Cricket’s history
Cricket is a ball and bat sport that originated in England. It is one of the oldest sports in the world. The first references to the game date back to the 17th century.
It is very popular in its native England, but is also played all over the world, including the former British colonies of Australia, India and the Caribbean.
The first international cricket match took place in 1844, between Canada and the United States in the city of Toronto. The sport continued to gain adherents over the centuries. So much so that in 1909 the International Cricket Council was established. This is the world governing body for all cricket competitions.
Cricket is a popular sport that has endured over the years, but it is still not well known to some people. In this article we will explain the rules of cricket so that you can better understand this complicated but exciting sport.
Teams and equipment needed to play cricket
In order to understand the rules of the game, it is already important to know the elements and the number of players needed to play this sport.
Firstly, concerning the number of participants, there are two teams of 11 players each.
What about the pitch? The cricket pitch is a circular oval with a diameter of 137 meters. In the middle of the field is a 20 meter long strip of grass called the pitch.
Finally, at the ends of the pitch there are 3 poles called wickets. They are 28 inches high, and at the top of them there is a horizontal bar called the ball.
Cricket’s Rules
During a round on the field there is one shooter and the other 10 are called the chasers as well as two batsmen from the opposing team.
Each team alternates between attack and defense after each over. An over is a series of six pitches taken by the same bowler.
Interestingly, it is the captains of each team who decide before the match how many overs to play in the match.
As for the procedure during an over, the bowler throws the ball at the wicket behind the batsman. The batsman has to defend the ball and send it back as far as possible. The further the ball is thrown, the more time the batsman has to run and exchange positions with the other batsman in front of him. The goal for the chasers is to get the ball back to the wicket as quickly as possible. If the batsmen succeed before the chasers, they score points called runs.
The batsmen have the opportunity to score a lot of points if they manage to get the ball straight out of the pitch. If the ball goes out without a bounce they score six runs, also called a sixer, if the ball goes out with a bounce they score four runs, also called a boundary.
An inning ends when there is only one batsman left on the field. They can be eliminated in several ways. One is if one of the batsmen catches the ball in mid-air or if the ball hits the wooden structure. Another reason for elimination is if the ball makes contact with the batsman's body and prevents him from passing.
There are three situations that mark the end of the match. Firstly, if a team has only one batsman left, secondly, if the captain forfeits the match and thirdly, if the number of pitches has been reached which is equal to 20 pitches. The winner of the match is the team that has scored the most runs.