Test cricket

Test cricket is the highest standard of first-class cricket. A Test match is an international fixture between teams representing those countries that are Full Members of the ICC.

Although the term "Test match" was not coined until much later, Test cricket is deemed to have begun with two matches between Australia and England in the 1876–77 Australian season. Subsequently, eight other national teams have achieved Test status: South Africa (1889), West Indies (1928), New Zealand (1929), India (1932), Pakistan (1952), Sri Lanka (1982), Zimbabwe (1992) and Bangladesh (2000). Zimbabwe subsequently suspended its Test status in 2006 due to its inability to compete against other Test teams and has yet to resume playing Test cricket.
Welsh players are eligible to play for England, which is in effect an England and Wales team. The West Indies team comprises players from numerous states in the Caribbean, most notably Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago, the Leeward Islands and the Windward Islands.

Limited overs

Standard limited overs cricket was introduced in England in the 1963 season in the form of a knockout cup contested by the first-class county clubs. In 1969, a national league competition was established. The concept was gradually introduced to the other major cricket countries and the first limited overs international was played in 1971. In 1975, the first Cricket World Cup took place in England. Limited overs cricket has seen various innovations including the use of multi-coloured kit and floodlit matches using a white ball.

A "one day match", named so because each match is scheduled for completion in a single day, is the most common form of limited overs cricket played on an international level. In practice, matches sometimes continue on a second day if they have been interrupted or postponed by bad weather. The main objective of a limited overs match is to produce a definite result and so a conventional draw is not possible, but matches can be undecided if the scores are tied or if bad weather prevents a result. Each team plays one innings only and faces a limited number of overs, usually a maximum of 50. The Cricket World Cup is held in one day format and the last World Cup in 2007 was won by Australia. The next World Cup will hosted by India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka in 2011.

Umpires and scorers

The game on the field is regulated by two umpires, one of whom stands behind the wicket at the bowler's end, the other in a position called "square leg", a position 15–20 metres to the side of the "on strike" batsman. When the bowler delivers the ball, the umpire at the wicket is between the bowler and the non-striker. The umpires confer if there is doubt about playing conditions and can postpone the match by taking the players off the field if necessary, for example rain or deterioration of the light.

History ICC

On 15 June 1909 representatives from England, Australia and South Africa met at Lord's and founded the Imperial Cricket Conference. Membership was confined to the governing bodies of cricket within the British Empire where Test cricket was played. India, New Zealand and West Indies were elected as Full Members in 1926, doubling the number of Test-playing nations to six. That year it was also agreed to make a change in membership, with election being for; "governing bodies of cricket in countries within the Empire to which cricket teams are sent, or which send teams to England." However the United States who met this criteria were not made members.After the formation of Pakistan in 1947, it was given Test status in 1952, becoming the seventh Test-playing nation. In May 1961 South Africa left the Commonwealth and therefore lost membership.

Location

From its formation the ICC had Lord's Cricket Ground as its home, and from 1993 had its offices in the "Clock Tower" building at the nursery end of the ground. The independent ICC was funded initially by commercial exploitation of the rights to the World Cup of one day international cricket. As not all Member countries had double-tax agreements with England, it was necessary to protect cricket's revenues by creating a company [ICC Development (International) Pty Ltd - known as IDI] outside the UK. This was established in Jan 1994 and was based in Monaco.
For the remainder of the nineties, the administration of IDI was a modest affair. But with the negotiation of a bundle of rights to all ICC events from 2001-2008, revenues available to International cricket and the ICC member countries rose substantially. This led to a growth in the number of commercial staff employed by IDI in Monaco. It also had the disadvantage that the Council's cricket administrators, who remained at Lord's, were separated from their commercial colleagues in Monaco. The Council decided to seek ways of bringing all of their staff together in one office whilst protecting their commercial income from tax.

Rules and regulation

The International Cricket Council overlooks playing conditions, bowling reviews, and other ICC regulations. Even though the ICC doesn't have copyright to the laws of cricket and only the MCC may change the laws, nowadays this would usually only be done after discussions with the game's global governing body, the ICC. The ICC also has a "Code of Conduct" to which teams and players in international matches are required to adhere. Where breaches of this code occur the ICC can apply sanctions, usually fines. In 2008 the ICC imposed 19 penalties on players.

Competitions and awards

The ICC organises various First-Class and One-Day cricket competitions:
First Class

ICC Test Championship (test league)

ICC Intercontinental Cup (tests for non test nations)

One Day

ICC ODI Championship (one-day league)

ICC Cricket World Cup (50 over tournament)

ICC World Twenty20 (twenty20 tournament)

ICC Champions Trophy (miniature version of the world cup)

ICC World Cricket League (league for associate & affiliate members)

ICC World Cup Qualifier (qualifier for the world cup)

The ICC has instituted the ICC Awards to recognise and honour the best international cricket players of the previous 12 months. The inaugural ICC Awards ceremony was held on 7 September 2004, in London.

Members

Nation    Governing body  Member since    
Australia   Cricket Australia  15 July 1909  

Bangladesh Bangladesh Cricket Board  26 June 2000

England England and Wales Cricket Board 15 July 1909

India Board of Control for Cricket in India 31 May 1926

New Zealand New Zealand Cricket 31 May 1926

Pakistan Pakistan Cricket Board 28 July 1953

South Africa Cricket South Africa 15 July 1909

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka Cricket  21 July 1981

West Indies West Indies Cricket Board 31 May 1926

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe Cricket Union 6 July 1992

Batting technique and strokeplay

Names of orthodox cricket shots and the directions in which they are hit for a right-handed batsman. The batsman is standing at the centre point facing south. The positions are mirrored for left-handed batsmen.

Over time the development of cricket has led to a standard batting technique being used by most players in the game. Technique in this case refers to the batsman's stance before the ball is bowled as well as the movement of the hands, feet, head and body in the execution of a cricket stroke. Good technique is characterised by quickly getting into the correct position to play the shot, especially getting one's head and body in line with the ball, one's feet placed next to where the ball would bounce and then swinging the bat at the ball to make contact at the precise moment required for the particular stroke being played.
The actual movement of the batsman for a particular delivery depends on the shot being attempted. Front-foot shots are played with the batsman's weight on his front foot (left foot for a right-handed batsman) and are usually played when the ball is pitched up to the batsman, while back-foot shots are played with the batsman leaning his weight onto the back foot, usually to bowling that is pitched short. Shots may also be described as vertical bat shots, in which the bat is swung vertically at the ball (e.g. when playing a drive or leg glance), or horizontal or cross-bat shots, in which the bat is swung horizontally at the ball (e.g. when playing the pull or cut shot).

Stance

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9vOdAiO2iU
The stance is the position in which a batsman stands in order to have the ball bowled to him. An ideal stance is "comfortable relaxed and balanced," with the feet 20cm apart, parallel and astride the crease. Additionally, the front shoulder should be pointing down the wicket, the head facing the bowler, the weight equally balanced and the bat near the back toe.

Although this text-book, side-on stance is the most common, a few international batsmen, such as Shivnarine Chanderpaul, use an "open" or "square on" stance.

Leave and block

The leave. Note the batsman's head focussed on where the ball had bounced. The bat and hands are held well out of the way of the ball.The leave is sometimes considered a cricket shot, even though the batsman physically does not play at or interfere with the ball as it passes him. The leave is likely to be used by batsmen during the first few balls they receive, to give themselves time to judge the conditions of the pitch and the bowler before attempting to play a shot. Leaving a delivery is a matter of judgement and technique. The batsman still has to watch the ball closely to ensure that it does not hit him or the wicket; he also has to ensure that his bat and hands are kept out of the path of the ball so that it cannot make accidental contact and possibly lead to him being out caught.

Drive

A drive is a straight-batted shot, played by swinging the bat in a vertical arc through the line of the ball, hitting the ball in front of the batsman along the ground. Depending on the direction the ball travels, a drive can be a cover drive (struck towards the cover fielding position, an off drive (towards mid-off), straight drive (past the bowler and sometimes mid on), on drive (towards wide mid-on and mid wicket) or square drive (towards point). Drives can be played both off the front and the back foot, but back-foot drives are harder to force through the line of the ball.

Cut

A cut is cross-batted shot played at a short-pitched ball, placing it wide on the off side. The batsman would make contact with the ball as it draws alongside or passes him. A square cut is a shot hit into the off side at near to 90 degrees from the wicket (towards point). A late cut, is played as or after the ball passes the batsman's body and is hit towards third man. The cut shot is typically played off the back foot, but is also sometimes played off the front foot against slower bowling. Apart from defensive technique, the cut is typically considered the most important stroke a batsman must master.

Pull and hook

Ricky Ponting playing a pull shot.A pull is cross-batted shot played to a ball bouncing around waist height by swinging the bat in a horizontal arc in front of the body, pulling it around to the leg side towards mid-wicket or square leg. The term hook shot is used when the shot is played against a ball bouncing at or above chest high to the batsman, the batsman thus "hooking" the ball around behind square leg, either along the ground or in the air. Pull and hook shots can be played off front or back foot, with back foot being more typical.

Leg glance

A leg glance is a delicate straight-batted shot played at a ball aimed slightly on the leg side, using the bat to flick the ball as it passes the batsman, deflecting towards the square leg or fine leg area. The stroke involves deflecting the bat-face towards the leg side at the last moment, head and body moving inside the line of the ball. This shot is played "off the toes, shins or hip". It is played off the front foot if the ball is pitched up at the tose or shin of the batsman, or off the back foot if the ball bounces at waist/hip height to the batsman.

Sweep

A sweep is a cross-batted front foot shot played to a low bouncing ball, usually from a slow bowler, by kneeling on one knee, bringing the head down in line with the ball and swinging the bat around in a horizontal arc near the pitch as the ball arrives, sweeping it around to the leg side, typically towards square leg or fine leg.

Reverse sweep

A reverse sweep is a cross-batted sweep shot played in the opposite direction to the standard sweep, thus instead of sweeping the ball to the leg side, it is swept to the off side, towards backward point or third man. The batsman may also swap his hands on the bat handle to make the stroke easier to execute. The batsman may also bring his back foot to the front therefore making it more like a traditional sweep. The advantage of a reverse sweep is that it effectively reverses the fielding positions and thus is very difficult to set a field to.
It was first regularly played in the 1970s by the Pakistani batsman Mushtaq Mohammad, though Mushtaq's brother Hanif Mohammad is sometimes credited as the inventor. Cricket coach Bob Woolmer has been credited with popularising the stroke.

Slog and slog sweep

A slog is a powerful pull shot played over mid-wicket, usually hit in the air in an attempt to score a six. A shot would be described as a slog when it is typically played at a delivery that would not ordinarily be pulled. A slog is also called a cow shot. The slog is an effective shot because all the batsman's power and body weight can be put into swinging the bat at the ball.

Switch hit

A switch hit is a shot pioneered by Kevin Pietersen in 2008, and first used during the New Zealand series in England in 2008. In this shot, a batsman changes his handedness and posture to adopt a stance the mirror image of his traditional handedness while the bowler is running in to bowl. As a fielding team cannot manoevre fielders while the bowler is in his run-up, the fielding side is effectively wrong-footed with the fielders out of position. The legality of such a ploy was questioned during the series but the shot was cleared by the International Cricket Council as legal.
The shot is risky because a batsman is less proficient in the other handedness and is more likely to make a mistake in the execution of his shot.

Scoop

A ''scoop" shot  has been used by a number of first-class batsman, the first being Douglas Marillier.

It is played to short pitched straight ball that would traditionally be defended or, more aggressively, pulled to the leg side - both shots "off the back foot". To play a scoop shot, the batsman is on the front foot and aims to get beneath the bounce of the ball and hit it directly behind the stumps, up and over the wicket keeper. This shot, though risky in the execution, has the advantage of being aimed at a section of the field where a fielder is very rarely placed - particularly in Twenty20 and ODI cricket where the number of outfielders is limited.

Bouncer

Bouncers are used tactically to drive the batsman back on to his back foot if he has been freely playing front foot scoring shots, such as drives. To this end, bouncers are usually directed more or less at the line of the batsman's body. In contrast to baseball, aiming at the batsman is not illegal provided the ball bounces on the pitch, and is a tactically effective part of the game; aiming at the batsman's head without bouncing on the pitch, known as a beamer, is illegal.
A batsman may play a bouncer in either a defensive or an attacking way. If the batsman plays it defensively he aims primarily to avoid getting out, and secondarily to avoid being hit by the ball. For a head-high bouncer, these goals are achieved most easily by ducking under the ball. If the ball is at chest height, the batsman's best defence is to move on to his back foot, raise his bat vertically to chest height, and attempt to block the ball and direct it downwards to the pitch so as to avoid presenting a catch to a fielder. Sometimes the batsman will need to jump into the air to gain the necessary height to defend with the bat. This is particularly true for shorter batsmen like Sachin Tendulkar. He may also sway out of the way. Given these approaches, the bowler can hope to both intimidate the batsman somewhat, and possibly have the ball deflect off the bat at an awkward angle and produce a catch for a nearby fielder.

Full toss

A full toss is a type of delivery in the sport of cricket. It describes any delivery that reaches the batsman without bouncing on the pitch first
Full tosses are sparingly bowled deliberately, as they defeat the purpose of most types of delivery, which is to deceive the batsman by bouncing unpredictably on the pitch. They are commonly greeted with delight by a batsman, as they tend to be very easy to hit. A full toss is frequently the result of an unintentional error made while attempting to bowl a yorker, which would land around the batsman's feet.
Occasionally a full toss can surprise a batsman so effectively that he is unable to play it properly, and this can lead to a wicket, but no bowler relies on this.[citation needed] There have been occasions in which a bowler intentionally bowls a full toss to achieve maximum swing into the base of the stumps. This was commonly seen with Waqar Younis and Wasim Akram of Pakistan, though recently Lasith Malinga of Sri Lanka has been bowling low full tosses with his unorthodox round arm action

Inswinger

 Grip
An inswinger is bowled by holding the cricket ball with the seam vertical and the first two fingers slightly across the seam so that it is angled a little to the leg side. Once the ball has worn and been polished so that one side is rougher than the other, the rough side is placed on the leg side. The ball is placed on the pad of the thumb. This thumb position locks the wrist in a position inclined to the leg side.
 Back foot contact

Outswinger

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJJ1xm1CbQs
An outswinger is bowled by holding the cricket ball with the seam at an angle and the first two fingers running along either side of the seam. Once the ball has worn and been polished so that one side is rougher than the other, the rough side is placed on the left (as seen from the bowler's viewpoint). When the bowler delivers the ball, he angles the seam so that it points slightly to the left as well, and releases the ball rotating about a horizontal axis with the seam along the rotational "equator". The angle of the seam to the direction of motion produces an aerofoil effect as the ball moves through the air, pushing it to the left. This is enhanced by differential air pressure caused by movement of air over the rough and smooth surfaces, which also tends to push the ball to the left. The result is that the ball curves, or swings to the left.

Yorker

Yorker is a term used in cricket that describes a delivery where the cricket ball bounces on the cricket pitch on or near the batsman's popping crease. Since a batsman in a normal stance has his feet on the popping crease, this means the ball is bouncing very near his feet, which makes the ball difficult to hit with the bat. This is usually the 'ideal' place for a bowler to bowl, yet, because this is close to the batsmen, many bowlers mistime the release of the ball and bowl a full toss instead.

Left-arm unorthodox spin

Left-arm unorthodox spin is a type of bowling in the sport of cricket using the hand wrist.

Left-arm orthodox spin

Left-arm orthodox spin is a type of bowling in the sport of cricket. Left-arm orthodox spin is bowled by a left arm bowler using the fingers to spin the ball from right to left of the cricket pitch (from the bowler's perspective). Left arm orthodox spin bowlers generally attempt to drift the ball in the air into a right handed batsman, and spin away from the batsman (toward off-stump) upon landing on the pitch.

The drift and turn in the air are attacking techniques. The major variations of a left arm spinner are the topspinner (which turns less and bounces higher or lower in the cricket pitch), the arm ball (which does not turn at all, drifts into a right handed batsman in the direction of the bowler's arm movement; also called a 'floater') and the left-arm spinner's version of a doosra (which turns the other way). The left-arm unorthodox spin like a leg break or leg spin is also a bowling action.

Wrist spin

Wrist spin is a type of bowling in the sport of cricket. It refers to the cricket technique and specific hand movements associated with imparting a particular direction of spin to the cricket ball. The other spinning technique, usually used to spin the ball in the opposite direction, is finger spin.

Leg spin

Leg spin is a type of spin bowling in the sport of cricket. A leg spinner bowls right-arm with a wrist spin action, causing the ball to spin from right to left in the cricket pitch, at the point of delivery. When the ball bounces, the spin causes the ball to deviate sharply from right to left, that is, away from the leg side of a right-handed batsman. The same bowling action when performed by a left-arm bowler is known as left-arm unorthodox spin bowling.


As with all spinners, leg spinners bowl the ball far slower (70–90 km/h or 45-55 mph) than fast bowlers. The fastest leg spinners will sometimes top 100 km/h (60 mph). Leg spinners typically use variations of flight by sometimes looping the ball in the air, allowing any cross-breeze and the aerodynamic effects of the spinning ball to cause the ball to dip and drift before bouncing and spinning (usually called "turning") sharply. While very difficult to bowl accurately, good leg spin is considered one of the most threatening types of bowling to bat against, since the flight and sharp turn make the ball's movement extremely hard to read and the turn away from the batsman (assuming he or she is right-handed) is more dangerous than the turn into the batsman generated by an off spinner.

Finger spin

Although the cricket technique of finger spinner are the same for right and left handed bowlers, such bowlers are often discussed separately, as the direction in which the ball deviates as it bounces on the cricket pitch is different:

Right handed finger spin is known as an off spin.

Left handed finger spin is known as a left-arm orthodox spin.