Jesse McCartney

Due to his position directly behind the striker, the wicket-keeper has a good chance of getting a batsman out caught off a fine edge from the bat; thicker edges are typically handled by the "slips" fieldsmen. To this end, he wears special gloves (he is the only fielder allowed to do so) and pads to cover his lower legs. His primary job is to gather deliveries that the batsman fails to hit, to prevent them running into the outfield, which would enable batsmen to score byes. The wicket-keeper is a specialist fielder who stands behind the batsman's wicket throughout the game.

They do this in two ways: by taking catches to dismiss a batsman, and by intercepting hit balls and returning them to the pitch to attempt run-outs to restrict the scoring of runs. Fielders assist the bowlers to prevent batsmen from scoring too many runs. Obstructing the field, Handled the ball, Timed Out and Hit the ball twice dismissals are extremely rare. With all other modes of dismissal, only one batsman can be dismissed per ball bowled.

Timed out by its nature is a dismissal without a delivery. The batsman who is not on strike may be run out by the bowler if he leaves his crease before the bowler bowls, and a batsman can be out obstructing the field or retired out at any time. Some of these modes of dismissal can take place without the bowler bowling a delivery. He cannot be out — 'bowled', 'caught', 'leg before wicket', or 'hit the ball twice' off a wide.

An individual cannot be out — 'bowled', 'caught', 'leg before wicket', 'stumped', or 'hit wicket' off a no ball. Also, an unimpaired batsman may retire, in which case he is treated as being dismissed retired out; no player is credited with the dismissal. The batsman is not out; he may return to bat later in the same innings if sufficiently recovered. For instance, if he is ill or injured, this is known as retired hurt or retired ill.

Additionally, a batsman may leave the field undismissed. Briefly, the ten modes are:. Of the following ten modes of dismissal, the first six are common, while the last four are technicalities which rarely occur. The wicket is put down if a bail is dislodged from the top of the stumps or a stump is struck out of the ground either with the ball, or by a fielder with the ball in his hand.

Many modes of dismissal require the wicket to be "put down". If the batsman is dismissed, another player from the batting team replaces him until ten batsmen are out and the innings is over. There are ten ways of being dismissed, some of which are credited as wickets to the bowler, some of which are not credited to any player. A batsman is allowed to bat as long as he does not get out (also known as being dismissed).

There are two main kinds of bowlers : pace bowlers and spin bowlers. If a bowler gets a batsman out, he is credited for this achievement. This is known as the Economy rate. Their next task is to limit the numbers of runs scored per over they bowl.

If a bowler can dismiss the more accomplished batsmen on the opposing team he reduces the opportunity for them to score, as it exposes the less skilful batsmen. The bowler's primary goal is to take wickets; that is, to get a batsman out or dismissed. A wide or no-ball results in a run to the batting team score, and the ball to be rebowled. A wide cannot be called if the batsman hits the ball.

The ball must also be delivered so it is within the batsman's reach, otherwise it is termed a wide. Some part of the bowler's front foot in the delivery stride (that is, the stride when the ball is released) must be behind the popping crease to avoid a no-ball (although the bowler's front foot does not have to be grounded). Usually, the bowler pitches the ball so that it bounces before reaching the batsman. This new law came in to prevent injury to bowlers.

Under new cricketing law, after consultation with health experts, the bowler is allowed to sraighten his arm 15 degrees or less, if the bowler straightens his or her arm more than 15 degrees it is called a "no ball". If the elbow straightens, it is an illegal throw and the delivery is called a no-ball. A bowler delivers the ball toward the batsmen, using what is known as a bowling action: the elbow may be held at any angle and may bend further, but may not straighten out during the action. A team need not be batting in order to receive penalty extras.

Five penalty runs are also awarded if a fielder uses anything other than his body to field the ball, or if the ball hits a protective helmet left on the field by the fielding team. For serious infractions such as tampering with the ball, deliberate time-wasting, and damaging the pitch, the umpires may award penalty extras to the opposition; in each case five runs. The former two are runs that can be scored if the batsman misses making contact with bat and ball, and the latter two are types of fouls committed by the bowler. Extras consist of byes, leg byes, no balls, wides and penalty runs.

These runs are known as extras, apart from in Australia where they are also called sundries. A team's total also includes a number of runs which are unaccredited to any batsmen. Every run scored by the batsmen contributes to the team's total. If the ball goes over the boundary, then four runs are scored, or six if the ball has not bounced.

If a fielder knocks the bails off the stumps with the ball while no batsman is grounded behind the nearest popping crease, the nearest batsman is run out. If the batsmen score an odd number of runs, then they will have swapped ends and their roles as striker and non-striker will be reversed for the next ball, unless the most recent ball marks the end of an over. But there is no tip and run rule, so the batsmen are not required to attempt a run when the ball is hit. This is known as running between wickets.

If the striker hits the ball well enough, the batsmen may double back to score two or more runs. Both runners must touch the ground behind the popping crease with either his bat or his body to register a run. To score a run, a striker must hit the ball and run to the opposite end of the pitch, while his non-striking partner runs to his end. This order may be changed at any time during the course of the game for strategic reasons.

After them the all-rounders follow and finally the bowlers (who are usually not known for their batting abilities). After that, the team typically bats in descending order of batting skill, the first five or six batsmen usually being the best in the team. The first two positions, known as "openers", are generally a specialised position, as they face the most hostile bowling (the opposing team's fast bowlers are at their freshest and the ball is new). Batsmen come in to bat in a batting order, which is decided by the team captain.

Depending on the team's strategy, he may be required to bat defensively in an effort to not get out, or to bat aggressively to score runs quickly. Shots are named according to the style of swing and the direction in the field to which the batsman desires to hit the ball. If the ball brushes the side of the bat it is called an edge or snick. If the batsman hits the ball with his bat, it is called a shot (or stroke).

The wooden bat that a batsman uses consists of a long handle and a flat surface on one side. Batsmen stand waiting for the ball at the batting crease. See also: Scoring. In these countries the hurricane and cyclone season coincides with their summers.

In the West Indies, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh games are played in the winter. These requirements mean that in England, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Zimbabwe the game is usually played in the summer. Professional cricket is usually played outdoors. Some one-day games are now played under floodlights, but, apart from few experimental games in Australia, floodlights are not used in longer games.

Play is therefore halted during rain (but not usually drizzle) and when there is bad light. Additionally, as in professional cricket it is common for balls to be bowled at over 90 mph (144 km/h), the game needs to be played in daylight that is good enough for a batsman to be able to see the ball. The game is only played in dry weather. There is also a short interval between innings.

There are formal intervals on each day for lunch and tea, and shorter breaks for drinks, where necessary. One innings matches are usually played over one day for six hours or more. Typically, two innings matches are played over three to five days with at least six hours of cricket being played each day. An innings is completed if:.

The umpires swap so the umpire at the bowler's end moves to square leg, and the umpire at square leg moves to the new bowler's end. After every over, the batting and bowling ends are swapped, and the field positions are adjusted. After the completion of an over, the bowler takes up a fielding position, while another player takes over the bowling. No bowler is allowed to bowl consecutive overs.

Each over consists of six consecutive legal (see "Extras" for details) deliveries bowled by the same bowler. Each innings is subdivided into overs. The captain winning the toss may choose either to bat or bowl first. The two opposing captains then toss a coin.

On the day of the match, the captains inspect the pitch to determine the type of bowlers whose bowling would be suited for the offered pitch surface and select their eleven players. Each position on the field has a unique label. Their placement may vary dramatically depending on strategy. The captain of the fielding team spreads his remaining nine players — the fielders — around the ground to cover most of the area.

The wicket-keeper, who generally acts in that role for the whole match, stands or crouches behind the wicket at the batting end. The player designated as bowler must change after every over. The fielding team has all eleven of its players on the ground, and at any particular time, one of these will be the bowler. His partner stands at the bowling end and is known as the non-striker.

One batsman, known as the striker, faces and plays the balls bowled by the bowler. The team batting always has two batsmen on the field. The infield, outfield, and the close-infield are used to enforce fielding restrictions. Two circles of radius 15 yards (13.7 m), centred on each wicket and often marked by dots, define the close-infield.

This line, commonly known as the circle, divides the field into an infield and outfield. A painted oval is made by drawing a semicircle of 30 yards (27.4 m) radius from the centre of each wicket with respect to the breadth of the pitch and joining them with lines parallel, 30 yards (27.4 m) to the length of the pitch. For a one-innings match played over a set number of fair deliveries, there are two additional field markings. Creases are used to adjudicate the dismissals of batsmen and to determine whether a delivery is fair.

Lines drawn or painted on the pitch are known as creases. The area of the field on the side of the line joining the wickets where the batsman holds his bat (the right-hand side for a right-handed batsman, the left for a left-hander) is known as the off side, the other as the leg side or on side. One end of the pitch is designated the batting end where the batsman stands and the other is designated the bowling end where the bowler runs in to bowl. Each set of three stumps and two bails is collectively known as a wicket.

Two wooden crosspieces, known as the bails, sit in grooves atop the stumps, linking each to its neighbour. At each end of the pitch three upright wooden poles, called the stumps, are hammered into the ground. The pitch measures 10 × 66 feet (3.05 × 20.12 m). Most of the action takes place in the centre of this ground, on a rectangular clay strip usually with short grass called the pitch.

On most grounds, a rope demarcates the perimeter of the field and is known as the boundary. There are no fixed dimensions for the field but its diameter usually varies between 450 feet (137 m) to 500 feet (150 m). The cricket field consists of a large circular or oval-shaped grassy ground. The official scorers occasionally make mistakes, but unlike umpires' mistakes these can be corrected after the event.

In international and national cricket competitions the media often requires to be notified of records and statistics, so unofficial scorers often keep tally for the broadcast commentators and newspaper journalists. In practice scorers also keep track of other matters, such as bowlers' analyses, the rate at which the teams bowl their overs, and team statistics such as averages and records. They are to acknowledge signals from the umpire, and to check the accuracy of the score regularly both with each other and, at playing intervals, with the umpires. The laws of cricket specify that the official scorers are to record all runs scored, wickets taken and (where appropriate) overs bowled.

Two scorers are appointed, and most often one scorer is provided by each team. In international matches an off-field match referee ensures that play is within the laws of cricket and the spirit of the game. In some professional matches, they may refer a decision to an off-field 'third' umpire, who has the assistance of television replays. The other will stand near the fielding position called square leg, which offers a side view of the batsman, and assist on decisions for which he has a better view.

One umpire will stand behind the wicket at the end from which the ball is bowled, and adjudicate on most decisions. Two on-field umpires preside over a match. A player who excels in both batting and bowling (or occasionally in batting and keeping wicket) is known as an all-rounder. One player of the team that is bowling and fielding takes up the role of a wicket-keeper, which is a highly specialised fielding position.

A balanced team usually has five or six specialist batsmen and four or five specialist bowlers. Depending on his primary skills, a player may be classified as a specialist batsman or bowler. Each team consists of eleven players. In particular, there are a number of modifications to the playing structure and fielding position rules that apply to one innings games that are restricted to a set number of fair deliveries.

Other rules supplement the main laws and change them to deal with different circumstances. Teams may agree to alter some of the rules for particular games. The game is played in accordance with 42 laws of cricket, which have been developed by the Marylebone Cricket Club in discussion with the main cricketing nations. If such a match is abandoned without completion due to an impossibility of continuing the play, because of an extended period of bad weather, unruly crowd, or any such unlikely event or situation, the result is declared as No-Result if fewer than a previously agreed number of overs has been bowled by either team.

If the match has only a single innings per side, with a set number of deliveries, and the match is temporarily interrupted by bad weather, then a complex mathematical formula known as the Duckworth-Lewis method is often used to recalculate a new target score. they are one run short of their target (an extremely rare occurrence) the match is a tie. If the team batting last is dismissed with the scores exactly equal, i.e. If, in a two-innings match, the first team to bat is dismissed in their second innings with a combined first- and second-innings score less than the first-innings score of their opponents (a relatively rare occurrence), the match is concluded and they are said to have lost by an innings and n runs, where n is the difference in score between the teams.

A match is divided into innings^[1] during which one team bats and the other bowls. The objective of the game is to score more runs than the opposing team. Cricket is a bat and ball sport. .

It has even occasionally given rise to diplomatic outrage, the most infamous being the Bodyline series played between England and Australia. For its fans, the sport and the intense rivalries between top cricketing nations provide passionate entertainment and outstanding sporting achievements. The 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. It is also a prominent minor sport in countries as diverse as the Netherlands, Israel, Nepal, and Argentina (see also: International Cricket Council).

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. In some countries in South Asia, including India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka, cricket is by far the most popular sport. It originated in its modern form in England, and is popular mainly in the countries of the Commonwealth. Cricket has been an established team sport for several centuries.

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. 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. At the end of the match, the winner is the team that has scored the most runs. 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.

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. Once out, a batsman is replaced by the next batsman in the team. 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. If the ball strikes a wicket while the nearest batsman is still running, the batsman is out.

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. This scores a run. If the batsman hits the ball with his bat, he may run to the other wicket, exchanging places with the non-striker. Another batsman (the non-striker) stands in an inactive role near the bowler's wicket.

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. A player from one team (the bowler) propels a hard, fist-sized ball(made of cork which is then wrapped in leather.) from one wicket towards the other. At each end of the pitch stand a set of wooden poles called wickets (traditionally made from the wood of the ash tree). 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.

Cricket is a team sport played between two teams of eleven players each. If a batter hits the ball over the fence (scoring six runs) they are out and required to fetch the ball themselves by climbing into a neighbours yard. "Six and out". This rule is design to make sure all players spend some time batting.

If out on the first ball, the batter may continue to bat. "Can not get out first ball". (Law 31). (If the delay is even more protracted, the umpires may cause the match to be forfeited.) No player is credited with the dismissal.

Timed out — When a new batsman takes more than three minutes to take his position in the field to replace a dismissed batsman. (Law 37). No player is credited with the dismissal. Obstructing the field — When a batsman deliberately hinders a fielder from attempting to field the ball.

(Law 34). No player is credited with the dismissal. Hit the ball twice — When the batsman deliberately strikes the ball a second time, except for the sole purpose of guarding his wicket. (Law 33).

No player is credited with the dismissal. Handled the ball — When the batsman deliberately handles the ball without the permission of the fielding team. (Law 35). The bowler is credited with the dismissal.

Hit wicket — When the batsman accidentally knocks the stumps with either the body or the bat, causing one or both of the bails to be dislodged, either in playing a shot or in taking off for the first run. (Law 39). This generally requires the keeper to be standing within arm's length of the wicket, which is done mainly to spin bowling. The bowler and wicket-keeper are both credited.

Stumped — When the batsman leaves his crease in playing a delivery, voluntarily or involuntarily, but the ball goes to the wicket-keeper who uses it to remove one or both of the bails through hitting the bail(s) or the wicket before the batsman has remade his ground. Such a dismissal is not officially credited to any player, although the identities of the fielder or fielders involved is often noted in brackets on the scorecard. The ball can either hit the stumps directly or the fielder's hand with the ball inside it can be used to dislodge the bails. Run out — When a fielder, bowler or wicket-keeper removes one or both of the bails with the ball by hitting the stumps whilst a batsman is still running between the two ends.

The bowler is credited with the dismissal. The laws of cricket stipulate certain exceptions in favour of the batsman; for instance, a batsman should not be given out LBW if the place where the ball bounced on the pitch is to the leg-side of the area strictly between the two wickets. Leg before wicket (LBW) — When a delivered ball misses the bat and strikes the batsman's leg or pad, and the umpire judges that the ball would otherwise have struck the stumps. (Law 30).

The bowler is credited with the dismissal. This happens regardless of whether the batsman has edged the ball onto the stumps or not. Bowled — When a delivered ball hits the stumps at the batsman's end, and dislodges one or both of the bails. (Law 32).

The bowler and catcher are both credited. Caught — When a fielder catches the ball before the ball bounces and after the batsman has struck it with the bat or it has come into contact with the batsman's glove while it is in contact with the bat handle. A captain declares his innings closed (this does not apply to one-day limited over matches). The predetermined number of overs are bowled (in a one-day match only, usually 50 overs).

A team chasing a given target number of runs to win manages to do so. Ten out of eleven batsmen are 'out' (dismissed).