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.
Both teams were unbeaten in the first group stage. In the second round, known as the Super Sixes, New Zealand and England finished first and second to qualify directly for the final; New Zealand had only lost to England, while England had already guaranteed their place in the final when they lost their last match to Australia. England were considered the favourites for the final. The New Zealand captain, Haidee Tiffen, won the toss, and opted to bat first. Her side were bowled out for 166 runs. The all-rounderLucy Doolan, batting at number nine, was the highest scorer for New Zealand with 48. Nicky Shaw, one of England's bowlers, took a career-best four wickets for 34 runs. In their response, England built an opening partnership of 74 runs and continued to score steadily. Despite regularly losing wickets, they reached the winning total with 23 balls to spare, earning England their first World Cup title for 16 years. Shaw, who had initially not been in the England starting lineup, was named player of the match, having replaced the injured Jenny Gunn minutes before the game started.
Dennis Lillee is a former Australiancricketer who took 24 five-wicket hauls during his career in international 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. A fast bowler who represented the Australian cricket team between 1971 and 1984, Lillee was described by one writer as "the heart of Australia['s] bowling attack for more than a decade" and was rated "the outstanding fast bowler of his generation" by the BBC. He was the first bowler to capture 350 Test wickets and held the record for almost two years before Ian Botham surpassed the feat. Lillee was named one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 1973 and the South African Cricket (Annual) Cricketer of the Year three years later. The International Cricket Council (ICC) inducted him into its Cricket Hall of Fame in 2009.
Lillee made his Test debut during the sixth Test of the 1970–71 Ashes series where he claimed a five-wicket haul on debut. He was subsequently selected for the 1972 tour of England and took a pair of five-wicket hauls for the first time in a single match during the final Test of the same series. He ended the series with 31 wickets at an average of 17.67. He went on to claim five-wicket hauls in both innings of a Test match on three more occasions. Lillee's career-best figures for an innings were 7 wickets for 83 runs against the West Indies in 1981. He was most successful against England with eleven five-wicket hauls against them, and was most effective at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, where he took seven of his twenty three five-wicket hauls. When Lillee retired from Test cricket in 1984, he had taken ten or more wickets in a match on seven occasions. (Full article...)
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The Ashes urn, which remains at the MCC Museum at Lord's. A replica urn is presented to the winning captain.
The Ashes is a Test cricket series played between England and Australia. The series have varied in length, consisting of between one and seven Test matches, but since 1998 have been consistently five matches. It is the sport's most celebrated rivalry and dates back to 1882. It is generally played biennially, alternating between the United Kingdom and Australia. Australia are the current holders of the Ashes, having retained them with a draw in the 2023 series. (Full article...)
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Sydney Barnes was a professionalcricketer who played for England in 27 Test matches between 1901 and 1914. He claimed 24 five-wicket hauls (five or more wickets in an innings) during his Test career. A five-wicket haul 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. Barnes had only played seven first-class matches when he was chosen by Archie MacLaren to tour Australia, and played only 47 County Championship matches throughout his entire career, opting to play Minor Counties and Lancashire League cricket instead. He based his decision upon two main criteria – playing club cricket was more financially rewarding, and he was worried about having to bowl too much in first-class county cricket, and suffering from burnout.
Barnes is generally regarded as one of the best bowlers to have played international cricket, and finished his Test career with 189 wickets at an average of 16.43; his average places him among the top-ten bowlers in Test cricket. At the start of his career, he was a fast bowler who endeavoured to swing the ball, which was the common style of bowling at the time. However, Barnes experimented with bowling a little slower and cutting the ball, and developed both an off cutter and a leg cutter that he concluded were far more effective than swinging the ball. Despite his bowling talent, Barnes did not play any Test cricket between July 1902 and December 1907, as he was considered a "prima donna" who would only put in the effort when he was in the right mood, and being suitably paid. After his recall to the England side, he played regularly until the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, and was named by the Wisden Cricketers' Almanack as one of their Cricketers of the Year in 1910. (Full article...)
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Former Pakistan captain, Waqar Younis Waqar Younis, a retired Pakistanicricketer, took 35 five-wicket hauls during his career 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, as of October 2024[update], only 54 bowlers have taken 15 or more five-wicket hauls at international level in their cricketing careers. A right-arm fast bowler who represented his country between 1989 and 2003, the BBC described Waqar as "one of the most feared fast bowlers in recent cricketing history", while former Pakistan captain Imran Khan said that Waqar was "a thinking cricketer and, at his peak, he was the most destructive bowler the game had seen". The cricket almanack Wisden noted his "pace and swing", and named him one of their Cricketers of the Year in 1992. Waqar was inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame on 9 December 2013.
Waqar made his Test debut in 1989 against India in Karachi, where he took four wickets in the first innings. His first Test five-wicket haul came the following year against New Zealand in a match which Pakistan won at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore. He took a pair of five-wicket hauls in a single match against Zimbabwe at the Defence Stadium, Karachi in December 1993. His career-best figures for an innings were 7 wickets for 76 runs against New Zealand at Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad, in October 1990. He went on to take ten or more wickets per match on five occasions. (Full article...)
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Miandad made two of his double centuries at the National Stadium, Karachi. Javed Miandad is a former batsman and captain of Pakistan. He scored 23 centuries in Test cricket and 8 One Day International (ODI) hundreds during his 17-year international career. Miandad played 124 Test matches and notched 8,832 runs to remain the leading scorer for Pakistan in Test cricket. In 233 ODI matches, he scored 7,381 runs. In 1982, he was named as one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year; the cricket almanac tagged him as "one of the best and most exciting players in the world". He was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame in January 2009.
Miandad scored century on his Test debut against New Zealand at the Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore, in 1976. He was only the second Pakistan player to achieve this feat. In the third and final Test of the series at National Stadium, Karachi, he made 206 runs and, at 19 years and 141 days, became the youngest ever player to complete a double hundred. Seven years later, in 1983, Miandad realized his highest Test score, an unbeaten 280, against India at the Niaz Stadium, Hyderabad. (Full article...)
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Virender Sehwag scored 23 centuries in Test matches and 15 in One Day Internationals for India.
In Tests, Sehwag has scored centuries against all the Test-cricket playing nations except Bangladesh and Zimbabwe, and is fifth on the list of leading Test century makers for India. In 2001, he became the eleventh Indian player to score a century on Test debut, with 105 runs against South Africa. His centuries have been scored at fourteen cricket grounds, eight of which were outside India. He has made six scores of 200 runs or more, of which a record three have come against Pakistan. One such innings, the 254 in Lahore, had him involved in a 410-run partnership with Rahul Dravid, which came within 3 runs of breaking the record for the highest first-wicket partnership in Tests, set by Pankaj Roy and Vinoo Mankad. The innings took only 247 balls and was the highest score at faster than a run a ball. Sehwag is the first Indian to score a triple century (300 or more runs), and has done so twice—309 against Pakistan in Multan in 2004 and 319 against South Africa in Chennai in 2008. The latter is the fastest triple century in Test cricket, the 300 coming up off just 278 balls, and is also the highest score with a strike rate over 100. It was also rated as one of the top 10 Test innings of all time by the ICC rankings, and received special mention along with his 201* in Galle, in which he carried his bat as he was named the Wisden Leading Cricketer in the World in 2008. He is one of the only four batsmen to score two triple centuries, alongside Sir Donald Bradman, Brian Lara and Chris Gayle. He scored 12 centuries that have been converted to scores of 150 or greater, a record for the most consecutive hundreds of over 150. He has been dismissed five times in the nineties. (Full article...)
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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.
The Kensington Oval, where Marshall took four of his five-wicket hauls, the most by any player at the ground Malcolm Marshall, a former right-arm fast bowler, represented the West Indies cricket team in 81 Tests between 1978 and 1992. 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. In Test cricket, Marshall took 376 wickets, including 22 five-wicket hauls. The cricket almanack Wisden described him as "one of the greatest fast bowlers of all time", and named him one of their Cricketers of the Year in 1983. He was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame as an inaugural member in January 2009. Mark Nicholas, a cricket commentator, once wrote that former Pakistancaptain, Imran Khan, "calls Malcolm the greatest of all fast bowlers".
Marshall made his Test debut in December 1978 against India at the Karnataka State Cricket Association Stadium, Bangalore. His first five-wicket haul came in March 1983 against the same team at the Queen's Park Oval, Port of Spain; he took 5 wickets for 37 runs. In December 1984, against Australia at the Adelaide Oval, he took a five-wicket haul in both innings of a Test match for the first time. He repeated this feat once more in his career, against India at the Queen's Park Oval in April 1989. Marshall's career-best bowling figures for an innings were 7 wickets for 22 runs against England at Old Trafford, Manchester, in June 1988. He took 9 wickets for 41 runs in the match; West Indies won the match by an innings and 156 runs, and he was awarded man of the match for his performance. Marshall was most successful against Australia taking seven five-wicket hauls. He took ten or more wickets in a match on four occasions. (Full article...)
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Bowlers have taken thirteen five-wicket hauls in Tests and one fifer in One Day International matches played at Brabourne. Brabourne Stadium is a cricket ground in Mumbai, India. It is the home of the Cricket Club of India and has played host to Ranji Trophy matches (including seventeen finals) and Indian Premier League matches, as well as being a Test, One Day International (ODI) and Twenty20 International (T20I) venue. It has a capacity of 20,000 spectators. The ground has hosted 18 Test matches, the first in 1948 when India played the West Indies. It has also staged nine ODI matches, the first of which was in 1989 when Australia lost to Pakistan by 66 runs. One T20I has been played at the ground when India beat Australia by seven wickets in 2007. This was also the first T20I to be played in India. Of the nine ODIs played at the stadium, five matches (including the final) were staged during the ICC Champions Trophy in 2006.
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 Brabourne Stadium was Prior Jones in 1949, for the West Indies against India. The first Indian to take a five-wicket haul in a Test at the Brabourne was Vinoo Mankad, who did so in a game against Pakistan in 1952. B. S. Chandrasekhar is the only bowler to have taken two five-wicket hauls in Test matches at the ground, doing so against the West Indies in 1966 and against England in 1973. Chandrasekhar is also the only bowler to have taken ten wickets in a match at Brabourne, he took eleven wickets against the West Indies in 1966. Twelve bowlers have taken thirteen five-wicket hauls at the ground. Sri Lankan bowler Farveez Maharoof's five wicket haul against the West Indies in 2006, is the only one achieved during an ODI. Khaleel Ahmed's three wickets for thirteen runs in an ODI versus West Indies in 2018 are the best figures by an Indian at the ground in the fifty over format. The best bowling figures in the only T20I staged at the ground featuring India and Australia in 2007 are Irfan Pathan's two wickets for thirty-four runs. (Full article...)
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Green Park Stadium hosting the 3rd ODI between India and New Zealand. The Green Park Stadium—formerly known as Modi Stadium—is a cricket ground in Kanpur, India. It is the home ground of the Uttar Pradesh cricket team and has played host to Ranji Trophy matches, as well as being a Test and One Day International (ODI) venue. The ground has hosted 23 Test matches, since the first one in 1952 when India played England. It has also staged 15 ODIs, the first of which was in 1986 when India lost to Sri Lanka by a margin of 17 runs. It has staged 1 T20 International in 2017.
The first century at the ground was scored by the West IndianGarfield Sobers. He made 198 during the second Test of the 1958–59 West Indies tour of India. The first Indian to score a century at the ground was Polly Umrigar, who made 147 not out against England in December 1961. West Indian Faoud Bacchus' 250, against India in February 1979, is the highest individual score by a batsman at the ground. India's Gundappa Viswanath and Mohammed Azharuddin have scored the most centuries at the venue with three each. The latter also holds the record for the highest score by an Indian at the ground. As of February 2016, 32 Test centuries have been scored at the stadium. (Full article...)
Introduced in 2006, the award adjudges the best-performed female international cricketer across an approximate twelve-month voting period. Prior to 2009, each of the top ten women's national teams nominated two players and the final selection was made by a 16-person panel. Since 2009, a long list has been chosen by the ICC Awards voting panel, consisting of cricket administrators, journalists and former players. A subsequent short list is then created by a different, 25-person, board. (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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Leicestershire(pictured celebrating their semi-final win in 2011) have won the joint-most English Twenty20 titles, winning on three occasions. The English Twenty20 cricket champions are the winners of the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) Twenty20 competition for first-class cricket counties, most recently the Friends Life t20, although from 2014 this has been replaced with the NatWest t20 Blast. The competition culminates with 'Finals Day': a single day on which both semi-finals and the final are contested at the same ground. Somerset are the current champions, claiming their second title in the 2023 season.
Twenty20 cricket was developed by the ECB to attract new, younger audiences to cricket. Replacing the 50 overs-per-side 'Benson & Hedges Cup', the 'Twenty20 Cup' was introduced in 2003, and was over two hours shorter than its predecessor, and matches also featured greater entertainment off the field, such as live music, barbecues, fancy dress and karaoke. The competition was rebranded as the 'Friends Provident t20' in 2010, and a season later as the 'Friends Life t20'. In 2014, the competition became known as the NatWest t20 Blast. For the first seven years of the competition, teams were allowed one overseas player, as in the other domestic tournaments, but from the 2010 season, each team was allowed two. The finalists in both 2009 and 2011 qualified for the Champions League Twenty20, an international competition between the leading domestic teams from the major cricketing nations. (Full article...)
Richards made his Test debut against India in November 1974, and scored his maiden Test century during the second Test of the same tour, scoring an unbeaten 192 in the first-innings of the match. In 1976, he scored seven Test centuries in a calendar year, passing Garfield Sobers' record of six, which had been set in 1958. He scored his maiden double century in the first Test of that year's tour of England at Trent Bridge, Nottingham making 232. After scoring a century in the third Test, he once again scored a double century in the fifth Test, accumulating his highest score, 291, at The Oval, London. These centuries, and a total of 1,710 Test runs in the year, helped him to be named as one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 1977. In 1986, facing England at the Antigua Recreation Ground, Richards scored the fastest century in Test cricket, reaching his twentieth Test hundred in 56 balls. Richards has the third-highest number of centuries for the West Indies, behind Brian Lara's 34 and Sobers' 26. (Full article...)
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 by critics 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. Danish Kaneria, a right-arm leg spinner, represented the Pakistan national cricket team in 61 Tests between 2000 and 2010. He took 15 five-wicket hauls during his career in international cricket. Kaneria was described by the BBC as a "match-winner with his leg-breaks".
Kaneria made his Test debut in 2000 against England at the Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad. His first Test five-wicket haul came the following year against Bangladesh at the Multan Cricket Stadium during the 2001–02 Asian Test Championship. Kaneria went on to take his second five-wicket haul in the same match, the only instance in his career where he did so. He accumulated 12 wickets for 94 runs in the match, and the performance earned him the man of the match award. Kaneria's best bowling figures in an innings were 7 wickets for 77 runs against Bangladesh at the Bangabandhu National Stadium, Dhaka, in January 2002. He was most successful against Australia and Bangladesh, claiming three five-wicket hauls against each of them. (Full article...)
The following are images from various cricket-related articles on Wikipedia.
Image 1A 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 2A wicket can be put down by throwing the ball at it and thereby dislodging the bails. (from Laws of Cricket)
Image 3A 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 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 5Afghan 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 6New articles of the game of cricket, 25 February 1774 (from Laws of Cricket)
Image 7The boundary can be marked in several ways, such as with a rope. (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 12 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 14In 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)
... 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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![Image 1 Bronze statue of Dennis Lillee, one of the Parade of Champions, located outside the Melbourne Cricket Ground Dennis Lillee is a former Australian cricketer who took 24 five-wicket hauls during his career in international 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. A fast bowler who represented the Australian cricket team between 1971 and 1984, Lillee was described by one writer as "the heart of Australia['s] bowling attack for more than a decade" and was rated "the outstanding fast bowler of his generation" by the BBC. He was the first bowler to capture 350 Test wickets and held the record for almost two years before Ian Botham surpassed the feat. Lillee was named one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 1973 and the South African Cricket (Annual) Cricketer of the Year three years later. The International Cricket Council (ICC) inducted him into its Cricket Hall of Fame in 2009. Lillee made his Test debut during the sixth Test of the 1970–71 Ashes series where he claimed a five-wicket haul on debut. He was subsequently selected for the 1972 tour of England and took a pair of five-wicket hauls for the first time in a single match during the final Test of the same series. He ended the series with 31 wickets at an average of 17.67. He went on to claim five-wicket hauls in both innings of a Test match on three more occasions. Lillee's career-best figures for an innings were 7 wickets for 83 runs against the West Indies in 1981. He was most successful against England with eleven five-wicket hauls against them, and was most effective at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, where he took seven of his twenty three five-wicket hauls. When Lillee retired from Test cricket in 1984, he had taken ten or more wickets in a match on seven occasions. (Full article...)](/wiki/File:Blank.png)
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