The game of cricket has a known history spanning from the 16th century to the present day. Cricket was introduced to North America via the English colonies in the 17th century. Cricket is the world's second most popular sport after Association football. Cricket is a bat-and-ball team sport. The game cricket is played between two teams of 11, one team for bowling and fielding against two on the batting side. Each team is headed by a captain who is responsible for making tactical decisions such as determining the batting order, the placement of fielders and the rotation of bowlers. The rules of the game are known as the Laws of Cricket. There are currently 42 laws, which outline all aspects of how the game is played from how a team wins a game, how a batsman is dismissed (out), through to specifications on how the pitch is to be prepared and maintained. The batsmen score runs by running between the wickets or hitting the ball over the boundary. The fielding side may dismiss the batsmen in several ways, including bowling at and knocking over the wicket with the ball. The pitch, situated at or near the middle of the field .The cricket field is usually oval, but its size varies. The boundary is marked by a rope or white line. Cricket is played with a hard ball, and many players wear protective clothing. The wicket keeper and bats men wear special gloves and strapped-on-leg-pads. Batsmen and close fielders may wear helmets with face-guards. Today, the game's governing body, the International Cricket Council (ICC), has 104 member countries. Thus, Cricket remains a major world sport in terms of participants, spectators and media interest. |