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 Australians started the match as firm favourites, having won the previous series against England 3–0; in the lead-up to the 1948 series, they had won 10 of their 12 tour matches in England, mostly by large margins. This included a crushing innings defeat in a match over the Marylebone Cricket Club—a team consisting almost entirely of Test-capped and current England players. England captain Norman Yardley won the toss and elected to bat on a cloudy day. After the first morning was interrupted by inclement weather, the Australian fast bowlers quickly made inroads into the English batting. Despite the loss of leading Australian paceman Ray Lindwall with a groin injury, the hosts had difficulty against his colleagues and fell to be 74 runs for the loss of eight wickets (74/8). However, a rearguard action by tail-endersAlec Bedser and Jim Laker saw England reach 165, Bill Johnston taking five wickets for 36 runs (5/36) for Australia, while compatriot Keith Miller took 3/38. Laker top-scored for the hosts with 63. The tourists then reached 17 without loss by stumps.
As of April 2024, 17 male players have played Test cricket for two nations, 16 have played One Day International (ODI) cricket for two teams, and 19 have played Twenty20 International (T20I) matches for two teams, and five have played for two teams in different international formats.
In the late-19th and early-20th centuries, players who had represented two international teams had been born in one country and moved to another with family. There were no clear rules on which nation one could represent, so switching was possible. More recently, citizenship has become the defining attribute as to whether a player can represent more than one international team. The eligibility policy set by the International Cricket Council (ICC) states that a cricketer who has played for a Full Member side must wait three years since their last match before playing for an Associate team. However, if a cricketer plays for an Associate team first, they can switch to a Full Member team the next day. (Full article...)
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Allan Donald took a five-wicket haul for South Africa in its first ever ODI. 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. As of July 2024, more than 4700 ODIs have been played, however there have only been 15 occasions where a player achieved this feat on his ODI debut. Players from the eight of the twelve teams that have Full member status—Australia, Bangladesh, England, Ireland, South Africa, Sri Lanka, West Indies and Zimbabwe—have taken five-wicket hauls on debut. Sri Lankans have performed this feat on three occasions, while the Bangladeshis and South Africa have two each. In addition, three players from Associate teams—Canada, Namibia and Scotland—have taken a five-wicket haul on debut. Afghanistan, India, New Zealand and Pakistan are yet to have a debutant take a five-wicket haul.
Sri Lankan cricketer Uvais Karnain was the first to take a five-wicket haul on ODI debut; he took 5 wickets for 26 runs against New Zealand in March 1984. His figures were bettered by Australian cricketer Tony Dodemaide who took 5 wickets while conceding 21 runs in a match against Sri Lanka in January 1988. In 1991, Allan Donald became the first South African cricketer to take an ODI five-wicket haul for his team. Although South Africa lost the game by three wickets, Donald received a man of the match award. Canada cricketer Austin Codrington's tally of 5 wickets for 27 runs against Bangladesh in the group stage of the 2003 Cricket World Cup is the only five-wicket haul taken during the Cricket World Cup; his figures helped Canada secure a 60-run victory. Scottish cricketer Charlie Cassell is the most recent debutant to take a five-wicket haul, with figures of 7 wickets for 21 runs against Oman, which are the best by a bowler on debut. Of the 15 occasions a cricketer has taken a five-wicket haul on debut, his team has lost only 2 times. (Full article...)
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Jacques Kallis has scored more international centuries than any other South African player. Jacques Kallis is a South African cricketer who plays as an all-rounder. He has been described as "the greatest cricketer ever", and is considered one of the best all-rounders of all time, along with Sir Garfield Sobers. He has scored 45 centuries (100 or more runs in a single innings) in Test cricket, the most by any South African, and 17 centuries in One Day International (ODI) matches. He leads all South African batsmen in runs in both Test and ODI cricket.
Kallis made his Test debut against England in December 1995. He scored his maiden Test century just over two years later, in his seventh Test match, making 101 against Australia. In the 2003–04 series against the West Indies, Kallis scored a century in each of the four Test matches, becoming the first cricketer to pass 100 in every match of a series lasting more than three Tests. His feat also marked the first time a South African player scored centuries in four consecutive Test matches, a run he extended in his next match, scoring 150 not out against New Zealand, to become the second player, after Sir Donald Bradman, to pass 100 in five consecutive Tests. Kallis passed Gary Kirsten as South Africa's leading run-scorer in Test cricket when he reached his 22nd century during the 2004–05 tour of the West Indies. His achievements during the 2004–05 and 2005 cricket seasons, during which time he scored six Test centuries, resulted in him being named as Test Player of the Year by the International Cricket Council (ICC). In October 2007 he became the fourth South African to reach 100 in both innings of a Test match when he did so against Pakistan. He scored a century in each of the following three Tests, tallying five centuries in four Test matches. In doing so, he joined Bradman, Matthew Hayden and Ken Barrington as one of just four players to have scored centuries in four consecutive Test matches on two occasions. Kallis scored his first double century in Test cricket in December 2010, scoring an unbeaten 201 in the first Test against India. Prior to his double century, Kallis had been the only player in the top 15 Test run-scorers not to have reached 200. Later during the same series, Kallis struck centuries in both innings of a match for the second time in his career, becoming the first South African to achieve the feat on two occasions. He reached his second double century, and his highest score, in 2012 against Sri Lanka, making 224. (Full article...)
Pietersen made his Test debut against Australia in July 2005, when he was called into the team to replace Graham Thorpe for the first Test of the 2005 Ashes series. He made his first century during the fifth Test of the series at The Oval; his 158 in the third innings enabled England to draw the match and win the series 2–1. His career best score of 227 also came against Australia in the second Test of the 2010–11 Ashes series at the Adelaide Oval. Pietersen has scored centuries against all Test cricket playing nations, with the exception of Bangladesh and Zimbabwe. He is most successful against India, against whom he has scored six centuries. He is joint twenty-third among all-time Test century makers,[A] and second in the equivalent list for England. (Full article...)
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The team captains for the cup. The following is a list of all the major statistics and records for the 2007 Cricket World Cup held in the West Indies from 13 March to 28 April 2007. Though India were eliminated early, they set the ODI record for the highest victory margin in their 257 run win over Bermuda. In their match against Netherlands, Herschelle Gibbs (South Africa) created ODI and International cricket record when he hit sixes off all six deliveries in Daan van Bunge's over. In the Super 8 stage games, Lasith Malinga (Sri Lanka) created ODI record when he took four wickets in four consecutive deliveries in a losing effort against South Africa. By the end of the tournament, new World Cup records for the fastest fifty (20 balls – Brendon McCullum of New Zealand) and fastest hundred (66 balls – Matthew Hayden of Australia) were established. Glenn McGrath established a new Cricket World Cup record for the most wickets (26) and also finished his ODI career with the most wickets in World Cup history (71). The number of sixes in the overall tournament (373) was 40% higher than the previous record holder, the 2003 Cricket World Cup (266). The tournament also saw 32 century partnerships (previous record of 28 during the 1996 Cricket World Cup) and 10 batsmen over 400 runs (previous record of 4 during the 2003 Cricket World Cup). (Full article...)
The hall of fame opened with ten inaugural members, ranging from Fred Spofforth, a pace bowler who retired from Test cricket in 1887, to Dennis Lillee who played his last Test match in 1984. As of January 2023[update], the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame comprises 61 members. All twelve members of the Australian Cricket Board Team of the Century are included, six of them amongst the inaugural members. The vast majority are men; Belinda Clark was the first woman admitted to the hall when she was inducted in 2014 (three years after she was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame). Five female Test captains have been admitted, along with 21 of their male counterparts. In December 2020, Johnny Mullagh became the first Indigenous Australian to be inducted into the hall of fame. Regarded as a standout player of the Aboriginal team which toured England in 1868, Mullagh is also the only member to have not played Test cricket for Australia. (Full article...)
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Brian Lara is one of two players to have scored 400 or more runs in first-class cricket on two occasions. A quadruple century (an individual score of 400 runs or more) has been scored eleven times in first-class cricket by nine different players. It was first achieved in 1895 by Archie MacLaren, playing for Lancashire against Somerset, while the most recent occurrence was by Sam Northeast. Brian Lara is the only player to have managed the feat in Test cricket. Lara holds the record for the highest score in first-class cricket, having made 501 not out in 1994. Bill Ponsford is the only other player to have scored two quadruple centuries, doing so in 1923 and 1927 for the Victoria cricket team. Ponsford's scores were both made at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, making it one of two venues to have hosted two quadruple centuries, along with the County Ground, Taunton. Two teams have conceded two quadruple centuries; Somerset and Queensland.
Don Bradman's score of 452 not out was made in the shortest time of all quadruple centuries; his innings lasted 415 minutes (6 hours and 55 minutes). Lara's Test quadruple was the longest, taking 778 minutes (12 hours and 58 minutes). Bradman's quadruple century was the only one to be scored in a team's second batting innings. Four quadruple centuries have been made in England, three in Australia, two in Pakistan, one in India and one in Antigua and Barbuda. (Full article...)
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David Warner has scored 49 international centuries for Australia.
Warner made his Test debut against New Zealand in December 2011 and scored his first century (123 not out) in the second match of the series held at the Bellerive Oval. He carried the bat in the fourth innings of the match, which Australia lost by seven runs. He followed that with a 69-ball century in the third match of the home series against India in January 2012. It was the joint-fourth fastest in terms of balls faced at the time. In January 2017, while playing against Pakistan at the Sydney Cricket Ground, he became the fifth cricketer—and the first in Australia—to score a century before lunch on the first day of a Test match. His highest score of 335 not out was made against Pakistan at the Adelaide Oval in November 2019. Warner is one of three batsmen to score centuries in both innings of a Test match on three occasions. In December 2022, he scored 200 in his hundredth Test match, becoming the second Australian to score a century in his hundredth Test, and the second overall to score a double century. Among all countries, Warner has scored the most Test centuries (six) against Pakistan. (Full article...)
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New Zealand (pictured in 2009) have been involved in ten Twenty20 Internationals tied matches. A Twenty20 International (T20I) is an international cricket match between two representative teams, each having T20I status, as determined by the International Cricket Council (ICC), and is played under the rules of Twenty20 cricket. The first such match was played between Australia and New Zealand on 17 February 2005. A Twenty20 International can have three possible results: it can be won by one of the two teams, it could be tied, or it could be declared to have "no result". For a match to finish as a tie, both teams must have scored the same number of runs. The number of wickets lost is not considered. Although such matches are recorded as ties, a tiebreak is usually played; prior to December 2008, this was a bowl-out, and since then it has been a Super Over.
The first tied T20I occurred in 2006, between New Zealand and the West Indies. Hosted at Eden Park in Auckland, it was the fifth T20I. The crowd had started to leave the stadium, disappointed with the result, when the bowl-out was announced; the 2007 Wisden Cricketers' Almanack reported that "suddenly the evening took a madcap turn." The next tie, involving India and Pakistan, happened during the group stages of the 2007 ICC World Twenty20. India won the resulting bowl-out, and were awarded two points, the equivalent of a win. In October 2008, the tie between Canada and Zimbabwe was the final international match to be decided by a bowl-out; Zimbabwe won 3–1. Two months later, New Zealand and the West Indies took part in the first Super Over in an international. The West Indies won the eliminator by scoring 25 runs in their extra over, compared to New Zealand's 15. (Full article...)
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James Faulkner is one of the only four bowlers to take multiple five-wicket hauls and the only to take multiple five-wicket hauls in the same season. 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, especially in T20 cricket where a bowler can bowl a maximum of only 24 balls (4 overs). The Indian Premier League (IPL) is a professional Twenty20 cricket league in India, which has been held annually since its first season in 2008. So far, 34 five-wicket hauls have been taken by different bowlers, of which only two five-wicket hauls have been taken outside India. Players from twelve of the thirteen teams have taken five-wicket hauls; Kochi Tuskers Kerala is the only franchise for which a player has not taken a five-wicket haul. The first five-wicket haul was taken by Sohail Tanvir of the Rajasthan Royals against the Chennai Super Kings on 4 May 2008. He finished the game with 6 wickets. The most economical five-wicket haul was taken by Akash Madhwal of the Mumbai Indians, who claimed five wickets with an economy rate of 1.43 in the 2023 season. Yuzvendra Chahal of the Rajasthan Royals took the least economical five-wicket haul, 5/40 bowling with an economy rate of 10.00 in 2021. Anil Kumble is the oldest bowler to take a five-wicket haul, achieving the feat at the age of 38, while Jaydev Unadkat is the youngest, he was 21 when he took his first five-for in 2013. (Full article...)
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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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Curtly Ambrose has taken the most five-wicket hauls for the West Indies. Curtly Ambrose, a former West Indiancricketer, took 26 five-wicket hauls at international level. 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. Ambrose played 98 Tests and 176 One Day Internationals (ODIs), and took 405 and 225 wickets respectively. A right-arm fast bowler who represented the West Indies from 1988 to 2000, he took 22 five-wicket hauls in Tests and 4 in ODIs. The cricket almanack Wisden noted his "smooth, leggy run-up, fast arm action and accuracy", apart from "lethal yorker[s]" and "nasty bouncer[s]", and named him one of their Cricketers of the Year in 1992. Upon his induction into the International Cricket Council Cricket Hall of Fame in September 2011, ESPNcricinfo described Ambrose as "one of the finest bowlers of all time", and as of 2013 he is tenth overall among all-time combined five-wicket haul takers.
Ambrose made his Test debut in 1988 against Pakistan at the Bourda, Georgetown, a match the West Indies lost by 9 wickets. His first five-wicket haul came eight months later against Australia at the WACA Ground, Perth; West Indies won the match by 169 runs. His career-best bowling figures for an innings were 8 wickets for 45 runs against England at the Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, in April 1990 where his match-winning performance earned him a man of the match award. Ambrose took his solitary pair of five-wicket hauls in a Test match—5 wickets for 60 runs and 6 wickets for 24 runs—against the same opponents at the Queen's Park Oval, Port of Spain, in March 1994, his best bowling performance in a Test match. Ambrose achieved his 22 five-wicket hauls at 12 different grounds, including 11 at 9 different venues outside the West Indies. He was most successful against Australia and England taking eight five-wicket hauls each. He took ten or more wickets in a match on three occasions. (Full article...)
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Bardsley c.1909 In cricket, a player is said to have scored a century when he scores 100 or more runs in a single innings. Test cricket, the longest version of the game, involves two innings per side in a match. An individual scoring centuries in each innings of a Test match is considered a "milestone" by critics. Players from all teams that are full members of the International Cricket Council (ICC) except Ireland and Afghanistan have scored centuries in both innings of a Test.
The first player to score centuries in both innings of a Test match was Warren Bardsley of Australia, who made 136 and 130 against England in August 1909. Since then, the feat has been accomplished by 77 players on 94 occasions as of March 2024[update]. India'sSunil Gavaskar and Australians Ricky Ponting and David Warner are the only cricketers who have scored two centuries in a match on three occasions, while 11 players have achieved the feat twice. England's Graham Gooch has the highest aggregate in a match while scoring centuries in both the innings; his combined tally of 456 runs in the match—333 in the first and 123 in the second innings—was entered into The Guinness Book of Records as "Most runs scored by a player in a Test match (male)". His feat of scoring a triple century and a century was subsequently equalled, though with lower scores, by Kumar Sangakkara: while six other players have scored a double century and a single century in the match. Allan Border is the only player to have scored 150 (or more) in each innings. Sri Lanka's Aravinda de Silva is the only player to remain not out in both innings. (Full article...)
Edgbaston Cricket Ground was first used in 1894 and has staged the vast majority of Warwickshire's games. Warwickshire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 member clubs of the English County Championship, representing the historic county of Warwickshire. The club was established on 8 April 1882 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. Warwickshire have played first class, List A, or Twenty20 matches at eleven different grounds. Six of these grounds are or were located in the cities of Birmingham and Coventry, which no longer lie within the administrative county of Warwickshire due to changes in the county boundaries in England in 1974.
The county's debut home match in first-class cricket was played at Edgbaston Cricket Ground in Birmingham against Kent in 1894. At this time the ground stood on land owned by the Gough-Calthorpe family, who had developed the manor of Edgbaston into an exclusive Birmingham suburb during the 19th century, and believed that a cricket ground would enhance the image of the district. Warwickshire had previously considered locating their headquarters in Rugby or Leamington Spa, but secretary William Ansell considered Birmingham more suitable due to its large population and railway connections. Edgbaston has remained the club's primary ground, hosting the majority of the club's matches, and also played host to the club's first home fixtures in the other formats of the game; in List A cricket in 1964 against Hampshire; and in Twenty20 cricket against Glamorgan in 2003. Since 1902 the ground has also hosted matches played by the England cricket team. (Full article...)
Anniversaries...
On this day in cricket
England
1930 - Dodger Whysall, an England Test batsman only three months earlier, dies of septicaemia two weeks after injuring himself by slipping on a dance floor in Nottingham
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 2Afghan 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 5Plaquita, 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 6A wicket can be put down by throwing the ball at it and thereby dislodging the bails. (from Laws of Cricket)
Image 7New articles of the game of cricket, 25 February 1774 (from Laws of Cricket)
Image 8Photograph of Miss Lily Poulett-Harris, founding mother of women's cricket in Australia. (from History of women's cricket)
Image 9In 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 10Broadhalfpenny Down, the location of the first First Class match in 1772 is still played on today (from History of cricket)
Image 11A 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 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 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 16A 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)
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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