Cricket

A World of Cricket

The world-wide sport of Cricket has origins tracing back to 16th-century England, and since then has not only developed into a widely popular game, but also an iconic part of Australian sport. Cricket is a bat and ball sport in which teams either take the form of the batting side, or the bowling/fielding side. The role of the batting side is to use their bat to strike the ball and make as many runs as possible without being dismissed, which can be achieved by being caught or being bowled (bowler's delivery hits the wickets). The fielding side, on the other hand, has the task of minimising the amount of runs scored by their opposition and dismissing ten out of the eleven players of the batting team. The game takes place in three distinct formats known as:

 - Test Match

 - One Day International (ODI)

 - Twenty20

Test Match

Test cricket is the highest standard/level of first-class cricket. It is believed that the first match of Test cricket took place in 1876 between Australia and England. Since then, teams from eight other nations have reached Test cricket level. These teams are South Africa, West Indies, New Zealand, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe. A Test match involves the format of having both teams playing for up to five days in a series which typically consists of three to five matches. Each day has at least six hours of playing time, with both team batting for two innings (an innings ends when either ten batting players are dismissed, or the batting sides Captain declares). The team with the highest total over both innings wins the match, however if the end of the fifth day is reached and the game is not complete, it is a draw.

One Day International

One Day International (ODI) is a limited overs cricket match in which fifty overs are played by each batting side. The Cricket World Cup is competed for in this format of the game. This format of the game, while involving the international sides listed under 'Test Match', also include Afghanistan and Ireland. Teams are ranked at this level to give an ICC ODI Ranking, and at the time of posting stands as the following:

Rank	Team
1	South Africa
2	Australia
3	New Zealand
4	India
5	England
6	Sri Lanka
7	Bangladesh
8	Pakistan
9	West Indies
10	Afghanistan
11	Zimbabwe
12	Ireland

ODIs operate under the standards laws of cricket, with a few specifics custom for the limited overs structure of the game. The team batting first, in a single innings, sets the target score for the opposing side, with the innings lasting until either the end of the fiftieth over, or until ten batting players have been dismissed. The maximum amount of overs for a bowler is ten, therefore meaning at least five players who specialise in bowling or are all-rounders are required. The second batting team then has the task of meeting the target score within the fifty overs to win the match, while the side who set the score must aim to keep the batting side below the target. The team with the highest score wins, unless both sides have an identical amount of runs in which case the match is a tie.

Twenty20

Twenty20 cricket is a short form of the game, where each side has twenty overs to bat. Games are typically completed in three hours. This format is used on both an international level, and also on a domestic level with notable competitions being the Indian Premier League and the Big Bash League. A unique difference with the Twenty20 as opposed to other formats is that if there is a tie and there must be a winner, the tie is broken with a super over. This consists of each team nominating three batsmen and one bowler to play a one over per side match. The team which scores the highest total in this over wins. If this also ends in a tie, the team that scored the most boundaries in the twenty overs wins.

Other aspects of the game will be discussed in detail in future posts!

Posted by Rhys Jones