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 balanced on three stumps. Two players from the batting team (the striker and nonstriker) stand in front of either wicket holding bats, with one player from the fielding team (the bowler) bowling the ball towards 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 exchange. Runs are also scored when the ball reaches or crosses the boundary of the field or when the ball is bowled illegally.
His strike rate is amongst the highest in the history of both ODI and Test cricket; his 57 ball century against England at Perth in December 2006 is the fourth-fastest century in all Test cricket. He was the first player to have hit 100 sixes in Test cricket. His 17 Test centuries and 16 in ODIs are both second only to Sangakkara by a wicket-keeper. He holds the unique record of scoring at least 50 runs in successive World Cup finals (in 1999, 2003 and 2007). His 149 off 101 balls against Sri Lanka in the 2007 World Cup final is rated one of the greatest World Cup innings of all time. He is one of only three players to have won three World Cup titles. (Full article...)
Sobers made his Test debut against Pakistan in 1954. He scored his first century (365 not out) against the same team during the third Test of the 1957–58 home series. In the event, he became the youngest player to complete a triple century. Sobers' innings remained the highest individual score in Test cricket for 36 years until it was transcended by Brian Lara in 1994; the innings, however, remains the highest maiden century for a player in Tests. In the fourth Test of the same series, Sobers went on to score centuries in both the innings; he ended up scoring 824 runs at an average of 137.33 in the series. In terms of centuries scored, he was most successful against England (10 centuries). Sobers made scores of 150 or more in a Test match innings on thirteen occasions, and was dismissed five times between scores of 90 and 99. As of March 2019[update], he has the third-highest number of centuries for West Indies in Tests. (Full article...)
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This is a list of the squads picked for the 2007 Cricket World Cup. This was the ninth Cricket World Cup tournament and was held between 14 March and 28 April 2007. The sixteen teams asked to announce their final squads by 13 February 2007. Changes were allowed after this deadline at the discretion of the ICCs Technical Committee in necessary cases, such as due to player injury. In order to aid the teams to select the final 15, teams were given the option to announce a 30-man squad by mid-January, with the understanding that the final squad would be picked from these 30 players. However, this was not strictly adhered to – several of England's final 15 came from outside the initial 30, for example. The oldest player at the 2007 Cricket World Cup was Desmond Chumney (39) of Canada while the youngest was Alexei Kervezee of the Netherlands. (Full article...)
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The Trans-Tasman Trophy is awarded to the winner of the Australia–New ZealandTest match series in cricket. The trophy is awarded to the team that wins a Test series, or one-off Test match, between the two nations. If the series is a draw, the holder retains the trophy. It was first competed for in the 1985–86 season, although six Test series between the nations were contested before the trophy's instigation. As of January 2020[update], Australia hold the trophy following their 3–0 series win in the 2019–20 series in Australia. Australia also lead in overall wins, winning 11 of the 18 series, while New Zealand (nicknamed the Black Caps) have won 3, the remaining 4 ending in draws. Australia's Allan Border is the most successful batsman in the history of the trophy, scoring 1,356 runs in 25 innings at an average of 61.63. New Zealand's Ross Taylor holds the record for the highest score in the trophy's history, with 290 in the second innings of the second Test of the 2015–16 series in Australia. Taylor's score surpassed the previous record set in the same Test; Australian David Warner struck 253 in the first innings. Australian spin bowlerShane Warne has taken the most wickets in the trophy, with 103 in 20 matches at an average of 24.37, while New Zealand's Richard Hadlee has the best bowling figures with 9 wickets for 52 runs which he took in the first innings of the inaugural Test. Former Australian captainMark Taylor has taken the most catches, with 25 in 11 matches, while fellow countryman Ian Healy is the most successful wicket-keeper, making 42 dismissals in 11 matches. (Full article...)
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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...)
Lara scored a Test century for the first time in his fifth Test match in 1993 against Australia. His score of 277 in that match is the fourth-highest maiden century in Test history. The 375 he made against England in 1994 was the highest individual Test score for nine years, until Matthew Hayden surpassed it in 2003. Lara regained the world record in 2004 when he made an unbeaten 400, once again against England. It is also the only quadruple century in Test cricket. The unbeaten 153 he scored against Australia in 1999 was rated as the second-best Test innings of all time by the Wisden Cricketers' Almanack in 2001. He has scored more than 200 runs on nine occasions, the highest after Donald Bradman and Kumar Sangakkara Alongside Sir Donald Bradman, Virender Sehwag and Chris Gayle, he is one of four batsmen who have scored triple centuries on two occasions. Lara scored 34 centuries during his Test career, the highest number by a West Indian player. He is ranked sixth for the highest number of centuries in a career along with Mahela Jayawardene, Sunil Gavaskar and Younis Khan, behind Sachin Tendulkar, Jacques Kallis, Ricky Ponting, Kumar Sangakkara and Rahul Dravid. (Full article...)
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Kapil Dev is a former Test and One Day International (ODI) cricketer who represented India between 1978 and 1994. He took 24 five-wicket hauls during his international career. 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 40 bowlers have taken more than 15 five-wicket hauls at international level in their cricketing careers. A right-arm fast bowler, Kapil Dev took 434 wickets in Test cricket and 253 in ODIs. With 23 five-wicket hauls in Tests, he has the third highest number of international five-wicket hauls among Indian cricketers as of 2012, after Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh. Kapil Dev was named by the Wisden as one of their Cricketers of the Year in 1983 and Indian Cricketer of the Century in 2002. Eight years later, the International Cricket Council (ICC) inducted him into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame. As of 2012, Kapil Dev also holds the record for being the only player to have taken more than 400 wickets and scored over 5,000 runs in Tests.
Kapil Dev made his Test and ODI debuts against Pakistan, both in 1978. His first five-wicket haul came a year later against England during the first Test of India's tour. His career-best bowling figures in an innings of nine for 83 was achieved in 1983 against the West Indies in Ahmedabad. In Tests, Kapil Dev was most successful against Pakistan and Australia, with seven five-wicket hauls against each of them. He took his only five-wicket haul in ODIs against Australia during the 1983 Cricket World Cup. (Full article...)
A One Day International (ODI) is a form of limited overs cricket, played between two teams that have international status, as determined by the International Cricket Council (ICC). The first ODI match was played between Australia and England in 1971 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, as a 40-over match. An ODI can have four possible results—it can be won by either of the two teams, it could be tied, or it could be declared to have "no result". In cricket, a match is said to be tied if it ends with both teams scoring exactly the same number of runs and with the side batting second having completed its innings with all 10 batsmen being out or the predetermined number of overs having been completed. In case of rain-affected matches, the match is tied if the Duckworth–Lewis–Stern method indicates that the second team exactly meets but does not exceed the par score. There have been two occasions where a match has been tied, but the team which had lost fewer wickets was declared the winner. Pakistan was involved in both matches, losing one against India and winning the other against Australia.
The first tie in ODIs occurred in 1984 when Australia played West Indies in the second final of the Benson and Hedges World Series Cup; the Wisden Cricketers' Almanack noted "[the match] led to more dissension than delight." The second tie, also involving Australia, occurred in 1989 during the second match of the Texaco Trophy in England. Between 1991 and 1997, at least one ODI was tied every year. Starting from 1999, a further 19 ties have occurred until 2014, more frequently than ever before. The first World Cup match involving a tie was the second semi-final of the 1999 tournament when Australia played South Africa. Since then, at least one match was tied in the subsequent tournaments, with the exception of the 2015 edition, until the 2019 World Cup. (Full article...)
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World Series Cricket (WSC) was a professional cricket competition established by Kerry Packer which ran from 1977 and 1979. Packer set the competition up after failing to gain the rights to show Test cricket on his Channel Nine television channel. It was opposed by the International Cricket Conference (ICC), who ruled that such matches would not be first-class, and any players taking part would be banned from playing in officially sanctioned cricket, although the latter was ruled to be a "restraint of trade" and was not enforceable. They also barred the WSC from using the term "Test matches", or naming a team "Australia". As a result, the matches were dubbed "Supertests", while the teams were WSC Australia XI, WSC West Indies XI and WSC World XI. In all, 16 Supertests and 58 international one-day matches were played, before Packer and the Australian Cricket Board came to an agreement in May 1979, and World Series Cricket came to an end.
The first Supertest began on 2 December 1977, although the first century (100 or more runs in a single innings) was not scored until the third match, in which Ian Chappell accumulated 141 runs in the first innings. Bruce Laird and Viv Richards went on to score centuries in the same match. A month later, Barry Richards achieved the competition's first double century, scoring 207 runs for the WSC World XI. In the same innings, Gordon Greenidge and Richards also passed a hundred, while Greg Chappell did so in the second innings for WSC Australia XI. In the next match, Greg Chappell surpassed Richards' total, remaining 246 not out, one of his record five WSC centuries. (Full article...)
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Sir Ian Botham is a former international cricketer and captain of the England cricket team. He has claimed five-wicket hauls (taken five or more wickets in an innings) in Test cricket on 27 occasions, second only to James Anderson among English cricketers. A five-wicket haul is regarded as a notable achievement, and 53 bowlers have taken more than 15 five-wicket hauls at international level in their cricketing careers. Botham is generally considered one of the greatest all-rounders of all time. He was named as a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1978, and Indian Cricket Cricketer of the Year four years later. In 1992 he was awarded an Order of the British Empire (OBE), and he was knighted for his services to cricket and charity work in 2007. Two years later, he was honoured by the International Cricket Council, who named him as one of 55 initial inductees into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame. He is ninth overall in all-time Test five-wicket haul takers.
He made his international debut for England on 26 August 1976 in a One Day International (ODI) against the West Indies. He made his Test cricket debut just under a year later against Australia, and it was during the first innings of this match that he claimed his first international five-wicket haul. It is against Australia that he has claimed the most five-wicket hauls, doing so on nine occasions. Three of these came during the 1981 Ashes series and, along with the two centuries he scored, saw the series dubbed "Botham's Ashes". He twice claimed eight wickets in an innings, playing at Lord's on each occasion, against Pakistan in 1978 and the West Indies in 1984. Including these performances, Botham has collected a five-wicket haul at Lord's eight times, more so than on any other ground. (Full article...)
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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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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...)
Trescothick's first Test century was scored against Sri Lanka at Galle International Stadium in 2001, when he made 122. He then continued to score at least one century every year until his retirement from international cricket in 2006. His highest score of 219 was made against South Africa in 2003 at The Oval, London—his only double century. He has made a century in both innings of a Test match on only one occasion, against the West Indies in 2004 at Edgbaston. Despite being the first batsman to achieve this feat at Edgbaston, Trescothick was not named Man of the Match, as Andrew Flintoff's first-innings of 167 earned him the accolade instead. During the 2005 series against Bangladesh, Trescothick scored centuries in both Test matches against the touring side, helping earn him a Man of the Series award. His 14 Test centuries have been scored at 11 grounds; nine were scored in England and the remaining five were scored at different venues. Trescothick has been dismissed twice between 90 and 99, against India in 2001 and Australia in 2005. (Full article...)
Strauss made his Test cricket debut at the age of 27 after being called into the team to replace the injured Michael Vaughan. He scored a century in the first innings of the match, played against New Zealand at Lord's, his county home ground for Middlesex. In the second innings of the match he missed out on becoming the first England batsman to score centuries in both innings of his Test debut when he was run out on 83. His second Test century came in the first match of the series against the West Indies two months later, and was also scored at Lord's. The following English winter, Strauss scored three centuries during the Test series in South Africa, earning him the man of the series accolade, and high praise from Allan Donald, who said he had "never seen any visiting player bat as well, with so many match-winning performances". In 2008, he passed 150 for the first time in Test cricket, scoring 177 against New Zealand at McLean Park, Napier. The innings, his highest in Test cricket, is also the only time he has scored a Test century when not playing as an opening batsman for England. Strauss was named as England captain in 2009, and responded by passing 140 four times during the year, hitting centuries in three subsequent Tests against the West Indies, and scoring his highest total during an Ashes series against Australia, reaching 161 at Lord's. After a series of low scores, Strauss scored a century against the West Indies in the first match of the 2012 series, his first in a year and a half. (Full article...)
India played their first Women's One Day International cricket (WODI) match against England in the 1978 World Cup, which they hosted. They finished at the bottom of the table as they lost the remaining two games of the group stage. In the 1982 World Cup, they won their first ever WODI match when they beat the International XI by 79 runs at McLean Park, Napier. India's first overseas WODI series win came at the 1994–95 New Zealand Women's Centenary Tournament. They won the WODI series during their tour 1999 of England. They were the runner-up at the 2005 and the 2017World Cup tournaments. As of October 2022[update], they have played 301 WODIs against twelve different opponents, and have the fourth highest number of victories (164) for any team in the format; They have recorded 81 wins and have been the fifth most successful team in the T20 format. Since their first Women's Twenty20 International (WT20I) against England in August 2006, India have played 151 matches. They have been most successful against Bangladesh with eleven wins against them. They were among the semi-finalists in the 2009 and 2010ICC Women's World Twenty20 tournaments. (Full article...)
The following are images from various cricket-related articles on Wikipedia.
Image 1A 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 2A 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 4A wicket can be put down by throwing the ball at it and thereby dislodging the bails. (from Laws of Cricket)
Image 5In 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 7Afghan 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 8New articles of the game of cricket, 25 February 1774 (from Laws of Cricket)
Image 9Broadhalfpenny Down, the location of the first First Class match in 1772 is still played on today (from History of cricket)
Image 11A 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 13Plaquita, 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 14 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 15The boundary can be marked in several ways, such as with a rope. (from Laws of Cricket)
Image 16Photograph of Miss Lily Poulett-Harris, founding mother of women's cricket in Australia. (from History of women's cricket)
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.