Brief History of Cricket
Cricket was initially invented in the 17th century in England, where it started as a game for boys to play. Often the only things used were a stick and anything that could resemble a ball. In the 18th century, it had evolved to become a game played by men. Many English villages had their own village greens, which often doubled up as a makeshift cricket pitch. As more rules were added, some amateur games started to emerge. From such humble beginnings evolved the game of cricket that is loved today. Men, as well as women, enjoy the sport of cricket nowadays.
The Growth of Cricket as a Worldwide Sport
Great Britain was an imperialist country ruled by Queen Victoria. During her reign, many countries were taken over and claimed for the queen. As such many of the old colonies started to play cricket, and this was mostly as a result of colonists and settlers playing the game. These settlers introduced cricket to the locals using the English rules, and the rest is history. It is played in such diverse places as South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, the West Indies, Pakistan, and India, to name a few. Cricket has even found a foothold in the devoutly religious Middle East, and the United Arab Emirates and Oman have played the sport for many years. Also, Saudi Arabia wants to enter the world of cricket.
The three most popular forms of cricket are Test Cricket, 50-Over Cricket, and T20 Cricket.
Test Cricket
This is the original form of cricket that has stood the test of time. Six balls are produced during each over, and for the subsequent over, a bowler will bowl from the opposite end of the pitch. These matches are played over five days, which comprises of two innings per team during the game. Bowlers are not restricted about the number of overs bowled. This means that any bowler can bowl an unlimited amount of overs per innings. However, in truth, they need to be periodically rested, and the selectors will have picked several bowlers that can rotate throughout an innings. Most teams pick a varied number of bowlers who can bowl in different ways. The common bowling styles are fast bowlers, medium pace bowlers, and spinners.
50-Over Cricket
This form of cricket was first played in England in 1962. As the name implies, these games usually take place within a day and are limited to 50 overs of bowling per side. The rules are primarily the same as Test cricket except that each bowler is limited to a maximum of 10 overs per game. The culmination of the 50-over cricket competition is the Cricket World Cup, which is open to all countries who have a Test cricket side. There is an English 50-over competition, and also countries play international matches between themselves. It is common in 50-over games for the teams to wear brightly colored attire rather than the traditional " whites" of cricket.
T20 Cricket
England introduced this shortened form of cricket in 2003 as an inter-county competition. Again as the name implies, this form of cricket is limited to only 20 overs. In general, five bowlers are selected who can bowl a maximum of four overs each during the match. Some important rules that apply to T20 cricket are as follows:
· If a batter oversteps the crease, this is considered to be a no-ball and costs one run. The batter is then given a free hit where he/she can only be out if run out or by obstructing the field.
· No more than five fielders can be located on the leg side at any time.
· After the first six overs, only five fielders can be outside the fielding circle as marked on the pitch.
As it may be deduced, these rules are meant to speed the whole game up so that it can usually be completed in a day.
The above are the most popular forms of cricket, and all are widely supported. If you like to enjoy cricket from your home you can download this cricket app to your smart phone. Cricket Manager is one of the most popular cricket games around.