Cricket is a bat-and-ball team sport played between two sides of eleven players, in which one team bats to score runs while the other bowls and fields to dismiss the batters and restrict scoring, the teams swapping roles so that the side scoring the most runs wins. Played across formats ranging from a few hours to five days, it is the second most-watched sport in the world and is especially popular in England, the Indian subcontinent, Australia, South Africa and the Caribbean.
The game's depth comes from its balance between bat and ball and the strategic variety of its different formats.
What Cricket Is and How It Is Played
A match takes place on a large oval field with a rectangular pitch in the centre. At any time, the batting side has two batters on the pitch, while the fielding side has all eleven players in the field, including a bowler and a wicket-keeper. The bowler delivers the ball toward the batter, who tries to hit it and score runs by running between the two sets of stumps, or by striking the ball to the boundary.
Deliveries are grouped into overs of six legal balls each, after which a different bowler bowls from the opposite end. The innings continues until the batting side is bowled out or the allotted overs or time expire, then the teams switch roles. Like other bat-and-ball contests such as baseball, the duel between the player delivering the ball and the player hitting it is central, though cricket's pitch, formats and scoring are distinct.
Core Rules and Dismissals
The bowler aims to dismiss the batter while the batter aims to protect the wicket and score. There are several ways a batter can be out.
- Bowled: the delivery hits and dislodges the stumps.
- Caught: a fielder catches the struck ball before it touches the ground.
- Leg before wicket: the ball strikes the batter's body when it would otherwise have hit the stumps.
- Run out: the stumps are broken while batters are completing a run and out of their ground.
- Stumped: the wicket-keeper breaks the stumps while the batter is out of the crease.
Illegal deliveries such as a no-ball or a wide concede an extra run and, in limited-overs cricket, an extra ball. Once ten of the eleven batters are dismissed, the side is all out and the innings ends.
Scoring Runs
Runs are the unit of scoring. Batters score by running between the wickets after hitting the ball, with each completed length counting as one run. A shot that crosses the boundary along the ground scores four runs, while one that clears the boundary on the full scores six.
Additional runs called extras are added to the total for no-balls, wides, byes and leg byes. The team with the higher run total at the end of the match wins. In drawn-out formats a match can also end in a draw if neither side completes the conditions for a result within the time available.
Equipment and the Pitch
Players use a flat-faced wooden bat and a hard ball with a raised seam. Batters wear protective pads, gloves and a helmet, and the wicket-keeper wears specialised gloves and pads. At each end of the pitch stand three stumps topped by two bails, together forming the wicket.
The pitch is a 22-yard strip in the centre of the field, with creases marked at each end to define the batter's safe ground and the bowler's delivery limits. The surrounding field is large and roughly oval, with a marked boundary that determines fours and sixes.
History and Formats
Cricket originated in south-east England, with references dating to the sixteenth century, and developed into an organised sport over the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries before spreading across the British Empire. The Marylebone Cricket Club has long been a custodian of the laws of the game.
Three main formats are played today. Test cricket is the longest form, played over up to five days with two innings per side. One Day Internationals limit each side to 50 overs. Twenty20 is the shortest international format, with each side facing 20 overs, producing fast, high-scoring matches.
Key Competitions and Skills
The premier global event is the ICC Cricket World Cup, contested in the one-day format, alongside the Twenty20 World Cup and the World Test Championship. Domestic Twenty20 leagues such as the Indian Premier League draw large audiences, and the career of Sachin Tendulkar stands among the most celebrated in the sport.
Core skills include batting technique and shot selection, bowling with pace, swing or spin, sharp fielding and catching, and the wicket-keeper's reflexes behind the stumps. Strategy, patience and reading the conditions of the pitch are central to the longer formats.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many players are on a cricket team?
Each side has eleven players. While batting, two batters are on the pitch at a time, and while fielding all eleven players take the field, including the bowler and wicket-keeper.
What is an over?
An over is a set of six legal deliveries bowled from one end of the pitch. After an over, a different bowler delivers the next over from the opposite end.
How does a batter score runs?
Batters score by running between the wickets after hitting the ball, or by sending it to the boundary, which scores four runs along the ground and six in the air.
What does leg before wicket mean?
Leg before wicket is a dismissal where the ball strikes the batter's body, rather than the bat, when the umpire judges it would otherwise have gone on to hit the stumps.
What are the main formats of cricket?
The three main formats are Test cricket, played over up to five days, One Day Internationals of 50 overs per side, and Twenty20, the shortest format with 20 overs per side.
What is the pitch?
The pitch is a 22-yard strip in the centre of the field, with a set of three stumps at each end. Most of the action between bowler and batter takes place on it.
How does an innings end?
An innings ends when ten of the eleven batters are dismissed, leaving the side all out, or when the allotted number of overs or the available time runs out.