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.
Sidney George Barnes (5 June 1916 – 16 December 1973) was an Australian cricketer and cricket writer, who played 13 Test matches between 1938 and 1948. Able to open the innings or bat down the order, Barnes was regarded as one of Australia's finest batsmen in the period immediately following World War II. He helped create an enduring record when scoring 234 in the second Test against England at Sydney in December 1946; exactly the same score as his captain, Don Bradman, in the process setting a world-record 405-run fifth wicketpartnership. Barnes averaged 63.05 over 19 innings in a career that, like those of most of his contemporaries, was interrupted by World War II.
He made his first-class debut at the end of the 1936–37 season when selected for New South Wales, and he was later included in the team for the 1938 Australian tour of England, making his Test debut in the final international of the series. On the resumption of Test cricket after the war, he was picked as the opening partner to Arthur Morris. Barnes was a member of The Invincibles, the 1948 Australian team that toured England without losing a single match. Retiring from cricket at the end of that tour, Barnes attempted a comeback to Test cricket in the 1951–52 season that was ultimately and controversially unsuccessful. (Full article...)
The Wisden Cricketers of the Year are cricketers selected for the honour by the annual publication Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, based "primarily for their influence on the previous English season". The award began in 1889 with the naming of "Six Great Bowlers of the Year", and continued with the naming of "Nine Great Batsmen of the Year" in 1890 and "6 Great Wicket-Keepers" in 1891.
Since 1897, with a few notable exceptions, the annual award has recognised five players of the year. No players were named in 1916 or 1917, as the First World War prevented any first-class cricket being played in England, while in 1918 and 1919 the recipients were five schoolboy cricketers. From 1941 to 1946, the Second World War caused the same issue and no players were named. Three players have been sole recipients: W. G. Grace (1896), Plum Warner (1921) and Jack Hobbs (1926). The latter two selections are the only exceptions to the rule that a player may receive the award only once. Hobbs was first recognised in 1909, but was selected a second time in 1926 to honour his breaking W. G. Grace's record of 126 first-class hundreds; Warner was first honoured in 1904, but received a second award in 1921 for his last season in first-class cricket, when he led Middlesex to a County Championship win. John Wisden, cricketer and eponymous founder of the almanack, was featured in a special commemorative section in the Jubilee edition of the publication in 1913, 29 years posthumously. (Full article...)
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England's Wally Hammond was the leading run-scorer in Tests between 1920 and 1939. The England cricket team represented England, Scotland and Wales in Test cricket. Between 1920 and 1939, when competitive cricket was interrupted by the Second World War, England played 120 Test matches, resulting in 41 victories, 49 draws and 30 defeats. During this period, England faced India, New Zealand and the West Indies for the first time in Test cricket, having previously only played against Australia and South Africa. The emergence of Don Bradman as an extraordinary batsman for Australia led to England employing Bodyline tactics during the 1932–33 Ashes tour of Australia. The tactic, which involved bowling fast deliveries aimed at the batsman, created antagonism between the two teams. The England team of the era featured some of the country's best batsmen; Jack Hobbs, Wally Hammond and Len Hutton were all included in the ESPNcricinfo "all-time England XI" in 2009.
England faced Australia most frequently during this period—playing 49 matches against them—followed by South Africa. England won more matches than they lost against every team except Australia, against whom they won 15 matches and lost 22. They did not lose any matches against newcomers India or New Zealand, while against the West Indies they won 8 matches and lost 3. England won 14 matches by an innings, with their largest victory being by an innings and 579 runs against Australia during the 1938 Ashes series, the largest margin of victory by any team in Test cricket. Their largest victory by runs alone during this period was in the 1928–29 Ashes series against Australia, when they won by 675 runs, which is also an all-time record for any team, while they won by ten wickets on two occasions. Conversely, England suffered their largest defeat by runs alone, losing to Australia by 562 runs during the 1934 Ashes series, which ranks behind England's 675 runs victory as the second highest margin of victory by runs. (Full article...)
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Wasim Akram, a former Pakistanicricketer, took 31 five-wicket hauls during his career 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. A left-arm fast bowler who represented his country between 1984 and 2003, the BBC described Akram as "one of the greatest left-arm bowlers in the history of world cricket", while West Indian batsman Brian Lara said that Akram was "definitely the most outstanding bowler [I] ever faced".
Akram made his Test debut in January 1985, in an innings defeat by New Zealand in Auckland. The following Test, in a man-of-the-match performance, he took ten wickets over the two innings, securing his first two five-wicket hauls but still ended on the losing side. He took another pair of five-wicket hauls in a single match five years later, against Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). His career-best figures for an innings were 7 wickets for 119 runs against New Zealand in Wellington, in February 1994. (Full article...)
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Marcus Trescothick, Somerset's leading List A and second-highest first-class run-scorer Somerset County Cricket Club are an English cricket club based in Taunton, Somerset. The club was founded in 1875 after a match between "Gentlemen of Somerset" and "Gentlemen of Devon" in Sidmouth, Devon. Somerset played their first undisputedfirst-class cricket match in 1882 against Lancashire. After missing the first season of the official County Championship, Somerset was admitted for the second in 1891, and have participated in the competition ever since. The club have played one-day cricket since its introduction to the English game in 1963, winning their first trophy in the 1979 Gillette Cup. All players who have played in 100 first-class or List A cricket matches are listed below. Only four players have made over 100 appearances in Twenty20 cricket for Somerset, James Hildreth currently holds the record for the most matches in the format for the club, having made 205 appearances.
Brian Langford holds the record for the greatest number of first-class appearances for Somerset. Between 1953 and 1974 the right-arm off break bowler played 504 times for the club. Only three other players have made more than 400 appearances for Somerset, and no-one has reached the milestone since Langford. Jack White, one of the three, is the club's leading wicket-taker in first-class cricket, claiming 2,165 dismissals for the county between 1909 and 1937. Harold Gimblett's tally of 21,142 first-class runs is the most by a Somerset cricketer, over 1,000 more than the next, Marcus Trescothick. (Full article...)
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Miandad made two of his double centuries at the National Stadium, Karachi. Javed Miandad is a former batsman and captain of Pakistan. He scored 23 centuries in Test cricket and 8 One Day International (ODI) hundreds during his 17-year international career. Miandad played 124 Test matches and notched 8,832 runs to remain the leading scorer for Pakistan in Test cricket. In 233 ODI matches, he scored 7,381 runs. In 1982, he was named as one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year; the cricket almanac tagged him as "one of the best and most exciting players in the world". He was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame in January 2009.
Miandad scored century on his Test debut against New Zealand at the Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore, in 1976. He was only the second Pakistan player to achieve this feat. In the third and final Test of the series at National Stadium, Karachi, he made 206 runs and, at 19 years and 141 days, became the youngest ever player to complete a double hundred. Seven years later, in 1983, Miandad realized his highest Test score, an unbeaten 280, against India at the Niaz Stadium, Hyderabad. (Full article...)
Each team selected a squad of 15 players which was finalised by 24 January 2013, and any changes to that squad due to illness or injury had to be requested in writing, and approved by the ICC's Event Technical Committee. Once a player had been removed from the squad through this process, they could only return as an approved replacement for a different player suffering illness or injury. (Full article...)
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The County Ground in Derby was first used in 1871 and has staged the vast majority of Derbyshire's games. Derbyshire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 member clubs of the English County Championship, representing the historic county of Derbyshire. The club was established on 4 November 1870 and has competed in first-class cricket since 1871, List A cricket since 1963 and Twenty20 cricket since 2003.[A] 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. The Derbyshire team have played first class, List A, or Twenty20 home matches at twenty-five different grounds. This includes grounds in Burton upon Trent, Knypersley, Leek, Cheadle and Checkley, all of which are not actually located in Derbyshire, but in the adjoining county of Staffordshire.
The county's debut home game in first-class cricket was played at the County Ground in Derby against Lancashire. The venue has also been known as the Racecourse Ground, as it had previously been used for horse racing, and also served as the original home ground of Derby County Football Club, which was formed as an offshoot of the cricket club in 1884. The County Ground has remained the cricket club's primary ground, hosting the majority of home matches, and also played host to the club's first home fixture in Twenty20 cricket against Nottinghamshire in 2003. Queen's Park in Chesterfield, however, staged the club's first home game in List A cricket against Essex in 1964. Queen's Park was first used by the county in 1898 and has continued to be a regular venue for Derbyshire matches, staging over 400 first-class games. (Full article...)
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Former West Indian captain, Courtney Walsh 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. Courtney Walsh, a former cricketer, who represented the West Indies cricket team from 1984 to 2001, took 23 five-wicket hauls in international cricket. He played 132 Tests and 205 One Day Internationals (ODIs), and took 519 and 227 wickets respectively. A right-arm fast bowler, Walsh took 22 five-wicket hauls in Tests and 1 in ODIs. In 1987, when he was named one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year, the cricket almanack Wisden noted his "three distinct speeds, all delivered with the same action", and his "sparing use of the bouncer, his shorter deliveries generally threatening the batsman's rib-cage, a tactic which, allied to change of pace, produced many catches in the short-leg area off splice or glove." He was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame in October 2010.
Walsh made his Test debut in November 1984 against Australia at the WACA Ground, Perth, a match West Indies won by an innings and 112 runs. His first Test five-wicket haul came in 1987 against New Zealand at the Eden Park, Auckland; the match was won by West Indies by 10 wickets. His career-best bowling figures for an innings were 7 wickets for 37 runs against the same team at the Basin Reserve, Wellington, in February 1995. He took another 6 wickets in the next innings, accumulating 13 wickets for 55 runs in the match—his solitary pair of five-wicket hauls. West Indies won the match by an innings and 322 runs, and his performance earned him a man of the match award. Walsh took more five-wicket hauls against England than any other nation: five. He took ten or more wickets in a match on three occasions. (Full article...)
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Adam Gilchrist was a captain of KXIP in 2011–2013. Punjab Kings, formerly called Kings XI Punjab (KXIP), is a franchise cricket team based in Mohali, Punjab in India, and is one of the teams participating in the Indian Premier League (IPL). KXIP was founded in 2008. The franchise is owned by actress Preity Zinta, Ness Wadia of Bombay Dyeing, Karan Paul of the Apeejay Surendera Group and Mohit Burman of Dabur. The group paid US$76 million to acquire the franchise. It is owned by a consortium, along with the Rajasthan Royals. Along with the Rajasthan Royals, KXIP's franchise agreement was terminated by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in October 2010, because the teams had been signed by people who were not members of the consortium which owned the team. A petition of arbitration (appeal) was filed to the Bombay High Court in November 2010, challenging the decision, which was accepted a month later.
KXIP played their first Twenty20 match in 2008 during the first season of the IPL, where they reached the semi-final. They lost the 2008 semi-final to Chennai Super Kings on 31 May 2008, after playing fourteen matches in the league, winning ten matches and losing four. With ten international cricketers in 2009, they finished fifth in the second season of the IPL, winning and losing seven matches. KXIP finished in eighth place in the third IPL season, losing eleven of their fourteen matches. KXIP improved in the fourth season of the IPL, finishing in fifth place with seven losses and victories. In the IPL's fifth season in 2012, the team played sixteen matches, winning eight and losing nine to finish in sixth position. In the 2013 season, they won eight matches out of sixteen, and lost the other eight. In the 2014 season, they won 11 of 14 matches. In the 2015 season, KXIP won three of fourteen matches and finished in last position. In the IPL's ninth season, KXIP won four of fourteen matches and finished in last position. In the 2017 season, KXIP won seven of fourteen matches to finish in fifth position. (Full article...)
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Leicestershire(pictured celebrating their semi-final win in 2011) have won the joint-most English Twenty20 titles, winning on three occasions. The English Twenty20 cricket champions are the winners of the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) Twenty20 competition for first-class cricket counties, most recently the Friends Life t20, although from 2014 this has been replaced with the NatWest t20 Blast. The competition culminates with 'Finals Day': a single day on which both semi-finals and the final are contested at the same ground. Somerset are the current champions, claiming their second title in the 2023 season.
Twenty20 cricket was developed by the ECB to attract new, younger audiences to cricket. Replacing the 50 overs-per-side 'Benson & Hedges Cup', the 'Twenty20 Cup' was introduced in 2003, and was over two hours shorter than its predecessor, and matches also featured greater entertainment off the field, such as live music, barbecues, fancy dress and karaoke. The competition was rebranded as the 'Friends Provident t20' in 2010, and a season later as the 'Friends Life t20'. In 2014, the competition became known as the NatWest t20 Blast. For the first seven years of the competition, teams were allowed one overseas player, as in the other domestic tournaments, but from the 2010 season, each team was allowed two. The finalists in both 2009 and 2011 qualified for the Champions League Twenty20, an international competition between the leading domestic teams from the major cricketing nations. (Full article...)
Abdul Qadir was a Pakistanicricketer who took 17 five-wicket hauls during his career 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. A right-arm leg spin bowler who represented his country between 1977 and 1994, Yahoo! Cricket wrote that Abdul Qadir "was a master of the leg-spin" and "mastered the googlies, the flippers, the leg-breaks and the topspins."
Abdul Qadir made his Test debut in 1977 against England at the Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore. His first Test five-wicket haul came the following year against the same team in a match at the Niaz Stadium, Hyderabad. In March 1984 against the English at the Gaddafi Stadium, he took a five-wicket haul in both innings of a Test match for the first time. He repeated this feat only once more in his career, at the National Stadium, Karachi, against the same team, in December 1987. His career-best figures for an innings were 9 wickets for 56 runs against England at the Gaddafi Stadium, in November 1987. In Tests, Qadir was most successful against the English taking eight of his five-wicket hauls against them. He took ten or more wickets in a match on five occasions. Qadir claimed 15 five-wicket hauls in his Test career, and Pakistan never lost any of the games on such instances. (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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Michael Munday is one of fourteen Cornwall cricketers to have played first-class cricket.Cornwall County Cricket Club was formed in 1894, and first competed in the Minor Counties Championship in 1904. Their first appearance in List A cricket was in 1970, and in total they have played seventeen matches, making four Gillette Cup, five NatWest Trophy and eight Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy appearances. On three occasions the county progressed to the third round of the competition: in 2001, 2002, and 2003. Minor counties teams were excluded from the competition from the 2006 season; Cornwall's last match was against the Netherlands in the first round of the 2004 competition.
In their seventeen List A matches, 69 players have represented Cornwall. Gary Thomas has appeared the most times for the county, playing in twelve matches, closely followed by Jonathan Kent, who made eleven appearances. Kent recorded the highest score in List A cricket for Cornwall, scoring 80 runs against Somerset Cricket Board in 2002. Steven Pope, who played 109 first-class matches in his native South Africa is Cornwall's leading run-scorer, having scored 294 runs in his eight appearances for the county. Justin Stephens's thirteen wickets for the county is the most by any player, but Charlie Shreck has the best bowling figures, having taken five wickets against Worcestershire in 2002. Gavin Edwards, who appeared for Cornwall on seven occasions, has claimed the most dismissals as wicket-keeper, taking five catches and making two stumpings. Only three non-English players have appeared for Cornwall; Jersey's Ryan Driver, Pakistan's Naeem Akhtar and South Africa's Steven Pope. (Full article...)
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In cricket, a batsman reaches a triple century if they score 300 or more runs in a single innings. The Ranji Trophy is the premier first-class cricket championship played in India. Conducted by the Board of Control for Cricket in India, it was founded in 1934 as "The Cricket Championship of India". As of January 2020[update], a triple century has been scored on 46 occasions by 41 different batsmen in the Ranji Trophy.
Selected for the Australian ODI side, Gilchrist made his debut in October 1996 against South Africa in the Titan Cup at Faridabad. His first century came in January 1998 against the same opponents, this time at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG). Opening the batting, he scored 100 runs from 104 deliveries, and led Australia to a seven-wicket victory. Gilchrist's third ODI century helped Australia to equal the world record for the highest ODI runchase, while his fourth, against Sri Lanka in 1999, helped Australia achieve the highest successful run chase in ODI history at the SCG at the time. His fifth ODI century, 154 against the same team later in the tournament, broke Dean Jones and Ricky Ponting's Australian record score of 145. Gilchrist's sixth ODI century, 128 from 98 deliveries against New Zealand, helped Australia on their way to their highest ever ODI total. He reached the milestone in 78 balls, equalling the Australian record of Allan Border for the fastest hundred in ODIs. As part of Gilchrist's eighth century, he and Ponting shared an Australian second-wicket record partnership of 225. He was named the Australian One-Day International Player of the Year in both 2003 and 2004. Gilchrist's highest score in ODI cricket is 172, achieved against Zimbabwe in January 2004. Gilchrist's century against the World XI came from 73 deliveries, breaking his own Australian record by five balls. He broke this mark again with his 14th century, reaching three figures in 67 balls. His penultimate ODI century was made in the 2007 Cricket World Cup final which also happened to be his only world cup century. Scoring 149 runs from 104 deliveries, including eight sixes and thirteen fours, Gilchrist made the highest score and quickest century in the final of the World Cup. Australia won every ODI match in which Gilchrist scored a century, and he retired with 16 to his name, scoring at a rate of more than one run per delivery in 13 of them. (Full article...)
1946 - On day four of the 2nd Ashes Test at Sydney, Sid Barnes (pictured) is famously out while on 234, equalling Don Bradman's record which had been set just one over before. Barnes later admitted throwing away his wicket: "It wouldn't be right for someone to make more runs than Sir Donald Bradman". The pair had also set a world record fifth wicket partnership of 405 which still stands.
Image 3 First Grand Match of Cricket Played by Members of the Royal Amateur Society on Hampton Court Green, August 3rd, 1836 (from History of cricket)
Image 4Plaquita, 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 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 8Afghan 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 9A 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 10New articles of the game of cricket, 25 February 1774 (from Laws of Cricket)
Image 11The boundary can be marked in several ways, such as with a rope. (from Laws of Cricket)
Image 12Broadhalfpenny Down, the location of the first First Class match in 1772 is still played on today (from History of cricket)
Image 13A 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 14A wicket can be put down by throwing the ball at it and thereby dislodging the bails. (from Laws of Cricket)
Image 15A 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)
... that Alex Horton made his Twenty20 cricket debut for Glamorgan despite no actual play being possible due to rain?
... that Indian gynaecologist and reproductive medicine pioneer Baidyanath Chakrabarty, who performed over 4,000 IVF procedures, was a cricket fan who thought Virat Kohli and Ashwin were "such good boys"?
The International Cricket Council (ICC) is the international governing body of cricket, and produces team rankings for the various forms of cricket played internationally.
Test cricket is the longest form of cricket, played up to a maximum of five days with two innings per side.
Matches is the number of matches played in the 12–24 months since the May before last, plus half the number in the 24 months before that. See points calculations for more details.
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