Cricket is one of the most popular and exciting sports in the modern world. The game of Cricket originated in England. According to Wizdon (Bible of Cricket), Cricket was described for the first time in 1300 AD. Cricket was played among England cowboys. It is proved by the diary of Edward First of England. According to him, Cricket was played in Navendon of Kent during 1300 A.D. During that time, a hole dug in the ground was used instead of wickets, and bowlers used to make the ball enter in that hole.

History of Cricket

The first cricket match was played in 1709 between the teams of London and Kent. The golden era of Cricket emerged in 1760, when the first England Cricket Club, namely Hembuldon club, was formed. In 1787 MCC (Melbourne Cricket Club) was constituted. The first test match was played in 1877 between Australia and England in Melbourne. Australia won it. The imperial cricket conference was formed in 1909. It was changed to ICC in 1965. First, a day match was played on January 5, 1971. Britishers are credited with introducing Cricket in India. In 1792 (Now Kolkata) Calcutta cricket club was formed. India played its first test match in 1932 against England. Cricket World Cup was introduced in the year 1975 in England.

Measurments and specifications of equipments

Specifications Measurments
Number of players in Cricket team 11 + 5 (extra) 16
Number of umpires in a Cricket match 2 + 1 (Third umpire)
Weight of the Cricket ball 5 1/2 to 5 3/4 ounces (156 gm)
Circumference of Cricket ball 8 inch to 9 inch (22.4 cm to 22.9 cm)
Length of the Cricket bat 38 inch (96.5 cm)
The widest part of Cricket bat 4 1/4 inches (10.8 cm)
The breadth of pitch on both side from 4 feet 4 inch central wicket
Distance of stumps from one side to other 22 yards
Breadth of wickets 9 inches
Colour of ball White for night and red for day time
Number of scorers 2
Time to change the batsman 2 minutes
Time for changing every innings 10 minutes
Types of matches 20-20, one day, three days, five days
Height of wicket from ground 28 inches
Radius of small circle 27.4 m
Radius of boundary 68.58 m

General Rules

1. Players:
(i) Cricket is played among two teams and each team has 11 players.
(ii)Match is always started by toss and captain of each team announces the names of players before the toss.
2. Extra players:
An extra player can replace the nominated player in a game if the player gets ill or for some other reasons, but with prior permission of umpire. Umpire may permit extra player to :
(i) Field if nominated gets injured,
(ii) Run if the batsman gets injured If a player leaves the ground to change his shoes or clothing, extra player would not replace that player. Extra player can’t do batting, bowling or wicket keeping.

Other Rules
    • 1. Captain of batting team may declare the inning closed at any time during the match.
    • 2. 6 balls are bowled in an over. “No ball” and wide balls are not counted in an over.
    • 3. If a fielder catches the ball, before it hits the ground after a stroke, then the batsman will be out provided that the fielder is inside the boundary line.
    • 4. Rule of three power play has been introduced to replace the field restrictions for 15 overs.
    • 5. If a player takes more than 2 minutes to reach the crease after a batsman is declared out, he will be declared as out.
    • 6. A player who is found handling the ball will be declared out.
    • 7. Inner edge of the boundary line is considered as the end of boundary line.

Terminology

Column- 1 Column- 2 Column- 3
Bails rubber ashes
dead ball extra (sundries) wicket
fine leg square leg gully
mid-off mid-on mid-wicket
batsman bowler short leg
slip cover extra cover
third man googly off spin
leg spin flight in swing

Important tournaments

    1. Irani Trophy (Ranji winner – Rest of India)
    2. Ashes Cup (Australia – England Test series)
    3. Duleep Trophy (Inter zonal tournament)
    4. Devdhar Trophy (Limited over Inter zonal tournament)
    5. Ranji Trophy (Inter zonal tournament)
    6. Cooch Bihar Trophy (Inter zonal tournament for boys under 19 years)
    7. C.K. Naidu Trophy
    8. Vijay Merchant Trophy (Boys under 15 years)
    9. Rani Jhansi Trophy (Inter zonal Tournament, women)
    10. Indira Priyadarshini Trophy (One day, women)
    11. ICC Trophy (One day)
    12. Australian Cup (One day)
    13. Champions Trophy (One day)
    14. Sharjah Cup (One day)
    15. World Cup Twenty-Twenty

Venues

Indian
Stadium City
Eden Garden Kolkata
Wankhede Stadium Mumbai
Nehru Stadium Indore
Firoj shah Kotla Delhi
P.C.A. Mohali
Green park Kanpur
International
Stadium Country
Lords, Leads, Trent Bridge England
Melborne, Perth, Sydney Australia
Johanesberg, Durban South Africa
Kingston West Indies
Sinhali Srilanka

SPORTS AWARDEES

Arjuna Awardees
Year Awardee
2008 Gautam Gambhir
2009 Jhulan Goswami
2011 Zaheer Khan
2012 Yuvraj Singh
2013 Virat Kohli
2014 Ravichandran Ashwin
Padamshri Awardees
    • 1. Mahendra Singh Dhoni
    • 2. Virender Sehwag
    • 3. Vangipurapu
    • 4. Venkata Sai
    • 5. V.V.S. Laxman
    • 6. Jhulan Goswami
    • 7. Ms Anjum Chopra, Yuvraj Singh
Rajeev Gandhi Khel Ratan Award
    • 1. Sachin Tendulkar (1997-1998)
    • 2. M.S. Dhoni (2007-2008)
Padam Bhusan Award
Year Awardee
1991 L Amarnath
1991 D.B. Deodhar
1991 Kapil Dev
2002 C.G. Bonte
2013 Rahul Dravid
Padam Vibhushan

2008 Sachin Tendulkar

Viva Questions on Cricket as Sports

What is MCC?

Melbourne Cricket Club.

What is no ball in cricket?

When a ball is not delivered according to the rules, then it is declared as no ball by the umpire.

What is LBW in Cricket game?

Leg Before Wicket.

What is the length of cricket pitch?

22 yards (20.12 m)

What is the height of stumps?

28 inch above the ground.

What is the colour of cricket ball in day and night matches?

Red and white.

What do you mean by seam?

The aroused part with stiches on the ball is called seam.

What is the length of bowling crease?

The length of bowling crease is 8 feet 8 inches.

What is the maximum time limit for a new batsman to come on the ground?

The time limit is only 2 minutes,in case of a twenty-20 match it is 90 seconds.

What is gully?

The position on off side fielding between slip and point is called gully.

What do you men by sitter?

The term sitter is used for a very easy catch.

What is Cricket?
Events of Cricket
Cricket main awards in India
Cricket tournaments
Cricket grounds
Cricket leages
Cricket in Asia
World cup Cricket
Cricket awards and medales
Tournaments and matches in Cricket
Rule of Cricket
FAQ on Cricket
Last Edited: January 27, 2022