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. 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 of these exchanges. Runs are also scored when the ball reaches the boundary of the field or when the ball is bowled illegally.
He has set numerous records across all three formats of the game. He is the most capped player for the West Indies in international cricket and is the only player to score a triplet of centuries – a triple hundred in Tests, double hundred in ODIs and a hundred in T20Is. Gayle is the only player to score more than 14,000 runs and hit more than 1000 sixes in T20 cricket He is also the leading run scorer for West Indies in both ODIs and T20Is and along with Brian Lara the only player to score more than 10,000 runs for West Indies in ODI Cricket. Gayle was the first West Indian batsman to score a double-century in ODI cricket and subsequently in the history of World Cup cricket, where he scored an innings of 215 against Zimbabwe. His innings of 215 is currently the highest individual score by a left-handed batsman in ODI cricket. Along with the ODI record, he has the highest individual score in the T20 World Cup as a West Indian with his 117 runs against South Africa. Moreover, in the ICC Champions Trophy, he has the highest score made by a West Indian with his innings of 133 not out against South Africa in the 2006 tournament. In addition to his batting, He has picked up over 200 International Wickets with his Right-arm off-break spin bowling. He was awarded the Most Valuable Player in the 2011 Indian Premier League and held the Orange Cap in 2012. On 23 April 2013, He broke the record for the fastest ever T20 hundred in his landmark knock of 175 runs from 66 balls for Royal Challengers Bangalore against Pune Warriors India in the IPL, which is also the highest score ever by a batsman in T20 history. He also equaled the record for the fastest 50 in T20 cricket while playing for Melbourne Renegades in the Big Bash League.
Top order batsman and former Australian captainRicky Ponting holds several World Cup records. Playing in five tournaments between 1996 and 2011, he has played in more World Cup matches than any player with 46. He also holds the record for the most consecutive matches played. As a slip fielder, Ponting has also taken the most catches at the World Cup with 28. Captaining his side from 2003 to 2011, Ponting holds the World Cup record for the most matches played as captain with 29. India batsman Sachin Tendulkar has scored 2,278 runs making him the only player to score more than 2,000 runs at the World Cup. He has also scored the most World Cup half-centuries with 15 and shares the record with Pakistan's Javed Miandad for the most number of World Cup tournaments played with 6. (Full article...)
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The England cricket team represented England, Scotland and Wales in Test cricket. England played Australia in the first ever Test match, which took place at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in March 1877. Although four touring parties of English players had visited Australia prior to 1877, the Australian team had not previously been considered strong enough to play on equal terms. The two matches between the English cricketers and the Australians were retrospectively granted Test status.
Between 1877 and 1914, when competitive cricket was interrupted by the First World War, England played 123 Test matches, resulting in 59 victories, 22 draws and 42 defeats. For much of this period, England and Australia were the only Test playing countries and played each other every year or two. In 1888–89, England toured South Africa and played two matches subsequently deemed to be Test matches. Subsequently, the sides played each other sporadically and from 1906 fixtures were played as frequently as the Ashes series. In 1912, the three sides competed in a Triangular Tournament, which was deemed a failure, partly due to a damp English summer and in part because of the perceived complexity of the tournament. (Full article...)
The Ashes is a Test cricket series played between England and Australia. The series have varied in length, consisting of between one and seven Test matches, but since 1998 have been consistently five matches. It is the sport's most celebrated rivalry and dates back to 1882. It is generally played biennially, alternating between the United Kingdom and Australia. Australia are the current holders of the Ashes, having retained them with a draw in the 2023 series. (Full article...)
Arif Butt was the first Pakistani player to take a five-wicket haul on his Test debut, he took six wickets for 89 runs against Australia in 1964. Mohammad Nazir and Mohammad Zahid are the only bowlers to have taken seven wickets each. Butt and Tanvir Ahmed have taken six wickets each and six others have taken five wickets on debut. Zahid took seven wickets for 66 runs, the best bowling figures by a Pakistani bowler on debut, against New Zealand in 1996, at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium. He accumulated 11 wickets for 130 runs in the match, the only Pakistani to take 10 or more wickets in a Test match on debut. Amongst the bowlers, Bilal Asif is the most economical, with 1.67 runs per over, and Zahid has the best strike rate. As of 2021, the most recent bowler to achieve the feat was Nauman Ali. He took five wickets for 35 runs against South Africa in 2021 at the National Stadium. (Full article...)
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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 fewer than 50 bowlers have taken more than 15 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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Sachin Tendulkar is a retired Indian cricketer who is widely acknowledged as one of the greatest batsmen of all time, he is the most prolific run-scorer in international cricket. Tendulkar has scored the highest number of centuries (100 or more runs) in Test matches and One Day International (ODI) matches organised by the International Cricket Council. His total of 51 centuries in Test matches is a world record for highest number of centuries by a batsman and his 49 centuries in ODI matches are the second highest number of centuries after Virat Kohli. He became the first and only cricketer to score 100 international centuries when he made 114 against Bangladesh in March 2012.
After making his Test debut in 1989, Tendulkar achieved his first century against England at Old Trafford, Manchester in 1990; he made 119 not out. In Test matches, Tendulkar has scored centuries against all the Test cricket playing nations, and is the second batsman to score 150 against each of them. He has scored a century in at least one cricket ground of all Test cricket playing nations, except Zimbabwe. In October 2010, Tendulkar went past Brian Lara's record of 19 scores of 150 or more by hitting his 20th against Australia in Bangalore. He made his highest score in 2004, when he made 248 not out against Bangladesh at the Bangabandhu National Stadium, Dhaka. Tendulkar has scored six double centuries and remained unbeaten on 15 occasions. His centuries have come in 30 different cricket grounds, with 27 of them being scored in venues outside India. Tendulkar has been dismissed nine times between scores of 90 and 99. (Full article...)
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A One Day International, or an ODI, is an international cricket match between two representative teams, each having ODI status, as determined by the International Cricket Council. An ODI differs from Test matches in that the number of overs per team is limited, and that each team has only one innings.
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, especially in T20 cricket where a bowler can bowl a maximum of only 24 balls (4 overs). The Indian Premier League (IPL) is a professional Twenty20 cricket league in India, which has been held annually since its first season in 2008. So far, 34 five-wicket hauls have been taken by different bowlers, of which only two five-wicket hauls have been taken outside India. Players from twelve of the thirteen teams have taken five-wicket hauls; Kochi Tuskers Kerala is the only franchise for which a player has not taken a five-wicket haul. The first five-wicket haul was taken by Sohail Tanvir of the Rajasthan Royals against the Chennai Super Kings on 4 May 2008. He finished the game with 6 wickets. The most economical five-wicket haul was taken by Akash Madhwal of the Mumbai Indians, who claimed five wickets with an economy rate of 1.43 in the 2023 season. Yuzvendra Chahal of the Rajasthan Royals took the least economical five-wicket haul, 5/40 bowling with an economy rate of 10.00 in 2021. Anil Kumble is the oldest bowler to take a five-wicket haul, achieving the feat at the age of 38, while Jaydev Unadkat is the youngest, he was 21 when he took his first five-for in 2013. (Full article...)
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A One Day International, or an ODI, is an international cricket match between two representative teams, each having ODI status, as determined by the International Cricket Council. An ODI differs from Test matches in that the number of overs per team is limited, and that each team has only one innings.
Designed as a fund-raiser for the African Cricket Association and the Asian Cricket Council, the Afro-Asia Cup debuted in 2005 and a second series was played in 2007. The list is arranged in the order in which each player won his first ODI cap for the African XI. Where more than one player won his first ODI cap in the same match, those players are listed alphabetically by surname. All the players have represented their respective member teams of the ICC at either Test or ODI level, but only the records of their games for the ACA African XI are listed. (Full article...)
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In cricket, a five-wicket haul (also known as a "fifer") refers to a bowler taking five or more wickets in a single innings. This is regarded as a notable achievement, and as of September 2014 only 42 bowlers have taken 15 or more five-wicket hauls at the international level. Mitchell Johnson—a left-arm fast bowler—is a former Test, One Day International (ODI) and Twenty20 International (T20I) cricketer who represented Australia. Johnson took 264 wickets in Test matches, 212 wickets in ODIs and 38 wickets in T20Is. With 15 five-wicket hauls across all formats of the game, he ranks equal thirty-ninth among all-time combined five-wicket haul takers, and ninth in the equivalent list for Australia.
Johnson made his Test debut against Sri Lanka in 2007. His first five-wicket haul came against New Zealand during the first Test of the 2008–09 series at the Gabba. His 5 wickets for 39 runs in the second innings raised his tally to 9 wickets for the match. Australia won the match by 149 runs and his performance earned him the man-of-the-match award. His best bowling figures for an innings are 8 wickets for 61 runs against South Africa in 2008. In Test matches, Johnson was most successful against England, taking 5 of his 12 five-wicket hauls against them. (Full article...)
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Sydney Barnes was a professionalcricketer who played for England in 27 Test matches between 1901 and 1914. He claimed 24 five-wicket hauls (five or more wickets in an innings) during his Test career. A five-wicket haul is regarded as a notable achievement, and as of 2014 fewer than 50 bowlers have taken more than 15 five-wicket hauls at international level in their cricketing careers. Barnes had only played seven first-class matches when he was chosen by Archie MacLaren to tour Australia, and played only 47 County Championship matches throughout his entire career, opting to play Minor Counties and Lancashire League cricket instead. He based his decision upon two main criteria – playing club cricket was more financially rewarding, and he was worried about having to bowl too much in first-class county cricket, and suffering from burnout.
Barnes is generally regarded as one of the best bowlers to have played international cricket, and finished his Test career with 189 wickets at an average of 16.43; his average places him among the top-ten bowlers in Test cricket. At the start of his career, he was a fast bowler who endeavoured to swing the ball, which was the common style of bowling at the time. However, Barnes experimented with bowling a little slower and cutting the ball, and developed both an off cutter and a leg cutter that he concluded were far more effective than swinging the ball. Despite his bowling talent, Barnes did not play any Test cricket between July 1902 and December 1907, as he was considered a "prima donna" who would only put in the effort when he was in the right mood, and being suitably paid. After his recall to the England side, he played regularly until the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, and was named by the Wisden Cricketers' Almanack as one of their Cricketers of the Year in 1910. (Full article...)
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Graham Gooch is a former cricketer who captainedEssex and England. He has scored centuries (100 or more runs in a single innings) in Test and One Day International (ODI) matches on twenty and eight occasions respectively, in an international career spanning nearly two decades. He is one of the most successful international batsmen of his generation; through a first-class career spanning from 1973 until 2000, he became the most prolific run scorer of all time with 67,057. With 8,900 runs, Gooch was the leading Test run-scorer for England until overtaken by Alastair Cook in 2015. Gooch is one of 25 players in history to have scored over 100 first-class centuries. Having coached at Essex, he was full-time test batting coach for the England cricket team 2012–2014.
Five years after Gooch's Test debut where he made a pair of ducks against Australia at Edgbaston in July 1975, he scored his first Test century with 123 against the West Indies at Lord's in June 1980. Gooch's highest Test score is 333, which he made in the first innings against India in 1990. As of August 2022, this is the third-highest Test score by an Englishman (after Len Hutton's 364 and Wally Hammond's 336 not out), and is the equal thirteenth-highest score in Test history. He went on to score 123 in the second innings of the same Test match, becoming the sixth Englishman at that time to have scored a century in both innings of a Test match, and the first for over 40 years. Gooch is one of fewer than 60 batsmen to carry his bat in a Test innings when, in 1991 against the West Indies, he remained not out at the end of the England innings with a score of 154. He is also one of only seven cricketers in Test history, and the only on a score of 100 or greater, to have been dismissed by handling the ball, when he flicked the ball away from the stumps against Australia in 1993. (Full article...)
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Sanath Jayasuriya is a Sri Lankan cricketer and former captain of the Sri Lanka national cricket team. He is an all-rounder and opening batsman, and is known for his aggressive batting style that has earned him the name "Master Blaster". His batting style introduced a new strategy to the game during the 1996 World Cup, where he and fellow opener Romesh Kaluwitharana batted highly aggressively in the early overs using fielding restrictions to their advantage. This later became a standard opening batting strategy and, according to Australian cricketer Glenn McGrath, Jayasuriya "changed everyone's thinking about how to start innings". As a result of his performances, Jayasuriya was selected as a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1997, despite not having played in the previous English cricketing season. He scored 42 centuries in Test and One Day International (ODI) games, but was not able to score a century in a Twenty20 International match, where his highest score is 88.
Although Jayasuriya made his Test debut in 1991, it was not until 1996 that he scored his first century, when he had become a regular player in the Sri Lankan side. His career high of 340 against India in August 1997 was the highest score by a Sri Lankan cricketer until 2006 and is also part of the highest team total (952/6) made in Test cricket. He has also scored two double centuries; 213 against England and 253 against Pakistan. His 157 against Zimbabwe in 2004 is the second fastest century by a Sri Lankan player. Jayasuriya, having scored centuries against every Test playing nation except New Zealand and the West Indies, retired from Test cricket in 2007 with 14 to his name. (Full article...)
De Silva debuted in 1984 and scored his first Test century in October 1985 against Pakistan. In a man-of-the-match performance, he scored 122 in an eight-and-a-half-hours innings. He made centuries in both innings of a match when he scored 138 and 103 – not out in both innings – in the second Test of the 1997 series against Pakistan, and as of March 2022[update], he is the only player to score unbeaten centuries in both innings of a Test. He repeated the feat of scoring centuries in both innings in the same year, when he scored 146 and 120 against India in another man-of-the-match performance. De Silva's highest Test score of 267, achieved in January 1991 in Wellington, was reached in 380 balls against New Zealand. The performance is the sixth-highest score by a Sri Lankan batsman in Test cricket. De Silva scored his twenty Test centuries against seven different opponents, and was most successful against Pakistan, making eight. As of April 2013[update], he is thirty-fourth in the international Test century-makers list, and third in the Sri Lankan list. (Full article...)
The following are images from various cricket-related articles on Wikipedia.
Image 1A 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 3New articles of the game of cricket, 25 February 1774 (from Laws of Cricket)
Image 4 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 5A 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 6Plaquita, 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 7Photograph of Miss Lily Poulett-Harris, founding mother of women's cricket in Australia. (from History of women's cricket)
Image 8In 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 10Afghan 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 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 12A wicket can be put down by throwing the ball at it and thereby dislodging the bails. (from Laws of Cricket)
Image 13The boundary can be marked in several ways, such as with a rope. (from Laws of Cricket)
... that the relatively low standards of player selection for Somerset County Cricket Club in 1883 have been described as being "determined with a nod and a wink over drinks"?
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.