[Latest] Cricket | History | Rules | Dimensions 2024

Last updated on July 14th, 2024 at 04:49 pm

Cricket

Cricket is a popular game across the world including India. It is a game of bat and ball between two teams of eleven (11) players each. 

At the center of the cricket ground, there is a rectangular pitch Which is 22 yards long and 10 feet in breadth. The captain, who Wins the toss, decides whether his team bat first or will ball (field) first.

The bating team continues to bat till all their ten batsmen get out or a specified number of overs (like 50 over or 20 over) or any other duration.

Alternately, the tearn which was bowling and fielding, starts it’s batting and continues till all ten batsmen are out or specified overs are exhausted or any other duration. 

The team which makes the most runs is the winner. Matches in cricket are played in various formats like 20 overs, 50 overs or 5 days test matches. 

The International Cricket Council (ICC) maintains the rules and regulations for cricket across the world. indian cricket is governed by Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

History of Cricket

Cricket is played using a ball and a wooden bat. Rounders, the predecessor to cricket, was a popular sport in 13th century in England, during the reign of King Edward I.

The first major official match was held between Kent and Middlesex in 1719 and the first rules wer framed in 1744. The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) at Lords (formed in 1787), became the reference for the code of ethic employed in cricket. The MCC gave proper shape to cricket by framing rules and regulations in 1835.

Imperial Cricket Conference was formed in 1889 to regulate its development which became International Cricket Conference in 1952 later named as International Cricket Council (ICC). During the first half of the 20th century, the game spread to other Commonwealth countries.

Cricket is governed and administered worldwide by the International Cricket Council (ICC). Cricket is played in three formats : Test Match (from 1844), One Day (from 1975), Twenty20 (from 2007).

Cricket was introduced to India by European merchant sailors in the 18th century. The first Indian Cricket Club was named Orient Club Mumbai in 1848.

India’s first official match was played in 1933 at Gymkhana ground in Bombay (now Mumbai).

Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is the governing body Of cricket in India; it regulates the  team selection since 1929.

India recorded their first Test victory in their 24th match against England at Madras (now Chennai) in 1952. India had won the World cup in 1983 and in 2011. It has also won the 2007 ICC World Twenty20 and 2013 ICC Champions Trophy.

Latest Rules of Cricket

(i) Two teams of 11 players each play alternately on the elliptical field. There is a rectangular strip (the pitch) located between stumps in the centre. The choice of the team batting or fielding is determined by a toss.

(ii) At the Umpire’s signal, the fielding team takes its place on the field (around the pitch), while the first 2 batsmen of the opposing team take their positions in front of the wickets. 

The remaining 9 team members wait in the clubhouse for their turn to bat. This marks the beginning of an innings, which ends after 10 batsmen of a team are out.

(iii) The bowler bowls the ball towards the wicket in order to make the balls fall-off the wicket (called breaking the wicket). If he succeeds, the batsman is out. 

Batsmen have to defend their wickets and attempt to hit the ball out of the reach of their opponents, in order to have enough time to run from one wicket to the other, while passing each other (called a run).

(iv) The batsman attempts to score as many runs as possible before the ball is returned. The other members of the fielding team try to stop the batsman from scoring runs by recovering the ball as quickly as  and throwing it at the stumps in an attempt to break them before the batsman completes the run.

(v) A run is completed when the 2 batsmen cross each other and reach their opposite ends.

(vi) A series of bowls (minimum 6 bowls) is called an over. The bowler switches position with one of the players of his team once his over is completed. After an over, the fielding team changes ends. The winning team is the one which scores the most runs. 

Cricket is played in three formats : Test Match, One Day, Twenty20.

Test Match

It is played for 5 days where the batting team has a good opportunity to score maximum runs to build pressure over the opposing team. 

There is less pressure of score-rate per over. Batting team can declare anytime if they find the score good, then the innings ends. Afterwards the other team gets opportunity to chase or build pressure for second innings.

This pattern is followed for five days in which both teams have to play two innings to get the result. 

Otherwise, match ends in draw -if no result comes in the fixed days. In test match 90 overs are bowled in a day. Test match requires good batting and bowling skill from both the teams.

One Day Match

It is a very popular form of cricket. In this, each team has to play one innings of 50 overs (in normal conditions), and the bowler is restricted, not to bowl more than 10 overs. 

First batting team tries to make mæximum runs scores in limited overs (50 overs), Afterwards the opposing team chases the score, if they score more than opponent they win. 

Good score rate is the gauge of the game. The new rule of ‘Power Play’ has paced more to ‘One Day Match’. Now there are fielding restrictions which can put pressure on the batting team by placing close fielding positions  (9 fielders can field within a 30 yard circle). This can be performed in three stages of 5 overs each.

Twenty 20

In a Twenty20 game the two teams have a single innings each, which is restricted to a maximum of 20 overs. A Twenty20 game is completed in about 3 hours, with each lasting around 75-90 minutes and a 10-20 minutes interval. 

This is much shorter than the previously existing forms of the game, and is closer to the timespan of other popular team sports. This fast-paced form of the game is very attractive to spectators and viewers on television.

Also Read: Football History, Rules, Dimensions

Awarding Runs

In addition to the batsman running, runs can be scored in several ways:

Bye : When a run is made without the ball touching  the bat or any other part of the batsman’s body, this is called a Bye.

Leg-Bye : When the ball is touched by any part of  the batsman’s body except his hands, this is called a Leg-Bye.

No-Ball : A ball is declared No-Ball if it is bowled with a bent arm or if the bowler crosses over the line; the batting team is awarded one run.

Apart from this, he can score runs by hitting the ball for running. Batsmen are not given ‘out’ on no-ball (except Run-Out). The bowler has to bowl an extra ball for a no-ball.

Boundary : If the batted ball touches or crosses the boundary line after touching the ground, 4-runs are awarded.

Sixer : If the batted ball lands outside the  awarded 6 runs.

Runs : In addition to scoring runs, the batsman must also defend his wicket. He is not required to run, even if he hits the ball. This benefits a batsman who might not hit the ball very fast.

Umpire Signals

Types of Batsman Out

Clean-Bowled : If the ball partially or completely destroys the wicket even if it touches the bat.

Catch-Out : When a batted ball is caught by a fielder before it touches the ground.

Leg-Before-Wicket (LBW) : When the batsman’s leg or any part of his body prevents the ball from touching the wicket.

Hit-Wicket : If the batsman breaks the wicket by hitting it.

Handling the Ball : If the batsman touches the ball with his hand.

Intentional Disturbance : If the batsman gets in the way of an opponent trying to catch the ball.

Run-Out : If the batsman runs towards wicket but does not get there in time to place his bat between the edge of the popping crease and an opponent breaks the wicket.

Stumped-Out : If he is near his wicket but outside the pitch area, and the wicketkeeper breaks the wicket. 

Double-Hit : If the batsman hits the ball intentionally for the second time (can stop but not to hit) then  batsman can be declared out on an appeal.

Timed-out : If the batsman does not report to face the bowler or unduly delays the match.

Measurements And Specifications

(i) Players in a Team = 11 + 5 (Extra) — 16

(ii) No. of Umpires = 2 + 1 (Third Umpire)

(iii) Weight of Cricket Ball= 5.5 Ounce (156 g)

(iv) Circumference of the Ball = 9 Inches (22.5 cm) 

(v) Color of Ball = Red/White/Pink (Leather made)

(vi) Length of Bat = 38 Inch (96.5 cm)

(vii) Widest part of Bat = 4% Inch (10.8 cm)

(viii) Breadth of Pitch = 10 Feet (3.05 m)     

(ix) Shape of Ground = Elliptical (175 m long 135 m wide)

(x) Distance between Stumps = 66 Feet (22 Yd.) or 20.12 m

(xi) Height of Stumps = 28 Inches (71.1 cm)

(xii) Breadth of Stumps = 9 Inches (22.8 cm)

(xii) Size of Bails = 4h Inches (11 cm)

(xiv) Inner Circle from Wickets — 30 Yards (274 m)

(xv) Sight Screen = 6 m x 3 m (behind stump over the boundary)

(xvi) Outer Circle from Wickets — 75 Yards (68.5 m)

(xvii) Format of Matches = Test Match, One Day, Twenty20.

Players Positions

Terminologies

Over : In this, player has to deliver or bowl for 6 times (legal) successively from one end.

Dead-ball : When the ball is in the hands of the bowler after the throw.

No-ball : When the bowler commits sotne non-legal action to bowl.

Wide-Ball : A ball that is judged to be too wide of the stumps for the batsman to play. 

Bye : When the batsman takes run due to tnisfielding (without the ball touching his bat).

Leg-Bye : When the batsman takes the run by the snick of pads.

Appeal : It is a request or shout by fielding players in anticipation of batsman to be given out by the Umpire.

Bouncer : When the bowler bowls the ball fast and short so as to rise above the shoulder level after pitching.

Yorker : When the ball is just bounced under the bat.

Maiden-over : The over in which not even a single run is scored.

Duck : The batsman gets ‘out’ without scoring a single run.

Century : A ‘batsman scoring ton or one hundred runs.     

How’s that : An appeal by the fielding-players to Umpire to consider the delivery of the ball carefully. This appeal pressurizes the Umpire to consider them.

Declaration : A process in which the captain of the batting side may call the batsman off the field irrespective of the scores and discontinue their innings.

Bodyline-Bowling : A type of negative bowling in which the ball is aimed at hitting the body of the batsmalk  

Overthrow : If a fielder throws the ball and no other fielder is able to stop the throwing ball, the batsman is  able to score runs or a boundary. Such runs are termed as overthrow. 

Stance : It is a position or posture of a batsman at the crease before facing a delivery.

Toss : It is the procedure before the match to decide which team will perform the batting or fielding. 

Chinaman : When a left arm spinner delivers an off-break bowling, it is termed as Chinaman.

Runner : A supplement player to the batsman who runs for the batsman, in case of injury, illness while playing. 

Hat-Trick : A bowler gets three wickets in three successive balls, i.e., the bowler dismisses three batsmen  on three consecutive balls.

Follow-On : It is given in a test match when the batting team cannot score sufficient runs and the lead is more  than 200 runs, it may be given follow-on or to bat again.

Sweep : In this the batsman hits the ball to deep angle while kneeling down.

Reverse-Sweep : A ball is played like a sweep but towards the opposite side of his normal hands.

Ball-Tampering : It is the intentional damage to the ball by the fielding players to get undue advantage in the  swing of _the ball during bowling.

Googly : A ball bowled in such a way that it turns opposite than what it seems to be.

On-Side : It is the right side area of the right handed batsman (facing bowler).

Dot-Ball : A good length ball (bowled by bowler) on which batsman cannot score runs.

Lofted Hit : A hit by the batsman, on which ball is lifted up in air.

Full-Toss : A ball delivered by bowler pitched right up to the batsman.

Boundary for Six : A ball hit by batsman in the air which lands outside the boundary line.

Substitute : A player from the batting/fielding side is replaced with a new player. In super substitute this replaced layer can bat or field or bowl (with certain conditions). This is on a trial basis. This is also referred to as twelfth mm, 

Pitch : The area of ground between the wickets where the bowler bowls the ball.     

Drive : It is hitting the ball in the front field.  

Danger-Area : An area close to the batsman where the ball can cause an accident if the player is not active or without guard.  This   area is generally known as Silly-point.

Hook-Shot : It is hitting the high raised ball with force towards the leg side.

Pull-Shot : It is hitting the ball forcefully with good back lift and follow-through action of bat going towards the on-side of the field.     

Square-Cut : It is hitting the straight coming ball towards the sides making the ball go perpendicular. It is performed with good batting technique by tilting the bat at the last stage. It is towards both sides known as ‘On Square Cut, Leg Square-Cut’.

Bad-Light : Due to some conditions there is low intensity of light which creates problems for batsmen, as they are not able to see the coming ball properly. In this condition, Umpire can declare bad light. Then match is supposed to stop.

Sight-Screen : It is a specified white or coloured screen kept behind the stumps (especially behind the bowling stump) over the boundary line, to provide visibility of the approaching bowler towards the batsman. It is 6 meters in length and 3 meters in height.

Ball-Dead : Ball finally settles in the hands of wicket-keeper or bowler; batsman is out; ball reaches over the boundary ; ball lodges in clothing of players; Umpire calls for ‘over’ or ‘time’.

30-Yard Circle : An inner circle marked at 30 yards around the stumps. This circle is used during power  play to restrain 9 fielders inside the 30 yard circle.

Lewis Douglas-Formula : It is a statistical calculation in which a revised target is given to the opponent team. It is calculated by deducting slow rate overs or low scoring overs from the first batting team, which has to be achieved within certain overs.

Bump-Ball : It is a hard hit to the ball over the ground by which the ball raises above the ground. When this ball is fielded it seems like a catch. Ball is played just under the lower edge of the bat which gives an appearance as the ball is hit in the air.

Short-Leg : An extremely close leg-side fielding position between the square leg and the mid-wicket.

Out-Fields : The grass area around the boundaries.

Run-Up : An approach run taken by bowler during bowling.

Bails-Off : Fall of wicket by bowler’s delivery of ball.

Cover-Drive : A batting stroke in which over over-pitched ball is played with full swing of the bat towards the off-side area (between mid-off and point fielding positions).

Straight-Drive : An over-pitched ball is hit straight with full control of the bat.

Cut : Batting skill where ball is played between slip and covers fielding positions.

Glance : Batting skill in which ball is angled between square-leg and fine-leg.

In-swing : Fast paced ball which turns (after the bounce or after the release from hand) inside towards leg  stump.

Out-Swing : Fast paced ball which turns away towards off-side stump.

Off-spin : It is also known as off-break. In this, the spinner makes the ball to turn towards leg stump (on-side).

Leg-spin : In this, ball is turned towards offside of stumps by the spinner. It is also known as leg-break.

Power-Play : A Power-play is the name for the fielding restrictions in limited-overs and Twenty20 cricket.

Mandatory Power-play (1-10 overs) : The first 10 overs of an innings will be a mandatory power-play (i.e., in One Day format). During the mandatory Power-play only two fielders are allowed outside the 30-yard circle.  

Between overs 11 and 40 a maximum of four fielders are allowed outside the 30-yard circle. In the final 10 overs (41-50) a maximum of five fielders will be allowed to field outside the 30-yard circle. 

It is mounting pressure over batsman by placing close fielding positions (9 players inside the 30 yard circle). It can be in three stages on request by captain.

Duties

Duties of Umpires 

They are the officials on ground responsible for administrating and imposing the rules and regulations of the game. 

There are two Umpires inside the ground; one stands behind the front wickets (facing  batsman), the other Umpire observes from leg side of batting wicket (Leg Umpire). 

Umpire signals and declares the batsman out; short-run; end of over; boundary; beginning or end of power play; no-ball; wide-ball; leg-bye, bye; time-out, time-over; obsü-uction; break. 

Umpires has the authority to change the ball, announce bad light for play, playground not fit for conduct of match, bad weather, perform the toss in the beginning, etc.

Duties of Leg Umpire 

To check the Run-out, to check Stump-out, to check Short-run; to check to check High bounce balls. The Leg Umpire checks the fielder’s position especially during power play; to declare no-ball (above the waist, full toss and above the shoulder with bounce); short run towards batting stumps; hit wicm stumped out, etc. Leg Umpire assists the bowling Umpire.

Duties of Third Umpire 

Third Umpire (or TV Umpire) is an off-field umpire who makes the final decision in questions referred to him by the two on-field umpires. 

Television replays are available to the third umpire to assist him in coming to a decision. An on-field umpire can, at his own discretion, use a radio link to refer any close decision concerning dismissals (catches, run outs or stumping) or boundaries to the third umpire. 

The official who witnesses the match with high-tech apparatus and responsible for crucial or complicated decisions when in need.

Equipments

Duties

Duties of Scorer 

The scorer is someone appointed to record all runs scored, all wickets taken and, where appropriate, the number of overs bowled. In professional games, in compliance with the Laws of Cricket, two scorers are appointed, most often one provided by each team.

Duties of Captain 

To perform the toss and choose accordingly. He is responsible for players’ conduct on the ground, taking decisions on behalf of the whole team, etc. 

Captain guides the team actions like  which bowler to bowl, fielders’ position, the sequence of batting order, etc. Captain requests the beginning or end of power play, substitute, runner, etc. 

Fundamental Skills of Cricket

Batting-Stance : Bat is held with both hands and it is placed near the rear foot, while body is slightly bent forward. The head looks towards the bowler. Body weight is on both the feet while the shoulder points towards the bowler.

Front-Foot-Defense : In this, the batsman takes one foot ahead and simultaneously, the body weight is shifted to front along with the bat. At this position, the ball is played.

Back-Foot-Defense : In this, the batsman moves his rear foot along with shifting weight. At this position the ball is played.

Strokes : Forward stroke, backward stroke, straight drive, cover drive, lofted drive, pull shot, cut shot, hookshot, glance’ stepping out to drive the flighted ball, sweep. These strokes can be played to various points over fielding positions.

Bowling : There are fast pace bowlers, medium pace bowlers and spin bowlers. They are specialized in their bowling action. Some pace bowlers are specialized for out-swing or in-swing, whereas, some spinners are specialized for leg-spin, off-spin, googly, flipper, top-spin, etc. 

Pace bowlers have longer run-up approach, whereas spinners have shorter nrn-up approach which may be straight or diagonal. Both types of bowlers use specific grip of ball to bring variation in bowling.

Fielding Skills : Catching-high, slip catches, throwing at the stumps from different angles.

Wicket Keeping Skills : Controlling the ball at back, catching, stumping, and collection of ball during throw.

Important Personalities, Tournaments And Venues

Important Personalities

National

(a) Arjuna Award Winners : Sachin Tendullar (1994), A. Kumble (1995), J. Srinath (1996), A.D. Jadeja (1997), Saurav Ganguli (1998), Rahul Dravid’ N. Mongia (1999), Venkatesh Prasad (2000), V.V,S, Laxman (2001), Virendra Sehwag (2003), Km. Mithali Raj (2003)’ Harbhajan Singh (2003), Km. Anju Jain (2005), Km. Anjum Chopra (2006), Gautam Gambhir (2009), Jhulan Goswami (2010), Zaheer Khan (2011), Yuvraj Singh (2012), Virat Kohli (2013), Ravichandran Ashwin (2014), Rohit Sharma (2015), Ajinkya Rahane (2016)? Cheteshwar Pujara, Harmanpreet Kaur (2017), Simitri Mandhana (2018) Ravindera Jadeja, Poonam Yadav (2019) Deepti Sharma, Ishant Sharma (2020).

(b) Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Winner : Sachin Tcndulkar (1997), M.S. Dhoni (2008), Virat Kohli (2018)

(c) Dronacharya Award Winner : D.P. Azad, Gurcharan Singh, R. Achrekar, Sunita Sharma, Raj Kumar Sharma, Tarak Sinha. Sanjay Bhardwaj.

International

Chris Gayle, D. Bravo Pakistan : Imran khan. J. Miyandad. S. Afridi, S. Anwar, W. Akram, W. Younis, S. Akhtar. Sri Lanka Jaisurya, C.Vass. Murlidharan, Ranatunga, DcSilva, Mahanama, Atapattu. Australia : D.G. Bradman, S. Waugh A. Border, S.Warne. Brett Lee, McGrath, R. Ponting. Adam Gilchrist.

Important Tournaments

World Cup or ICC World Cup, Sharjah Cup, Asia Cup, Triangular Series, Ranji Trophy, Vizzy Trophy, Duleep Trophy, Deodhar Trophy, World Cup Junior, Challenger Trophy, Benson and Hedges Cup, Irani Trophy, National Games, Cooch Bihar, Rani Jhansi Trophy (W).

Important Venues 

Lords, Oval (England), Eden Garden (Kolkata), IS Bindra Stadium (Mohali), Arun Jaitley Stadium (Delhi), Chinnaswamy Stadium (Bengaluru), Wankhede Stadium (Mumbai), Chidambram Stadium (Chennai), Roop Singh Stadium (Gwalior), Tau Devi Lal Stadium (Punchkula),

Bharat Ratan Atal Bihari Vajpai Ekana Cricket Stadium (Lucknow), Sawai Man Singh Stadium (Jaipur), Green Park Stadium (Kanpur), Rajiv Gandhi Cricket Stadium (Hyderabad), Narendra Modi Stadium (Ahmedabad), Vidarbha C.A. Ground (Nagpur), Burlton Park (Jalandhar).

Final Words

From the above article you learnt about rules, history, measurements and many more about Cricket. We hope that you will get success by giving exam based on on Cricket

Frequently Asked Questions