Facts About the Sport Cricket

The sport of cricket is one of the most popular pastimes worldwide, rivaling the popularity of soccer. Cricket has been played for centuries and continues to be a major spectator sport. Leagues meet worldwide to play, and international tournaments are often held. Cricket's long history and popularity are in part due to a number of interesting facts about the sport.

  1. Earliest History

    • The exact beginning of cricket is unknown to sports historians. However, cricket is believed to have originated in Europe around 1550, according to ESPN CricInfo. StickieWicket.com adds that the first recorded game was played by students studying at the Royal Grammar School in Guildford, Surrey. The first match seems to have been played in 1646 at Coxheath in Kent. In the United States, cricket was established within the early 18th century, according to the Cricket Council of the United States of America.

    Game Play and Equipment

    • Modern cricket is played with two teams of eleven players each. Games can last quite some time, with some matches being spread out over several days. Cricket's game play resembles that of baseball, with teams attempting to score runs and game segments divided into innings. Teams compete to see which team can score the most number of runs after each team has batted an equal number of innings.

      Cricket is played with a ball and bat. The cricket bat has one flat side to hit the ball, while the other side is more rounded to give the bat power. Balls for cricket resemble baseballs, but have thicker leather covers. Players wear helmets, shoes with cleats, and padding for safety within the game.

    First Class Cricket

    • Purdue University's Anthony Hosking describes first class cricket as professional cricket matches. The higher levels of first class cricket are played internationally. Test matches are held between countries over five days. Games use a red cricket ball during these matches. At the end of each day, if all innings haven't been completed, the game is declared a draw.

    Cricket and the Olympics

    • With test matches as the official international cricket championship, some may wonder if this leads to Olympic status. However, cricket is not part of the Olympic games and hasn't been since 1900, according to the BBC. The game was originally scheduled to be included in the 1896 Olympics, but only the cricket team for England entered. In 1900, for the summer Olympics, England and France entered, with France using the Devon an Somerset Wanderers team. The Wanderers won the match, though the players weren't aware that it was an Olympic event. In 1904, the Olympics were in St. Louis and no arrangements were made to host a cricket match, and in 1908, no one made arrangements for cricket, either.

    Twenty20 Cricket

    • One-day cricket matches mean that the game is condensed into one day. A newer form of this is known as Twenty20 cricket. The first international Twenty20 game was held in 2005 between Australia and Pakistan, according to Top End sports. Twenty20 cricket differs from regular cricket in that there are only twenty overs per side, and each team has 80 minutes to achieve this goal. For each missed over, there is a run penalty. This new, faster type of cricket has brought more attention to the game itself.