Sport

Cricket

Also Known As The Gentlemen's Game A traditional nickname, not a formal alternate name.

Bat-and-Ball Sports

Cricket is a bat and ball game played between two teams of eleven, in which a bowler delivers the ball toward a batter defending a wicket. The game's earliest known documented reference is a 1598 court case in Guildford, Surrey, in which a witness testified to playing a game called creckett around 1550, which places the game's earliest firm evidence in southeast England in the mid sixteenth century, though it likely existed informally before that as a children's or shepherds' pastime with no surviving record. The Marylebone Cricket Club, founded in 1787, took on the role of custodian of the Laws of Cricket from 1788 onward, and its codification is the basis of the modern game. A batting side scores runs chiefly by running between the wickets after striking the ball, or by hitting a boundary (four runs if the ball reaches the field's edge on the ground, six if it clears the edge without touching the ground); a batter is dismissed, most commonly bowled, caught or leg before wicket, and an all-out or completed innings ends that side's turn to bat. The fielding side's eleven include a wicket-keeper stationed behind the batter's wicket and a rotating bowler, with the rest positioned around the field to catch or stop the ball; the format governs the contest's length far more than in most sports, ranging from a Test match's five days, through a One Day International's fifty overs (six-ball sets) a side, down to Twenty20's twenty overs a side.

Facts

Disputed

Origin Year

1598 3

1598 is the date of the earliest known documented reference to the game, a Guildford court case in which a witness recalled playing creckett around 1550. The game almost certainly existed informally before that as an unrecorded children or shepherds pastime, so 1598 marks the earliest surviving evidence rather than a true origin date, which is not recoverable.

Originating Region

Southeast England, most likely the Weald region straddling Kent and Sussex 3

International Governing Body

The International Cricket Council, founded 1909 as the Imperial Cricket Conference, headquartered in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. 3

Team or Individual

Team 1

Contact Level

Non-Contact 1

Identity

Symbol

A bat and ball, with a wicket of three stumps and two bails at each end of the pitch. 1

Classification

Olympic Programme Status

Current Olympic Sport 2

FAQs

Why do cricket matches vary so much in length, from a few hours to five days?

The match format, not the sport itself, sets the length, ranging from Twenty20's few hours to a Test match's five days.

Cricket's format governs how long a match lasts far more than in most sports. A Test match is played over five days, a One Day International limits each side to fifty six-ball overs, and Twenty20 limits each side to twenty overs, with a Twenty20 game generally lasting three to four hours. The batting, bowling and dismissal rules stay the same across every format; only the number of overs and days allowed changes.

Connections

Associated With

Australian Rules Football

Source Australian rules football - Wikipedia

Baseball

Source Wikipedia, Baseball

Featured In

Asian Games

County Championship

Source County Championship (Wikipedia)

Cricket World Cup

Source ICC, Official Cricket World Cup History

Indian Premier League

Source Wikipedia: Indian Premier League

Pakistan Super League

Source Pakistan Super League (Wikipedia)

The Ashes

Source Wikipedia, The Ashes

Governed By

Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB)

Source Wikipedia, Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB)

Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI)

Cricket Australia

Cricket South Africa

Source Wikipedia, Cricket South Africa

England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB)

Source Wikipedia, England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB)

International Cricket Council (ICC)

Source Wikipedia, International Cricket Council

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB)

Source Wikipedia, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB)

Long-Form Articles

The Joke That Became a Trophy: How Cricket Got Its Ashes

Played By

AB de Villiers

Source Wikipedia: AB de Villiers

Aldam Pettinger

Source Aldam Pettinger (Wikipedia)

Alec Stewart

Source Alec Stewart (Wikipedia)

Alfred Lyttelton

Source Alfred Lyttelton (Wikipedia)

Allan Border

Source Allan Border (Wikipedia)

Allan Donald

Source Allan Donald (Wikipedia)

Andrew Flintoff

Source Andrew Flintoff (Wikipedia)

Andrew Symonds

Source Andrew Symonds (Wikipedia)

Andy Flower

Source Andy Flower (Wikipedia)

Anil Kumble

Source Anil Kumble (Wikipedia)

Australia National Cricket Team

Babar Azam

Source Babar Azam (Wikipedia)

Bangladesh national cricket team

Source Bangladesh national cricket team (Wikipedia)

Ben Stokes

Source Ben Stokes (Wikipedia)

Brad Haddin

Source Brad Haddin (Wikipedia)

Brendon McCullum

Source Brendon McCullum (Wikipedia)

Brett Lee

Source Brett Lee (Wikipedia)

Brian Lara

Carl Hooper

Source Carl Hooper (Wikipedia)

Chennai Super Kings

Chloe Greechan

Source Chloe Greechan (Wikipedia)

Chris Gayle

Source Chris Gayle (Wikipedia)

Clive Lloyd

Source Clive Lloyd (Wikipedia)

Courtney Walsh

Source Courtney Walsh (Wikipedia)

Dale Steyn

Source Dale Steyn (Wikipedia)

Daniel Vettori

Source Daniel Vettori (Wikipedia)

David Warner

Source David Warner (Wikipedia)

Dean Jones

Source Dean Jones (cricketer) (Wikipedia)

Deryck Murray

Source Deryck Murray (Wikipedia)

Don Bradman

Ellyse Perry

England Cricket Team

Source England Cricket Team (Wikipedia)

Eoin Morgan

Source Eoin Morgan (Wikipedia)

Ernie Parker

Source Ernie Parker (Wikipedia)

Forbes Jones

Source Forbes Jones (Wikipedia)

Garfield Sobers

Source Garfield Sobers - Wikipedia

Gary Gilmour

Source Gary Gilmour (Wikipedia)

Gautam Gambhir

Source Gautam Gambhir (Wikipedia)

Giles Toogood

Source Giles Toogood (Wikipedia)

Glenn Maxwell

Source Glenn Maxwell (Wikipedia)

Glenn McGrath

Source Glenn McGrath (Wikipedia)

Gordon Greenidge

Source Gordon Greenidge (Wikipedia)

Gother Clarke

Source Gother Clarke (Wikipedia)

Graham Gooch

Source Graham Gooch (Wikipedia)

Greg Chappell

Source Greg Chappell (Wikipedia)

Hansie Cronje

Source Hansie Cronje (Wikipedia)

Harbhajan Singh

Source Harbhajan Singh (Wikipedia)

Harmanpreet Kaur

Source Harmanpreet Kaur (Wikipedia)

Harry Moses

Source Harry Moses (Wikipedia)

Harry Siedeberg

Source Harry Siedeberg (Wikipedia)

Showing 1 to 50 of 149 in Played By, page 1 of 3.

In the Other Atlases

Found In

England

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Sources

1. Wikipedia, Cricket

Wikimedia Foundation

Infobox, nicknames
Society insisted that such people were "officers and gentlemen" whose destiny was to provide leadership. In a purely financial sense, the cricketing amateur would theoretically claim expenses for playing while their professional counterpart played under contract and was paid a wage or match fee; in practice, many amateurs claimed more than actual expenditure, and the derisive term "shamateur" was coined to describe the practice. The game underwent major development in the 18th century to become England's national sport.
Introduction
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game that is 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.
Infobox: contact
No
Lead
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game that is 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