Cricket

Cricket is the world’s second most popular sport with approximately 2.5 billion fans, dominant in South Asia (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka), England, Australia, the Caribbean, and southern Africa.

The Big Picture

Two teams of 11 players compete. One team bats, the other fields. The batting team tries to score runs; the fielding team tries to get batters out. Teams alternate. The team with the most runs wins.

Note: Cricket can take anywhere from 3 hours (T20) to 5 days (Test match). This is not a typo.

Formats of the Game

Format	Duration	Overs per side	Description
Test cricket	Up to 5 days	Unlimited	Original, most prestigious format; can end in a draw
One Day International (ODI)	~8 hours	50 overs	Cricket World Cup uses this format
T20 (Twenty20)	~3 hours	20 overs	Fast, explosive; huge commercial success

An over = 6 balls bowled by one bowler.

How It Works

The bowler bowls the ball toward the batter’s stumps (3 vertical sticks). The batter tries to hit it and score runs, while protecting their stumps.

Scoring:

Both batters run between stumps: 1 run per crossing
Ball reaches the boundary: 4 runs (automatic)
Ball goes over the boundary without bouncing: 6 runs (the crowd goes wild)

The Major Competitions

ICC Cricket World Cup — 50-over format; held every 4 years
The Ashes — England vs. Australia; one of the oldest sporting rivalries (since 1882)
Indian Premier League (IPL) — T20 franchise league; the richest cricket league in the world

Legendary Players

Sachin Tendulkar (India) — “The God of Cricket”; the greatest batter of all time in most people’s opinion
Don Bradman (Australia) — statistically the greatest batter ever; average of 99.94 in Tests
Shane Warne (Australia) — the greatest spin bowler ever
MS Dhoni (India) — legendary captain; won every ICC trophy
Virat Kohli (India) — dominant modern batter