Cricket - The Basic Rules of Cricket (Famous cricket players)

Cricket
The beginnings of cricket

The origins of cricket are very vague, and many theories have been put forward suggesting its origins. Extensive studies and research have been conducted to trace its history and they have come out with different versions. However it is commonly accepted that the game originated from a very old leisure activity indulged by shepherds. The shepherds used crook and other farm equipments to hit a ball like deceive which used to be made up of wool or stone.

The first evidence of cricket being played was recorded in the year 1550, by the pupils of Royal Grammar School, Guildford. In the year 1611 it is reported that two young men from Sussex were punished for playing cricket instead of going to the church. The first match is recorded to have been played at Coxheath in Kent in the year 1646.

Earlier cricket used to thrive greatly as a gambling game. People used to place huge amounts of bets in matches and thus the game started to get recognition. Cricket was in fact a major gambling sport towards the end of the 17th century. It is recorded that in the year 1679, a 11-a-side match was played with stakes as high as 50 guineas per side.

During the 18th century cricket survived and thrived due to the huge amounts of money via monetary backing and gambling. The first instance of a match to be played between counties in England is recorded to be on 29th June in the year 1709. This match was played between Surrey and Kent at Dartford Brent.

The 18th century also witnessed the emergence of two types of cricket players. They were known as the retained player and the individual player. Generally the retained player was the servant of the lord and a cricketer as well. On the other hand the individual player was free to play anywhere with his skills. Basically it was something like the player could play anywhere with the amount of skill he possesses.

In the year 1787, the Marylebone Cricket Club also known MCC was created. The MCC has since then gone on to become one of the most prominent bodies in world cricket. Cricket in its initial days were restricted to the aristocratic class of England. Cricket gradually went on to become the national game of England.

The late 18th century was a very crucial phase for the development of the game, both within and outside Britain. The game was spread far and wide mainly due to Englands imperialism. Wherever they went, the game went with them and thus spread outside England. The first official match was held between Canada and United States was held in the year 1844.

In the present times, cricket has its own following of loyal fans. The International Cricket Council, better known as the ICC is the governing body in world cricket. The ICC was founded on the 15th of June in the year 1909. All laws relating to ODIs and Test Cricket are framed and implemented by the ICC.

Now existing leagues

ICL - Indian Cricket League

ICC World Cricket League - has been created to provide regular global one-day cricket opportunities to those countries outside the Test playing world

ACL - American Cricket League, it is administrated by the USACA (United States of America Cricket Association, this association administrates plenty of leagues in America)

ECB England and Wales Cricket Board (this board administrates the most of the leagues from England and Wales like: The Bolton Cricket League, Yorkshire Premier League, Mid Kent Cricket League)

The Basic Rules of Cricket

The game of cricket is played between two teams and each team has eleven players. The team may use a substitute if a player is injured and if he recovers he may come back on to the pitch. Cricket has two umpires that enforce the rules, make and judge decisions. There are also two scorers that keep the score for both teams.

Object of the game: To score more 'runs' (points) than the opposition. This can be achieved by scoring more runs in the allotted time than the other team, or by bowling out the other team, preventing them from reaching, or overtaking your score.

The basics:

Bowler: Bowls (throws) the ball down the wicket (pitch) in a series of six, known as an 'over'. Attempts to get the batsman 'out' (dismissed from the game) by hitting the stumps when bowling or forcing the batsman into hitting the ball to a fielder and getting caught 'out'.

Batsman: Attempts to hit the ball each time it is bowled or block it to prevent it hitting the stumps.

Wicket Keeper: Stands behind the batsman that the bowler bowls at and tries to stop the ball whenever the batsman misses it. Does similar duties to a fielder.

Fielder: Tries to prevent the batsman from scoring runs by stopping the ball after being hit and throwing it back to team-mates near the stumps as quickly as possible.

Crease: The 'safe zone', when running between the stumps the batsman can be got 'out' if they have their stumps hit. The crease is basically a finishing line, which when crossed means that the batsman cannot be out until he/she runs again.

Stumps: Three sticks of wood topped by the bails (smaller bits of wood).

Means of scoring:

Hit the ball, and run to the other end of the wicket (pitch). This scores one 'run' or point per length ran. The other batsman has to run to the opposite end to the one you run to.

Hit the ball beyond the boundary of the entire cricket field. This scores four if it bounces before the boundary or six if it lands beyond the boundary.

The bowler bowls extremely badly. The bowler is made to bowl the ball again and a run is given to the batting team.

The bowler bowls and both the batsman and the wicket keeper misses the ball. The batsmen may decide to run as if they had hit the ball.

How to get 'out':

1) The bowler's bowl hits the batsman's stumps. Or the batsman hits the stumps.

2) The batsman hits the ball and a member of the opposition catches the ball before it touches the ground.

3) The ball hits the stumps while the batsman runs between the stumps and hasn't got a single part of themselves or the bat touching the floor past the 'crease'.

Rules:

Asides from the parts explained above we have these rules:

1) Bowling: should conventional bowling (over arm) be beyond the bowlers abilities, underarm will be allowed at the umpire's discretion.

2) Limited overs: There will be only a limited number of overs allowed for each team, in order to allow both teams a chance to bat and field.

3) Limited score: We may have to introduce a limited number of runs the batsman can score individually should they prove a tad too good!

4) The Leg Before Wicket (LBW) rule will not be stringently enforced, just avoid standing directly in front of the stumps as you are supposed to use your bat, not your body to protect the stumps.

Other Stuff:

Fielding team: All the members of the fielding team are on the cricket field. Attempting to prevent runs and trying get the batsmen out.

Batting team: Only two members of the batting team are of the field at any time, with the next member replacing the last when he/she is out.

Summary:

Bowler throws ball to batsman, batsman hits ball, fielders try to stop/catch the ball.

The umpires will tell you if you've done any of these incorrectly and when the batsman has been dismissed.

Equipment

Cricket Ball: hard, cork and string ball, covered with leather. A bit like a baseball (in size and hardness), but the leather covering is thicker and joined in two hemispheres, not in a tennis ball pattern. The seam is thus like an equator, and the stitching is raised slightly. The circumference is between 224 and 229 millimeters (8.81 to 9.00 inches), and the ball weighs between 156 and 163 grams (5.5 to 5.75 ounces). Traditionally the ball is dyed red, with the stitching left white. Nowadays white balls are also used, for visibility in games played at night under artificial lighting.

Cricket Bat: blade made of willow, flat on one side, humped on the other for strength, attached to a sturdy cane handle. The blade has a maximum width of 108 millimeters (4.25 inches) and the whole bat has a maximum length of 965 millimeters (38 inches).

Wickets: there are two wickets - wooden structures made up of a set of three stumps topped by a pair of bails. These are described below.

Stumps: three wooden posts, 25 millimeters (1 inch) in diameter and 813 millimeters (32 inches) high. They have spikes extending from their bottom end and are hammered into the ground in an evenly spaced row, with the outside edges of the outermost stumps 228 millimeters (9 inches) apart.

Bails: two wooden crosspieces which sit in grooves atop the adjacent pairs of stumps.

The Field

A cricket field is a roughly elliptical field of flat grass, ranging in size from about 90 to 150 meters across, bounded by an obvious fence or other marker. There is no fixed size or shape for the field, although large deviations from a low-eccentricity ellipse are discouraged. In the centre of the field, and usually aligned along the long axis of the ellipse, is the pitch , a carefully prepared rectangle of closely mown and rolled grass over hard packed earth. It is marked with white lines, called creases.

Famous cricket players

Sir Donald Bradman

Born in New South Wales in 1908, Donald Bradman was the youngest of George and Emily Bradmans five children. From the time that he was a young child, Donald Bradman loved batting.

He invented a way to entertain himself by coming up with a solo cricket game where he used a golf ball and a stump. His solo game became one that would help him develop in ways that he never recognized until later on with the stump and ball practice perfecting his speed. At the age of twelve, Donald Bradman would cross over a phenomenal milestone when he reached his first century and scored over one hundred runs while playing cricket for Bowral Public School.

Donald Bradman would realize many career successes and easily gained the notoriety as one of the most prominent sports figures in Australian history. His career records includes a 99.94 test batting average and he is said to be one of the best if not the best, statistics in major sports.

Donald Bradman was a sports leader needed during the Great Depression His fan base never faltered and his fans followed him throughout a twenty-year career. He wasnt always polite to the media and he was often viewed as controversial because of rocky relationships that ranged from teammates to the journalists who reported on his games.

A superstar in his own right, Donald Bradman married in 1932. At his wedding, uninvited guests looked on as they waited to see the great Donald Bradman marry. His honeymoon would be spent on a tour filled with cricket-playing opportunities.

In 1940, Bradman joined the Royal Australian Air Force. He would later be transferred to the Army and placed on lighter duty but it would soon be discovered that Bradman had poor eyesight and suffered from chronic pain, now widely accepted and recognized as fibromyalgia.

Donald Bradman would go on to tackle administrative positions within the game he adored as well as write passionately about it. He will forever be remembered as one of the greatest batsman of all time.

Sir John Berry 'Jack' Hobbs

Hobbs was an English cricketer. He was born in 1882 at Cambridge and died in 1963. He started his first-class cricket career playing for Cambridgeshire in 1904 before joining Surrey in 1905, staying with them until 1935 and scoring a record 61237 runs in first-class cricket and a record 197 centuries. He played in every Test Match for England between 1907 and 1930, establishing himself as an outstanding opening batsman with his partner Herbert Sutcliffe. In 1926 he captained England, the same year scoring a record 316 runs at Lords. He was the first crircket player to be knighted, in 1953.

Sydney Francis Barnes

Was one of the finest bowlers in cricket history. In 27 test matches he took a phenomenal 189 wickets at an average of 16.43 runs per wicket. He bowled at varying speeds, between Fast and Slow Medium and could impart Leg spin or Off spin on the cricket ball to achieve a prodigious amount of turn off the pitch at any pace. He is also the only cricketer to be selected to play for England while playing league cricket.

Sydney Francis Barnes was born on the 19 April 1873 in Smethwick, Staffordshire. He was the second of five children and worked for the same company in Birmingham for 63 years. He briefly played county cricket for Lancashire but played the majority of his cricket for Staffordshire in the Minor Counties Championship and league cricket. His record for Staffordshire was 1441 wickets at a cost of 8.15 runs per wicket.

Malcolm Denzil Marshall

Was a right-handed batsman and a right-arm fast bowler of West Indies. Marshall was considered to be one of the great fast bowlers in the history of cricket. Marshall debuted in the ODI in 1980. He ended his career in 1992. In his ODI career, Marshall has taken 157 wickets in 136 matches at an average of 26.96. His best bowling figure in the ODI is 4 wickets for 18 runs. He has scored 955 runs in his career, 66 being his highest. Marshall has taken 15 catches in ODI. This great bowler of West Indies died from cancer in 1999.

Malcolm Marshall has played in the World Cup thrice in 1983, 1987 and 1992. In 11 World Cup matches, Marshall has scored only 40 runs with the highest 18 runs. He has taken 14 wickets in the tournament, 3 wickets for 28 runs being his best bowling figure.

Other famous players: Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara, Curtly Ambrose, Allan Border, Glenn McGrath, Wasim Akram, Muttiah Muralitharan, Ricky Ponting, Mark Taylor, Ian Healy, Courtney Walsh, Mark Waugh, Anil Kumble, Rahul Dravid, Graham Gooch, Andrew Flintoff, Matthew Hayden, Merv Hughes, Aravinda de Silva, Adam Gilchrist, David Boon, Martin Crowe, Stephen Fleming, Brett Lee, Darren Lehmann, Steve Waugh, Jacques Kallis, Mohammad Yousuf , Shoaib Akhtar, Kevin Pietersen, Tim May, Robin Smith, Allan Donald, Bruce Reid, Michael Vaughan, Andy Flower, Stephen Harmison, Sanath Jayasuriya, Stuart MacGill, Kapil Dev , Justin Langer, Ravi Shastri, Michael Atherton, Alec Stewart, Waqar Younis, Dilip Vengsarkar, Chris Cairns, Brian McMillan.