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= = = The Sport Of Cricket

The sport of cricket is played all around the world but only 16 nations play the sport competitively. These countries are: - Australia - England - West Indies - India - Sri Lanka - New Zealand - Pakistan - Canada - Bangladesh - Scotland - Ireland - South Africa - Kenya - Netherlands - Afghanistan In cricket there are 2 teams of 11 players, a 12th man is required for any injuries that may occur on the field. Teams are allowed to have as many bowlers as they like, and every person has to bat. When bowling you need to bowl the ball over arm. Safety equipment is required: Helmet, batting gloves, batting pads and groin protector (to protect those crown jewels). Cricket was invented in the 16th Century. The First ever Cricket match between countries was in 1844, between Canada and USA.

There are three formats of the sport, Test (the original format of cricket), One Day International and Twenty/Twenty.

Test- Test cricket is played over 5 consecutive days, it is traditional to wear white clothes playing test cricket. To win the a test match you need to bowl the other team out twice(get everyone out on the opposing team). If no side gets the opposing side out twice after the five days the match will be declared a draw. In the history of Test cricket there has only been 1 tie, a tie is where a batting team has the same number of runs as the other team and they are either bowled out or day 5 has ended.

One Day International- One Day International Cricket also known as ODI, it is played over 50 overs ( 1 over= 6 balls). In ODI’s teams wear their nation’s colours, for example Australia wears green and gold. In an ODI the team that bats second has to pass the score that the team that batted first to win the game, if they fail to do so they will lose, unless bad light or weather interrupts the game.

Twenty/Twenty(twenty20)- Twenty/Twenty cricket is played over 20 overs, same rules apply as ODI, the team batting second has to pass the other teams score, otherwise they will lose unless of bad light, weather. The world of cricket is a really competitive sport especially in Australia, in Australia we have something called the Allan Border Medal. This award is given to the best Australian cricket of the year, over all the formats of the game. The record holder of the most AB medals is Ricky Ponting with 5 wins of the medal, since it was introduced in 2000.

The greatest rivalries in cricket is called the Ashes, this is a 5 test match series played between Australia and England. The Ashes is played every 2 years. Each year the 5 games are played in that country, the next Ashes series will be played in England in July 2012. Possibly the best cricketer of all time is Sir Donald Bradman, born in Cootamundra, NSW, 27 August 1908. He was Captain of Australia for 14 years, and he was captain of the best Cricket squad ever period.