An 11-a-side bat-and-ball field game the object of which is to score more runs than one’s opponents. Variants include indoor cricket, 6-a-side, and single wicket for which different rules apply. The laws are more copious and more complex than for any other game. Apart from the laws there is an inherent complexity in the possibilities of the game and how it is played, in its remarkable range of techniques and skills, in its technical, idiomatic, and slang language, in its dependence on the weather (and atmospheric conditions), and in its constantly fluctuating balance of power; it is one of the least predictable of games. It appears to be the only sport which may go on for anything from one to five, six, or more days. In the longest first-class match on record (the “timeless” and final Test of England’s South African tour of 1938-1939) play began on March 3 and the match had to be abandoned on March 14 without a result.
The essential officials are two umpires who control the play. One stands at the bowler’s end, the other is square on to the batting wicket so that the batsman has his back to him. After each over they swap positions.
Their main duties are:
(1) to judge whether a batsman is out in answer to an appeal of “how’s that?” from the fielding side;
(2) to ensure that the batting, bowling, and fielding are within the laws;
(3) to signal boundaries, leg-byes, byes, wides, no-balls, and short runs (see below) to the scorers;
(4) to decide if conditions are fit or unfit for play. There are also two scorers. In the early 1990s a third umpire was introduced for Test matches. He sits in front of a television screen in the pavilion and may be called upon to adjudicate in the matter of a run-out or stumping when the umpires on the field are uncertain. They communicate by radio. Latterly, too, a match referee has been introduced for some competitions.
Dimensions of a Cricket Pitch
The cricket pitch is the stretch of grass between the two sets of cricket stumps. It is 22 yd (20.12 m) in length and about 8 ft 8 in (2.64 m) wide. The stumps are 28 in high and 9 in (about 23 cm) wide. To bowl a legal delivery, the bowler must release the ball while between the return creases and with the front foot on or behind the popping crease, which is 4 ft (1.22 m) in front of the bowling crease.
Batting stocks
The standard batting strokes are:
(1) forward stroke
(2) back stroke
On the off-side the basic shots are:
(1) the late cut—the batsman brings his bat down on the ball as it is going past the stumps and steers or hits it in the direction of the slips and third man;
(2) the square cut—the batsman brings the bat down hard on a rising ball and strikes it in the direction of gully and cover-point;
(3) the forward cut—rarely seen now, but it is a front foot shot, executed somewhat like a square cut, which sends the ball somewhere between cover-point and extra-cover;
(4) the off-drive—played like the on-drive with a full swing of the bat sending the ball in the direction of mid-off;
(5) the cover drive—like the off-drive, but the ball goes between extra-cover and cover or cover-point
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20-20 world cup
Australia is in the form compare to all other countries. Recently 20-20 ICC world cup was finished during the year 2007 Unfortunately Australia lost the game with Pakistan and India. India and Pakistan hit the finals in that tournament, that match was very trilling at finals. Finally India beat the Pakistan by 5 runs. Pakistan lost all wickets at 19.4 over. Yuvaraj Singh shorted six sixes for six balls, and also made an world record that 50 runs in 12 balls, this one is an record in any form with England in tournament of 20-20 world cup.
