CRICKET ASIA

This article is about the sport. For the insect, see Cricket (insect). For other uses, see Cricket (disambiguation).
"Cricketer" redirects here. For other uses, see Cricketer (disambiguation).
Cricket Pollock to Hussey.jpg
A bowler bowling to a batsman. The paler strip is the cricket pitch. The two sets of three wooden stumps on the pitch are the wickets. The two white lines are the creases.
Highest governing body International Cricket Council
Nickname(s) "The Gentleman's game"
First played 16th century (modern)
Characteristics
Team members 11 players per side
substitute fielders (only) are permitted in cases of injury or illness
Mixed gender Yes, separate competitions
Categorization Team, Bat-and-ball
Equipment Cricket ball, cricket bat,
wicket: stumps, bails
Venue Cricket field
Olympic 1900 Summer Olympics only
Cricketball.png Cricket portal

Cricket is a bat-and-ball team sport. Many variations exist, with its most popular form played on an oval-shaped outdoor arena known as a cricket field at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard (20.12 m) long pitch that is the focus of the game. A game (or match) is contested between two teams of eleven players each. One team bats, and will try to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the runs scored by the batting team. When the batting team has used all its remaining batsmen within the available overs, the roles reverse and it is now the fielding team's turn to bat and try to outscore the opposition.

There are also variations in the length of a game of cricket. In professional cricket this ranges from a limit of 20 overs per side (Twenty20) to a game played over 5 days (Test cricket, which is considered the highest level of the game). Depending on the form of the match being played, there are different rules that govern how a game is won, lost, drawn or tied. The rules of two-innings games are known as the Laws of Cricket and maintained by the ICC and the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC); additional Standard Playing Conditions for Test matches and One Day Internationals augment these laws.[1] In one version of Indoor Cricket, matches include just 6 players and last for 12 overs.[2]