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 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.
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.
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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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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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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Greg Chappell is a former international cricketer who represented Australia in 161 matches between 1970 and 1984. He was described by the cricket journalist Gideon Haigh as "the outstanding Australian batsman of his generation", while fellow journalist Christopher Martin-Jenkins said he was capable of "[mastering] even the best bowlers in the worst batting conditions." A right-handed top-order batsman, he scored 27 centuries (100 or more runs in a single innings) in international cricket – 24 in Test cricket and 3 in One Day Internationals (ODIs). He ranks 9th amongst Australian batsmen in terms of international centuries, and joint 41st overall, though he played fewer matches than all but Don Bradman above him.
Chappell played his first Test match in December 1970, and became the tenth Australian to score a century on Test debut, accumulating 108 runs against England in the second Test of the 1970–71 Ashes series. In 1974, he scored centuries in both innings of a match against New Zealand; his brother, Ian also achieved the feat in the match. In the first innings against New Zealand, Chappell recorded his highest score in Test cricket, 247 not out. He scored two centuries in a Test again late the following year against the West Indies, during his first match as captain of Australia. He scored three further double centuries in Test matches, two against Pakistan, and one against India, all in 1980 or 1981. During the fifth Test of the 1983–84 series against Pakistan, Chappell announced that he would retire at the end of the match; during the fourth day he scored his final century in international cricket. In doing so, Chappell became one of only four players to score centuries in both their first and last Test match. (Full article...)
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Leicestershire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 member clubs of the English County Championship, representing the historic county of Leicestershire. The club was established on 25 March 1879. It has since played first-class cricket from 1894, List A cricket from 1963 and Twenty20 cricket from 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. Leicestershire's first XI have played home matches at fifteen different grounds.
The club's debut home match in first-class cricket was played at Grace Road in Leicester. After the 1900 season, the club ceased using Grace Road, as it was felt that it was located too far from the centre of the city. Instead, Aylestone Road became the club's headquarters, and staged nearly 400 first-class matches between 1901 and the outbreak of the Second World War. Due to a combination of wartime damage and industrial development, however, the club was forced to discontinue using Aylestone Road after the war, and Grace Road once again became the club's main venue. In the years after the war, the county also utilised grounds in other towns including Hinckley, Melton Mowbray, Barwell and Loughborough. (Full article...)
Taylor made his ODI debut in March 2006 against West Indies at McLean Park, Napier. His first century came in December 2006 against Sri Lanka at the same ground; he scored 128 not out in the match which New Zealand lost by seven wickets. His highest ODI score of 181 not out came against England at the University Oval in March 2018. Taylor's 102 not out (off 70 balls) against Pakistan in February 2015 is the fifth-fastest century by a New Zealander in ODIs. He has not scored any centuries in Twenty20 International (T20I) matches. , Taylor is joint 16th in the list of century-makers in international cricket with 40, and the highest ranked New Zealander. (Full article...)
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Bellerive Oval, also known by its sponsored name Blundstone Arena, is a cricket ground in Hobart, Australia. It is the home of the Tasmania cricket team and the Hobart Hurricanes (a Twenty20 team in the Big Bash League), as well as being a Test, One Day International (ODI) and Twenty20 International (T20I) venue. It has a capacity of 16,000 spectators. As of December 2015, the ground has hosted 12 Test matches, the first in 1989 when Australia hosted Sri Lanka. It has also staged 34 ODI matches, the first of which was in 1988 when New Zealand lost to Sri Lanka by four wickets. As of October 2014, two T20Is have been played at the ground. The first was in 2010 when Australia beat the West Indies by 38 runs; the second was in 2014, when Australia defeated England by 13 runs.
The first Test century (100 or more runs in a single innings) scored at the ground was by Australian Mark Taylor in the third innings of the first Test match against Sri Lanka in 1989. In the same innings Dean Jones and Steve Waugh also scored centuries. As of December 2015, 31 Test centuries have been scored at the ground in 12 Test matches. As of December 2015, Adam Voges 269*, scored against West Indies in 2015, is the highest Test innings achieved at the ground and only the second double century (200 or more runs in a single innings) in this ground, after Ricky Ponting's 209, against Pakistan in 2010. The highest Test score by an overseas player is 192 by the Sri Lankan Kumar Sangakkara in 2007. Michael Hussey has scored three Test centuries at the ground, the most by any batsman. (Full article...)
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A quadruple century (an individual score of 400 runs or more) has been scored eleven times in first-class cricket by nine different players. It was first achieved in 1895 by Archie MacLaren, playing for Lancashire against Somerset, while the most recent occurrence was by Sam Northeast. Brian Lara is the only player to have managed the feat in Test cricket. Lara holds the record for the highest score in first-class cricket, having made 501 not out in 1994. Bill Ponsford is the only other player to have scored two quadruple centuries, doing so in 1923 and 1927 for the Victoria cricket team. Ponsford's scores were both made at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, making it one of two venues to have hosted two quadruple centuries, along with the County Ground, Taunton. Two teams have conceded two quadruple centuries; Somerset and Queensland.
Don Bradman's score of 452 not out was made in the shortest time of all quadruple centuries; his innings lasting 415 minutes (6 hours and 55 minutes). Lara's Test quadruple was the longest, taking 778 minutes (12 hours and 58 minutes). Bradman's quadruple century was also the only one to be scored in a team's second batting innings. Three of the quadruple centuries were made in each of Australia and England, two in Pakistan, one in India and one in Antigua and Barbuda. (Full article...)
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...)
When a player is found by the umpire to have delivered the ball contrary to those rules, the umpire will call a no-ball and he is said to have been called for throwing. Where public opinion is that a player's bowling action appears to be that he routinely throws, he is said to have a 'suspect' or an 'illegal' action, or more derogatorily, is said to be a 'chucker'. The issue is often highly emotive with accusers considering that deliveries with an illegal action are akin to cheating. (Full article...)
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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I Zingari are a wandering amateurcricket club. Founded on 4 July 1845 by three Old Harrovians, it is one of the oldest cricket clubs still in existence. The purpose of the club was to nurture amateur cricket following the rise of professionalism, which had resulted in most clubs and counties employing at least one professional player to strengthen their side. I Zingari sides were chosen carefully, and such was their strength in the late 19th and early 20th centuries that a number of their matches were considered to be of first-class status. I Zingari Australia played senior club cricket for a few seasons after their formation in 1888, before being excluded from Electorate cricket. They have not played any first-class cricket.
I Zingari played numerous fixtures each season from 1845, primarily facing Eton College and Harrow School in the 1840s, and later playing more against stronger opposition; the Gentlemen of England and county sides became frequent opponents. In 1866 they took on the 'Gentlemen of the South' at St Lawrence Ground, Canterbury. This match is the first of their fixtures to be considered of first-class status. I Zingari lost by 121 runs to the Gentlemen, whose team included W.G. Grace and two of his brothers. I Zingari's next first-class match came eleven years later, when they played Yorkshire County Cricket Club as part of the Scarborough Festival. They competed in the festival for each of the following thirteen seasons – with the exception of 1883 – and played Yorkshire on seven occasions, the 'Gentlemen of England' six times and the touring Australians twice. They played two further first-class fixtures, both against the 'Gentlemen of England' at Lord's Cricket Ground, in 1895 and 1904. (Full article...)
Since the team made its first WT20I appearance in 2006, 73 players—including five different captains—have represented India in the format. The list is arranged in the order in which each player won her first Twenty20 cap. Where more than one player won her first Twenty20 cap in the same match, those players are listed alphabetically by surname. (Full article...)
1978 - Chris Old, bowling for England against Pakistan on the first day of the first Test at Edgbaston, takes four wickets in five balls, the middle (and non-wicket-taking) ball of the five being a no ball.
1985 - In making 322 against Warwickshire, Viv Richards became the first West Indian to make 300 runs in a day. The 300 came up off only 244 balls, including eight sixes and 42 fours.
New Zealand
1932 - New Zealand seamer, chairman of selectors and umpire Frank Cameron was born.
South Africa
2002 - Hansie Cronje died in a plane crash aged 32. Cronje captained South Africa in 53 matches and admitted to his involvement in match fixing in 2000.
The following are images from various cricket-related articles on Wikipedia.
Image 1New articles of the game of cricket, 25 February 1774 (from Laws of Cricket)
Image 2A 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 5A 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 6Photograph of Miss Lily Poulett-Harris, founding mother of women's cricket in Australia. (from History of women's cricket)
Image 7Broadhalfpenny Down, the location of the first First Class match in 1772 is still played on today (from History of cricket)
Image 9 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 10In 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)
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.