Cricket is one of the most popular team sports in the world. It is watched all around the world. Cricket is a bat-and-ball sport that is becoming increasingly popular as both a spectator and participant sport, with international matches attracting crowds of up to millions.
Cricket is played between two teams having eleven players on each side. One team bats, attempting to score as many runs as possible while the other bowls and fields, aiming to dismiss the first team or have them exhaust their batting resources.
More About Cricket
The game is played on a grass field with a single wicket bounded by four wooden stakes. A hardball made of polished wood, a cricket ball, is bowled towards the batsman, who then strikes it with his bat. It also has a history that dates back over 400 years and is played all around the globe with an estimated 5 billion spectators and players.
You might not even know that cricket was invented in England by a group of schoolboys as their way to entertain themselves during long summer days. Cricket is also known as a gentlemen’s game.
The batter’s style to hit the ball must meet two criteria: he must swing his bat aiming to hit the ball, and he must only hit the ball once. In addition, cricket balls are classified according to size, weight, and composition.
Two main types of cricket balls are used in the play: red and white balls. These balls differ in terms of size, weight, composition, and legality. The red ball is usually used when the play takes place on a day when natural light is visible.
Why Is It Difficult To Play Professional Cricket?
Although many people want to play cricket, it can be challenging to get started. To begin with, you have to join a local club team run by your local community council or sports association.
Cricket is widely considered one of the most challenging sports to play. Although it has traditionally been associated with England, it has become more popular in the United States in the late 20th century.
It is played all around the world. The game can last up to five days and sometimes even more for a test match if needed to settle a competition or series.
Teams of 11 players play the game. One or two white balls and a bat to hit the ball with are used. The game’s object is not to hit a fly but to score by hitting a set number of runs. If any team fails to make such a goal, they lose.
It requires practicing specific and complex skills of batting and bowling to play cricket professionally. In addition, one needs to have good eye-hand coordination because this sport is all about proper timing. So why almost everyone is crazy about watching and playing cricket.
How is cricket different from other team games? The reason is for sure its thrilling formats and the ability to give full entertainment to the audience.
Understanding The Formats
Cricket is played in mainly three formats now. The formats are ODIs, Test matches, and the T-20s. One day international and the T-20s are the most popular form of Cricket being played in the world today. Test matches are played for five days straight, where two teams play the match in two innings of batting and bowling.
The team scoring the total score combining the two innings wins the match. It is the traditional format and takes too much time to play. It is also called a classic cricket match.
Now talking about the ODIs limited over cricket format. The ODIs are played for a single rather than for five days. In ODIs, there are 50 overs per team to score the maximum runs they can.
It became popular as it was entertaining to watch the twist and turns of the cricket in a single over. In this, players have to score more and run quickly to win the match.
In today’s time, where most people are busy with their daily jobs, they demand entertainment to take some time off. The T-20s were invented to restore the people’s interest in cricket, which seemed to fade over the years. T-20 is the shortest form of cricket, and each team gets only 20 overs to score more runs.
Therefore, the game is unpredictable until the last over. Many people like this exciting game format as it has become a great source of entertainment to enjoy with friends and family.