Test cricket from the woman's game. South Africa have played five Test matches since their return, and 71 Twenty20 Internationals (T20I) since their first such contest in 2007.
South Africa have played four different sides in women's Test cricket, with England their most frequent opponent, having faced them in six Tests. The only side that South Africa have beaten in Test cricket are the Netherlands, who South Africa have played once, in 2007. South Africa have similarly faced England more times than any other team in women's One Day International cricket, playing 43 matches. As such, England have recorded the most victories against South Africa, beating them 33 times. South Africa have beaten Pakistan more times than any other country, triumphing on 21 occasions against them. In women's T20Is, South Africa have as well played England the most, and lost to them on thirteen occasions. South Africa have recorded the most victories against Ireland, beating them in nine of their meetings. (Full article...)
Since the team was formed, 151 women have represented India in ODI cricket. This list includes all players who have played at least one ODI match and is arranged in the order of debut appearance. Where more than one player won their first cap in the same match, those players are listed alphabetically by last name at the time of debut. (Full article...)
Image 4
Statue of Hadlee
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 notable achievement, and fewer than 54 bowlers have taken more than 15 five-wicket hauls at international level in their cricketing careers as October 2024. Richard Hadlee, a retired New Zealandcricketer, took 41 five-wicket hauls during his career in international cricket. A fast bowler who represented his country between 1973 and 1990, Hadlee was described by the BBC as "one of the greatest bowlers the world has seen". Hadlee was named by Wisden as one of their Cricketers of the Year in 1982. In 2009, the International Cricket Council (ICC) inducted him into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame. Hadlee was the first bowler to take 400 wickets in Test cricket.
Hadlee made his Test debut in 1973 against Pakistan at the Basin Reserve, Wellington. His first Test five-wicket haul came in 1976, against India in a match at the same venue which New Zealand won. In February 1980, he took his first pair of five-wicket hauls in a single match against the West Indies at the Carisbrook, Dunedin. By the end of his career, he had claimed five-wicket hauls in both innings of a match on five occasions. He went on to take ten or more wickets in a match on nine occasions. In Tests, Hadlee was most successful against Australia, with fourteen five-wicket hauls. His best bowling figures in an innings were 9 wickets for 52 runs against the same team at the Brisbane Cricket Ground, in November 1985. He followed up in the second innings of that match with 6 for 71 and achieved his best match figures of 15 for 123 to give New Zealand an innings win. (Full article...)
A T20I is an international cricket match between two teams that have official Twenty20 International status, as determined by the International Cricket Council. It is played under the rules of Twenty20 cricket and is the shortest form of the game. Afghanistan played its first T20I match on 1 February 2010, against Ireland, losing the match by 5 wickets. Their first win came three days later in their second T20I match, which was against Canada, with Afghanistan winning by 5 wickets with one ball remaining.
This list comprises all members of the Afghanistan cricket team who have played at least one T20I match. It is initially arranged in the order in which each player won his first Twenty20 cap. Where more than one player won his first Twenty20 cap in the same match, their surnames are listed alphabetically. (Full article...)
Image 6
Ashwin has taken a pair of five-wicket hauls in a match on four occasions.
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. Ravichandran Ashwin – a right-arm off break bowler – is a Test, One Day International (ODI) and Twenty20 International (T20I) cricketer who represents the India national cricket team. In a 2016 interview, former Sri Lankan cricketer Muttiah Muralitharan described Ashwin as the "best current Test spinner". As of September 2024[update], Ashwin has taken 37 five-wicket hauls in international cricket; he ranks joint-fourth in the all-time list, and joint-first among his countrymen.
Ashwin made his Test debut in November 2011 against the West Indies. He took nine wickets in the match, including a five-wicket haul in the second innings. India won the match and his performance earned him the man of the match honour. His career-best figures of seven wickets for 59 runs came against New Zealand in October 2016; in the process he also became the fifth bowler to take six five-wicket hauls against them. He has picked up ten or more wickets in a match on seven occasions. Ashwin made his ODI and T20I debuts in June 2010 against Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe, respectively, and is yet to take a five-wicket haul in both formats. His four wickets for 25 runs against the United Arab Emirates in the 2015 World Cup remain his best in ODIs, while his figures of four wickets for 8 runs against Sri Lanka are his best in T20Is. (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...)
Image 9
Since Bellerive Oval hosted its first Test match in 1989, 33 Test centuries have been made at the ground. Bellerive Oval, also known by its sponsored name Blundstone Arena, is a cricket ground in Hobart, Australia. It is the home of the Tasmania cricket team and the Hobart Hurricanes (a Twenty20 team in the Big Bash League), as well as being a Test, One Day International (ODI) and Twenty20 International (T20I) venue. It has a capacity of 16,000 spectators. As of December 2015, the ground has hosted 12 Test matches, the first in 1989 when Australia hosted Sri Lanka. It has also staged 34 ODI matches, the first of which was in 1988 when New Zealand lost to Sri Lanka by four wickets. As of October 2014, two T20Is have been played at the ground. The first was in 2010 when Australia beat the West Indies by 38 runs; the second was in 2014, when Australia defeated England by 13 runs.
The first Test century (100 or more runs in a single innings) scored at the ground was by Australian Mark Taylor in the third innings of the first Test match against Sri Lanka in 1989. In the same innings Dean Jones and Steve Waugh also scored centuries. As of December 2015, 31 Test centuries have been scored at the ground in 12 Test matches. As of December 2015, Adam Voges 269*, scored against West Indies in 2015, is the highest Test innings achieved at the ground and only the second double century (200 or more runs in a single innings) in this ground, after Ricky Ponting's 209, against Pakistan in 2010. The highest Test score by an overseas player is 192 by the Sri Lankan Kumar Sangakkara in 2007. Michael Hussey has scored three Test centuries at the ground, the most by any batsman. (Full article...)
The only bowler to have taken three ODI hat-tricks is Sri Lanka'sLasith Malinga. Five other bowlers— Pakistan's Wasim Akram and Saqlain Mushtaq, Sri Lanka's Chaminda Vaas, New Zealand's Trent Boult and India's Kuldeep Yadav—have taken two hat-tricks in the format. Vaas is the first and only bowler to claim a hat-trick on the first three balls of any form of international cricket; he achieved the feat against Bangladesh during the 2003 World Cup. Malinga is the only player to claim four wickets in consecutive balls; he achieved the feat against South Africa in the 2007 World Cup. Four players have taken a hat-trick on their ODI debuts: Bangladesh's Taijul Islam against Zimbabwe in 2014, South Africa's Kagiso Rabada against Bangladesh in 2015, Sri Lanka's Wanindu Hasaranga against Zimbabwe in 2017, and Sri Lanka's Shehan Madushanka against Bangladesh in 2018. India's Chetan Sharma was the first cricketer to take a hat-trick in a World Cup match. Eleven hat-tricks have been taken in World Cup matches. (Full article...)
Image 11
Caricature of Alfred Lyttelton keeping wicket for I Zingari I Zingari are a wandering amateurcricket club. Founded on 4 July 1845 by three Old Harrovians, it is one of the oldest cricket clubs still in existence. The purpose of the club was to nurture amateur cricket following the rise of professionalism, which had resulted in most clubs and counties employing at least one professional player to strengthen their side. I Zingari sides were chosen carefully, and such was their strength in the late 19th and early 20th centuries that a number of their matches were considered to be of first-class status. I Zingari Australia played senior club cricket for a few seasons after their formation in 1888, before being excluded from Electorate cricket. They have not played any first-class cricket.
I Zingari played numerous fixtures each season from 1845, primarily facing Eton College and Harrow School in the 1840s, and later playing more against stronger opposition; the Gentlemen of England and county sides became frequent opponents. In 1866 they took on the 'Gentlemen of the South' at St Lawrence Ground, Canterbury. This match is the first of their fixtures to be considered of first-class status. I Zingari lost by 121 runs to the Gentlemen, whose team included W.G. Grace and two of his brothers. I Zingari's next first-class match came eleven years later, when they played Yorkshire County Cricket Club as part of the Scarborough Festival. They competed in the festival for each of the following thirteen seasons – with the exception of 1883 – and played Yorkshire on seven occasions, the 'Gentlemen of England' six times and the touring Australians twice. They played two further first-class fixtures, both against the 'Gentlemen of England' at Lord's Cricket Ground, in 1895 and 1904. (Full article...)
Image 12
Shakib Al Hasan, Bangladesh's leading wicket taker in international cricket, has taken 25 five-wicket hauls in international cricket.
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 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. Shakib Al Hasan, a slow left-arm orthodox spinner, represents the Bangladesh national cricket team. With 25 five-wicket hauls across all formats of international cricket, he ranks equal 15th in the all-time list, and first among his countrymen He has been described as "Bangladesh's greatest-ever cricketer", and is ranked as the top all-rounder in One Day International (ODI) cricket as of August 2022.
The County Ground, Taunton is the headquarters of Somerset County Cricket Club, and has hosted the majority of their matches. Somerset County Cricket Club is one of the 18 member clubs of the English County Championship, representing the historic county of Somerset. The club was established in August 1875 and has played first-class cricket since 1882, List A cricket since 1963, and Twenty20 cricket since 2003. Unlike most professional sports, in which a team usually has a single fixed home ground, county cricket clubs have traditionally used different grounds in various towns and cities within the county for home matches, although the use of minor "out grounds" has diminished since the 1980s. Somerset have played first class, List A, or Twenty20 matches at eighteen different grounds.
Somerset's first home first-class match was against Hampshire in 1882 at the County Ground, Taunton. This ground is the headquarters of the county club, and has hosted more Somerset matches than any other ground. It was originally known as the Taunton Athletic Ground, and featured a cycling/running track around the outside of the playing area which was later removed. Prior to the cessation of cricket during the First World War, Somerset only played at three other grounds; two in Bath, and Clarence Park in Weston-super-Mare. The Recreation Ground in Bath, the home ground of Bath Rugby, has been a regular setting for Somerset, hosting over 300 county matches. It is also Somerset's only venue other than the County Ground to have hosted a Twenty20 match. Clarence Park also frequently hosted Somerset matches until 1996, and has featured over 200 Somerset games. The next most frequently used ground is Morlands Athletic Ground in Glastonbury, where Somerset played 24 times between 1952 and 1978. (Full article...)
Image 14
Greg Chappell scored five of his twenty-four Test cricket centuries at Brisbane Cricket Ground. Greg Chappell is a former international cricketer who represented Australia in 161 matches between 1970 and 1984. He was described by the cricket journalist Gideon Haigh as "the outstanding Australian batsman of his generation", while fellow journalist Christopher Martin-Jenkins said he was capable of "[mastering] even the best bowlers in the worst batting conditions." A right-handed top-order batsman, he scored 27 centuries (100 or more runs in a single innings) in international cricket – 24 in Test cricket and 3 in One Day Internationals (ODIs). He ranks 9th amongst Australian batsmen in terms of international centuries, and joint 41st overall, though he played fewer matches than all but Don Bradman above him.
Chappell played his first Test match in December 1970, and became the tenth Australian to score a century on Test debut, accumulating 108 runs against England in the second Test of the 1970–71 Ashes series. In 1974, he scored centuries in both innings of a match against New Zealand; his brother, Ian also achieved the feat in the match. In the first innings against New Zealand, Chappell recorded his highest score in Test cricket, 247 not out. He scored two centuries in a Test again late the following year against the West Indies, during his first match as captain of Australia. He scored three further double centuries in Test matches, two against Pakistan, and one against India, all in 1980 or 1981. During the fifth Test of the 1983–84 series against Pakistan, Chappell announced that he would retire at the end of the match; during the fourth day he scored his final century in international cricket. In doing so, Chappell became one of only four players to score centuries in both their first and last Test match. (Full article...)
Image 15
Stuart Broad has taken twenty-one five-wicket hauls in international cricket.
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 July 2020[update] only as of October 2024[update], only 54 bowlers have taken 15 or more five-wicket hauls at international level in their cricketing careers. Stuart Broad—a right-arm fast-medium bowler—is a former Test, One Day International (ODI) and Twenty20 International (T20I) cricketer who represented England. Broad has taken 604 wickets in Test matches, 178 wickets in ODIs and 65 wickets in T20Is. As of July 2023[update], Broad has 21 five-wicket hauls across all formats in his international career and ranks twenty-eighth in the all-time list, and fourth in the equivalent list for England.
Broad made his Test debut against Sri Lanka during England's tour in 2007 with bowling figures of one wicket for 77 runs. His first five-wicket haul came against the West Indies during the first Test of the 2008–09 series at Sabina Park, taking five wickets for 85 runs in the first innings. His best bowling figures are eight wickets for 15 runs which he took in the first innings of the fourth and decisive Test of the 2015 Ashes series at Trent Bridge. Securing the five wickets in 19 deliveries, Broad equalled the fastest five-wicket haul in Test history, set in 1947 by Ernie Toshack for Australia against India, and recorded the best Test bowling figures ever at Trent Bridge, surpassing Muttiah Muralitharan's eight for 70 against England in June 2006. Broad has been most successful against Australia, taking eight Test five-wicket hauls. (Full article...)
The following are images from various cricket-related articles on Wikipedia.
Image 1A 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 2A 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)
Image 3The boundary can be marked in several ways, such as with a rope. (from Laws of Cricket)
Image 4New articles of the game of cricket, 25 February 1774 (from Laws of Cricket)
Image 5Photograph of Miss Lily Poulett-Harris, founding mother of women's cricket in Australia. (from History of women's cricket)
Image 6In 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 10A wicket can be put down by throwing the ball at it and thereby dislodging the bails. (from Laws of Cricket)
Image 11Plaquita, 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 14Afghan 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 15A 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 16 First Grand Match of Cricket Played by Members of the Royal Amateur Society on Hampton Court Green, August 3rd, 1836 (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.
_2.jpg)
_(cropped).jpg)
.jpg)
_cropped.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg)
