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.
Sir Donald George BradmanAC (27 August 1908 – 25 February 2001), nicknamed "The Don", was an Australian international cricketer, widely acknowledged as the greatest batsman of all time. His cricketing successes have been claimed by Shane Warne, among others, as making Bradman the "greatest sportsperson" in history. Bradman's career Testbatting average of 99.94 is considered by some to be the greatest achievement by any sportsman in any major sport.
The story that the young Bradman practised alone with a cricket stump and a golf ball is part of Australian folklore. His meteoric rise from bush cricket to the Australian Test team took just over two years. Before his 22nd birthday, he had set many records for top-scoring, some of which still stand, and became Australia's sporting idol at the height of the Great Depression. This hero status grew and continued through the Second World War. (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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Steve Smith has scored 44 international centuries for Australia.
Smith made his Test debut against Pakistan in July 2010 at Lord's. His first Test century came during the fifth match of the 2013 Ashes series when he scored 138 not out. His highest score of 239 came against the same team during the 2017–18 series at the WACA Ground, Perth. Smith has scored Test centuries at eighteen different cricket grounds, including thirteen at venues outside Australia. In terms of centuries, he has been most successful against England (12) and India(9). As of July 2023[update], he ranks equal-second in the list of most centuries by an Australian in Tests. He topped the ICC Test Rankings for the best batsman in the years 2015, 2016 and 2017; on 30 December 2017 he achieved a rating of 947, the second highest of all time after Don Bradman. As a result of his involvement in the 2018 Australian ball-tampering scandal, Smith was subsequently banned from all forms of cricket, except club level, for a year in March 2018. (Full article...)
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Wilfred Rhodes made the most appearances for England in Tests between 1877 and 1914. The England cricket team represented England, Scotland and Wales in Test cricket. England played Australia in the first ever Test match, which took place at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in March 1877. Although four touring parties of English players had visited Australia prior to 1877, the Australian team had not previously been considered strong enough to play on equal terms. The two matches between the English cricketers and the Australians were retrospectively granted Test status.
Between 1877 and 1914, when competitive cricket was interrupted by the First World War, England played 123 Test matches, resulting in 59 victories, 22 draws and 42 defeats. For much of this period, England and Australia were the only Test playing countries and played each other every year or two. In 1888–89, England toured South Africa and played two matches subsequently deemed to be Test matches. Subsequently, the sides played each other sporadically and from 1906 fixtures were played as frequently as the Ashes series. In 1912, the three sides competed in a Triangular Tournament, which was deemed a failure, partly due to a damp English summer and in part because of the perceived complexity of the tournament. (Full article...)
Border made his Test debut against England in December 1978 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. His first century came three months later against Pakistan at the same venue. Border's 27 Test hundreds were scored at 14 different grounds; 14 hundreds were made at venues outside Australia. In Tests, he was most successful against England accumulating eight centuries. Border's highest score of 205 – one of his two double centuries – came against New Zealand at the Adelaide Oval in 1987. As of 2012, he is thirteenth overall in the list of most hundreds in Test cricket. (Full article...)
Kenya gained ODI status in its own right following a strong performance in the 1996 World Cup, a competition they qualified for by gaining a second-placed finish in the 1994 ICC Trophy. The team's first ODI came against India in the 1996 World Cup, a competition for which Kenya was given temporary ODI status, with the team then playing four further matches in the competition. Kenya's first ODI win came in their fourth World Cup match against the West Indies. The Kenyans won the game by 73 runs but ultimately finished last in group A. Kenya have since qualified for four more Cricket World Cups. They reached the group stage in the 1999 competition, the 2007 competition and the 2011 competition. At the 2003 Cricket World Cup, partly hosted in Kenya, the Kenyan team finished second in their group and in doing so qualified for the Super Sixes stage. Kenya finished third in the Super Sixes stage and qualified for the semi-finals where they lost to India by 91 runs. The Kenyan team have played 154 ODI games with the most recent coming in 2014. Thomas Odoyo and Steve Tikolo have played the most ODIs for Kenya with 131 each. Tikolo has scored the most runs with 3369 for the team while Odoyo has taken the most wickets with 141. (Full article...)
Kirsten made both his Test and ODI debuts against Australia in December 1993. He made his first Test century in November 1995, when he scored 110 against England. A year later Kirsten made centuries in both innings of a Test when he scored 102 and 133 in the second Test of the 1996–97 series against India. He achieved his highest Test score in 1999, when he made 275 against England in Durban. In an attempt to prevent South Africa from losing the match, he batted for almost 14 hours, spread across the last three of the match's five days. The innings remains the second-longest by any batsman in Test cricket in terms of time span, behind an innings of over 16 hours recorded by Hanif Mohammad for Pakistan in 1958. His most prolific series was against England in 2003, when he made 462 runs at an average of 66.00 including two centuries. His accomplishments with the bat during the season led to him being named as one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Year the following year. As of June 2015, Kirsten is joint fourth in the list of leading Test century-makers for South Africa with AB de Villiers, and his total of three double centuries for the team is exceeded only by the four recorded by Graeme Smith. He scored centuries against all nine other teams which held Test match status at the time, and was the first player to score a hundred against every other active Test-playing nation. (Full article...)
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Gloucestershire's first ever match was played at Durdham Down in 1870, but it was the only time the county club played there. Gloucestershire County Cricket Club, representing the historic county of Gloucestershire, is one of the 18 member clubs of the English County Championship. The club was established in 1846 following the merger of the Mangotsfield Cricket Club and West Gloucestershire Cricket Club and played under the latter name until 1867, after which it became the Gloucestershire County Cricket Club. It has played first-class cricket since 1870, 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" away from the club's main headquarters has diminished since the 1980s. Gloucestershire have played home matches at eighteen different grounds.
The club's first home match in first-class cricket was played at Durdham Down in the Clifton district of Bristol. This was the only time the county used this venue for a match. The following year Gloucestershire began to play matches at the Clifton College Close Ground in the grounds of Clifton College in the same part of the city, and this remained a regular venue for the county until the 1930s, hosting nearly 100 first-class matches. In 1872 the county used a venue outside Bristol for the first time when they played at the College Ground in the grounds of Cheltenham College. This venue has continued to be used regularly for the county's annual "Cheltenham festival" event, which in the modern era incorporates additional charity events and off-field entertainment. In 1889 Gloucestershire began to play matches at the County Ground in Bristol, which has subsequently served as the club's main headquarters and hosted the majority of the county's matches. It was here that the club played its first List A match in 1963 against Middlesex, and its first Twenty20 match forty years later against Worcestershire. Bristol is not officially part of Gloucestershire and has been considered an independent county since 1373, though it was officially part of the county of Avon from 1974 until 1996. Somerset have played first-class matches at other venues in the city. (Full article...)
Since their first match in 2005, 111 players have represented Australia in Twenty20 Internationals. A Twenty20 International is an international cricket match between two representative teams, as determined by the International Cricket Council (ICC). A Twenty20 International is played under the rules of Twenty20 cricket. The list is arranged in the order in which each player won his first Twenty20 cap. Where more than one player won his first Twenty20 cap in the same match, those players are listed alphabetically by surname.
The Indian national cricket team at the Sydney Cricket Ground in 2012. The India national cricket team represents India in international cricket and is a full member of the International Cricket Council with Test and One Day International (ODI) status. They first competed in international cricket in 1932, when they played against England in a three-day Test match; England won the match by 158 runs. India's first Test series as an independent country was against Australia. They secured their first Test win against England in 1952 at Madras Cricket Club Ground. As of 11 April 2024[update], India have played 579 Test matches; they have won 178 matches, lost 178 matches, and 222 matches were drawn with one being tied. India played their first ODI match against England in 1974, but registered their first win against East Africa in 1975. As of 11 April 2024[update], India have played 1055 ODI matches, winning 559 matches and losing 443; 9 matches were tied and 44 matches had no result. They also won the 1983 and 2011 Cricket World Cups, along with the 2002 and the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy. India played their first Twenty20 International (T20I) against South Africa in 2006, winning the match by six wickets, and won the inaugural ICC World Twenty20 in 2007. As of 14 July 2024[update], they have played 232 T20I matches and won 152 of them; 69 were lost, with 4 super-over/bowl-out wins (after being tied), one tied (without a super over) and 6 having no result.
India have faced ten teams in Test cricket, with their most frequent opponent being England, against whom they have played 136 matches. India have registered more wins against England than against any other team, with 35. In ODI matches, India have played against 20 teams. They have played against Sri Lanka more frequently in ODI matches, with a winning percentage of 63.37 in 99 out of 168 matches. India have defeated Sri Lanka on 99 occasions, which is their best record in ODIs. The team have played 17 countries in T20Is, and have played 31 matches with Australia. They also have recorded the most victories against Australia, Sri Lanka and the West Indies, defeating all of them in nineteen matches. (Full article...)
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Desmond Haynes (left) has the highest score of any batsman on ODI debut.
A cricketer scoring a century (100 runs or more) on their One Day International (ODIs) debut is regarded by critics as a significant achievement. As of July 2024, 17 players from 11 different international teams have accomplished this feat. Players representing nine of the twelve teams that have full member status have scored an ODI century on debut.
England's Dennis Amiss was the first debutant to score a century in ODIs; he scored 103 runs off 134 balls against Australia during the first match of the Prudential Trophy in 1972. His total was surpassed by Desmond Haynes of West Indies when he made 148 against Australia in 1978. As of December 2023, this remains the highest individual score by a debutant in ODIs. In a 1992 World Cup game against Sri Lanka, Andy Flower made 115 not out while making his first ODI appearance, representing Zimbabwe. It remains the only World Cup century by a debutant as of the 2023 tournament. In September 1995, Pakistan's Saleem Elahi set a record for becoming the youngest player to achieve the feat; aged 18, he was yet to play first-class cricket then. Between 1972 and 1995 only four players had scored a century on their ODI debut. However, since 2009, twelve players have achieved the feat. South African Reeza Hendricks holds the record of fastest century by a batsman on ODI debut (88 balls). Of the 17 occasions a cricketer has scored a century on ODI debut, their team has lost only 3 times. (Full article...)
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England's Wally Hammond was the leading run-scorer in Tests between 1920 and 1939. The England cricket team represented England, Scotland and Wales in Test cricket. Between 1920 and 1939, when competitive cricket was interrupted by the Second World War, England played 120 Test matches, resulting in 41 victories, 49 draws and 30 defeats. During this period, England faced India, New Zealand and the West Indies for the first time in Test cricket, having previously only played against Australia and South Africa. The emergence of Don Bradman as an extraordinary batsman for Australia led to England employing Bodyline tactics during the 1932–33 Ashes tour of Australia. The tactic, which involved bowling fast deliveries aimed at the batsman, created antagonism between the two teams. The England team of the era featured some of the country's best batsmen; Jack Hobbs, Wally Hammond and Len Hutton were all included in the ESPNcricinfo "all-time England XI" in 2009.
England faced Australia most frequently during this period—playing 49 matches against them—followed by South Africa. England won more matches than they lost against every team except Australia, against whom they won 15 matches and lost 22. They did not lose any matches against newcomers India or New Zealand, while against the West Indies they won 8 matches and lost 3. England won 14 matches by an innings, with their largest victory being by an innings and 579 runs against Australia during the 1938 Ashes series, the largest margin of victory by any team in Test cricket. Their largest victory by runs alone during this period was in the 1928–29 Ashes series against Australia, when they won by 675 runs, which is also an all-time record for any team, while they won by ten wickets on two occasions. Conversely, England suffered their largest defeat by runs alone, losing to Australia by 562 runs during the 1934 Ashes series, which ranks behind England's 675 runs victory as the second highest margin of victory by runs. (Full article...)
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Kapil Dev is India's third highest wicket-taker in Test cricket. Kapil Dev is a former Test and One Day International (ODI) cricketer who represented India between 1978 and 1994. He took 24 five-wicket hauls during his international 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, 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 fast bowler, Kapil Dev took 434 wickets in Test cricket and 253 in ODIs. With 23 five-wicket hauls in Tests, he has the third highest number of international five-wicket hauls among Indian cricketers as of 2012, after Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh. Kapil Dev was named by the Wisden as one of their Cricketers of the Year in 1983 and Indian Cricketer of the Century in 2002. Eight years later, the International Cricket Council (ICC) inducted him into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame. As of 2012, Kapil Dev also holds the record for being the only player to have taken more than 400 wickets and scored over 5,000 runs in Tests.
Kapil Dev made his Test and ODI debuts against Pakistan, both in 1978. His first five-wicket haul came a year later against England during the first Test of India's tour. His career-best bowling figures in an innings of nine for 83 was achieved in 1983 against the West Indies in Ahmedabad. In Tests, Kapil Dev was most successful against Pakistan and Australia, with seven five-wicket hauls against each of them. He took his only five-wicket haul in ODIs against Australia during the 1983 Cricket World Cup. (Full article...)
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Bowlers have taken 11 five-wicket hauls in Test matches and two fifers in One Day Internationals played at the Riverside Ground. The Riverside Ground is a cricket ground in Chester-le-Street, County Durham. It is the home of Durham County Cricket Club and has hosted Test, One Day International (ODI) and Twenty20 International (T20I) matches. It has a capacity of 17,000 spectators for international matches, for which temporary stands are erected. The Riverside hosted six Test matches between 2003, when England played Zimbabwe, and 2016. It hosted its first ODI in 1999 when Pakistan defeated Scotland by 94 runs in the qualifying round of that year's Cricket World Cup, and T20Is have been played at the ground since 2008. Women's ODI and T20I matches have also been played on the ground.
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 the Riverside Ground was Richard Johnson in 2003 who, making his Test debut for England against Zimbabwe, finished with bowling figures of 6 wickets for 33 runs. These remained the best Test bowling figures at the Riverside until 2013 when Australia's Ryan Harris took 7 wickets for 117 runs in the fourth Test against England. Stuart Broad is the only bowler to have taken two five-wicket hauls in Test matches at the ground, doing so in the same Test match, also making him the only bowler to have taken ten wickets in an international match at the Riverside. As of January 2020[update], nine bowlers have taken ten Test match five-wicket hauls at the ground; every Test match in which a five-wicket haul has been taken at the Riverside Ground has resulted in an England victory. (Full article...)
Introduced in 2006, the award adjudges the best-performed female international cricketer across an approximate twelve-month voting period. Prior to 2009, each of the top ten women's national teams nominated two players and the final selection was made by a 16-person panel. Since 2009, a long list has been chosen by the ICC Awards voting panel, consisting of cricket administrators, journalists and former players. A subsequent short list is then created by a different, 25-person, board. (Full article...)
Image 3Afghan 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 4 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 5In 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 6The boundary can be marked in several ways, such as with a rope. (from Laws of Cricket)
Image 7New articles of the game of cricket, 25 February 1774 (from Laws of Cricket)
Image 8Photograph of Miss Lily Poulett-Harris, founding mother of women's cricket in Australia. (from History of women's cricket)
Image 9Plaquita, 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 10A wicket can be put down by throwing the ball at it and thereby dislodging the bails. (from Laws of Cricket)
Image 11A 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 13A 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 14A 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"?
The International Cricket Council (ICC) is the international governing body of cricket, and produces team rankings for the various forms of cricket played internationally.
Test cricket is the longest form of cricket, played up to a maximum of five days with two innings per side.
Matches is the number of matches played in the 12–24 months since the May before last, plus half the number in the 24 months before that. See points calculations for more details.
![Image 1 Steyn has taken 26 five-wicket hauls in Test cricket. Dale Steyn, a South African cricketer, has taken 29 five-wicket hauls in international cricket. 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, 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 fast bowler, Steyn reached 300 Test wickets in fewer matches than any other South African bowler. He was named the ICC's Test Player of the Year in 2008, and the Wisden Cricketers' Almanack named him one of their cricketers of the year in 2013. Steyn made his Test debut in 2004 against England at the St George's Oval, Port Elizabeth. His first Test five-wicket haul came in 2006, against New Zealand at the SuperSport Park, Centurion. In November 2007 against the same team at the Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg, he took a five-wicket haul in both innings of a Test match for the first time. He has repeated this feat twice more: against Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in 2008, and Pakistan at the Wanderers Stadium in 2013. Steyn's career-best figures for an innings are 7 wickets for 51 runs against India at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Nagpur, in February 2010. He has taken ten or more wickets in a match on five occasions. As of 2015, he has taken the most number five-wicket hauls for South Africa. (Full article...)](/wiki/File:Blank.png)
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