what in the world is cricket?
139653
Cricket is a team sport played between two teams of eleven players each. It is a bat-and-ball game played on a roughly elliptical grass field, in the centre of which is a hard, flat strip of ground 22 yards (20.12 m) long, called the pitch.\n\nAt each end of the pitch stand a set of wooden poles called wickets (traditionally made from the wood of the ash tree). A player from one team (the bowler) propels a hard, fist-sized ball from one wicket towards the other. A player from the opposing team (the batsman) attempts to defend the wicket from the ball with a wooden cricket bat, traditionally made of willow. Another batsman (the non-striker) stands in an inactive role near the bowler's wicket.\n\nIf the batsman hits the ball with his bat, he may run to the other wicket, exchanging places with the non-striker. This scores a run. The batting team attempts to score as many runs as it can, while members of the bowling team gather the ball and return it to either wicket. If the ball strikes a wicket while the nearest batsman is still running, the batsman is out. Batsmen can also be out by other means, such as failing to defend the bowled ball from hitting the wicket, or hitting a catch to a fielder.\n\nOnce out, a batsman is replaced by the next batsman in the team. As there must always be two batsmen on the field, if and when the tenth batsman is out, the team's turn to bat or innings (always with a terminal "s" in cricket usage) is over, and the other team may bat while the first team takes the field. Depending on the specific rules of the match, one or two innings may be played, possibly with a fixed number of legally-bowled balls defining the end of an innings rather than ten batsmen having been dismissed. At the end of the match, the winner is the team that has scored the most runs. However, the game may run out of time before it is finished, in which case it is a draw, even if one team is overwhelmingly winning at that point. This is sometimes surprising to those not familiar with the game, but it does add interest to one-sided games by giving the inferior team the incentive to try and achieve a draw even if they cannot win.\n\n    Cricket Portal \nCricket has been an established team sport for several centuries. It originated in its modern form in England, and is popular mainly in the countries of the Commonwealth. In some countries in South Asia, including India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka, cricket is by far the most popular sport. Cricket 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 known in cricketing parlance as the West Indies. It is also a prominent minor sport in countries as diverse as the Netherlands, Israel, Nepal, and Argentina (see also: International Cricket Council).\n\nThe length of the game — a match can last six or more hours a day for up to five days in one form of the game — the numerous intervals for lunch and tea, and the rich terminology are notable aspects which can often confuse those not familiar with the sport. For its fans, the sport and the intense rivalries between top cricketing nations provide passionate entertainment and outstanding sporting achievements. It has even occasionally given rise to diplomatic outrage, the most infamous being the Bodyline series played between England and Australia.
161044
Not really called third world countries any more, modern term is developing nations.  They were colonised by England, so cricket and football was introduced at the school and college level.  The climate lends itself to cricket more then football.  They are the highest paying team sports in those countries so they will continue to attract a lot of talented athletes.
670718
The national game : Hockey, \nThe popular game : Cricket
284306
Cricket's most likely birthplace is the Weald, an area of dense woodlands and clearings in south-east England that lies across Kent and Sussex. The game was probably devised by children of the Weald's farming and metalworking communities. There is evidence to suggest that it survived as a children's game for many centuries before it was increasingly taken up by adults around the beginning of the 17th Century. The game's origin seems to have been in Norman or perhaps Saxon times (i.e., before 1066).\n\nPlaying on sheep-grazed land or in clearings, the original implements may have been a matted lump of sheep’s wool as the ball; a crook or other farm tool as the bat; and a gate (i.e., a wicket gate) or a treestump as the wicket. It is possible that the game was derived from the older sport of bowls by the introduction of a "batsman" to stop the ball reaching its target by hitting it away. There seems little doubt that the game had a rustic upbringing and it is significant that the Wealden counties and neighbouring Surrey were the earliest centres of excellence. Eventually, it spread north to London and west to Hampshire, the two places that cemented its popularity in the 18th century.\n\nAccording to some other theories, cricket originated outside England and was brought there by the Normans after 1066. As early as the 8th century, bat and ball games were played in the Punjab region of southern Asia — the ancestors of games such as gilli-danda and perhaps polo. Like the other great recreational import of the time, chess, these sports are believed to have migrated via Persia and through Constantinople into Europe. There are 8th and 9th century accounts of bat and ball games being played in the Mediterranean region, sometimes as church-sponsored events to promote community spirit. If the games reached France in this manner, it is reasonable to assume they would cross the Channel and be introduced in England. But all of this is speculation and there is general agreement among cricket historians that the sport did originate in south-east England.\n\nEarly references are few, far between and sometimes spurious. Some manuscripts from the 12th and 13th centuries show diagrams which have been interpreted as early forms of cricket, but there is no definite evidence to support these conjectures. In c.1183, Joseph of Exeter wrote an account of a community activity played by both sexes which he called cricks, but there is nothing to prove that it was a form of cricket. The evidence is circumstantial only.\n\nThe first clue we have which is reasonably convincing comes from the Royal Wardrobe accounts of King Edward I (aka Edward Longshanks) for 1299-1300. This records that £6 was paid out for the 15-year old Prince Edward to play creag and other games at Newenden in Kent. Although there is no evidence that creag was a form of cricket, it does at least seem a likely suspect, especially given the location.\n\nThere are no other references until 1597, not even to indicate commercial interest in the game by innkeepers or other entrepreneurs. Cricket, if it was played at all, did not have sufficient popularity to be subjected to any kind of specific sanction, unlike some other games. For example, a statute of King Edward IV in 1477–8 (17 Edw.IV c.3) made the playing of handyn and handoute illegal because it interfered with the compulsory practice of archery.\n\nIn 1597 there was a dispute over a school's ownership of a plot of land in which a 59-year old coroner, John Derrick, testified that he and his school friends had played kreckett on the site fifty years earlier. This is generally considered to be the first definite mention of cricket in the English language - the school was the Royal Grammar School, Guildford, and Mr Derrick's account proves beyond reasonable doubt that the game was being played c.1550.\n\nIn the following year John Florio, in his Italian-English dictionary defined the verb sgillare
594340
Cricket is a game played using a flat wood stick called a bat n a round rubber ball filled wit air. a team consists of 11 players in which one should be captain who leads the team.two teams should play the game. one team should throw the ball n other should hit the ball n a lot more rules to be followed
773288
The game of cricket has a known history spanning from the 16th century to the present day, with international matches played since 1844, although the official history of international Test cricket began in 1877. During this time, the game developed from its origins in England into a game which is now played professionally in most of the Commonwealth of Nations.\n\nNo one knows when or where cricket began but there is a body of evidence, much of it circumstantial, that strongly suggests the game was devised during Saxon or Norman times by children living in the Weald, an area of dense woodlands and clearings in south-east England that lies across Kent and Sussex. It is generally believed that cricket survived as a children's game for many centuries before it was increasingly taken up by adults around the beginning of the 17th century.
626782
how silly you are asking this question. Cricket is our life & football is our breath.
881194
you can try\n\nhttp://www.cricinfo.com/\nhttp://www.cricketheaven.com/
152499
Right now it's cricket coz we just regained the ashes (thats a bitterly fought trophy between england & oz)\n\nSoon it will be soccer coz we're gonna lift the world cup this year - and not before time!\n\nPS: world cup is competed for by teams worldwide, it's not like a 'world' series where one nation competes ;)
811057
As far as test cricket goes the ashes is the most famous and possibly important series on earth \n\nBut for ODI (one day internationals for those who don't fully understand cricket) the world cup always has and always will be the holy grail
524631
Cricket is game introduced by the English for those nations who suck at football.\n\nTake a look at the cricket powerhouses: Inda, Pakistan, West Indies, South Africa and West Indies.\n\nSee any good football in them?
1107955
Cricket - Involves more skills, strategy, stamina...\n\nYou can easily enjoy Cricket without your team winning...Its just the beauty of the sport..\nunlike football..where to love a team you have to hate the others...or the concept of 'hooliganism' or for that matter the very nature of football being a rough game involving body charges,rough tackles lots of warning cards....etc etc...\n\nCricket is a soothing game
709239
Cricket of course, What else?
764148
Who cares -- what is all the hype about - cricket is a shite game!!!\n\n...and England are a shite team....as is being proved!!!!
524322
Cricket began in Northern Europe sometime after the Roman Empire and before the Normans invaded England.\nAll research concedes that the game derived from a very old, widespread and uncomplicated pastime by which one player served up an object, be it a small piece of wood or a ball, and another hit it with a suitably fashioned club. \n\nHow the game evolved from there is not known.\nWhat is agreed is that by Tudor times cricket had evolved far enough from club–ball to be recognisable as the game played today; that it was well established in many parts of Kent, Sussex and Surrey; that within a few years it had become a feature of leisure time at a significant number of schools; and – a sure sign of the wide acceptance of any game – that it had become popular enough among young men to earn the disapproval of local magistrates.
13764
Cricket-a game unfamiliar to many Americans, is a summer sport popular in Australaia, the Indian Subcontinent, Southern Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, the West Indies and Britain. It is a game which requires precision in timing, skill, discipline and patience. Though cricket isn't always a spectacular showpiece, basic knowledge of the game will make it more enjoyable. \n\n\nCricket is played with two teams of eleven, each with two umpires (referees) on an oval field. The size of the field varies, but generally has a diameter of around 200 metres. A cricket bat is oblong shaped with a skinny handle. The bat in length is around 90 centimetres, or up to your waistline. A cricket ball is made of cork and coated with leather, and is then stitched up. A ball weighs around 10 ounces. \n\n\n \nIn the middle of the field is what is known as a pitch. A pitch is a hard, flat strip of dry ground around 18 metres long. Two batsman are at the pitch at a time, both at different ends, with one facing the delivery of the ball from the bowler. The bowler runs up to the pitch where he bowls the ball overarm but releases the ball before he reaches the crease, which is a white line painted on the pitch. If the bowler oversteps the line, there is a one run penalty. \n\n\nTeams score by getting runs. A run is completed when a batsman hits the ball and then runs to the other end of the cricket pitch, getting past the crease. The non striking batsman has to run to the opposite end as well. The batsman can run as many times as they like, but the batsmen can get out if their stumps are hit with the ball by a fielder before the batsman reaches the crease. The stumps are three sticks of equal size measuring around 90 centimetres tall with 5 centimetres separating them. Bails (small pieces of wood) are balanced on top of the stumps. \n\n\nOther ways runs can be scored are by hitting boundaries. Boundaries are scored when the ball is hit and touches or goes past the outer edge of the field. Four runs are scored when the batsmen hits the ball and the ball hits the ground before reaching the outer edge of the boundary, and six runs are scored when the ball is hit and goes over the boundary without touching the ground. Runs can also be scored in the following ways: No balls, when the bowler oversteps the crease, bowls in a dangerous manner or incorrectly, or if the ball rises above the batsmans head. A no ball is worth one run. A wide is scored when the ball goes outside the line of the pitch before coming in line with the batsman. This is also worth one run. A leg bye is scored when the ball hits the batsman but doesnt contact his bat and then proceeds to run. A bye is scored when the batsman runs without the ball coming into into contact with the batsman or his bat, and then runs. \n\n\nThe fielding team can get the batsman out in several ways, by 1) catching him out. This is done when the batsman hits the ball with his bat and a fielder catches the ball on the full. By 2) bowling him out. This happens when the bowler bowls the ball and the ball strikes the batsmans stumps or bails. By 3) leg before wicket, or LBW. This happens when the bowler bowls it and the stumps being hit by the ball are prevented when the batsmans leg gets in the way. By 4) stumped, when the batsman comes forward to hit the hit but steps out of his crease, misses the ball and the fielder behind the stumps collects the ball hits the stumps before the batsman gets back behind his crease. By 5) run out, when the batsman attempts to score a run but has his stumps hit by the ball before he reaches the other crease. By 6) Hit wicket, when the batsman hits his own stumps while trying to hit the ball.By 7) retired, when the batsman voluntarily decides to finish his innings, and 8)timed out, when the next batsman doesnt appear on the pitch within two minutes of the last batsman getting out. \n\n\nEach team has one inning of 50 overs. An over is a series of 6 bowls by a bowler. Each bowler c
709315
There are many countries palying cricket. It is difficult to count them.\nHowever the counties that play test cricket are 21.\nAustralia, Newzeland, England, South Africa,India, Pakistan,Srilanka, Zimbabwe,Bangladesh, and 11 members countirs of west indies. \nYes West Indies is not a country but a team selected from 11 different countires in Central America.