Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field, at the centre of which is a 22-yard (20-metre; 66-foot) pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails (small sticks) balanced on three stumps. Two players from the batting team, the striker and nonstriker, stand in front of either wicket holding bats, while one player from the fielding team, the bowler, bowls the ball toward the striker's wicket from the opposite end of the pitch. The striker's goal is to hit the bowled ball with the bat and then switch places with the nonstriker, with the batting team scoring one run for each of these exchanges. Runs are also scored when the ball reaches the boundary of the field or when the ball is bowled illegally.
The Yorkshire captaincy affair of 1927 arose from a disagreement among members of Yorkshire County Cricket Club over the selection of a new captain to succeed the retired Major Arthur Lupton. The main issue was whether a professional cricketer should be appointed to the post. It was a tradition throughout English county cricket that captains should always be amateurs. At Yorkshire, a succession of amateur captains held office in the 1920s, on the grounds of their supposed leadership qualities, although they were not worth their place in the team as cricketers. None lasted long; after Lupton's departure some members felt it was time to appoint a more accomplished cricketer on a long-term basis.
The Yorkshire committee, prompted by the influential county president, Lord Hawke, approached Herbert Sutcliffe, one of the side's leading professionals. After Sutcliffe's provisional acceptance of the captaincy, controversy arose. Some members objected to the appointment on the traditional grounds that Sutcliffe was not an amateur; others felt that if a professional was to be appointed, the post should be offered to the county's senior professional, Wilfred Rhodes, who had been playing much longer than Sutcliffe. Rhodes himself was offended that he had not been approached. When Sutcliffe became aware of the controversy, he withdrew his acceptance. No offer was made to Rhodes, and the county subsequently appointed amateur William Worsley as captain. He was respected by the team but had little personal success, lasted for just two seasons, and was followed by two further short-term leaders. In 1933 Brian Sellers, a more competent amateur, was appointed and became the long-serving captain that Yorkshire had sought. (Full article...)
Donald's (pictured in 2012) average of 22.25 in Tests is the fourth-best among his countrymen as of August 2013. Allan Donald is a former Test and One Day International (ODI) cricketer who represented the South African cricket team between 1991, when the team's suspension from international cricket was lifted following the end of the apartheid regime, and 2003. A right-arm fast bowler, Donald was described by ESPNcricinfo writer Peter Robinson as "South Africa's greatest fast bowler". Donald took 330 wickets in Test cricket and 272 in ODIs, and remains the second highest wicket-taker of his country in ODIs as of 2013. The Wisden Cricketers' Almanack named him one of their cricketers of the year in 1992 and rated him the second best ODI bowler in 2003. During his international career, Donald took 22 five-wicket hauls. A five-wicket haul—also known as a five-for or fifer—refers to the feat of a bowler taking five or more wickets in a single innings. This is regarded as a notable achievement, and only 41 bowlers have at least 15 five-wicket hauls at international level in their cricketing careers.
Donald took a five-wicket haul in his ODI debut against India at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata in November 1991, taking 5 wickets for 29 runs, the fifth best performance by any bowler on ODI debut. Despite this South Africa lost the match, however, Donald secured a Man of the match award. He picked up another five-wicket haul in October 1996, against Kenya when he claimed 6 wickets for 23 runs at the Nairobi Gymkhana Club. The bowling figures are the second best by a South African as of 2013. (Full article...)
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Virender Sehwag has represented Delhi Daredevils in 86 matches, more than any other player.
The Delhi Capitals are a franchise cricket team based in Delhi, India, and are one of the teams participating in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The Capitals played their first match in the first season of the IPL against the Rajasthan Royals. The Capitals reached the IPL playoffs three times, and have topped the group stage table twice. Their performances in the competition have resulted in their qualification for the 2009 and 2012 Champions League Twenty20, in which they reached the semi-finals on the second occasion. In total, 108 players have played for the Capitals, of whom Virender Sehwag has played the most matches: 86 since his debut for the franchise in 2008.
Gooch has scored 28 international centuries for England. Graham Gooch is a former cricketer who captainedEssex and England. He has scored centuries (100 or more runs in a single innings) in Test and One Day International (ODI) matches on twenty and eight occasions respectively, in an international career spanning nearly two decades. He is one of the most successful international batsmen of his generation; through a first-class career spanning from 1973 until 2000, he became the most prolific run scorer of all time with 67,057. With 8,900 runs, Gooch was the leading Test run-scorer for England until overtaken by Alastair Cook in 2015. Gooch is one of 25 players in history to have scored over 100 first-class centuries. Having coached at Essex, he was full-time test batting coach for the England cricket team 2012–2014.
Five years after Gooch's Test debut where he made a pair of ducks against Australia at Edgbaston in July 1975, he scored his first Test century with 123 against the West Indies at Lord's in June 1980. Gooch's highest Test score is 333, which he made in the first innings against India in 1990. As of October 2024, this is the third-highest Test score by an Englishman (after Len Hutton's 364 and Wally Hammond's 336 not out), and is the equal thirteenth-highest score in Test history. He went on to score 123 in the second innings of the same Test match, becoming the sixth Englishman at that time to have scored a century in both innings of a Test match, and the first for over 40 years. Gooch is one of fewer than 60 batsmen to carry his bat in a Test innings when, in 1991 against the West Indies, he remained not out at the end of the England innings with a score of 154. He is also one of only seven cricketers in Test history, and the only on a score of 100 or greater, to have been dismissed by handling the ball, when he flicked the ball away from the stumps against Australia in 1993. (Full article...)
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Nasser Hussain is one of fifteen England captains to have won the award. The Cricket Writers' Club Young Cricketer of the Year is an annual cricket award, presented to the young player who is adjudged to have been the best of the year in English county cricket. The award has been presented since the 1950 season and the winner is chosen by a vote amongst the members of the Cricket Writers' Club. Only players that are qualified to represent the England cricket team, and are aged under 23 on 1 May of the awarding year, are eligible for the prize. With the exception of 1986, when a joint award was made, the accolade has been presented to one individual each season. The award has been described by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) as "prestigious". Although not a firm rule, once a player has won the award, they are considered ineligible to receive it in the future.
Archie Ledbrooke, a sports reporter for the Daily Mirror and the first treasurer of the Cricket Writers' Club, came up with the idea for the award. It was first presented in 1950, when Roy Tattersall of Lancashire was the recipient. In 1986, the vote was tied, and the award was made jointly to Ashley Metcalfe of Nottinghamshire and James Whitaker of Leicestershire. The 1995 winner, Andrew Symonds, went on to make over 200 international appearances for Australia, but at the time of his award was eligible to play for England, as he was born in Birmingham. As of 2021[update], representatives of seventeen of the eighteen first-class cricket counties have won the award; no player from Worcestershire has ever won. Yorkshire players have collected the award most frequently, doing so on eleven occasions. Only seven winners have not gone on to play international cricket. (Full article...)
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Steve Smith has scored 46 international centuries for Australia.
Smith made his Test debut against Pakistan in July 2010 at Lord's. His first Test century came during the fifth match of the 2013 Ashes series when he scored 138 not out. His highest score of 239 came against the same team during the 2017–18 series at the WACA Ground, Perth. Smith has scored Test centuries at eighteen different cricket grounds, including thirteen at venues outside Australia. In terms of centuries, he has been most successful against England (12) and India (11). As of December 2024[update], he ranks second in the list of most centuries by an Australian in Tests. He topped the ICC Test Rankings for the best batsman in the years 2015, 2016 and 2017; on 30 December 2017 he achieved a rating of 947, the second highest of all time after Don Bradman. As a result of his involvement in the 2018 Australian ball-tampering scandal, Smith was subsequently banned from all forms of cricket, except club level, for a year in March 2018. (Full article...)
Mohammad Yousuf pictured during Pakistan's 2010 tour of England Mohammad Yousuf (known before his conversion to Islam as Yousuf Youhana) is a Pakistan cricketer and former captain of the Pakistan national cricket team. He has scored centuries (100 or more runs) on 24 occasions in Test cricket and 15 times in One Day International (ODI) matches. As of February 2019[update], he has the second-highest number of centuries in international cricket for Pakistan. Described by one writer in 2010 as one of the best middle order batsmen ever, and by the West Indies cricketer Brian Lara in 2006 as "not just a role model for Pakistan cricket but for young cricketers around the world", Yousuf captained the Pakistan side in nine Tests and eight ODIs between 2003 and 2010. As of February 2019[update], he holds the world record for the most runs in Test matches during a calendar year, scoring 1,788 runs in 11 Tests during 2006. He scored nine international centuries in 2006, also a world record for a calendar year. In 2007, when he was named as one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year, the cricket almanack Wisden noted his "stylishness" as well as his "appetite for runs".
Yousuf made his Test debut against South Africa in 1998. Later the same year, he reached his first Test century against Zimbabwe at the Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore, scoring 120 not out. His highest Test score of 223 came in a match against England at the same venue, during the 2005–06 series between the teams. He has made a double century (200 or more runs) on four occasions during Tests. Yousuf has scored Test centuries at 16 cricket grounds, including 12 at venues outside Pakistan. He is third in the list of Test century-makers for Pakistan behind Younis Khan (33) and Inzamam-ul-Haq (25). (Full article...)
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Painting of W. G. Grace batting for London County in 1905. William Gilbert Grace, commonly known as W. G. Grace, is generally considered one of the greatest cricketers of all time. His first-class cricket career spanned 44 seasons, from 1865 until 1908, during which time he claimed over 2,800 wickets and over 800 catches. Despite this, he is best known for his batting ability: possessing a "high backlift and willingness to play off both front and back foot", he stood apart from other batsmen of the time. He scored over 50,000 first-class runs, a feat achieved by only six other cricketers, and was the first cricketer to score 100 or more centuries.
Disputes regarding the first-class status of a number of matches in which W. G. Grace played have resulted in him having varying career statistics published. Of his centuries, 124 were scored in matches universally accepted as being first-class, these are the figures which are published on both Cricinfo and CricketArchive. A number of further matches are considered to be first-class by some sources; in these matches he scored two centuries: for the "Gentlemen to Canada Touring Team" against the Marylebone Cricket Club in 1873, and for Gloucestershire against Somerset in 1879. Grace, in his 1899 reminiscences, records both of these centuries among his tally of first-class centuries. In Wisden Cricketers' Almanack's first-class records section, he is listed as having scored 126 centuries, the eleventh most hundreds scored during a career. He retains this position with the lower total of 124, also appearing eleventh on Cricinfo's list. (Full article...)
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Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting (pictured) holds several Cricket World Cup records. The Cricket World Cup is the international championship of One Day International (ODI) cricket. The event is organised by the sport's governing body, the International Cricket Council (ICC), and is held once every four years. ODI cricket is one of three forms of cricket played at international level. Unlike Test cricket, ODIs consist of one innings per team and is played over the course of single day. Australia and England played in the inaugural ODI match on 5 January 1971 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. The inaugural Cricket World Cup took place in England in 1975 and 12 tournaments have been held since. The first three editions were all held in England and each innings was limited to a maximum of 60 overs. Since the 1987 Cricket World Cup, all matches have consisted of 50 overs per innings.
Top order batsman and former Australian captainRicky Ponting holds several World Cup records. Playing in five tournaments between 1996 and 2011, he has played in more World Cup matches than any player with 46. He also holds the record for the most consecutive matches played. As a slip fielder, Ponting has also taken the most catches at the World Cup with 28. Captaining his side from 2003 to 2011, Ponting holds the World Cup record for the most matches played as captain with 29. India batsman Sachin Tendulkar has scored 2,278 runs making him the only player to score more than 2,000 runs at the World Cup. He has also scored the most World Cup half-centuries with 15 and shares the record with Pakistan's Javed Miandad for the most number of World Cup tournaments played with 6. (Full article...)
Amla made his Test debut against India at Eden Gardens, Kolkata, in 2004. His first century came two years later against New Zealand at the Newlands Cricket Ground, Cape Town. His score of 311 not out, against England at The Oval, London, in 2012, is the only triple century by a South African batsman in Test cricket. Amla has scored Test centuries at sixteen cricket grounds, including ten at venues outside South Africa. In Tests, he has scored centuries against eight different opponents, and has the most centuries (six) against England. As of January 2019[update], Amla has the second-highest number of centuries for South Africa in Tests. (Full article...)
AB de Villiers is a former South African cricketer who captained the national team between 2012 and 2017. A right-handed batsman, he scored 47 centuries (100 or more runs in a single innings)—22 in Tests and 25 in ODIs—over his playing career. He reached the top of the ICC Test batting rankings in March 2012.
De Villiers made his Test debut in December 2004 against England, scoring 28 and 15. He made his first Test century the following month, scoring 109 in the drawn fifth Test at Centurion. His first double-century came in April 2008 against India when he scored 217 not out in a man-of-the-match performance in Ahmedabad. He has scored 22 Test centuries and holds the record for the second-highest individual score by a South African batsman, with 278 not out against Pakistan. De Villiers has the fourth-highest number of centuries in Tests for South Africa. (Full article...)
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Essex County Cricket Club is one of the 18 member clubs of the English County Championship, representing the historic county of Essex. The club was established on 14 January 1876 and has played first-class cricket since 1894, List A cricket since 1963 and Twenty20 cricket since 2003.[A] Unlike most professional sports, in which a team usually has a single fixed home ground, county cricket clubs have traditionally used different grounds in various towns and cities within the county for home matches, although the use of minor "out grounds" has diminished since the 1980s. Essex have played first class, List A, or Twenty20 matches at 14 different grounds.
The club's debut home fixture in first-class cricket was played at the County Ground in Leyton against Leicestershire in 1894. This ground remained the county's headquarters and principal match venue until the end of the 1933 season and was used regularly for over 80 years. Until April 2024 it had still hosted more of the county's first-class matches than any other ground. Essex played their final match at the venue in 1977, however, since when the similarly named County Ground in Chelmsford has hosted the majority of first-class games. The ground in Leyton has continued to be used for matches in local competitions. (Full article...)
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South Africa women at Taunton, 2009 ICC Women's World Twenty20 A women's Test match is an international four-innings cricket match held over a maximum of four days between two of the leading cricketing nations. Women's cricket was played in South Africa fairly regularly throughout the beginning of the 20th century, but died out during the Second World War. It was revived in 1949 by a group of enthusiasts, and in 1951 Netta Rheinberg, on behalf of the Women's Cricket Association, suggested that a South Africa Women's Cricket Association be formed, and encouraged the possibility that a series of matches could be played between the two associations. The South Africa & Rhodesian Women's Cricket Association (SA&RWCA) was officially formed in 1952. At their annual general meeting in January 1955, the SA&RWCA accepted an invitation from the Women's Cricket Association to join an International Women's Cricket Council that, in addition to South Africa, included England, Australia and New Zealand. They also agreed that international matches would be played between the four nations. In 1959, arrangements were made for the first international women's cricket tour of South Africa, as they would play host to the English team in 1960.
The first Test involving South Africa women was held at St George's Park, Port Elizabeth, the same venue as the one for first men's Test match in the country in 1889, and ended in a draw. South Africa then played a subsequent series against New Zealand in 1971–72. As part of the international campaign against apartheid, the Commonwealth of Nations signed the Gleneagles Agreement in 1977, excluding South Africa from competing in international sporting events. Because of this exclusion, they did not play another Test until hosting India in 2001–02, before facing England again in 2003, the Netherlands in 2007, India in 2014 and most recently England in 2022. (Full article...)
Pune Warriors India (PWI) was a Pune-based franchise cricket team that participated in the Indian Premier League (IPL). They played their first Twenty20 match in the 2011 season of the IPL against Kings XI Punjab. PWI played in three editions of the IPL, failing to reach the playoffs on all occasions. They came last in the 2012 IPL, and came second-last in the 2011 and the 2013 IPL. After the 2013 season, PWI owners withdrew from the IPL due to financial differences with the Board of Control for Cricket in India. In total, 46 players had played for PWI, of whom Robin Uthappa had played the most matches (46, since his debut for the franchise in 2011).
The leading run-scorer for PWI was Uthappa, who had scored 1,103 runs. Jesse Ryder scored 86 runs against Delhi Daredevils in 2012, which was the highest individual score in an innings by a PWI batsman. Steve Smith had the team's best batting average: 40.07. Among PWI's bowlers, Rahul Sharma had taken more wickets than any other, claiming 34. The best bowling average among bowlers who had bowled more than 20 overs was Yuvraj Singh's 22.93. Ashok Dinda had the best bowling figures in an innings; he claimed four wickets against Mumbai Indians in a 2012 match, conceding 18 runs. Uthappa had taken the most catches as wicket-keeper for PWI, with 24, and had also made the most stumpings: six. Smith and Manish Pandey had claimed the highest number of catches among fielders, taking 14 each. (Full article...)
Image 4Afghan soldiers playing cricket. Afghan refugees in Pakistan brought the sport back to Afghanistan, and it is now one of the most popular sports in the country. (from History of cricket)
Image 5A wicket consists of three stumps, upright wooden poles that are hammered into the ground, topped with two wooden crosspieces, known as the bails. (from Laws of Cricket)
Image 6Photograph of Miss Lily Poulett-Harris, founding mother of women's cricket in Australia. (from History of women's cricket)
Image 10A Game of Cricket at The Royal Academy Club in Marylebone Fields, now Regent's Park, depiction by unknown artist, c. 1790–1799 (from History of cricket)
Image 11Broadhalfpenny Down, the location of the first First Class match in 1772 is still played on today (from History of cricket)
Image 12A 1793 American depiction of "wicket" being played in front of Dartmouth College. Wicket likely came to North America in the late 17th century. (from History of cricket)
Image 13In men's cricket the ball must weigh between 5.5 and 5.75 ounces (155.9 and 163 g) and measure between 8.81 and 9 in (22.4 and 22.9 cm) in circumference. (from Laws of Cricket)
Image 14 First Grand Match of Cricket Played by Members of the Royal Amateur Society on Hampton Court Green, August 3rd, 1836 (from History of cricket)
Image 15New articles of the game of cricket, 25 February 1774 (from Laws of Cricket)
Image 16Plaquita, a Dominican street version of cricket. The Dominican Republic was first introduced to cricket through mid-18th century British contact, but switched to baseball after the 1916 American occupation. (from History of cricket)
... that the relatively low standards of player selection for Somerset County Cricket Club in 1883 have been described as being "determined with a nod and a wink over drinks"?
The International Cricket Council (ICC) is the international governing body of cricket, and produces team rankings for the various forms of cricket played internationally.
Test cricket is the longest form of cricket, played up to a maximum of five days with two innings per side.
Matches is the number of matches played in the 12–24 months since the May before last, plus half the number in the 24 months before that. See points calculations for more details.
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