What is cricket?
Cricket is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of 11 players. One team bats to score runs while the other bowls and fields to get batters out.
The game is played on an oval field with a rectangular strip in the middle called the pitch, which is 22 yards long. At each end stands a wicket, made of three upright stumps and two small bails on top. A bowler delivers the ball toward the batter, who tries to hit it and run between the wickets to score runs.
Batters can be out in several ways, such as being bowled, when the ball hits the wicket, or caught, when a fielder catches the ball before it bounces. Hitting the ball over the boundary on the ground scores four runs, and over the boundary without bouncing scores six.
A global game
Cricket began in England in the 1500s and spread across the British Empire. It is hugely popular in India, Pakistan, Australia, England, South Africa, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and the Caribbean. Formats include five-day Test matches, one-day internationals and short Twenty20 games.
Did You Know?
Cricket will return to the Olympic Games at Los Angeles 2028, played in the Twenty20 format, for the first time since 1900.