Cricket – Best Basic Guide

Did you know that cricket is played by more than 30 million players globally!! and the number just keeps growing.

Cricket is a bat and ball game played between two teams of at least 11 players. This sport is widely popular and is played in many countries. The teams have different types of players with various powers. Some attune in bowling or some in batting.

The team captain decides on batting or bowling for the team after winning the coin toss. The reason why cricket became so popular is because of its unique blend of skill and strategy. A game threatened by the skills of the opposition can efficiently be overcome by the right plan.

There are only 12 full members of the ICC including India, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, England, West Indies, Zimbabwe, Afghanistan, Ireland, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. However, cricket is played in more than 100 countries.

Variety in Cricket

There are many formats of playing cricket. These modes allow the players to enjoy playing long-term matches which may also last a couple of days. Every type of play has its uniqueness and thrill, each game mode contains its level of pressure and stress. Below are described three popular international modes of cricket:

• Twenty20 International: Twenty20 International or T20I is a form of cricket in which teams from each nation play against each other in a match of 20 overs. International T20 features the most high-rated plays and promises to be a roller coaster of emotions for its audience.
• Test Cricket: Test cricket is one of the most anticipated events in the history of cricket. In a test match, there are a total of 450 overs to be played as decided by the ICC. The bowling team needs to bowl at least 90 overs in one day. Hence, a test match can even last up to 5 days. The matches are played consecutively every day.
  • The test match between Australia and England is called the Ashes.
• One-Day Internationals: ODI or Limited overs cricket is a match completed in one day. ODI’s traditionally have 50 overs innings. ODI has a balance between the long test matches and fast-paced T20 matches. In ODI there is no second chance thus, it requires its team members to play at their best level. ODI is filled with intense thrill and provides its audience with many high-level plays that would not be seen otherwise.

Click here to know about some unofficial types of Cricket Formats.

Most used abbreviations in Cricket

Common abbreviations used in fielding

• ct or c for caught.
• b for bowled.
• ct and b or c and b for caught and bowled.
• ro for run-out.
• st for stumped.
• lbw for leg before wicket.
• ht wkt for hit wicket.

Common abbreviations used in bowling

• RF for a right-armed fast.
• LF  for a left-armed fast.
• RFM for a right-armed fast-medium.
• LFM for a left-armed fast-medium.
• RM for a right-armed medium.
• LM for a left-armed medium.
• OB for a right-armed finger spinner.
• LB for a right-armed wrist spinner.
• SLA for a left-armed finger spinner.
• SLC for a left-armed wrist spinner.

Common abbreviations used in batting

• ROP for a right-handed opener.
• LOP for a left-handed opener.
• RMD for a right-handed middle-order batsman.
• LMD for a left-handed middle-order batsman.

Cricket Rules

The origin of cricket dates back to the 16th century in England but back then there weren’t any rules or obligations to ensure fair play.

Hence, once the sport started gaining popularity, many different rules and limitations were introduced to ensure equal chances of victory for both sides.

A few common rules of cricket:-

1. Each team has eleven players, including a captain, and they take turns playing offense (batting) and defense (fielding).
2. The equipment used in cricket includes a bat, a ball, and wickets. The bat length should be 38 inches. A leather bowl round in shape weighing between 5.5 and 5.75 ounces. Wickets are made of three wooden stumps and two bails.
3. The basic way to score runs is by hitting the ball and running to the opposite end of the pitch.
4. If the ball is hit to the boundary, four runs are awarded if it bounces before crossing the boundary whereas six runs are awarded if it does not bounce before crossing the boundary.
5. The team with the highest score at the end of the game wins.
6. The bowling team takes turns bowling the ball to the batsmen, and the objective is to hit the wickets. The bowler must throw the ball overhand with a straight arm.
7. The batting team tries to score runs while protecting their wickets. Each batsman takes turns facing the bowler.
8. If the wickets are knocked by the bowl or the batsman, they are considered out. (except on a no-ball or free-hit).
9. If a no-ball or a wide ball is bowled, the batting team is awarded an extra run. Other extras are byes and leg byes, and penalty runs.
10. The fielding team tries to take wickets and prevent the batting team from scoring runs. Fielders can catch the ball or stop it and throw it to the wickets to get a run-out.

World Records

There are many astounding records set in the cricket world. Some of these are groundbreaking and are predicted to never be broken even if someone tries. Looking at the records we can find a ton of records but below are some remarkable achievements:

Most Career Runs

This record was achieved by the Indian player Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar, born on April 24, 1943, in Mumbai, Maharashtra. Sachin Tendulkar was one of the greatest batters of his time. He holds the record for the most career runs scoring 34357 total runs in his debut.

He was definitely one of The Greatest Batsman of all Time.

Most Wickets Taken By Single Bowler

This record was achieved by Sri Lankan player Muthiah Muralidaran, born on April 17, 1972, in Kandy. Muttiah Muralidaran was one of the greatest bowlers of his time. He holds the record for the most wickets taken in a career taking 1347 wickets in his career.

Click here to read about some of the Best Bowling Debuts seen in cricket history.

Most Catches

This record was achieved by Sri Lankan player Mahela Jayawardene, born on May 27, 1977, in Colombo. Mahela Jayawardene is an elegant and utterly classy batsman with a huge appetite for runs, and a calm yet authoritative captain.

Most Direct Hits

This record was achieved by Australian player Ricky Ponting, born on December 19, 1974, in Launceston, Tasmania. Ricky Ponting, the most uncompromising player of his generation, grew into an excellent fielder holding the record for 86 direct hits run out.

Fastest Stumping

This record was achieved by the Indian player Mahendra Singh Dhoni, born on July 07, 1981, in Ranchi, Jharkhand. MS Dhoni probably ranks as the third-most-popular Indian cricketer ever and is one of the fastest wicket keeper. His stumping record is just 0.08 seconds.

Fastest Bowling

This record was achieved by the Pakistani player Shoaib Akhtar, born on August 13, 1975, in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. From the moment Shoaib emerged on the scene in the late 90s, the world knew it was in for some career. His fastest bowl had a speed of astounding 161.3 km/h (100.2 mph).

Fastest 100

This record was achieved by the Indian player Abraham Benjamin de Villers, born on February 17, 1984, in Pretoria. He is a 360-degree batter who could hit any ball anywhere, against any bowler. He scored the fastest 100 in just 21 balls in the ODI.

Most Runs in ODI

This record was also achieved by the Indian player Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar, born on April 24, 1943, in Mumbai, Maharashtra. Sachin Tendulkar was one of the greatest batters of his time. He scored 18426 runs in his career in ODI.