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.
The Yorkshire captaincy affair of 1927 arose from a disagreement among members of Yorkshire County Cricket Club over the selection of a new captain to succeed the retired Major Arthur Lupton. The main issue was whether a professional cricketer should be appointed to the post. It was a tradition throughout English county cricket that captains should always be amateurs. At Yorkshire, a succession of amateur captains held office in the 1920s, on the grounds of their supposed leadership qualities, although they were not worth their place in the team as cricketers. None lasted long; after Lupton's departure some members felt it was time to appoint a more accomplished cricketer on a long-term basis.
The Yorkshire committee, prompted by the influential county president, Lord Hawke, approached Herbert Sutcliffe, one of the side's leading professionals. After Sutcliffe's provisional acceptance of the captaincy, controversy arose. Some members objected to the appointment on the traditional grounds that Sutcliffe was not an amateur; others felt that if a professional was to be appointed, the post should be offered to the county's senior professional, Wilfred Rhodes, who had been playing much longer than Sutcliffe. Rhodes himself was offended that he had not been approached. When Sutcliffe became aware of the controversy, he withdrew his acceptance. No offer was made to Rhodes, and the county subsequently appointed amateur William Worsley as captain. He was respected by the team but had little personal success, lasted for just two seasons, and was followed by two further short-term leaders. In 1933 Brian Sellers, a more competent amateur, was appointed and became the long-serving captain that Yorkshire had sought. (Full article...)
These were the 10 squads picked to take part in the 2006 ICC Champions Trophy, the fourth instalment of the Champions Trophycricket tournament. The tournament was held in India from 7 October to 5 November 2006. Teams could name a preliminary squad of 30, but only 14-man squads were permitted for the actual tournament, and these had to be submitted by 7 September, one month before the start of the tournament.
Several of the squads were changed during or before the tournament due to injuries or suspensions; Pakistan changed their captains three times before the tournament had begun, and also sent home two players due to doping allegations. Both India and Zimbabwe had to replace a player during the tournament, which required the permission of the International Cricket Council's Technical Committee. (Full article...)
Image 2
Herschelle Gibbs is a former South African cricketer who represented his country between 1996 and 2010. He made centuries (100 or more runs in a single innings) on 14 and 21 occasions in Test and One Day International (ODI) matches respectively. With over 14,000 runs, Gibbs is fourth in the list of South Africa's most prolific run-scorers in international cricket. Wisden Cricketers' Almanack included him among its "top 40 cricketers of 2004".
Gibbs made his Test and ODI debuts in 1996 against India and Kenya respectively. However, it was only in 1999 that he made his first century, when he scored 125 against the West Indies, an ODI South Africa won at St George's Park, Port Elizabeth. He followed that with another century against Australia in the 1999 World Cup, although this time in a losing cause. In 2002, Gibbs made three centuries in consecutive innings, equaling a record that was previously held by two other players. He was denied a fourth successive century when he remained 97 not out against Bangladesh. His career-best score of 175, achieved against Australia, led South Africa to the most successful run-chase in the history of ODIs. Gibbs made a minimum of one century each year from 1999 to 2009. As of October 2015, he is jointly second with Hashim Amla (both with 21 centuries) in the number of ODI centuries among his countrymen, only behind AB de Villiers (22). Along with Shikhar Dhawan, Sourav Ganguly, and Chris Gayle, Gibbs holds the record for the most centuries in the ICC Champions Trophy, with three. (Full article...)
Image 3
Imran Khan, a retired Pakistanicricketer and former Prime Minister of Pakistan, took 24 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 2014 fewer than 45 bowlers have taken more than 15 five-wicket hauls at international level in their cricketing careers. A right-armfast bowler who represented his country between 1971 and 1992, Khan was described by the BBC as "one of the finest fast bowlers cricket has ever seen", while ESPNcricinfo declared him as "the greatest cricketer to emerge from Pakistan, and arguably the world's second-best allrounder after Garry Sobers". In 1983 he was named as one of the five Cricketers of the Year by the Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, and was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame in January 2009.
Khan made his Test debut in 1971 against England at Edgbaston Cricket Ground. His first Test five-wicket haul came in 1977 against Australia in a match at Melbourne Cricket Ground which Pakistan lost. In the same year, he took his first pair of five-wicket hauls in a single match against Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground. By the end of his career, he had claimed five-wickets hauls in both innings of a match on three occasions. His career-best figures for an innings were 8 wickets for 58 runs against Sri Lanka at Gaddafi Stadium, in March 1982. He took ten or more wickets in a match on six occasions. (Full article...)
Image 4
Vivian Richards is a former international cricketer and captain of the West Indies cricket team. He has scored centuries (100 runs or more) in both Test and One Day International (ODI) matches. In 2000, he was knighted for his services to cricket, and during the same year named as one of five Wisden Cricketers of the Century. He is generally considered one of the greatest batsmen of all time, and in 2002 he was honoured by Wisden, who named him as the greatest ODI batsman of all time, and the third greatest Test batsman. After four years, he received the Most Exalted Order of National Hero award in his native Antigua.
Richards made his Test debut against India in November 1974, and scored his maiden Test century during the second Test of the same tour, scoring an unbeaten 192 in the first-innings of the match. In 1976, he scored seven Test centuries in a calendar year, passing Garfield Sobers' record of six, which had been set in 1958. He scored his maiden double century in the first Test of that year's tour of England at Trent Bridge, Nottingham making 232. After scoring a century in the third Test, he once again scored a double century in the fifth Test, accumulating his highest score, 291, at The Oval, London. These centuries, and a total of 1,710 Test runs in the year, helped him to be named as one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 1977. In 1986, facing England at the Antigua Recreation Ground, Richards scored the fastest century in Test cricket, reaching his twentieth Test hundred in 56 balls. Richards has the third-highest number of centuries for the West Indies, behind Brian Lara's 34 and Sobers' 26. (Full article...)
Image 5
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...)
Image 6
Sussex County Cricket Club is one of the 18 member clubs of the English County Championship, representing the historic county of Sussex. Although Sussex representative sides had been playing cricket since the mid-eighteenth century and had also played first-class cricket matches since 1815, the County Cricket Club was established on 1 March 1839. They have played first-class matches since 1839, List A matches since 1963, and Twenty20 matches 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" away from the club's main headquarters has diminished since the 1980s. In total, Sussex have played first-class, List A and Twenty20 cricket at 17 different grounds across the county. (Full article...)
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 2014 only 41 bowlers have taken more than 15 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...)
Hildreth is Somerset's leading run-scorer in Twenty20 cricket, aggregating 3,906 runs. He is also one of only nine batsmen to have scored a century for Somerset in the format, along with Tom Abell, Babar Azam, Tom Banton, Chris Gayle, Johann Myburgh, Graeme Smith, Marcus Trescothick and Cameron White. Gayle's score of 151 not out, scored in 2015 against Kent is the highest score by a Somerset batsman, and Gayle also has the county's best batting average: 84.16. Among the bowlers, Lewis Gregory has taken more wickets than any other bowler, both claiming 150, 11 more than Max Waller. The best bowling average is Matt Henry's 13.25. Arul Suppiah has the best bowling figures in an innings: he claimed six wickets against Glamorgan in a 2011 match, while only conceding five runs. Suppiah's figures in that match were the best by any bowler in Twenty20 cricket at the time. Tom Banton has taken the most catches as wicket-keeper for Somerset, with 45, and Craig Kieswetter has made the highest number of stumpings: 14. Max Waller has claimed the highest number of catches among fielders, taking 86. (Full article...)
Image 10
The Frank Worrell Trophy is awarded to the winner of the West Indies–Australia Test match series in cricket. The trophy is named after Frank Worrell who was the first black captain of the West Indies. It was first awarded at the end of the 1960–61 series in Australia, the first Test of which ended in a tie. The Australian Cricket Board of Control and Don Bradman commissioned former Test cricketer and professional jeweller Ernie McCormick to create a perpetual trophy following the tie. The trophy's design incorporated a ball used in the tied Test. As of 2024[update], Australia hold the trophy following the 1–1 series draw in the West Indies 2023–24 tour. Australia also lead in overall wins, winning 15 of the 25 series, while the West Indies have won 8, the remaining 3 ending in draws (with the trophy being retained by the incumbents). Brian Lara is the most successful batsman in the history of the trophy, scoring 2,815 runs for the West Indies in 56 innings at an average of 52.12. He also holds the record for the highest score (277) which he made in the third Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground during the 1992–93 series. West Indian fast bowler Courtney Walsh has taken the most wickets in the trophy, with 135 over 38 matches, at an average of 28.68, while Australia's Graham McKenzie has the best bowling figures of 8 wickets for 71 runs, achieved in the second Test of the 1968–69 series. Australian Mark Waugh has taken the most catches, with 45 in 28 matches, while West Indian Jeff Dujon is the most successful wicketkeeper, making 84 dismissals in 23 matches. (Full article...)
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...)
Image 12
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...)
Image 13
The India national cricket team represents India in international cricket and is a full member of the International Cricket Council with Test and One Day International (ODI) status. They first competed in international cricket in 1932, when they played against England in a three-day Test match; England won the match by 158 runs. India's first Test series as an independent country was against Australia. They secured their first Test win against England in 1952 at Madras Cricket Club Ground. As of 11 April 2024[update], India have played 579 Test matches; they have won 178 matches, lost 178 matches, and 222 matches were drawn with one being tied. India played their first ODI match against England in 1974, but registered their first win against East Africa in 1975. As of 11 April 2024[update], India have played 1055 ODI matches, winning 559 matches and losing 443; 9 matches were tied and 44 matches had no result. They also won the 1983 and 2011 Cricket World Cups, along with the 2002 and the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy. India played their first Twenty20 International (T20I) against South Africa in 2006, winning the match by six wickets, and won the inaugural ICC World Twenty20 in 2007. As of 14 July 2024[update], they have played 232 T20I matches and won 152 of them; 69 were lost, with 4 super-over/bowl-out wins (after being tied), one tied (without a super over) and 6 having no result.
India have faced ten teams in Test cricket, with their most frequent opponent being England, against whom they have played 136 matches. India have registered more wins against England than against any other team, with 35. In ODI matches, India have played against 20 teams. They have played against Sri Lanka more frequently in ODI matches, with a winning percentage of 63.37 in 99 out of 168 matches. India have defeated Sri Lanka on 99 occasions, which is their best record in ODIs. The team have played 17 countries in T20Is, and have played 31 matches with Australia. They also have recorded the most victories against Australia, Sri Lanka and the West Indies, defeating all of them in nineteen matches. (Full article...)
Image 14
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. A five-wicket haul on debut is regarded by the critics as a notable achievement. As of September 2024, 174 cricketers have taken a five-wicket haul on Test match debut, out of which twenty-five were from the South Africa national cricket team. The five-wicket hauls have come against six different opponents, and the South Africans have performed this feat fifteen times against England. Of the twenty-two matches where a South African debutant has taken a five-wicket haul, twelve have ended in defeat, six in victory and the other four in a draw. The five-wicket hauls were taken at eleven different venues, six of them being taken at the Newlands Cricket Ground, Cape Town.
Albert Rose-Innes was the first South African to take a five-wicket haul on Test cricket debut. He took 5 wickets for 43 runs against England in 1889. In the second Test of the series, Gobo Ashley took 7 wickets for 95 runs, in what turned out to be his only appearance in Test cricket. When the country was re-admitted to play competitive cricket in 1991, Lance Klusener became the first debutant to take a five-wicket haul. His 8 wickets for 64 runs against India in November 1996 remain the best bowling figures in an innings by a South African on debut. Sydney Burke and Alf Hall are the only South African debutants to collect 10 or more wickets in a match as of February 2015. Klusener's figures, along with George Bissett's 5 for 37 runs, were included among the "Top 100 Bowling performances of all time" by the Wisden Cricketers' Almanack in 2002. Neil Brand is the latest cricketer to achieve this feat; he took 6/119 against New Zealand in February 2024. (Full article...)
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 the Twenty20 format, as bowlers can bowl no more than four overs in an innings. The first five-wicket haul in a T20I match was taken by Pakistan's Umar Gul while playing against New Zealand at The Oval during the 2009 ICC World Twenty20. Malawi's Moazzam Baig is the only bowler to have taken 3 five-wicket hauls. (Full article...)
Anniversaries...
On this day in cricket
India
1987 - Australia beat India by one run in a 1987 Cricket World Cup match - the closest margin in World Cup history.[1]
Image 7The boundary can be marked in several ways, such as with a rope. (from Laws 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)
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 10A 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 11Afghan 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 12A 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 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 14A wicket can be put down by throwing the ball at it and thereby dislodging the bails. (from Laws of Cricket)
Image 16In 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.