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) 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, 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 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.
The team is coached by Phil Simmons and captained by Shan Masood. They won their first PSL title in PSL V after beating their rivals Lahore Qalandars in the final on 17 November 2020.
Jayawardene's debut Test match was against India in August 1997, in which the Sri Lankan team made a world record 952 runs for 6 wickets. He scored his maiden Test century in his fourth match, played in June 1998 against New Zealand. The 150 he scored against Bangladesh in September 2001 is the fastest Test century made by a Sri Lankan player. However, this innings came to an unusual end when he retired out just after reaching 150 runs. Jayawardene's best innings was made against South Africa in July 2006 when he scored 374 runs, surpassing Sanath Jayasuriya's record of 340 for the highest individual score by a Sri Lankan batsman. It is also the fourth-highest score in Test cricket, as well as part of the world's highest Test partnership—624 runs—which he established with teammate Kumar Sangakkara. Jayawardene has scored a total of 34 centuries during his career, the second highest number by a Sri Lankan player, after Kumar Sangakkara. He has scored more than 200 runs on seven of these occasions. This is the second-highest number of double centuries by a Sri Lankan player, behind Kumar Sangakkara. He is also one of only three players who have scored a triple century for Sri Lanka; the other two being Jayasuriya and Sangakkara. (Full article...)
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A women's Test match is an international four-innings cricket match held over a maximum of four days between two of the ten leading cricketing nations. The first women's Test was played between England and Australia in 1934. As of 2014, the Pakistan women's team have played three Test matches since their first appearance in 1998, against Sri Lanka at the Colts Cricket Club. Pakistan have lost two matches, while one resulted in a draw. Twenty women have played Test matches for Pakistan.
As of 2014, four players have made the most appearances for Pakistan in Women's Test cricket, playing in all the three matches. Five players have appeared in two matches each, and eleven have played in one match each. Shaiza Khan has captained the side in all the three matches. Kiran Baluch has scored the most runs in total, making 360 from 6 innings. Her score of 242, made against West Indies in March 2004, is the highest total by any batsman in Women's Test cricket as of 2014. Khan has taken more wickets than any other Pakistani bowler in this format of the game, dismissing 19 batsmen over 3 matches. She has the best bowling figures in an innings among Pakistani bowlers, 7 wickets for 59 runs. Her 13 wickets for 226 runs in a match is the best performance by any bowler in the format. Khan, Urooj Mumtaz, and Batool Fatima have taken the most catches with three each. Fatima holds the record for the most Test cricket dismissals for Pakistan with five. (Full article...)
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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 significant achievement. , 170 cricketers have taken a five-wicket haul on their debut in a Test match, with ten of them being taken by West Indian players. They have taken a five-wicket haul on debut against five different opponents: four times against England, twice against India and Australia, and once against Pakistan and Sri Lanka each. Of the ten occasions, the West Indies won the match four times, and drew once. The players have taken five-wicket hauls at four different venues, two in the West Indies and two overseas. The most common venue for a West Indies player to achieve the feat is Sabina Park in Kingston, Jamaica, where it has occurred five times. Of the overseas hauls, three occurred at Old Trafford in Manchester, England.
The Delhi Capitals are a franchise cricket team based in Delhi, India, and are one of the teams participating in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The Capitals played their first match in the first season of the IPL against the Rajasthan Royals. The Capitals reached the IPL playoffs three times, and have topped the group stage table twice. Their performances in the competition have resulted in their qualification for the 2009 and 2012 Champions League Twenty20, in which they reached the semi-finals on the second occasion. In total, 108 players have played for the Capitals, of whom Virender Sehwag has played the most matches: 86 since his debut for the franchise in 2008.
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...)
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The Hyderabad Deccan Chargers (often abbreviated as DC) was a franchise cricket team based in Hyderabad, Telangana, that competed in the Indian Premier League (IPL) from 2008 to 2012. The team was owned by Deccan Chronicle Holdings Limited who won the bid for the Hyderabad franchise at US$107 million. VVS Laxman and Robin Singh were appointed as the captain and the coach for their first season in 2008. After finishing last in that season, the DC sacked their coach and removed their captain and replaced them with Darren Lehmann and Adam Gilchrist under whom they won their only IPL title in 2009, when they defeated the Royal Challengers Bangalore by six runs in the final. They reached the semi-finals again in 2010 but failed to reach past the group stages before the team was folded in 2012. They qualified for the Champions League Twenty20 only once, for the 2009 season, but failed to advance past the group stage. Lehmann remained as the coach for the DC but they were forced to replace Gilchrist with Kumar Sangakkara in 2011 after they lost former to the Kings XI Punjab in the 2011 auction. Sangakkara remained as the captain until the middle of the 2012 season before he was replaced by Cameron White following the poor performances. Sangakkara later returned as captain as the move did not yield the desired results for the Deccan Chargers.
On 15 September 2012, the Deccan Chargers' IPL contract was terminated by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), which was concerned about overdue payments to the players. The Hyderabad franchise was later acquired by the Sun TV Network for ₹85.05 crore (US$11 million) per year in a bid which also retained 20 players. (Full article...)
Sharma made his ODI debut against Ireland in June 2007. His first century came during the 2010 Tri-nation tournament in Zimbabwe when he made 114 against the hosts. In the 2013 bilateral series against Australia at home, he made two centuries, including a double-century. The next year, he scored 264 against Sri Lanka at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata. The score remains the highest individual total by a batsman in the format . In January 2016, he made 171 not out against Australia; it remained the highest score by a visiting batsman against Australia until England's Jason Roy made 180 in 2018. Sharma set the record for most centuries scored in a World Cup when he scored five centuries in the 2019 World Cup. He has scored centuries against nine different opponents and has the joint second-highest number of centuries (eight) against Australia in the format. , Sharma has eight scores in excess of 150, and three double-centuries, both of which are records in ODIs. He has the second highest number of centuries for an active player in the format. (Full article...)
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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 during their cricketing careers. Brett Lee has the fifth-highest number of international five-wicket hauls among Australian cricketers as of 2013. A right-arm fast bowler, he is regarded as one of the fastest international bowlers in the modern cricketing era.
Lee picked up a five-wicket haul on Test debut, playing against India in December 1999; a match that Australia won. His career-best figures for an innings were 5 wickets for 30 runs against West Indies at the Brisbane Cricket Ground in November 2005; while never managing to take ten wickets in a single match. Eight of his ten Test five-wicket hauls were taken at home. After capturing 310 wickets, Lee retired from Test cricket in 2010 and remains Australia's fourth-most successful bowler in the format. (Full article...)
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From their first match in 2006 to their final match in 2009, 37 players represented the Bermuda cricket team in One Day Internationals (ODIs). A One Day International is an international cricket match between two representative teams, each having ODI status, as determined by the International Cricket Council (ICC). An ODI differs from Test matches in that the number of overs per team is limited, and that each team has only one innings.
The Bermuda Cricket Board was formed in 1948, when the Somers Isles Cricket League amalgamated with the Bermuda Cricket Club to form the Bermuda Cricket Board. They were admitted to the ICC as an associate member in 1969, and in the 2005 ICC Trophy they gained ODI status and qualified for the World Cup for the first time. Bermuda played its first ODI against Canada in May 2006. In the 2007 World Cup, Bermuda struggled against the Test playing nations in their group and against India they recorded what remains the largest margin of defeat in a World Cup match, losing by 257 runs at Queen's Park Oval, Trinidad and Tobago. Bermuda lost all their matches in the World Cup, which began a decline in Bermudian cricket and eventually led to them losing their ODI status during the 2009 World Cup Qualifier, in which they finished 9th. Bermuda have not managed to regain this status and now play in World Cricket League Division Three, having also lost their first-class status they had held since 2004. (Full article...)
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Steve Waugh is a former cricketer and captain of the Australia cricket team. He is a right-handed middle order batsman and a right-arm medium bowler. Described as one of the most consistent batsmen, and by Indian cricketer Rahul Dravid as "a gritty player who did not throw away his wicket easily and is someone who valued his wicket", Waugh scored centuries (scores of 100 or more) in both Test and One Day International (ODI) matches organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC). During his career in international cricket he scored centuries on 35 occasions and half centuries on 95 occasions. Considered to be one of the greatest modern day cricket captains, Waugh led Australia to 41 wins out of the 57 Test matches under his captaincy. "He was named Cricketer of the Year in 1988 by Indian Cricket, and a year later by Wisden. In January 2010, the ICC inducted him into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame.
Waugh made his Test debut against India in December 1985, and scored a century for the first time in a match against England in 1989 which Australia won. In Test matches, Waugh has scored centuries against all Test cricket playing nations, the second player to do so. He has scored a century in at least one cricket ground of all Test cricket playing nations, except Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. He has made scores of 150-plus in an innings on 14 occasions. His career best score of 200—his only double century—came against West Indies in April 1995. Waugh has been most successful against England, scoring ten centuries against them, the first in 1989 and the last one in 2003. On 25 July 2003 he became the first player to score 150 runs in an innings against all Test-playing nations, a world record. He has been dismissed eight times between scores of 90 and 99, with a further two innings not out in the 90s. As of August 2015, Waugh is ninth in the list of leading century makers in Test cricket. (Full article...)
Amla made his Test debut against India at Eden Gardens, Kolkata, in 2004. His first century came two years later against New Zealand at the Newlands Cricket Ground, Cape Town. His score of 311 not out, against England at The Oval, London, in 2012, is the only triple century by a South African batsman in Test cricket. Amla has scored Test centuries at sixteen cricket grounds, including ten at venues outside South Africa. In Tests, he has scored centuries against eight different opponents, and has the most centuries (six) against England. , Amla has the second-highest number of centuries for South Africa in Tests. (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". , a triple century has been scored on 46 occasions by 41 different batsmen in the Ranji Trophy.
Gloucestershire County Cricket Club, representing the historic county of Gloucestershire, is one of the 18 member clubs of the English County Championship. The club was established in 1846 following the merger of the Mangotsfield Cricket Club and West Gloucestershire Cricket Club and played under the latter name until 1867, after which it became the Gloucestershire County Cricket Club. It has played first-class cricket since 1870, 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" away from the club's main headquarters has diminished since the 1980s. Gloucestershire have played home matches at eighteen different grounds.
The club's first home match in first-class cricket was played at Durdham Down in the Clifton district of Bristol. This was the only time the county used this venue for a match. The following year Gloucestershire began to play matches at the Clifton College Close Ground in the grounds of Clifton College in the same part of the city, and this remained a regular venue for the county until the 1930s, hosting nearly 100 first-class matches. In 1872 the county used a venue outside Bristol for the first time when they played at the College Ground in the grounds of Cheltenham College. This venue has continued to be used regularly for the county's annual "Cheltenham festival" event, which in the modern era incorporates additional charity events and off-field entertainment. In 1889 Gloucestershire began to play matches at the County Ground in Bristol, which has subsequently served as the club's main headquarters and hosted the majority of the county's matches. It was here that the club played its first List A match in 1963 against Middlesex, and its first Twenty20 match forty years later against Worcestershire. Bristol is not officially part of Gloucestershire and has been considered an independent county since 1373, though it was officially part of the county of Avon from 1974 until 1996. Somerset have played first-class matches at other venues in the city. (Full article...)
Bell made his Test debut in 2004 in the fourth Test against the West Indies at The Oval, scoring 70 in a ten-wicket England victory. His first century came a year later against Bangladesh at the Riverside Ground, Chester-le-Street. His highest Test score is 235 against India at The Oval. Bell has scored Test centuries at fifteen cricket grounds, including seven at venues outside England. He has scored his twenty-two Test centuries against eight different opponents; he is most successful against Australia, Pakistan and India, with four against each. England have never lost a test match in which Bell has scored a century. His dismissal for 199 against South Africa in July 2008 made him just the seventh batsman to lose his wicket on that score in Test cricket. As of November 2015, Bell is joint twenty-eighth among all-time Test century makers,[A] and joint third in the equivalent list for England. (Full article...)
Chanderpaul made his Test debut in March 1994, selected as an all-rounder who could bowl leg breaks, against England. He reached his first century three years later, scoring an unbeaten 137 against India at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown. During the initial phase of his career, Chanderpaul was criticised for his inability to convert half-centuries into centuries, but he proved his critics wrong during the 2001–02 series against India when he scored three centuries in five matches, thus earning the man of the series accolade. During that tournament, he batted for 1,513 minutes between dismissals, a record in Test cricket. Despite being well known for his patient batting, Chanderpaul scored a 69-ball century against Australia in 2003, which at the time was the third fastest century in terms of balls faced. His highest score in Test cricket is 203 not out, a total he achieved twice, first against South Africa in 2005, and then against Bangladesh in 2012. He has scored centuries against every Test playing nation with the exception of Sri Lanka, and has scored seven centuries against India, more than any other team. (Full article...)
... that Cyril Smart, an English cricketer, was such a powerful hitter that he once took a world-record 32 runs off a single over, and held the record number of sixes for his club, Glamorgan?
... that the ball used in women's Test cricket can be up to 13⁄16ounces (23.03 grams) lighter than that used in men's cricket?
The following are images from various cricket-related articles on Wikipedia.
Image 1In 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 2 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 4Photograph of Miss Lily Poulett-Harris, founding mother of women's cricket in Australia. (from History of women's cricket)
Image 5Broadhalfpenny Down, the location of the first First Class match in 1772 is still played on today (from History of cricket)
Image 6New articles of the game of cricket, 25 February 1774 (from Laws of Cricket)
Image 7A 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 8A 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)
... that English cricketer Josh de Caires, the son of former England captain Michael Atherton, was given his mother's maiden name at birth, and he does not know why?
... that the Kīlauea lava cricket disappears from a lava field as soon as any plants start to grow there?
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.