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.
William Joseph O'ReillyOBE (20 December 1905 – 6 October 1992) was an Australian cricketer, rated as one of the greatest bowlers in the history of the game. Following his retirement from playing, he became a well-respected cricket writer and broadcaster.
O'Reilly was one of the best spin bowlers ever to play cricket. He delivered the ball from a two-fingered grip at close to medium pace with great accuracy, and could produce leg breaks, googlies, and top spinners, with no discernible change in his action. A tall man for a spinner (around 188 cm, 6 ft 2 in), he whirled his arms to an unusual extent and had a low point of delivery that meant it was very difficult for the batsman to read the flight of the ball out of his hand. When O'Reilly died, Sir Donald Bradman said that he was the greatest bowler he had ever faced or watched. In 1935, Wisden wrote of him: "O'Reilly was one of the best examples in modern cricket of what could be described as a 'hostile' bowler." In 1939, Wisden reflected on Bill O'Reilly's successful 1938Ashes tour of England: "He is emphatically one of the greatest bowlers of all time." (Full article...)
Essex County Cricket Club is one of the 18 member clubs of the English County Championship, representing the historic county of Essex. The club was established on 14 January 1876 and has played first-class cricket since 1894, List A cricket since 1963 and Twenty20 cricket since 2003.[A] Unlike most professional sports, in which a team usually has a single fixed home ground, county cricket clubs have traditionally used different grounds in various towns and cities within the county for home matches, although the use of minor "out grounds" has diminished since the 1980s. Essex have played first class, List A, or Twenty20 matches at 14 different grounds.
The club's debut home fixture in first-class cricket was played at the County Ground in Leyton against Leicestershire in 1894. This ground remained the county's headquarters and principal match venue until the end of the 1933 season and was used regularly for over 80 years. Until April 2024 it had still hosted more of the county's first-class matches than any other ground. Essex played their final match at the venue in 1977, however, since when the similarly named County Ground in Chelmsford has hosted the majority of first-class games. The ground in Leyton has continued to be used for matches in local competitions. (Full article...)
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Bermuda recorded the largest margin of defeat in a World Cup match against India at Queen's Park Oval (pictured), losing by 257 runs in the 2007 World Cup. From their first match in 2006 to their final match in 2009, 37 players represented the Bermuda cricket team in One Day Internationals (ODIs). A One Day International is an international cricket match between two representative teams, each having ODI status, as determined by the International Cricket Council (ICC). An ODI differs from Test matches in that the number of overs per team is limited, and that each team has only one innings.
The Bermuda Cricket Board (BCB) was formed in 1948, when the Somers Isles Cricket League amalgamated with the Bermuda Cricket Club to form the BCB. They were admitted to the ICC as an associate member in 1969, and in the 2005 ICC Trophy they gained ODI status and qualified for the World Cup for the first time. Bermuda played its first ODI against Canada in May 2006. In the 2007 World Cup, Bermuda struggled against the Test playing nations in their group, and against India they recorded what was until March 2015 the largest margin of defeat in a World Cup match, losing by 257 runs at Queen's Park Oval in Trinidad. Bermuda lost all their matches in the World Cup, which began a decline in Bermudian cricket, culminating in them losing their ODI status during the 2009 World Cup Qualifier, having finished ninth. As of 2025, Bermuda have not managed to regain their ODI status. (Full article...)
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Saqlain Mushtaq, a former Pakistanicricketer, took 19 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 by cricket 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. A right-arm off break bowler who represented his country between 1995 and 2004, Saqlain was described by the BBC as "a revolution in the art of attacking off-spin bowling". Saqlain was named by Wisden as one of their Cricketers of the Year in 2000.
Sachin Tendulkar has scored more centuries in Test cricket than any other player. Sachin Tendulkar played for India, widely acknowledged as one of the greatest batsmen of all time, he is the most prolific run-scorer in international cricket. Tendulkar has scored the highest number of centuries (100 or more runs) in Test matches and One Day International (ODI) matches organised by the International Cricket Council. His total of 51 centuries in Test matches is a world record for highest number of centuries by a batsman and his 49 centuries in ODI matches are the second highest number of centuries after Virat Kohli. He became the first and only cricketer to score 100 international centuries when he made 114 against Bangladesh in March 2012.
After making his Test debut in 1989, Tendulkar achieved his first century against England at Old Trafford, Manchester in 1990; he made 119 not out. In Test matches, Tendulkar has scored centuries against all the Test cricket playing nations, and is the second batsman to score 150 against each of them. He has scored a century in at least one cricket ground of all Test cricket playing nations, except Zimbabwe. In October 2010, Tendulkar went past Brian Lara's record of 19 scores of 150 or more by hitting his 20th against Australia in Bangalore. He made his highest score in 2004, when he made 248 not out against Bangladesh at the Bangabandhu National Stadium, Dhaka. Tendulkar has scored six double centuries and remained unbeaten on 15 occasions. His centuries have come in 30 different cricket grounds, with 27 of them being scored in venues outside India. Tendulkar has been dismissed nine times between scores of 90 and 99. (Full article...)
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Shoaib Akhtar took four five-wicket hauls in One Day International cricket. Shoaib Akhtar, a Pakistani former cricketer, took 16 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 his country from 1997 to 2011, BBC described Shoaib as "one of the fastest bowlers ever to play the game".
Shoaib made his Test debut in 1997 against the West Indies at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, where he took two wickets in the first innings. His first Test five-wicket haul came the following year against South Africa, a match Pakistan won at the Kingsmead Cricket Ground, Durban. Shoaib took a pair of five-wicket hauls against New Zealand at the Basin Reserve, Wellington in December 2003. His career-best figures for an innings were 6 wickets for 11 runs against New Zealand at the Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore, in May 2002. Shoaib took twelve five-wicket hauls in Test cricket and ten or more wickets per match twice in the format. (Full article...)
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Gooch has scored 28 international centuries for England. Graham Gooch is a former cricketer who captainedEssex and England. He has scored centuries (100 or more runs in a single innings) in Test and One Day International (ODI) matches on twenty and eight occasions respectively, in an international career spanning nearly two decades. He is one of the most successful international batsmen of his generation; through a first-class career spanning from 1973 until 2000, he became the most prolific run scorer of all time with 67,057. With 8,900 runs, Gooch was the leading Test run-scorer for England until overtaken by Alastair Cook in 2015. Gooch is one of 25 players in history to have scored over 100 first-class centuries. Having coached at Essex, he was full-time test batting coach for the England cricket team 2012–2014.
Five years after Gooch's Test debut where he made a pair of ducks against Australia at Edgbaston in July 1975, he scored his first Test century with 123 against the West Indies at Lord's in June 1980. Gooch's highest Test score is 333, which he made in the first innings against India in 1990. As of October 2024, this is the third-highest Test score by an Englishman (after Len Hutton's 364 and Wally Hammond's 336 not out), and is the equal thirteenth-highest score in Test history. He went on to score 123 in the second innings of the same Test match, becoming the sixth Englishman at that time to have scored a century in both innings of a Test match, and the first for over 40 years. Gooch is one of fewer than 60 batsmen to carry his bat in a Test innings when, in 1991 against the West Indies, he remained not out at the end of the England innings with a score of 154. He is also one of only seven cricketers in Test history, and the only on a score of 100 or greater, to have been dismissed by handling the ball, when he flicked the ball away from the stumps against Australia in 1993. (Full article...)
Mark Waugh holds the record for the third-highest number of international centuries for Australia. Mark Waugh is a former Australian cricketer who scored centuries (100 or more runs) in Test and One Day International (ODI) matches organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC). Described by ESPNcricinfo writer John Polack as "one of the world's most elegant and gifted strokemakers", he played most of his career under the captaincy of his older twin-brother Steve Waugh. Waugh represented Australia in 128 Test matches and 244 ODIs between 1988 and 2002, scoring 20 and 18 centuries respectively. He was primarily a batsman who played as an opener in ODIs, while normally at number four in Tests.
Waugh made his Test debut against England at the Adelaide Oval in January 1991, scoring a century; he became the fifteenth player from Australia to score a hundred on debut when he made 138 in the innings. He ended the season with one more century, aggregating 554 runs at an average of 61.55. Following his performances, Wisden Cricketers' Almanack named him as one of their five Cricketers of the Year the same year. Waugh was instrumental in Australia's victory in the 1995 Frank Worrell Trophy against the West Indies when he made 126 in the deciding game. His highest score of 153 not out was achieved against India during the third Test of the 1998 Border–Gavaskar Trophy in Bangalore. In Tests, Waugh was most successful against England scoring six centuries. As of February 2025, his position is eleventh in the list of Test century-makers for Australia. (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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Statue of Trueman, who took seventeen five-wicket hauls in Test cricket. Fred Trueman was an English cricketer, an "aggressive" fast bowler widely known as "Fiery Fred". He is generally acknowledged to have been one of the greatest bowlers in cricket history. He represented England in 67 Test matches, and was the first bowler to take 300 wickets in a Test career, taking twelve years and 65 Tests to reach the landmark.
Trueman's wicket tally included seventeen five-wicket hauls (also known as "five-fors" or "fifers") which refer 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. Trueman's seventeen five-wicket hauls places him joint-third in a list of most five-wicket hauls by England Test players, behind Ian Botham and Sydney Barnes. It includes three instances of him taking five or more wickets in each innings of the same Test match, and only one of the Tests in which he took a five-for ended in defeat for England. (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...)
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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Mohammad Yousuf pictured during Pakistan's 2010 tour of England Mohammad Yousuf (known before his conversion to Islam as Yousuf Youhana) is a Pakistan cricketer and former captain of the Pakistan national cricket team. He has scored centuries (100 or more runs) on 24 occasions in Test cricket and 15 times in One Day International (ODI) matches. As of February 2019[update], he has the second-highest number of centuries in international cricket for Pakistan. Described by one writer in 2010 as one of the best middle order batsmen ever, and by the West Indies cricketer Brian Lara in 2006 as "not just a role model for Pakistan cricket but for young cricketers around the world", Yousuf captained the Pakistan side in nine Tests and eight ODIs between 2003 and 2010. As of February 2019[update], he holds the world record for the most runs in Test matches during a calendar year, scoring 1,788 runs in 11 Tests during 2006. He scored nine international centuries in 2006, also a world record for a calendar year. In 2007, when he was named as one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year, the cricket almanack Wisden noted his "stylishness" as well as his "appetite for runs".
Yousuf made his Test debut against South Africa in 1998. Later the same year, he reached his first Test century against Zimbabwe at the Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore, scoring 120 not out. His highest Test score of 223 came in a match against England at the same venue, during the 2005–06 series between the teams. He has made a double century (200 or more runs) on four occasions during Tests. Yousuf has scored Test centuries at 16 cricket grounds, including 12 at venues outside Pakistan. He is third in the list of Test century-makers for Pakistan behind Younis Khan (33) and Inzamam-ul-Haq (25). (Full article...)
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Graeme Smith's five double centuries is a record for South Africa Graeme Smith is a retired South African cricketer who played international cricket between 2002 and 2014. In a career spanning 12 years, he scored centuries (100 or more runs in a single innings) on 27 and 10 occasions in Test and One Day International (ODI) matches respectively. As of October 2016, his tally of 37 international centuries places him fourth among his countrymen, behind Jacques Kallis (62), Hashim Amla (53) and AB de Villiers (45).
Smith made his Test and ODI debuts against Australiaduring the 2001–02 home series. His maiden century—200 against Bangladesh—came in October 2002. During South Africa's tour of England in 2003, he scored double centuries—277 at Edgbaston and 259 at Lord's—in consecutive Tests. Smith's performances in the season led to him being named one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 2004. His three centuries in consecutive Tests were instrumental in ensuring South Africa's series win against the West Indies in 2005. In Tests, Smith made centuries against all teams except India and Sri Lanka. He was most successful against England with seven centuries. With five double centuries he leads the list among South African cricketers as of May 2014. As of October 2015, Smith's four centuries in the fourth innings of a Test match is the second highest by any player, only behind Younus Khan, who has scored five centuries in the fourth innings of a Test. Of his 27 Test centuries, 25 came while captaining the side, and South Africa lost none of its matches on any such instance. (Full article...)
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Glenn McGrath Glenn McGrath, a retired international Australiancricketer, took a number of five-wicket hauls during his career. 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.
McGrath made his Test debut in November 1993, against New Zealand, but it was not until March 1995 that he took his first five-wicket haul in Australia's victory over the West Indies in Barbados; his performance earned him the man of the match award. He followed that three weeks later with six wickets in a defeat in Trinidad. McGrath took 10 of his 29 Test five-wicket hauls in The Ashes (the traditional name for Test matches between Australia and England). During the 1997 Ashes series, McGrath "humiliated" England, taking eight wickets in a single innings at Lord's and restricting England to 77, the lowest total in any Test match at the ground since 1888. A month later, he dismissed seven English batsmen in the first innings at The Oval but despite these performances, Australia did not win either Test match. The 2001 Ashes series saw McGrath make four five-wicket hauls in consecutive matches. He twice took five-wicket hauls in both innings of a Test match – in March 1999 he dismissed five West Indian batsmen in each innings of the first Test of the Frank Worrell Trophy; in the following year, he took ten wickets against India at the Sydney Cricket Ground. (Full article...)
The following are images from various cricket-related articles on Wikipedia.
Image 1Afghan 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 2New articles of the game of cricket, 25 February 1774 (from Laws of Cricket)
Image 5Photograph of Miss Lily Poulett-Harris, founding mother of women's cricket in Australia. (from History of women's cricket)
Image 6A 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 7Plaquita, 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 8The boundary can be marked in several ways, such as with a rope. (from Laws of Cricket)
Image 10A 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 11A wicket can be put down by throwing the ball at it and thereby dislodging 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 13In 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)
Image 14Broadhalfpenny Down, the location of the first First Class match in 1772 is still played on today (from History of cricket)
Image 16A 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)
... that the relatively low standards of player selection for Somerset County Cricket Club in 1883 have been described as being "determined with a nod and a wink over drinks"?
... 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.
![Image 1 Essex County Cricket Club is one of the 18 member clubs of the English County Championship, representing the historic county of Essex. The club was established on 14 January 1876 and has played first-class cricket since 1894, List A cricket since 1963 and Twenty20 cricket since 2003.[A] Unlike most professional sports, in which a team usually has a single fixed home ground, county cricket clubs have traditionally used different grounds in various towns and cities within the county for home matches, although the use of minor "out grounds" has diminished since the 1980s. Essex have played first class, List A, or Twenty20 matches at 14 different grounds. The club's debut home fixture in first-class cricket was played at the County Ground in Leyton against Leicestershire in 1894. This ground remained the county's headquarters and principal match venue until the end of the 1933 season and was used regularly for over 80 years. Until April 2024 it had still hosted more of the county's first-class matches than any other ground. Essex played their final match at the venue in 1977, however, since when the similarly named County Ground in Chelmsford has hosted the majority of first-class games. The ground in Leyton has continued to be used for matches in local competitions. (Full article...)](/wiki/File:Blank.png)
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