More About World Cup Cricket,Bangladesi cricket

Cricket is the national game of English .Now cricket travels down to a good number of countries .A cricket game is played between two teams .Each teams consists of eleven members .A match is sometimes played the whole day ,even day and night .The umpire’s signal marks the beginning of the play and the bowler start bowling .After every six balls the bowler’s over ends .The batsman may be out of many ways ,such as ,’bowler out’ ,’stamped out’ ,’caught out,’ leg before wicket out ’and  ‘hit out’.

At present 122 countries are playing cricket, 35 countries are the members of ICC , of ton countries are full pledged members where Test match are held .World Cup Cricket competition is held in between the countries .The World Cup Cricket competition are generally held with grandeur, colour  ,spirit and enthusiasm .

 Bangladesh has advanced in playing cricket .At present cricket is parallel to football .The popularity of cricket has been in full progression in Bangladesh just after Bangladesh   has won the ICC trophy in 1997 .Since 1991 Bangladesh has been doing well in the field of cricket she has won the ICC trophy and got chance to play World Cup tournament in great Britain in 1999 . Bangladesh also showed outstanding performance in the World Cup tournament by defeating both Scotland and giant Pakistan. In the last World Cup held in Austrilia their the Bangladesh was in 7 in rank .

Cricket is a royal game .Cricket teaches manliness, obedience, patience, perseverance and co-operation .But fairness is the essence of this game .The players of Bangladesh have great potentialities in the field of cricket and one day Bangladeshi players may earn money and fame in the World Cup Cricket     

cricket history of india

The entire history of cricket in India and the sub-continent as a whole is based on the existence and development of the British Raj via the East India Company.

On 31 December 1600, Queen Elizabeth I granted a Royal Charter to the East India Company, often colloquially referred to as "John Company". It was initially a joint-stock company that sought trading privileges in India and the East Indies, but the Royal Charter effectively gave it a 21-year monopoly on all trade in the region. In time, the East India Company transformed from a commercial trading venture to one which virtually ruled India as it acquired auxiliary governmental and military functions, until its dissolution in 1858 following the Indian Mutiny. The East India Company was the means by which cricket was introduced into India.

In 1639, the Company effectively founded the city of Madras, and in 1661 acquired Portuguese territory on the west coast of India that included Bombay. In 1690, an Anglo-Moghul treaty allowed English merchants to establish a trading settlement on the Hooghly River, which became Calcutta. All of these places became major cricket centres as the popularity of the game grew among the native population.
Early developments

The first definite reference to cricket being played anywhere in the sub-continent is a report of English sailors of the East India Company written in 1737. It refers to cricket being played at Cambay, near Baroda in 1721. The Calcutta Cricket and Football Club was known to be in existence by 1792, but was possibly founded more than a decade earlier. In 1799, another club was formed at Seringapatam in south India after the successful British siege and the defeat of Tipu Sultan.
Beginning of first-class cricket

In 1864, a Madras v. Calcutta match was arguably the start of first-class cricket in India.

The most important fixture in the 19th century was the Bombay Presidency Match which evolved, first, into the Bombay Triangular and then into the Bombay Quadrangular. The match was first played in 1877 and then intermittently for several seasons until finally being given first-class status in 1892-93.

An English team led by George Vernon in 1889–90 was the first foreign team to tour India but none of the matches that it played are considered first-class.

First-class cricket definitely began in the 1892–93 season with two Europeans v Parsees matches, at Bombay (match drawn) and Poona (Parsees won by 3 wickets). In the same season, Lord Hawke captained an English team that played four first-class matches including a game against "All India" on 26–28 January 1893.
Domestic cricket
Bombay Presidency winners

    1892-93 – Parsees
    1893-94 – Europeans
    1894-95 – Europeans shared with Parsees
    1895-96 – Europeans shared with Parsees
    1896-97 – Europeans
    1897-98 – Parsees
    1898-99 – Europeans
    1899-00 – Europeans shared with Parsees
    1900-01 – Parsees
    1901-02 – Europeans shared with Parsees
    1902-03 – Europeans shared with Parsees
    1903-04 – Parsees
    1904-05 – Parsees
    1905-06 – Hindus shared with Parsees
    1906-07 – Hindus

Bombay Triangular winners

    1907-08 – Parsees
    1908-09 – Europeans
    1909-10 – Europeans shared with Parsees
    1910-11 – Europeans shared with Hindus
    1911-12 – Parsees

Bombay Quadrangular winners

    1912-13 – Parsees
    1913-14 – Hindus shared with Muslims
    1914-15 – Hindus shared with Parsees
    1915-16 – Europeans
    1916-17 – Europeans shared with Parsees
    1917-18 – Hindus shared with Parsees

Leading players by season

The lists below give the leading first-class runscorers and wicket-takers in each domestic season.
Batsmen

    1892-93 – Ledger Hill (Lord Hawke's XI) – 212 runs @ 35.33 (HS 132); the leading Indian batsman was Nasarvanji Bapasola with 155 @ 38.75 (HS 65)
    1893-94 –

Bowlers

    1892-93 – John Hornsby (Lord Hawke's XI) – 28 wickets @ 10.67 (BB 8–40); the leading Indian bowler was Dinshaw Writer with 19 @ 4.94 (BB 8–35)
    1893-94 –

International cricket

The first Indian ventures into international cricket were by the Parsees cricket team which toured England twice in the 1880s. See: Parsee cricket team in England in 1886 and Parsee cricket team in England in 1888.
International tours of India
G. F. Vernon's XI 1889–90

An English cricket team led by G F Vernon toured Ceylon and India in the winter of 1889-90. The team played no first-class matches but it was a pioneering tour being the first visit by an English team to India and the second to Ceylon. In all, the team played 13 matches of which 10 were won, 1 was lost and 2 drawn.
Lord Hawke's XI 1892–93

Further information: Lord Hawke's XI cricket team in Ceylon and India in 1892–93
Further reading

    Rowland Bowen, Cricket: A History of its Growth and Development, Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1970
    Vasant Raiji, India's Hambledon Men, Tyeby Press, 1986
    Mihir Bose, A History of Indian Cricket, Andre-Deutsch, 1990
    Ramachandra Guha, A Corner of a Foreign Field – An Indian History of a British Sport, Picador, 2001

laws Of cricket

The laws of cricket are a set of rules established by the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) which describe the laws of cricket worldwide, to ensure uniformity and fairness. There are currently 42 laws, which outline all aspects of how the game is played from how a team wins a game, how a batsman is dismissed, through to specifications on how the pitch is to be prepared and maintained. The MCC is a private club based in London in England and is no longer the game's official governing body; however the MCC retains the copyright in the laws of the game and only the MCC may change the laws, although nowadays this would usually only be done after discussions with the game's global governing body the International Cricket Council (ICC). Cricket is one of the few sports for which the governing principles are referred to as 'Laws' rather than as 'Rules' or 'Regulations'. However regulations to supplement and/or vary the laws may be agreed for particular competitions. Those applying for international matches (referred to as "playing conditions") can be found on the ICC's website.^[1]

Contents

• 1 History
• 2 Today's laws
  • 2.1 Players and officials
  • 2.2 Equipment and laying out the pitch
  • 2.3 Structure of the game
  • 2.4 Scoring and winning
  • 2.5 Mechanics of dismissal
  • 2.6 Ways to get out
  • 2.7 Fielders
  • 2.8 Fair and unfair play
  • 2.9 Appendices
• 3 See also
• 4 References

1. 5 External links   The Marylebone Cricket Club is the framer of the Laws of Cricket, the rules governing play of the game. The Laws are intended to apply to all two innings matches; the International Cricket Council has implemented "Standard Playing Conditions for Test Matches" and "Standard Playing Conditions for One Day Internationals" to augment the Laws of Cricket. Similarly, each cricketing country has implemented Playing Conditions to govern domestic cricket. The Laws provide for One-day, or Limited overs cricket (including Twenty20) by stipulating that the number of innings per side may be one or two, and that each innings may be restricted to a maximum number of overs, or a maximum period of time.
   The Laws retain the Imperial units as they were originally specified, but now also include metric conversions.
   The Laws are organised into a Preface, a Preamble, forty-two Laws, and four appendices. The Preface relates to the Marylebone Cricket Club and the history of the Laws. The Preamble is a new addition and is related to "the Spirit of the Game;" it was introduced to discourage the increasing practices of ungentlemanly conduct.
   Eight amendments were made to the laws which dealt with bad light, the toss, spirit of cricket, practice sessions, fielding athleticism and rare dismissals on 30 September 2010 w.e.f 1 October 2010. These amendments can be read here
   The Laws themselves deal with the following:
   

   Players and officials

   In men's cricket the ball must weigh between 5.5 and 5.75 ounces (155.9 and 163 g) and measure between 8 13/16 and 9 in (22.4 and 22.9 cm) in circumference.

   The Cricket pitch dimensions

   A wicket consists of three stumps, upright wooden poles that are hammered into the ground, topped with two wooden crosspieces, known as the bails.

   The first four laws cover the players, the umpires and the scorers.
   Law 1: The players. A cricket team consists of eleven players, including a captain. Outside of official competitions, teams can agree to play more than eleven-a-side, though no more than eleven players may field.
   Law 2: Substitutes. In cricket, a substitute may be brought on for an injured fielder. However, a substitute may not bat, bowl, keep wicket or act as captain.^[2] The original player may return if he has recovered. A batsman who becomes unable to run may have a runner, who completes the runs while the batsman continues batting. Alternatively, a batsman may retire hurt or ill, and may return later to resume his innings if he recovers.
   Law 3: The umpires. There are two umpires, who apply the Laws, make all necessary decisions, and relay the decisions to the scorers. While not required under the laws of cricket, in higher level cricket a third umpire (located off the ground and available to assist the on-field umpires) may be used under the specific playing conditions of a particular match or tournament.
   Law 4: The scorers. There are two scorers who respond to the umpires' signals and keep the score.
   

   Equipment and laying out the pitch

   After dealing with the players, the laws move on to discuss equipment and pitch specifications, except for specifications about the wicket-keeper's gloves, which are dealt with in Law 40. These laws are supplemented by Appendices A and B (see below).
   Law 5: The ball. A cricket ball is between 8 13/16 and 9 inches (22.4 cm and 22.9 cm) in circumference, and weighs between 5.5 and 5.75 ounces (155.9g and 163g). Only one ball is used at a time, unless it is lost, when it is replaced with a ball of similar wear. It is also replaced at the start of each innings, and may, at the request of the fielding side, be replaced with a new ball, after a minimum number of overs have been bowled as prescribed by the regulations under which the match is taking place (currently 80 in Test matches). The gradual degradation of the ball through the innings is an important aspect of the game.
   Law 6: The bat. The bat is no more than 38 inches (97 cm) in length, and no more than 4.25 inches (10.8 cm) wide. The hand or glove holding the bat is considered part of the bat. Ever since the Heavy Metal incident, a highly publicised marketing attempt by Dennis Lillee, who brought out an aluminium bat during an international game, the laws have provided that the blade of the bat must be made of wood (and in practice, they are made from White Willow wood).
   Law 7: The pitch. The pitch is a rectangular area of the ground 22 yards (20 m) long and 10 ft (3.0 m) wide. The Ground Authority selects and prepares the pitch, but once the game has started, the umpires control what happens to the pitch. The umpires are also the arbiters of whether the pitch is fit for play, and if they deem it unfit, with the consent of both captains can change the pitch. Professional cricket is almost always played on a grass surface. However, in the event a non-turf pitch is used, the artificial surface must have a minimum length of 58 ft (18 m) and a minimum width of 6 ft (1.8 m).
   Law 8: The wickets. The wicket consists of three wooden stumps that are 28 inches (71 cm) tall. The stumps are placed along the batting crease with equal distances between each stump. They are positioned so they are 9 inches (23 cm) wide. Two wooden bails are placed on top of the stumps. The bails must not project more than 0.5 inches (1.3 cm) above the stumps, and must, for men's cricket, be 4 ⁵⁄₁₆ inches (10.95 cm) long. There are also specified lengths for the barrel and spigots of the bail. There are different specifications for the wickets and bails for junior cricket. The umpires may dispense with the bails if conditions are unfit (i.e. it is windy so they might fall off by themselves). Further details on the specifications of the wickets are contained in Appendix A to the laws.
   Law 9: Bowling, popping, and return creases. This law sets out the dimensions and locations of the creases. The bowling crease, which is the line the stumps are in the middle of, is drawn at each end of the pitch so that the three stumps in the set of stumps at that end of the pitch fall on it (and consequently it is perpendicular to the imaginary line joining the centres of both middle stumps). Each bowling crease should be 8 feet 8 inches (2.64 m) in length, centred on the middle stump at each end, and each bowling crease terminates at one of the return creases. The popping crease, which determines whether a batsman is in his ground or not, and which is used in determining front-foot no balls (see law 24), is drawn at each end of the pitch in front of each of the two sets of stumps. The popping crease must be 4 feet (1.2 m) in front of and parallel to the bowling crease. Although it is considered to have unlimited length, the popping crease must be marked to at least 6 feet (1.8 m) on either side of the imaginary line joining the centres of the middle stumps. The return creases, which are the lines a bowler must be within when making a delivery, are drawn on each side of each set of the stumps, along each sides of the pitch (so there are four return creases in all, one on either side of both sets of stumps). The return creases lie perpendicular to the popping crease and the bowling crease, 4 feet 4 inches (1.32 m) either side of and parallel to the imaginary line joining the centres of the two middle stumps. Each return crease terminates at one end at the popping crease but the other end is considered to be unlimited in length and must be marked to a minimum of 8 feet (2.4 m) from the popping crease.
   Law 10: Preparation and maintenance of the playing area. When a cricket ball is bowled it almost always bounces on the pitch, and the behaviour of the ball is greatly influenced by the condition of the pitch. As a consequence, detailed rules on the management of the pitch are necessary. This law contains the rules governing how pitches should be prepared, mown, rolled, and maintained.
   Law 11: Covering the pitch. The pitch is said to be 'covered' when the groundsmen have placed covers on it to protect it against rain or dew. The laws stipulate that the regulations on covering the pitch shall be agreed by both captains in advance. The decision concerning whether to cover the pitch greatly affects how the ball will react to the pitch surface, as a ball bounces differently on wet ground as compared to dry ground. The area beyond the pitch where a bowler runs so as to deliver the ball (the 'run-up') should ideally be kept dry so as to avoid injury through slipping and falling, and the Laws also require these to be covered wherever possible when there is wet weather.
   

   Structure of the game

   Laws 12 to 17 outline the structure of the game.
   Law 12: Innings. Before the game, the teams agree whether it is to be over one or two innings, and whether either or both innings are to be limited by time or by overs. In practice, these decisions are likely to be laid down by Competition Regulations, rather than pre-game agreement. In two-innings games, the sides bat alternately unless the follow-on (law 13) is enforced. An innings is closed once all batsmen are dismissed, no further batsmen are fit to play, the innings is declared or forfeited by the batting captain, or any agreed time or over limit is reached. The captain winning the toss of a coin decides whether to bat or to bowl first.
   Law 13: The follow-on. In a two innings match, if the side batting second scores substantially fewer runs than the side batting first, the side that batted first can require their opponents to bat again immediately. The side that enforced the follow-on has the chance to win without batting again. For a game of five or more days, the side batting first must be at least 200 runs ahead to enforce the follow-on; for a three- or four-day game, 150 runs; for a two-day game, 100 runs; for a one-day game, 75 runs. The length of the game is determined by the number of scheduled days play left when the game actually begins.
   Law 14: Declaration and forfeiture. The batting captain can declare an innings closed at any time when the ball is dead. He may also forfeit his innings before it has started.
   Law 15: Intervals. There are intervals between each day's play, a ten-minute interval between innings, and lunch, tea and drinks intervals. The timing and length of the intervals must be agreed before the match begins. There are also provisions for moving the intervals and interval lengths in certain situations, most notably the provision that if nine wickets are down, the tea interval is delayed to the earlier of the fall of the next wicket and 30 minutes elapsing.
   Law 16: Start of play; cessation of play. Play after an interval commences with the umpire's call of "Play", and at the end of a session by "Time". The last hour of a match must contain at least 20 overs, being extended in time so as to include 20 overs if necessary.
   Law 17: Practice on the field. There may be no batting or bowling practice on the pitch except before the day's play starts and after the day's play has ended. Bowlers may only have trial run-ups if the umpires are of the view that it would waste no time.
   

   Scoring and winning

   The laws then move on to discuss how runs can be scored and how one team can beat the other.
   Law 18: Scoring runs. Runs are scored when the two batsmen run to each other's end of the pitch. Several runs can be scored from one ball.
   Law 19: Boundaries. A boundary is marked round the edge of the field of play. If the ball is hit into or past this boundary, four runs are scored, or six runs if the ball didn't hit the ground before crossing the boundary.
   Law 20: Lost ball. If a ball in play is lost or cannot be recovered, the fielding side can call "lost ball". The batting side keeps any penalty runs (such as no-balls and wides) and scores the higher of six runs and the number of runs actually run.
   Law 21: The result. The side which scores the most runs wins the match. If both sides score the same number of runs, the match is tied. However, the match may run out of time before the innings have all been completed. In this case, the match is drawn.
   Law 22: The over. An over consists of six balls bowled, excluding wides and no balls. Consecutive overs are delivered from opposite ends of the pitch. A bowler may not bowl two consecutive overs.
   Law 23: Dead ball. The ball comes into play when the bowler begins his run up, and becomes dead when all the action from that ball is over. Once the ball is dead, no runs can be scored and no batsmen can be dismissed. The ball becomes dead for a number of reasons, most commonly when a batsman is dismissed, when a boundary is hit, or when the ball has finally settled with the bowler or wicketkeeper.
   Law 24: No ball. A ball can be a no ball for several reasons: if the bowler bowls from the wrong place; or if he straightens his elbow during the delivery; or if the bowling is dangerous; or if the ball bounces more than twice or rolls along the ground before reaching the batsman; or if the fielders are standing in illegal places. A no ball adds one run to the batting team's score, in addition to any other runs which are scored off it, and the batsman can't be dismissed off a no ball except by being run out, or by handling the ball, hitting the ball twice, or obstructing the field.
   Law 25: Wide ball. An umpire calls a ball "wide" if, in his or her opinion, the batsman did not have a reasonable opportunity to score off the ball. A ball is called wide when the bowler bowls a bouncer that goes over the head of the batsman. A wide adds one run to the batting team's score, in addition to any other runs which are scored off it, and the batsman can't be dismissed off a wide except by being run out or stumped, or by handling the ball, hitting his wicket, or obstructing the field.
   Law 26: Bye and Leg bye. If a ball that is not a no ball or wide passes the striker and runs are scored, they are called byes. If a ball that is not a no ball hits the striker but not the bat and runs are scored, they are called leg-byes. However, leg-byes cannot be scored if the striker is neither attempting a stroke nor trying to avoid being hit. Byes and leg-byes are credited to the team's but not the batsman's total.
   

   Mechanics of dismissal

   Laws 27 to 29 discuss the main mechanics of how a batsman may be dismissed.
   
   Law 27: Appeals. If the fielders believe a batsman is out, they may ask the umpire "How's That?", commonly shouted emphatically with arms raised, before the next ball is bowled. The umpire then decides whether the batsman is out. Strictly speaking, the fielding side must appeal for all dismissals, including obvious ones such as bowled. However, a batsman who is obviously out will normally leave the pitch without waiting for an appeal or a decision from the umpire.
   Law 28: The wicket is down. Several methods of being out occur when the wicket is put down. This means that the wicket is hit by the ball, or the batsman, or the hand in which a fielder is holding the ball, and at least one bail is removed, but if both bails have already been previously removed, one stump must be removed from the ground.
   Law 29: Batsman out of his ground. The batsmen can be run out or stumped if they are out of their ground. A batsman is in his ground if any part of him or his bat is on the ground behind the popping crease. If both batsman are in the middle of the pitch when a wicket is put down, the batsman closer to that end is out.
   

   Ways to get out

   Laws 30 to 39 discuss the various ways a batsman may be dismissed. In addition to these 10 methods, a batsman may retire out. That provision is in Law 2. Of these, caught is generally the commonest, followed by bowled, leg before wicket, run out and stumped. The other forms of dismissal are very rare.
   Law 30: Bowled. A batsman is out if his wicket is put down by a ball delivered by the bowler. It is irrelevant whether the ball has touched the bat, glove, or any part of the batsman before going on to put down the wicket, though it may not touch another player or an umpire before doing so.
   Law 31: Timed out. An incoming batsman must be ready to face a ball (or be at the crease with his partner ready to face a ball) within 3 minutes of the outgoing batsman being dismissed, otherwise the incoming batsman will be out.
   Law 32: Caught. If a ball hits the bat or the hand holding the bat and is then caught by the opposition within the field of play before the ball bounces, then the batsman is out.
   Law 33: Handled the ball. If a batsman wilfully handles the ball with a hand that is not touching the bat without the consent of the opposition, he is out.
   Law 34: Hit the ball twice. If a batsman hits the ball twice, other than for the sole purpose of protecting his wicket or with the consent of the opposition, he is out.
   Law 35: Hit wicket. If, after the bowler has entered his delivery stride and while the ball is in play, a batsman puts his wicket down by his bat or his body he is out. The striker is also out hit wicket if he puts his wicket down by his bat or his body in setting off for a first run. "Body" includes the clothes and equipment of the batsman.
   Law 36: Leg before wicket (LBW). If the ball hits the batsman without first hitting the bat, but would have hit the wicket if the batsman was not there, and the ball does not pitch on the leg side of the wicket, the batsman will be out. However, if the ball strikes the batsman outside the line of the off-stump, and the batsman was attempting to play a stroke, he is not out.
   Law 37: Obstructing the field. If a batsman wilfully obstructs the opposition by word or action, he is out.
   Law 38: Run out. A batsman is out if at any time while the ball is in play no part of his bat or person is grounded behind the popping crease and his wicket is fairly put down by the opposing side.
   Law 39: Stumped. A batsman is out when the wicket-keeper (see Law 40) puts down the wicket, while the batsman is out of his crease and not attempting a run.
   

   Fielders

   Law 40: The wicket-keeper. The keeper is a designated man from the bowling side allowed to stand behind the stumps of the batsman. He is the only player from his side allowed to wear gloves and external leg guards.
   Law 41: The fielder. A fielder is any of the eleven cricketers from the bowling side. Fielders are positioned to field the ball, to stop runs and boundaries, and to get batsmen out by catching or running them out.
   

   Fair and unfair play

   Law 42: Fair and unfair play.
   

   Appendices

   The five appendices to the laws, are as follows:
   

   Appendix A: Specifications and diagrams of stumps and bails

   Appendix B: Specifications and diagrams of the pitch and creases

   Appendix C: Specifications and diagrams of gloves

   Appendix D: Definitions

   Appendix E: The bat

   See also

   Cricket portal

2. Cricket
3. Cricket field
4. Glossary of cricket terms

References

1. 
   

Rules and Regulations: Overview Retrieved 25 May 2015

2. Law 2 (Substitutes and runners; batsman or fielder leaving the field; batsman retiring; batsman commencing innings) Retrieved 30 June 2015

• Wisden Cricketers' Almanack
• The official laws of cricket
• 1774 Laws
• 1884, 1947, 1980 and 2000 Laws
• A Social History of English Cricket by Derek Birley ISBN 1-85410-941-3

External links

• Balls per over in first class cricket
• International Cricket Council rules and regulations for international matches
• Laws of Cricket animations

History Of Cricket

The game of cricket has a known history spanning from the 16th century to the present day, with international matches played since 1844, although the official history of international Test cricket began in 1877. During this period, the game developed from its origins in England into a game which is now played professionally in most of the Commonwealth of Nations. Currently the International Cricket Council has 105 affiliated member nations                                                                                                 

Origin

No one knows when or where cricket began but there is a body of evidence, much of it circumstantial, that strongly suggests the game was devised during Saxon or Norman times by children living in the Weald, an area of dense woodlands and clearings in south-east England that lies across Kent and Sussex. It is generally believed that cricket survived as a children's game for many generations before it was increasingly taken up by adults around the beginning of the 17th century. Possibly cricket was derived from bowls, assuming bowls is the older sport, by the intervention of a batsman trying to stop the ball from reaching its target by hitting it away. Playing on sheep-grazed land or in clearings, the original implements may have been a matted lump of sheep’s wool (or even a stone or a small lump of wood) as the ball; a stick or a crook or another farm tool as the bat; and a stool or a tree stump or a gate (e.g., a wicket gate) as the wicket.[1]

Derivation of the name of "cricket"

A number of words are thought to be possible sources for the term "cricket". In the earliest known reference to the sport in 1598 (see below), it is called creckett. The name may have been derived from the Middle Dutch krick(-e), meaning a stick; or the Old English cricc or cryce meaning a crutch or staff.[1] Another possible source is the Middle Dutch word krickstoel, meaning a long low stool used for kneeling in church and which resembled the long low wicket with two stumps used in early cricket.
Another possibility is that the name derives from the Middle Dutch met de (krik ket)sen (i.e., "with the stick chase"), which also suggests a Dutch connection in the game's origin.[2] It is more likely that the terminology of cricket was based on words in use in south east England at the time and, given trade connections with the County of Flanders, especially in the 15th century when it belonged to the Duchy of Burgundy, many Middle Dutch[3] words found their way into southern English dialects.[4]

First definite reference

John Derrick was a pupil at the Royal Grammar School, then the Free School, in Guildford when he and his friends played creckett circa 1550
Despite many prior suggested references, the first definite mention of the game is found in a 1598 court case concerning an ownership dispute over a plot of common land in Guildford, Surrey. A 59-year old coroner, John Derrick, testified that he and his school friends had played creckett on the site fifty years earlier when they attended the Free School. Derrick's account proves beyond reasonable doubt that the game was being played in Surrey circa 1550.[5][6] There is insufficient evidence that a "1533 poem, attributed to John Skelton"[2] (who died in 1529) is the earliest known reference to the sport. The Image of Ipocrisie mentions 'kings of crekettes' and 'wickettes', but provenance is lacking for its authenticity and dating.
The first reference to cricket being played as an adult sport was in 1611, when two men in Sussex were prosecuted for playing cricket on Sunday instead of going to church.[7] In the same year, a dictionary defined cricket as a boys' game and this suggests that adult participation was a recent development.[5]

Early 17th century

A number of references occur up to the English Civil War and these indicate that cricket had become an adult game contested by parish teams, but there is no evidence of county strength teams at this time. Equally, there is little evidence of the rampant gambling that characterised the game throughout the 18th century. It is generally believed, therefore, that village cricket had developed by the middle of the 17th century but that county cricket had not and that investment in the game had not begun.

The Commonwealth

After the Civil War ended in 1648, the new Puritan government clamped down on "unlawful assemblies", in particular the more raucous sports such as football. Their laws also demanded a stricter observance of the Sabbath than there had been previously. As the Sabbath was the only free time available to the lower classes, cricket's popularity may have waned during the Commonwealth. However, it did flourish in public fee-paying schools such as Winchester and St Paul's. There is no actual evidence that Oliver Cromwell's regime banned cricket specifically and there are references to it during the interregnum that suggest it was acceptable to the authorities provided that it did not cause any "breach of the Sabbath".[8] It is believed that the nobility in general adopted cricket at this time through involvement in village games.[5]

Gambling and press coverage

Cricket certainly thrived after the Restoration in 1660 and is believed to have first attracted gamblers making large bets at this time. In 1664, the "Cavalier" Parliament passed the Gaming Act 1664 which limited stakes to £100, although that was still a fortune at the time, equivalent to about £14 thousand in present-day terms . Cricket had certainly become a significant gambling sport by the end of the 17th century. There is a newspaper report of a "great match" played in Sussex in 1697 which was 11-a-side and played for high stakes of 50 guineas a side.
With freedom of the press having been granted in 1696, cricket for the first time could be reported in the newspapers. But it was a long time before the newspaper industry adapted sufficiently to provide frequent, let alone comprehensive, coverage of the game. During the first half of the 18th century, press reports tended to focus on the betting rather than on the play.

Patronage and players

Gambling introduced the first patrons because some of the gamblers decided to strengthen their bets by forming their own teams and it is believed the first "county teams" were formed in the aftermath of the Restoration in 1660, especially as members of the nobility were employing "local experts" from village cricket as the earliest professionals.[5] The first known game in which the teams use county names is in 1709 but there can be little doubt that these sort of fixtures were being arranged long before that. The match in 1697 was probably Sussex versus another county.
The most notable of the early patrons were a group of aristocrats and businessmen who were active from about 1725, which is the time that press coverage became more regular, perhaps as a result of the patrons' influence. These men included the 2nd Duke of Richmond, Sir William Gage, Alan Brodrick and Edwin Stead. For the first time, the press mentions individual players like Thomas Waymark.

Cricket moves out of England

Cricket was introduced to North America via the English colonies in the 17th century,[4] probably before it had even reached the north of England. In the 18th century it arrived in other parts of the globe. It was introduced to the West Indies by colonists[4] and to India by British East India Company mariners in the first half of the century. It arrived in Australia almost as soon as colonisation began in 1788. New Zealand and South Africa followed in the early years of the 19th century.[5]
Cricket never caught on in Canada, despite efforts by an imperial-minded elite to promote the game as a way of identifying with the British Empire. Canada, unlike Australia and the West Indies, witnessed a continual decline in the popularity of the game during 1860–1960. Linked to upper class British-Canadian elites, the game never became popular with the general public. In the summer season it had to compete with baseball. During the First World War, Canadian units stationed in Britain played baseball, not cricket.[10][11]

Development of the Laws

See also: Rules Of Cricket

The basic rules of cricket such as bat and ball, the wicket, pitch dimensions, overs, how out, etc. have existed since time immemorial. In 1728, the Duke of Richmond and Alan Brodick drew up Articles of Agreement to determine the code of practice in a particular game and this became a common feature, especially around payment of stake money and distributing the winnings given the importance of gambling.^[7]
In 1744, the Laws of Cricket were codified for the first time and then amended in 1774, when innovations such as lbw, middle stump and maximum bat width were added. These laws stated that the principals shall choose from amongst the gentlemen present two umpires who shall absolutely decide all disputes. The codes were drawn up by the so-called "Star and Garter Club" whose members ultimately founded MCC at Lord's in 1787. MCC immediately became the custodian of the Laws and has made periodic revisions and recodifications subsequently.^[12]

Rules of cricket

These are the rules.^[1] There are two teams: the team bowling has 11 players on the field. The team batting always has two players on the field.
The captain of the bowling team chooses a bowler from his team; the other 10 players are called fielders. The bowler is trying to aim the ball at a wicket, which is made up of three sticks (called stumps) stuck into the earth, with two small sticks (called bails) balanced on them. One of the fielders, called the wicket keeper, stands behind the wicket to catch the ball if the bowler misses the wicket. The other fielders chase the ball after the batsman has hit it.
The bowler runs towards his wicket, and bowls towards the batsman at the other wicket. He does not throw the ball. He bowls the ball overarm with a straight arm. An 'over' is six balls meaning he bowls six times. Then another player becomes the bowler for the next over, and bowls from the other end, and so on. The same bowler cannot bowl two overs one after the other.
The batsman is trying to defend the wicket from getting hit with the ball. He does this with a bat. When he hits the ball with his bat, he may run toward the other wicket. To score a run, the two batsmen must both run from their wicket to the other wicket, as many times as they can. If the ball leaves the field after being hit without bouncing, six runs are scored. If the ball rolls or bounces out, whether or not the batter hit it, it counts as four runs.
There are different ways that a batsman can get out. The most common ways are:

• The batsman misses the ball and it hits the wicket: called bowled.
• The ball hits the batsman's body when it would have hit the wicket otherwise. Called LBW (leg before wicket). The way this rule is applied is complicated; this is just the general idea.
• A fielder catches the ball after the batsman hits it, and before it bounces or leaves the field: called caught.
• While the batsmen are running, a fielder can throw the ball at the wicket. If the batsmen cannot finish the run, the batsman nearer to the wicket that is hit is out: called run out.

When a batsman is out, another comes onto the field to take his place. The innings is over when ten wickets are taken (i.e. ten of the eleven batsmen are out).
In a one-day game, each side has one innings, and innings are limited to a certain number of overs. In longer formats each side has two innings, and there is no specific limit to the number of overs in an innings.