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.
In the final round of group matches during the 1979 Benson & Hedges Cup, a one-day cricket competition, Somerset County Cricket Club faced Worcestershire County Cricket Club at New Road, Worcester, on 24 May 1979. The result of the match would help to determine which teams progressed to the quarter-finals. If Somerset lost and Glamorgan won their match, Somerset, Worcestershire and Glamorgan would have been level on points; bowling strike rate would have then been used as a tie-breaker. The Somerset team, led by their captain, Brian Rose, realised that if they batted first and declared the innings closed after just one over, it would protect their strike rate advantage to guarantee their qualification. Somerset scored one run from their over and declared; Worcestershire took ten deliveries to score the two runs they needed to win. The match was completed in 18 minutes, and consisted of only 16 legal deliveries.
Although Somerset's declaration was within the laws of the game, Rose was condemned by the press and cricket officials. The Wisden Cricketers' Almanack claimed that Rose had "sacrificed all known cricketing principles by deliberately losing the game". Just over a week after the match, the Test and County Cricket Board met for an emergency session and voted to eject Somerset from the competition by a vote of seventeen to one. Cricket's rules were later changed to ban declarations in professional one-day cricket, although a similar incident occurred in club cricket in 2017.
A five-wicket haul (also known as a "five-for" or "fifer") refers to a bowler taking five or more wickets in a single innings. This is regarded as a notable achievement, especially in the Twenty20 format, as bowlers can bowl no more than four overs in an innings. The first five-wicket haul in a WT20I match was taken by New Zealand's Amy Satterthwaite against England in August 2007. Satterthwaite took six wickets for 17 runs, the first six-wicket haul in the international format. On 24 April 2024, Indonesia's Rohmalia Rohmalia took 7 wickets for 0 runs, the best bowling figures in an innings, surpassing Netherlands' Frederique Overdijk (7 wickets for 3 runs against France) and Nepal's Anjali Chand (6 for 0 against the Maldives). Tanzania's Nasra Saidi also conceded no runs in her five-wicket haul against Mali during the 2019 Kwibuka Women's T20 Tournament in Rwanda making all three figures the most economical with an economy rate of zero. Shabnim Ismail of South Africa took the least economical five-wicket haul, bowling with an economy rate of 7.82 against India in February 2018. At the age 49 years and 168 days, Joanne Hicks of Isle of Man is the oldest player to take five wickets in an innings while Botsogo Mpedi of Botswana who returned figures of 6 for 8 against Lesotho during the Botswana 7s tournament in Gaborone in August 2018, is the youngest at 15 years and 198 days. Mpedi alongside Chand, Indonesia's Dara Paramitha, Zimbabwe's Esther Mbofana, Samoa's Teinemane Faimalo and Rohmalia are the only bowlers to take a five-wicket haul on WT20I debut. There have been 10 occurrences which did not result in a victory to the team taking the five-wicket haul. (Full article...)
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Shaun Pollock, top run scorer in the history of the Afro-Asia Cup A One Day International, or an ODI, is an international cricket match between two representative teams, each having ODI status, as determined by the International Cricket Council. An ODI differs from Test matches in that the number of overs per team is limited, and that each team has only one innings.
Designed as a fund-raiser for the African Cricket Association and the Asian Cricket Council, the Afro-Asia Cup debuted in 2005 and a second series was played in 2007. The list is arranged in the order in which each player won his first ODI cap for the African XI. Where more than one player won his first ODI cap in the same match, those players are listed alphabetically by surname. All the players have represented their respective member teams of the ICC at either Test or ODI level, but only the records of their games for the ACA African XI are listed. (Full article...)
Shakib Al Hasan, Bangladesh's leading wicket taker in international cricket, has taken 25 five-wicket hauls in international cricket.
In cricket, a five-wicket haul (also known as a "five–for" or "fifer") refers to a bowler taking five or more wickets in a single innings. This is regarded as a notable achievement, and as of October 2024[update], only 54 bowlers have taken 15 or more five-wicket hauls at international level in their cricketing careers. Shakib Al Hasan, a slow left-arm orthodox spinner, represents the Bangladesh national cricket team. With 25 five-wicket hauls across all formats of international cricket, he ranks equal 15th in the all-time list, and first among his countrymen He has been described as "Bangladesh's greatest-ever cricketer", and is ranked as the top all-rounder in One Day International (ODI) cricket as of August 2022.
In cricket, a five-wicket haul (also known as a "five–for" or "fifer") refers to a bowler taking five or more wickets in a single innings. This is regarded as a notable achievement, as of October 2024[update] only 54 bowlers have taken 15 or more five-wicket hauls at an international level in their cricketing careers. Anil Kumble is a former Test and One Day International (ODI) cricketer who represented India. He is a right-arm leg spin (legbreakgoogly) bowler. Kumble has taken 619 wickets in Test cricket and 337 wickets in ODI cricket. With 37 five-wicket hauls, Kumble has the highest number of Test and combined international five-wicket hauls among Indian cricketers and fourth highest among all players, after Muttiah Muralitharan, Richard Hadlee, and Shane Warne.
Kumble made his ODI debut against Sri Lanka and his Test debut against England, both in 1990. His first five-wicket haul was against South Africa at Johannesburg (November 1992) in the second Test of India's tour. He has claimed the most of his five-wicket hauls against Australia, ten of them, all in Test matches. His best performance was against Pakistan at the Feroz Shah Kotla in 1999; Kumble took all ten wickets during the second innings, just the second person to do so, after Jim Laker, and in the process ensured India of their first Test victory against Pakistan in twenty years. The feat also ranks as the second-best bowling figure in Test history. Twenty of Kumble's Test cricket five-wicket hauls have come in victory for India, while five have been in defeats. Kumble has also taken two five-wicket hauls in ODIs. His first ODI five-wicket haul was against the West Indies during the final of the 1993 Hero Cup at Eden Gardens, Calcutta when he took six wickets for twelve runs, a record for India in One Day Internationals. The performance ensured India's victory and Kumble was adjudged man of the match. His other ODI five-wicket haul was against New Zealand at the Basin Reserve in 1994. (Full article...)
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Gloucestershire's first ever match was played at Durdham Down in 1870, but it was the only time the county club played there. Gloucestershire County Cricket Club, representing the historic county of Gloucestershire, is one of the 18 member clubs of the English County Championship. The club was established in 1846 following the merger of the Mangotsfield Cricket Club and West Gloucestershire Cricket Club and played under the latter name until 1867, after which it became the Gloucestershire County Cricket Club. It has played first-class cricket since 1870, 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" away from the club's main headquarters has diminished since the 1980s. Gloucestershire have played home matches at eighteen different grounds.
The club's first home match in first-class cricket was played at Durdham Down in the Clifton district of Bristol. This was the only time the county used this venue for a match. The following year Gloucestershire began to play matches at the Clifton College Close Ground in the grounds of Clifton College in the same part of the city, and this remained a regular venue for the county until the 1930s, hosting nearly 100 first-class matches. In 1872 the county used a venue outside Bristol for the first time when they played at the College Ground in the grounds of Cheltenham College. This venue has continued to be used regularly for the county's annual "Cheltenham festival" event, which in the modern era incorporates additional charity events and off-field entertainment. In 1889 Gloucestershire began to play matches at the County Ground in Bristol, which has subsequently served as the club's main headquarters and hosted the majority of the county's matches. It was here that the club played its first List A match in 1963 against Middlesex, and its first Twenty20 match forty years later against Worcestershire. Bristol is not officially part of Gloucestershire and has been considered an independent county since 1373, though it was officially part of the county of Avon from 1974 until 1996. Somerset have played first-class matches at other venues in the city. (Full article...)
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Bowlers have taken 11 five-wicket hauls in Test matches and two fifers in One Day Internationals played at the Riverside Ground. The Riverside Ground is a cricket ground in Chester-le-Street, County Durham. It is the home of Durham County Cricket Club and has hosted Test, One Day International (ODI) and Twenty20 International (T20I) matches. It has a capacity of 17,000 spectators for international matches, for which temporary stands are erected. The Riverside hosted six Test matches between 2003, when England played Zimbabwe, and 2016. It hosted its first ODI in 1999 when Pakistan defeated Scotland by 94 runs in the qualifying round of that year's Cricket World Cup, and T20Is have been played at the ground since 2008. Women's ODI and T20I matches have also been played on the ground.
In cricket, a five-wicket haul (also known as a "five-for" or "fifer") refers to a bowler taking five or more wickets in a single innings. This is regarded as a notable achievement. The first bowler to take a five-wicket haul in a Test match at the Riverside Ground was Richard Johnson in 2003 who, making his Test debut for England against Zimbabwe, finished with bowling figures of 6 wickets for 33 runs. These remained the best Test bowling figures at the Riverside until 2013 when Australia's Ryan Harris took 7 wickets for 117 runs in the fourth Test against England. Stuart Broad is the only bowler to have taken two five-wicket hauls in Test matches at the ground, doing so in the same Test match, also making him the only bowler to have taken ten wickets in an international match at the Riverside. As of January 2020[update], nine bowlers have taken ten Test match five-wicket hauls at the ground; every Test match in which a five-wicket haul has been taken at the Riverside Ground has resulted in an England victory. (Full article...)
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Marcus Trescothick is one of two players to have won the Men's Player of the Year award three times. The PCA Player of the Year Awards are a set of annual cricket awards. Awards are given for the Men's Player of the Year, Women's Player of the Year, Men's Young Player of the Year and Women's Young Player of the Year, presented to the player who is adjudged to have been the best of the year in their respective category. The winner is chosen by a vote amongst the members of the players' trade union, the Professional Cricketers' Association (PCA).
The Men's Player of the Year award was first awarded in 1970, whilst the Men's Young Player of the Year award began in 1990. An award named the Women's Player of the Summer was first awarded in 2014, presented to a member of the England women's cricket team who was adjudged to have been the best during that summer. However, in 2021, the awarded was opened up to domestic players, and named the Women's Player of the Year. Finally, the Women's Young Player of the Year award was established in 2021. (Full article...)
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Steve Smith has scored 48 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...)
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India's MS Dhoni is the only player to be involved in six ties in ODIs as player and five as captain.
A One Day International (ODI) is a form of limited overs cricket, played between two teams that have international status, as determined by the International Cricket Council (ICC). The first ODI match was played between Australia and England in 1971 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, as a 40-over match. An ODI can have four possible results—it can be won by either of the two teams, it could be tied, or it could be declared to have "no result". In cricket, a match is said to be tied if it ends with both teams scoring exactly the same number of runs and with the side batting second having completed its innings with all 10 batsmen being out or the predetermined number of overs having been completed. In case of rain-affected matches, the match is tied if the Duckworth–Lewis–Stern method indicates that the second team exactly meets but does not exceed the par score. There have been two occasions where a match has been tied, but the team which had lost fewer wickets was declared the winner. Pakistan was involved in both matches, losing one against India and winning the other against Australia.
The first tie in ODIs occurred in 1984 when Australia played West Indies in the second final of the Benson and Hedges World Series Cup; the Wisden Cricketers' Almanack noted "[the match] led to more dissension than delight." The second tie, also involving Australia, occurred in 1989 during the second match of the Texaco Trophy in England. Between 1991 and 1997, at least one ODI was tied every year. Starting from 1999, a further 19 ties have occurred until 2014, more frequently than ever before. The first World Cup match involving a tie was the second semi-final of the 1999 tournament when Australia played South Africa. Since then, at least one match was tied in the subsequent tournaments, with the exception of the 2015 edition, until the 2019 World Cup. (Full article...)
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David Gower at the SCG in his commentator avatar post retirement c.2007
Gower made his Test debut for England in June 1978 against Pakistan at Edgbaston, Birmingham. He achieved his first century in Test cricket later that year, scoring 111 runs against New Zealand at The Oval, London. The following summer, Gower scored his first double-century, remaining unbeaten on 200 off 279 deliveries, in a batting innings described as "effortless" by the Wisden Cricketers' Almanack. He did not pass a hundred again until 1981, when he scored 154 not out against the West Indies, his runs coming off 403 deliveries at a strike rate of 38.21 – his lowest when scoring a century. Across 1984 and 1985, Gower struck five centuries in Test cricket, and on each occasion he passed 150 runs. Three of these centuries were scored during the 1985 Ashes, in which Gower was named as Man of the Series. In the fifth match he reached his highest score in Test cricket, amassing 215 runs and sharing a partnership of 331 with Tim Robinson. At the time, it was the sixth largest partnership for England, but in the next match Gower and Graham Gooch surpassed it, putting on 351 runs together. Gower's final Test century was scored in January 1991, when he reached 123 against Australia. In total, nine of Gower's eighteen Test centuries came during Ashes series, the fourth most by any batsman. (Full article...)
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Greg Chappell scored five of his twenty-four Test cricket centuries at Brisbane Cricket Ground. Greg Chappell is a former international cricketer who represented Australia in 161 matches between 1970 and 1984. He was described by the cricket journalist Gideon Haigh as "the outstanding Australian batsman of his generation", while fellow journalist Christopher Martin-Jenkins said he was capable of "[mastering] even the best bowlers in the worst batting conditions." A right-handed top-order batsman, he scored 27 centuries (100 or more runs in a single innings) in international cricket – 24 in Test cricket and 3 in One Day Internationals (ODIs). He ranks 9th amongst Australian batsmen in terms of international centuries, and joint 41st overall, though he played fewer matches than all but Don Bradman above him.
Chappell played his first Test match in December 1970, and became the tenth Australian to score a century on Test debut, accumulating 108 runs against England in the second Test of the 1970–71 Ashes series. In 1974, he scored centuries in both innings of a match against New Zealand; his brother, Ian also achieved the feat in the match. In the first innings against New Zealand, Chappell recorded his highest score in Test cricket, 247 not out. He scored two centuries in a Test again late the following year against the West Indies, during his first match as captain of Australia. He scored three further double centuries in Test matches, two against Pakistan, and one against India, all in 1980 or 1981. During the fifth Test of the 1983–84 series against Pakistan, Chappell announced that he would retire at the end of the match; during the fourth day he scored his final century in international cricket. In doing so, Chappell became one of only four players to score centuries in both their first and last Test match. (Full article...)
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Muttiah Muralitharan has captured the highest number of five-wicket hauls in Test cricket. In cricket, a five-wicket haul—also known as a five–for or fifer—refers to a bowler taking five or more wickets in a single innings. This is regarded as a notable achievement; only eleven bowlers have taken more than 30 five-wicket hauls in their Test cricketing careers. Sri Lankan cricketer Muttiah Muralitharan has the most five-wicket hauls in Test cricket, and also the second-highest number of five-wicket hauls in One Day Internationals (ODI). He did not take any five-wicket hauls in a Twenty20 International, where his best bowling figures were 3 wickets for 29 runs. One of the most experienced bowlers in international cricket, Muralitharan is the leading wicket taker in both Tests and ODIs. He was declared as the "best bowler ever" in Test cricket by the Wisden Cricketers' Almanack in 2002, and the Sri Lankan team depended heavily on the off spinner for wickets.
Muralitharan is well ahead of other bowlers by number of five-wicket hauls in Tests with 67 to his name; Australian cricketer Shane Warne ranks in second place with 37. Making his Test debut in 1992, Muralitharan took his first five-wicket haul a year later against South Africa. He performed this feat against every other Test playing nation. He went on to take ten or more wickets per match on 22 occasions—also a world record—while Shane Warne ranks second, having achieved this on 10 occasions. His career best is 9 wickets for 51 runs against Zimbabwe, which ranks as the world's fifth-best figures in an innings. He was most successful against Bangladesh and South Africa, with 11 five-wicket hauls against each team. Fourteen of Muralitharan's five-wicket hauls were taken at the Sinhalese Sports Club Ground (SSC) in Colombo, Sri Lanka. He retired from Test cricket in July 2010, capturing his 67th and final five-wicket haul during his last match. (Full article...)
When a player is found by the umpire to have delivered the ball contrary to those rules, the umpire will call a no-ball and he is said to have been called for throwing. Where public opinion is that a player's bowling action appears to be that he routinely throws, he is said to have a 'suspect' or an 'illegal' action, or more derogatorily, is said to be a 'chucker'. The issue is often highly emotive with accusers considering that deliveries with an illegal action are akin to cheating. (Full article...)
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South Africa's Jacques Kallis was the first player to take a five-wicket haul in ICC Champions Trophy. In cricket, a five-wicket haul (also known as a "five–for" or "fifer") refers to a bowler taking five or more wickets in a single innings. This is regarded as a significant achievement, and there have been only 10 instances of a bowler taking a fifer in ICC Champions Trophy tournaments. The ICC Champions Trophy is a One Day International (ODI) tournament organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC), and is considered the second most significant cricket tournament after the World Cup. Originally inaugurated as the "ICC Knock Out Trophy" in 1998, the tournament has been organised every two or three years since. As of 2 June 2017[update], 11 players from 7 different nations have taken fifers. South Africa's Jacques Kallis was the first to take a five-wicket haul in the tournament, while playing against the West Indies in the final of the inaugural edition. His bowling figures of 5 wickets for 30 runs in the final helped South Africa win the tournament. The figures also secured a place in the "Top 100 bowling performances of all-time", a list released by the Wisden Cricketers' Almanack in 2002. As of 2013, the South Africans have taken the most fifers with three, followed by the Australians and the New Zealanders with two each. India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka each have one, while Bangladesh, England and Zimbabwe are yet to see a player take a fifer in the tournament. Sri Lanka's Farveez Maharoof holds the record for the best bowling figures: 6 wickets for 14 runs – also his career best figures – against the West Indies in the 2006 tournament. Australia's Josh Hazlewood is the most recent player to take a fifer. His figures of 6 wickets for 52 runs came against New Zealand in 2017. (Full article...)
Anniversaries...
On this day in cricket
New Zealand
1978 - After 48 years and in the 48th Test between the two countries, New Zealand finally win a Test match against England, winning by 72 runs in a low-scoring match at Wellington.
The following are images from various cricket-related articles on Wikipedia.
Image 1The boundary can be marked in several ways, such as with a rope. (from Laws of Cricket)
Image 2A 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 3Broadhalfpenny Down, the location of the first First Class match in 1772 is still played on today (from History of cricket)
Image 4Plaquita, 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)
Image 5A 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 6 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 7Photograph of Miss Lily Poulett-Harris, founding mother of women's cricket in Australia. (from History of women's cricket)
Image 8New articles of the game of cricket, 25 February 1774 (from Laws of Cricket)
Image 9A wicket can be put down by throwing the ball at it and thereby dislodging the bails. (from Laws of Cricket)
Image 14A 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 15In 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 16Afghan 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)
... that Indian gynaecologist and reproductive medicine pioneer Baidyanath Chakrabarty, who performed over 4,000 IVF procedures, was a cricket fan who thought Virat Kohli and Ashwin were "such good boys"?
The International Cricket Council (ICC) is the international governing body of cricket, and produces team rankings for the various forms of cricket played internationally.
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