Cricket -Stronger than ever ? (Cricket in General)

Member Name: TOMY3192

Product:	Cricket in General
Date:	09/11/08 (28 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: More modern styles of the game

Disadvantages: Will test match cricket die out as a result??

Whenever the word cricket is mentioned in any type of conversation, a overwhelming feeling of love ensues, covering my body. I've played cricket since I was seven years of age, and haven't stopped since. I absolutely love everything about the game, and have decided to write this 'Informative article' to encourage people to feel the same.

The history of cricket

Cricket first originated in England around about 1600. It was first played by children, but quickly grew in popularity among adults. The earliest evidence of a 'serious' cricket match was in 1697. The teams involved were not known, but it took place in Sussex. Cricket continued to be 'just a game' until the early 18th century. At this time, the game went under a major 'renovation'. It became the national sport of England, and the rules were changed, resulting in pretty much the same basic rules we witness on our TV screens today. In 1760 the bowling rules were changed. It allowed bowlers to pitch the ball, instead of rolling it towards the batsmen. This resulted in a change of a shape of the bats, which evolved into today's modern bats. The addition of three stumps and the LBW ("leg before wicket rule", explained below) came about in the late 17 hundreds.

Leg before wicket rule

As mentioned in the last section, a rule called the LBW, or leg before wicket rule, was introduced. Before I continue I feel that I owe it to you to try and explain as clearly as I can what this is.
When the batsman is batting, he bats if front of three wooden sticks, inserted into the floor. These can also be called stumps or wickets. Right, now the confusing part for some. When the bowler bowls, he basically lets go of the ball, intending to get the batsmen out in some way. If the ball hits the batsman on his pads (the protective gear on his legs) in front of the wicket, without him hitting the ball, he is out. This may sound simple, but there are some criteria that make it a tad bit confusing.
Before I move on, bare in mind that the ''offside'' is the half of the field that the batter faces when he is batting, and the ''onside (or legside)'' is the half of the field behind him. I know I haven't really explained this well, as it can be slightly difficult to explain in words, so here is a link to view a picture showing you what I mean:

http://www.lords.org/data/images/width365/laws_ap pd_onside-29221.gif

Right, with that out of the way I can continue. If the ball pitches (hits the floor) on the legside of the stumps, and hits him on his pads, he can NEVER be out. That's pretty straight forward. If the ball pitches on the offside of the stumps , though, there is slightly more to take into consideration. If the batsman has played, or at attempted to play a genuine shot, and missed he can never be out, but if he leaves the ball, and it hits him he is allowed to be given out, if the umpire deems that the ball would go on to hit the wickets. Height is also taken into consideration as well, if the umpire believes that the ball would be going over the stumps, then he will not be given out. There we go, may not be the most clearly described account of the rule, but I hope that I have at least helped. If not, take a look here.

http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/3-17-2004-51778. asp

Variations of the game

Test cricket

Test cricket is the highest possible achievement any cricketer can hope to achieve in his career. It is an international match, and lasts up to five days. This is, by far, the longest playing period in a single game of cricket. Each side is entitled to two innings (or turns) at batting, but it is not absolutely guaranteed. Play starts earl in the morning, and each day is in three periods, broken up by a lunch and tea break. Play normally finishes in the evening, but may stop earlier if bad weather has stopped play, or even bad light (when it is too dark to play). Many people find this type of cricket extremely boring, but has played host to some thrilling matches of cricket. The most highly anticipated test series (a group of test matches) is between Australia and England, called the ashes. This is one of the most fearsome rivalries in cricket, dating back to 1882.

Limited overs cricket

Also known as 'One day matches'. This type of cricket has a set amount of overs for each team to bat with. This is either 50, 40, or sometimes 20 and is determined before the match begins. Each side is guaranteed to bat for just one innings, and the team who wins is the team who scores most runs. This type of cricket is a lot more fast paced, and often pulls I larger crowds than the test match version of the game. This form of the game is used in the national league, and is also used in the international cricket world cup.

Twenty20

This is most definitely the newest, and fastest paced type of cricket. It could be classed as limited overs cricket, as each side is allotted twenty over innings in which to bat. This type of cricket has also delivered a massive injection of money into the sport. The IPL (indian premier league) saw the worlds top players auctioned off to Indian teams, being paid around about $700,000 dollars for about two months of cricket. There has been a lot of controversy over this though. Many international players are deciding to leave to play for these rich teams, leaving behind their countries. Another recent high stakes tournament was the 'Stanford twenty20 series'. The winner of this series, in all, received $20,000,000, This was split up as follows:

$1,000,000 to each member of the starting eleven ($11,000,000 total)

A further $1,000,000 to the rest of the squad

and the rest of the money split up between coaching staff.

This is obviously a massive and prize, and another four tournaments have been organized over the next four years.

Controversy in cricket

One of the most famous cases of controversy in cricket was the match fixing scandal, involving members of the south African cricketing team. The 'leader' of this scandal was Hanse Cronje. He took bribes to 'fix' matches. He always denied the accusations that he threw games, but admitted that he would except bribes on changing things such as the batting order, and team. After a lengthy court case, he was banned from cricket for life. He later died in a plane crash, which has been seen as slightly suspicious by some members of the public.

Ball tampering

This is the act of tampering with the cricket ball in order to gain an unfair advantage for the bowling side. It is considered illegal in cricket, and any player found caught doing it will be stopped from bowling in that innings. Further action will then be taken after the match has finished. This maybe fines, or even suspension. Arguably, the first team to come under scrutiny for this was the Pakistan international team in 1992.

The future of cricket

Cricket is becoming more and more popular with every coming month. With more higher tempo, faster paced games, attracting younger and wider audiences, the sport can only grow. Some people do say that this will mean the end of test cricket, and this is a valid argument. With more and more crowds pouring into limited over matches, and less going to see test matches, they may become a thing of the past, which I think would be a great loss. I think that cricket is stronger now than it has ever been, but the other, more traditional forms of the game can't be forgotten.

Summary: Thanks for reading