CRICKET

Cricket is a bat-and-ball sport contested by two teams , usually of eleven players each. A cricket match is played on a grass field, roughly oval in shape, in the centre of which is a flat strip of ground 22 yards (20.12 ) long, called a pitch . At each end of the pitch is a construction of three parallel wooden stakes (known as stumps) driven vertically into the ground, with two small crosspieces (known as bails) laid across the top of them. This wooden structure is called a wicket .
The bowler , a player from the fielding team, hurls a hard, fist-sized, cork-centred, leather-covered ball from the vicinity of one wicket towards the other. The ball usually bounces once before reaching the batsman , a player from the opposing team. In defence of the wicket, the batsman plays the ball with a wooden cricket bat . Meanwhile, the other members of the bowler's team stand in various positions around the field as fielders , players who retrieve the batted ball in an effort to stop the batsman scoring, and if possible to get him or her out . The batsman, if he or she does not get out (for example if the bowled ball hits the wicket, or if a fielder catches the ball off the bat before it bounces), may run between the wickets, exchanging ends with a second batsman (the non-striker), who has been waiting near the bowler's wicket. Each completed exchange of ends scores one run , and the match is won by the team that scores more runs.
Cricket has been an established team sport for hundreds of years. It originated in its modern form in England and is most popular in the present and former members of the Commonwealth . Cricket is the second most popular sport in the world.[1][2][3] More than a hundred cricket-playing nations are recognised by the International Cricket Council .[4] In the countries of South Asia , including India , Pakistan , Bangladesh and Sri Lanka , cricket is the most popular sport. It is also a major sport in England and Wales , Australia , New Zealand , South Africa , Zimbabwe and the English-speaking countries of the Caribbean , which are collectively known in cricketing parlance as the West Indies . There are also well-established amateur club competitions in countries as diverse as the Netherlands , Kenya , Nepal and Argentina , among others.
The sport is followed with passion in many different parts of the world. It has even occasionally given rise to diplomatic outrage, the most notorious being the Basil D'Oliveira affair which led to the banning of South Africa from sporting events. Other examples include the Bodyline series, played between England and Australia in the early 1930s, and the 1981 underarm bowling incident involving Australia and New Zealand .gained a
Overview

A traditional cricket ball. The white stitching is known as the seam.As one-day games are often played under floodlights, a white ball is used to aid visibility.

A cricket bat, front and back sides.
The aim of the batting team is to score as many runs as possible. A run is scored when both batsmen successfully move to their respective opposite ends of the pitch (the pitch is sometimes referred to as the "wicket", a term with multiple meanings). (The batsmen will usually only attempt to score runs after the striker has hit the ball, but this is not required by the rules - the batsmen can attempt runs at any time after the ball has been bowled.) Runs are also scored if the batsman propels the ball to the boundary of the playing area (scoring six runs if the ball crosses the boundary without having touched the ground or four runs otherwise), or if the bowler commits some technical infringement.
The aim of the bowler's team is to get each batsman out (this is a wicket, or a dismissal). Dismissals are achieved in a variety of ways. The most direct way is for the bowler to bowl the ball in such a way that it hits the stumps, dislodging the bails. While the batsmen are attempting a run, the fielders may attempt to dismiss either batsman by using the ball to knock the bails off the set of stumps to which the batsman is closest, before he has grounded himself or his bat in the crease. Other ways for the fielding side to dismiss a batsman include catching a struck ball before it touches the ground, or having the batsman adjudged LBW (leg before wicket, i.e. attempting to block the ball from hitting the stumps using his body, which is prohibited). Once the batsmen are not attempting to score any more runs, the ball is "dead" and is bowled again (each attempt at bowling the ball is a ball or a delivery).