A Test match between
South Africa and England in January 2005. The men wearing black trousers are
the umpires. Teams in Test cricket, first-class cricket and club cricket wear traditional white uniforms and use red cricket balls.
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 suspended its Test status in 2006 due to
its inability to compete against other Test teams, and returned in 2011.
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, notably Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago, the Leeward
Islands and the Windward
Islands.
Test matches between two teams
are usually played in a group of matches called a "series". Matches
last up to five days and a series normally consists of three to five matches.
Test matches that are not finished within the allotted time are drawn. In the
case of Test and first-class cricket:
the possibility of a draw often encourages a team that is batting last and well
behind to bat defensively, giving up any faint chance at a win to avoid a loss.
Since 1882, most Test series
between England and Australia have been played for a trophy known as The Ashes. Some
other bilateral series have individual trophies too: for example, the Wisden Trophy is contested by England and West
Indies; the Frank Worrell
Trophy by Australia and West Indies and the Border-Gavaskar Trophy between India and Australia.
Limited overs
One Day International and Twenty20
International
Sir Viv Richards of the West Indies was voted by Wisden as the greatest One Day International batsman of all time.
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-colored 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 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 2011 was won by the co-hosts, India. The next World Cup will
hosted by Australia and New Zealand in 2015.
Twenty20 is a new
variant of limited overs itself with the purpose being to complete the match
within about three hours, usually in an evening session. The original idea,
when the concept was introduced in England in 2003, was to provide workers with
an evening entertainment. It was commercially successful and has been adopted
internationally. The inaugural Twenty20
World Championship was held in 2007 and won by India, three subsequent
events have been held which were won by Pakistan, England and West Indies
respectively. The next tournament is scheduled to be held in 2014.
After the inaugural ICC
World Twenty20 many domestic Twenty20 leagues were born. First of them
was Indian Cricket League
which
was a rebel league since it was not authorized by BCCI. BCCI then
formed its official league called the Indian
Premier League. The official league went on to
become a successful annual affair that attracted players and audience around
the globe, while the Indian Cricket League has been disbanded. After the
success of Indian premier league many other domestic leagues were formed in all
major cricketing nations. Recently Twenty20
Champions League was formed as a tournament for domestic clubs of various
countries. In this league competition played between the top domestic teams
from major cricketing nations.
National championships
First-class cricket
Yorkshire County
Cricket Club in 1895. The team first became County Championship
champions in 1893.
First-class cricket includes Test cricket but the term is generally used to
refer to the highest level of domestic cricket in those countries with full ICC
membership, although there are exceptions to this. First-class cricket in
England is played for the most part by the 18 county clubs which contest the County Championship. The concept of a champion
county has existed since the 18th century but the official
competition was not established until 1890. The most successful club has been Yorkshire County Cricket Club with 30 official titles.
Australia established its
national first-class championship in 1892–93 when the Sheffield Shield was introduced. In Australia, the first-class teams
represent the various states. New
South Wales has won the maximum number of titles with 45 to 2008.
National championship trophies
to be established elsewhere included the Ranji
Trophy (India), Plunket Shield (New Zealand), Currie Cup(South
Africa) and Shell Shield (West Indies). Some of these competitions have been
updated and renamed in recent years.
Domestic limited overs
competitions began with England's Gillette Cup knockout in 1963. Countries usually stage seasonal
limited overs competitions in both knockout and league format. In recent years,
national Twenty20 competitions have been introduced, usually in knockout form
though some incorporate mini-leagues.
Club cricket
A
typical club cricket match in England.
Club cricket is a mainly amateur, but still formal, form of the sport
of cricket, usually involving teams playing in competitions at weekends or in
the evening. There is a great deal of variation in game format although the
Laws of Cricket are always observed.
Club cricket is frequently organized
in a league or cup format. Games are limited by either time or overs. Limited
overs games usually last between 20 and 60 overs per innings. A less common,
but more traditional, format is limiting the game by time only. Games can range
from a few hours in the evening to two days long. A modern innovation is the
introduction of Twenty20 competitions, both as a format in the existing leagues
and new leagues solely based on Twenty20, such as Last Man Standing.
Standards of play can vary from
semi-professional to occasional recreational level and club cricket is often
enjoyed as much for the social element as for the competition. Most clubs have
their own ground to play on regularly, often including a field and pavilion or
club house. An exception being 'Wandering Sides' who use other's grounds.
Many leagues have been formed
around the world of varying degrees of professionalism, the oldest being the Birmingham & District Premier League in around the Birmingham area of England, founded in 1888.