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Bowler (cricket)

Bowler (cricket)

A bowler in the sport of cricket is usually a player whose speciality is bowling. A bowler who is also a competent batsman is known as an all-rounder. There are several types of bowlers and most teams will have a variety available in the team to take advantage of pitch or weather conditions or known weaknesses of the opposition. A fast bowler is usually the mainstay of a team's attack. He will take a long run up before bowling each ball to build momentum and rhythm and can deliver the cricket ball at speeds up to 100mph. A medium pace bowler bowls somewhat more slowly and will often have some other weapon in his bowling arsenal rather than relying on speed. This might take the form of being able to swing the ball in the air or disguise the speed or length of his delivery to fool the batsman. Some medium pacers are simply accurate; they can repeatedly deliver the ball to a place which forces the batsman to defend rather than scoring runs. A spin bowler usually bowls quite slowly and puts tremendous spin on the ball causing it to bounce at an angle off the pitch, forcing the batsman to treat each ball carefully. Generally spin bowlers give up the most runs but they all have "tricks" that they use to fool the batsman and get him out (such as the arm ball, googly, flipper, topspinner or doosra). Spin bowling is very much about deceit rather than speed.

Cricket

:For information regarding the insect, see Cricket (insect). For other uses, see Cricket (disambiguation). :For more coverage of cricket, see the Cricket portal. Cricket portal strip is the cricket pitch. The men wearing black trousers on the far right are the umpires.]] 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 some 22 yards long, called the pitch. At each end of the pitch stand a set of wooden poles called a wicket (traditionally made from ash). 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 ball from hitting the wicket with a wooden cricket bat, traditionally made of willow. Another batsman (the non-striker) stands in an inactive role near the bowler's wicket. If 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. Once 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.

a draw a draw Cricket 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). 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. 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.

Objective and summary

Cricket is a bat and ball sport. The objective of the game is to score more runs than the opposing team. A match is divided into innings during which one team bats and the other bowls. 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. If the team batting last is dismissed with the scores exactly equal, i.e. they are one run short of their target (an extremely rare occurrence) the match is a tie. 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. 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.

Laws of cricket

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. Teams may agree to alter some of the rules for particular games. Other rules supplement the main laws and change them to deal with different circumstances. 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.

Players and officials

Players

Each team consists of eleven players. Depending on his primary skills, a player may be classified as a specialist batsman or bowler. A balanced team usually has five or six specialist batsmen and four or five specialist bowlers. 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 player who excels in more than one specialist discipline (particularly in both bowling and batting) is known as an all-rounder.

Umpires

Two on-field umpires preside over a match. One umpire will stand behind the wicket at the end from which the ball is bowled, and adjudicate on most decisions. 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. In some professional matches, they may refer a decision to an off-field 'third' umpire, who has the assistance of television replays. In international matches an off-field match referee ensures that play is within the laws of cricket and the spirit of the game.

Scorers

Two scorers are appointed, and most often one scorer is provided by each team. The laws of cricket specify that the official scorers are to record all runs scored, wickets taken and (where appropriate) overs bowled. 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. 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. 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. The official scorers occasionally make mistakes, but unlike umpires' mistakes these can be corrected after the event.

The playing field

The cricket field consists of a large circular or oval-shaped grassy ground. There are no fixed dimensions for the field but its diameter usually varies between 450 feet (137 m) to 500 feet (150 m). On most grounds, a rope demarcates the perimeter of the field and is known as the boundary. ; The pitch Most of the action takes place in the centre of this ground, on a rectangular clay strip usually with short grass called the pitch. The pitch measures 10 × 66 feet (3.05 × 20.12 m). At each end of the pitch three upright wooden poles, called the stumps, are hammered into the ground. Two wooden crosspieces, known as the bails, sit in grooves atop the stumps, linking each to its neighbour. Each set of three stumps and two bails is collectively known as a wicket. 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. 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. Lines drawn or painted on the pitch are known as creases. Creases are used to adjudicate the dismissals of batsmen and to determine whether a delivery is fair. ; Parts of the field For a one-innings match played over a set number of fair deliveries, there are two additional field markings. 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. This line, commonly known as the circle, divides the field into an infield and outfield. Two circles of radius 15 yards (13.7 m), centred on each wicket and often marked by dots, define the close-infield. The infield, outfield, and the close-infield are used to enforce fielding restrictions. ; Placements of players The team batting always has two batsmen on the field. One batsman, known as the striker, faces and plays the balls bowled by the bowler. His partner stands at the bowling end and is known as the non-striker. The fielding team has all eleven of its players on the ground, and at any particular time, one of these will be the bowler. The player designated as bowler must change after every over. The wicket-keeper, who generally acts in that role for the whole match, stands or crouches behind the wicket at the batting end. The captain of the fielding team spreads his remaining nine players — the fielders — around the ground to cover most of the area. Their placement may vary dramatically depending on strategy. Each position on the field has a unique label.

Match structure

; The toss 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. The two opposing captains then toss a coin. The captain winning the toss may choose either to bat or bowl first. ; Overs Each innings is subdivided into overs. Each over consists of six consecutive legal (see "Extras" for details) deliveries bowled by the same bowler. No bowler is allowed to bowl consecutive overs. After the completion of an over, the bowler takes up a fielding position, while another player takes over the bowling. After every over, the batting and bowling ends are swapped, and the field positions are adjusted. 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. ; End of an innings An innings is completed if: # Ten out of eleven batsmen are 'out' (dismissed). # A team chasing a given target number of runs to win manages to do so. # The predetermined number of overs are bowled (in a one-day match only, usually 50 overs). # A captain declares his innings closed (this does not apply to one-day limited over matches). ; Playing time Typically, two innings matches are played over three to five days with at least six hours of cricket being played each day. One innings matches are usually played over one day for six hours or more. There are formal intervals on each day for lunch and tea, and shorter breaks for drinks, where necessary. There is also a short interval between innings. The game is only played in dry weather. 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. Play is therefore halted when it rains (but not usually when it drizzles) and when there is bad light. Some one-day games are now played under floodlights, but, apart from few experimental games in Australia, floodlights are not used in longer games. Professional cricket is generally played outdoors. These requirements mean that in England, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Zimbabwe the game is usually played in the summer. In the West Indies, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh games are played in the winter. In these countries the hurricane and cyclone season coincides with their summers.

Batting and scoring runs

See also: Scoring ;Batting :Main articles: Batsman, Batting Batting Batsmen stand waiting for the ball at the batting crease. The wooden bat that a batsman uses consists of a long handle and a flat surface on one side. If the batsman hits the ball with his bat, it is called a shot (or stroke). If the ball brushes the side of the bat it is called an edge or snick. Shots are named according to the style of swing and the direction in the field to which the batsman desires to hit the ball. 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. Batsmen come in to bat in a batting order, which is determined by the team captain. 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). 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. After them the all-rounders follow and finally the bowlers (who are usually not known for their batting abilities). This order may be changed at any time during the course of the game for strategic reasons. ;Run scoring 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. Both runners must touch the ground behind the popping crease with either his bat or his body to register a run. If the striker hits the ball well enough, the batsmen may double back to score two or more runs. This is known as running between wickets. But there is no tip and run rule, so the batsmen are not required to attempt a run when the ball is hit. 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. 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 ball goes over the boundary, then four runs are scored, or six if the ball has not bounced. ;Extras Every run scored by the batsmen contributes to the team's total. A team's total also includes a number of runs which are unaccredited to any batsmen. These runs are known as extras, apart from in Australia where they are also called sundries. Extras consist of byes, leg byes, no balls, wides and penalty 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. 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. 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. A team need not be batting in order to receive penalty extras.

Bowling and dismissals

;Bowling wides :Main articles: Bowlers, Bowling, Bowling strategy 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. If the elbow straightens, it is an illegal throw and the delivery is called a no-ball. Usually, the bowler pitches the ball so that it bounces before reaching the batsman. 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). The ball must also be delivered so it is within the batsman's reach, otherwise it is termed a wide. A wide cannot be called if the batsman hits the ball. A wide or no-ball results in a run to the batting team score, and the ball to be rebowled. The bowler's primary goal is to take wickets; that is, to get a batsman out or dismissed. 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. Their next task is to limit the numbers of runs scored per over they bowl. This is known as the Economy rate. If a bowler gets a batsman out, he is credited for this achievement. There are two main kinds of bowlers : pace bowlers and spin bowlers. ;Dismissal of a batsman A batsman is allowed to bat as long as he does not get out (also known as being dismissed). 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. If the batsman is dismissed, another player from the batting team replaces him until ten batsmen are out and the innings is over. Many modes of dismissal require the wicket to be "put down". 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. Of the following ten modes of dismissal, the first six are common, while the last four are technicalities which rarely occur. Briefly, the ten modes are:
- 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. The bowler and catcher are both credited.
- Bowled — When a delivered ball hits the stumps at the batsman's end, and dislodges one or both of the bails. This happens regardless of whether the batsman has edged the ball onto the stumps or not. The bowler is credited with the dismissal.
- 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. 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. The bowler is credited with the dismissal.
- 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 ball can either hit the stumps directly or the fielder's hand with the ball inside it can be used to dislodge the bails. 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.
- 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. The bowler and wicket-keeper are both credited. This generally requires the keeper to be standing within arm's length of the wicket, which is done mainly to spin bowling.
- 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. The bowler is credited with the dismissal.
- Handled the ball — When the batsman deliberately handles the ball without the permission of the fielding team. 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. No player is credited with the dismissal.
- Obstructing the field — When a batsman deliberately hinders a fielder from attempting to field the ball. No player is credited with the dismissal.
- Timed out — When a new batsman takes more than three minutes to appear on the field to replace a dismissed batsman. (If the delay is even more protracted, the umpires may cause the match to be forfeited.) No player is credited with the dismissal. Additionally, a batsman may leave the field undismissed. For instance, if he is ill or injured, this is known as retired hurt or retired ill. The batsman is not out; he may return to bat later in the same innings if sufficiently recovered. Also, an unimpaired batsman may retire, in which case he is treated as being dismissed retired out; no player is credited with the dismissal. An individual cannot be out — 'bowled', 'caught', 'leg before wicket', 'stumped', or 'hit wicket' off a no ball. He cannot be out — 'bowled', 'caught', 'leg before wicket', or 'hit the ball twice' off a wide. Some of these modes of dismissal can take place without the bowler bowling 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. Timed out by its nature is a dismissal without a delivery. With all other modes of dismissal, only one batsman can be dismissed per ball bowled. Obstructing the field, Handled the ball, Timed Out and Hit the ball twice dismissals are extremely rare.

Fielding and wicket-keeping

retired out :Main articles: Fielder, Fielding strategy Fielders assist the bowlers to prevent batsmen from scoring too many runs. 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. The wicket-keeper is a specialist fielder who stands behind the batsman's wicket throughout the game. 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. To this end, he wears special gloves (he is the only fielder allowed to do so) and pads to cover his lower legs. 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. The wicket-keeper is also the only person who can get a batsman out stumped.

Other roles

; Captain The captain's acumen in deciding the strategy is crucial to the team's success. The captain makes a number of important decisions, including setting field positions, alternating the bowlers and taking the toss. The captain's job in the team is very important but can be rather stressful at times. Much blame is placed on a captain when their team loses. However, he/she is seen as an honour to be in such a priveliged position and much praise is given to the captain when their team wins. The job of a captain can irritate and interfere with their play considerably, slightly or not at all, depending on how they take that extra burden in their stride. Statistics from various matches can show trends in bad and good performances when someone is a captain or not a captain, respectively. ; A runner In the event of a batsman being fit to bat but too injured to run, he may request the umpire and the fielding captain for a runner. The runner chosen must, if possible, be a player who has already been given out. After a batsman hits the ball, the runner's only task is to run between the wickets in place of the injured batsman. ; Substitutes In one day international (ODI) cricket and some other limited overs competitions, a single substitution is allowed during the game. A player who is replaced cannot return to the game. This kind of substitute is known as Super Sub. In all forms of cricket, if a player gets injured or becomes ill during a match, a substitute is allowed to field instead of him; though he cannot bowl, bat, or act as a captain or wicket-keeper. Here the substitute is a temporary role and leaves the field once the injured player is fit to return.

History

A basic form of the sport can be traced back to the 13th century, but it may have existed even earlier than that. The game seems to have originated among shepherds and farm workers in the Weald between Kent and Sussex. Written evidence exists of a sport known as creag being played by Prince Edward, the son of Edward I (Longshanks), at Newenden, Kent in 1300. In 1598, a court case referred to a sport called Creckett being played at the Royal Grammar School, Guildford around 1550. The Oxford English Dictionary gives this as the first recorded instance of cricket in the English language. A number of words are thought to be possible sources for the term cricket. The name may derive from a term for the cricket bat: old French criquet (meaning a kind of club) or Flemish krick(e) (meaning a stick) or in Old English crycc (meaning a crutch or staff). (The latter is problematic, since Old English 'cc' was palatal in pronunciation in the south and the west midlands, roughly ch, which is how crycc leads to crych and thence crutch; the 'k' sound would be possible in the north, however.) Alternatively, the French criquet apparently derives from the Flemish word krickstoel, which is a long low stool on which one kneels in church and which resembles the long low wicket with two stumps used in early cricket. During the 17th century, numerous references indicate the growth of cricket in the south-east of England. By the end of the century, it had become an organised activity being played for high stakes and it is possible that the first professionals appeared about that time. We know that a great cricket match with eleven players a side was played for high stakes in Sussex in 1697 and this is the earliest reference we have to cricket in terms of such importance. See also: History of cricket to 1696; History of cricket 1697 - 1725 The game underwent major development in the 18th Century and had become the national sport of England by the end of the century. Betting played a major part in that development and rich patrons began forming their own "select XIs". Cricket was prominent in London as early as 1707 and large crowds flocked to matches on the Artillery Ground in Finsbury. The Hambledon Club was founded sometime before 1750 and started playing first-class matches in 1756. For the next 30 years until the formation of MCC and the opening of Lord's in 1787, Hambledon was the game's greatest club and its focal point. MCC quickly became the sport's premier club and the custodian of the Laws of Cricket. See also: History of cricket 1726 - 1815 The 19th Century saw underarm replaced by first roundarm and then overarm bowling. Both developments were accompanied by major controversy. County clubs appeared from 1836 and ultimately formed a County Championship. In 1859, a team of England players went on the first overseas tour (to North America) and 18 years later another England team took part in the first-ever Test Match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground against Australia. Cricket appeared at one Olympic Games, at Paris in 1900. Olympic cricket lasted only two days and Great Britain is the current Olympic champion. Cricket entered an epochal era in 1963, when English counties modified the rules to provide a variant match form that produced an expedited result: games with a restricted number of overs per side. This gained widespread popularity and resulted in the birth of one-day international (ODI) matches in 1971. The governing International Cricket Council quickly adopted the new form and held the first ODI Cricket World Cup in 1975. Since then, ODI matches have gained mass spectatorship, at the expense of the longer form of the game and to the consternation of fans who prefer the longer form of the game. As of the early 2000s, however, the longer form of cricket is experiencing a growing resurgence in popularity. See also: Stoolball

Forms of cricket

Stoolball (MCG) situated in Yarra Park, Melbourne, Australia, in 1877.]]

Test cricket

Test cricket is a form of international cricket started in 1877 during the 1876/77 English cricket team's tour of Australia. The first Test match began on 15 March, 1877 and had a timeless format with four balls per over. It ended on 19 March, 1877 with Australia winning by 45 runs. The Test Cricket Series between England and Australia is called The Ashes, with the trophy being a tiny fragile urn, reputed to hold the ashes of a bail or cricket ball used during the second Test series between the two countries, which was presented to the English Cricket Captain, Ivo Bligh, by a group of Melbourne women, following the Test Series win by the England Cricket Team, during the England Cricket Team's Tour of Australia in 1882/83. Since then, over 1,700 Test matches have been played and the number of Test playing nations has increased to ten with Bangladesh, the most recent nation elevated to Test status, making its debut in 2000. Test matches are two innings games that are nowadays played over five days.

One-day cricket

One-day matches, also known as limited overs or instant cricket, were introduced in English domestic cricket in the 1960s due to the growing demands for a shorter and more dramatic form of cricket to stem the decline in attendances. The idea was taken up in the international arena in 1971, during an England team tour of Australia, when a Test match was rained off, and the one-day game has since swollen to become a crowd-pleaser and TV-audience-generator across the globe. The inaugural World Cup in 1975 did much to hasten this. The abbreviations ODI or sometimes LOI (for Limited Overs International) are used for international matches of this type. In one-day cricket, each team bats for only one innings, and it is limited to a number of overs, usually 50 in international matches. Despite its name, a one-day match may go into a second day if play is interrupted by rain. Day and night matches are also played which extend into the night. Innovations such as coloured clothing, frequent tournaments and result oriented-games often resulting in nail-biting finishes have seen ODI cricket gain many supporters. Strategies such as quick scoring, gravity-defying fielding and accurate bowling make this form more invigorating as compared to the Test matches.

First-class matches

A first-class match is generally defined as a high-level international or domestic match that takes place over at least three days on natural (as opposed to artificial) turf. A significant feature of first-class cricket is that games must have two innings per side, in contrast with games where the teams have one innings each (including limited overs matches played by teams that are normally recognised as first-class). The status of a match depends on the status of the teams contesting it. All Test-playing nations are allowed to play first-class matches, as are their regional, state, provincial or county teams. Matches of Kenya, one of the foremost non-Test-playing nations, with other first class teams are adjudged first class, but its domestic matches are not. As a benchmark, a match can be considered first-class only if both teams have first-class status. Thus, a match between two Test nations, between two domestic teams in full members of the ICC, or between a Test nation and another Test nation's domestic team, may be considered first class. A Test match is also considered to be a first-class match, but one-day internationals are not due to the two innings per side rule. The point of origin of first-class cricket is an ongoing controversy that is described in the main article.

Other forms of cricket

At lower levels, club cricket is usually played over one to two days, either as a two innings or one innings limited overs match. The game of cricket has also spawned a set of matches with modified rules to attract more fans. The 'Twenty20' rule can be an example of cricket rule modification, since this particular modification enforces a limit of 20 overs per innings, which makes the game rather shorter in order to maximise the attention of the fans. These matches are not recognised by the ICC as official matches. Other variants of the sport exist and are played in areas as diverse as on sandy beaches or on ice. Kwik cricket is a form of the sport where the bowler does not have to wait for the batsman to be ready before a delivery, leading to a faster, more exhausting game which is often used in school PE lessons.

International structure

Kwik cricket The International Cricket Council (ICC) is the international governing body for cricket. It is headquartered in Dubai and includes representatives of each of the ten Test-playing nations, as well as an elected panel representing non-Test-playing nations. Each nation has a national cricket board which regulates cricket matches played in their country. The cricket board also selects the national squad and organises home and away tours for the national team. Nations playing cricket are separated into three tiers depending on the level of cricket infrastructure in that country. At the highest level are the Test-playing nations. They qualify automatically for the quadrennial World Cup matches. A rung lower are the Associate Member nations. The lowermost rung consists of the Affiliate Member nations. See also: Non-Test teams to have played ODI matches.

Notes

# The term innings always has a terminal s in cricket usage, both for singular and plural forms. The word inning is never used.

References

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External links

- [http://www.cricinfo.com Wisden Cricinfo]
- [http://www.cricketarchive.com/ CricketArchive]
- [http://www.icc-cricket.com/ International Cricket Council] Category:Cricket culture Category:Team sports Category:Ball games ko:크리켓 ja:クリケット simple:Cricket th:คริกเกต

Bowling (cricket)

In the sport of cricket, bowling is the action of propelling the ball towards the batsman. A player skilled at bowling is called a bowler. A single act of bowling the ball towards the batsman is called a ball or a delivery. There are rules in the Laws of Cricket governing how a ball must be bowled. If a ball is bowled illegally, an umpire will rule it a no ball. If a ball is bowled too far wide of the batsman for him to be able to hit it, an umpire will rule it a wide.

History

In the early days of cricketing history, underarm bowling was the only method employed. Initially, all bowling was performed with an underarm action. Later, an English woman, who used to play cricket alongside the gentlemen and whom was attired in the dress of the day for a lady, a long, widely blousing dress, was having difficulty in bowling with an underarm action due to the blousing dress and to counter this she began to bowl with an overarm delivery method. Soon after, a gentleman who witnessed this action began to employ it in club cricket matches, however, the overarm method was quickly banned and determined to be illegal. It was not until 1864 that the method was finally accepted by cricketing authorities and grew rapidly in popularity amongst all players. By the 20th century, underarm bowling had disappeared from the game. An infamous "underarm bowling" incident occurred during a One-day International match between the Australia and New Zealand teams, in which the bowler took advantage of the fact that underarm bowling was still legal by rolling the ball along the ground. By doing so he avoided the (unlikely) possibility that the No. 10 New Zealand batsman would score a six from the last ball to tie the match. As a result of this incident underarm bowling was subsequently banned as not within the spirit of the game.

The bowling action

Bowling the ball is distinguished from simply throwing the ball by a strictly specified biomechanical definition. Originally, this definition said that the elbow joint must not straighten out during the bowling action. Bowlers generally hold their elbows fully extended and rotate the arm vertically about the shoulder joint to impart velocity to the ball, releasing it near the top of the arc. Flexing at the elbow was allowed, but any extension of the elbow was deemed to be a throw and would be liable to be called a no ball. In 2005, this definition was deemed to be physically impossible, following biomechanical studies that showed that all bowlers extend their elbows somewhat throughout the bowling action. A guideline was introduced to allow extensions or hyperextensions of up to 15 degrees before deeming the ball illegally thrown. These definitions rule out the normal throwing action that most people naturally use when throwing a ball, as the elbow clearly straightens from an almost fully bent position during such a throw.

Goals of bowling

In terms of strategic importance in a game, the priorities of a bowler are, in order of importance: #Get batsmen out. #Prevent batsmen from scoring runs. Getting batsmen out is the primary goal because once out a batsman can no longer bat in the same innings, so the potential for scoring more runs is gone. Actually preventing the scoring of a run at any point is relatively unimportant, and bowlers will often deliberately bowl so as to make it easier for batsmen to score runs, in order to build overconfidence, tempt them into a miscalculated shot, and thus get them out. This contrasts with baseball, in which the primary goal of pitching is to prevent the other team from scoring runs. This is reflected in the difference in terminology of attack and defence between the sports. In baseball, pitching is considered the defensive role, whereas in cricket bowling is primarily an offensive role and is referred to as the attack.

Bowling tactics

To achieve the goals of bowling, a variety of tactics have been developed. Naively, bowling directly at the batsman's wicket seems a good idea, as this provides chances to get the batsman out bowled or leg before wicket. However, most batsman are capable of defending against such deliveries, especially if they expect them. A more promising line of attack is to bowl away from the wicket, and entice the batsman to play a shot at the ball in the hope of scoring runs. A mistimed stroke or deviation of the ball in flight can result in the ball being hit in an unintended direction, either on to the wicket or - more likely - to a fielder for a catch. Some different types of bowling tactic:
- Bodyline
- Leg theory
- Off theory

All-rounder

In cricket, an all-rounder is a player who is good at both batting and bowling. Although all bowlers must bat at some time, many of them are not very skilled and most are not considered to be all-rounders. However, wicket-keepers who are also very good batsmen (such as Adam Gilchrist) are considered by some to be all-rounders. There is some confusion as to the precise definition that a player needs to fit in order to be considered an all-rounder. The generally accepted criterion is that a genuine all-rounder is someone whose batting or bowling skills, considered alone, would be good enough to win them a place on a cricket team. By this definition, true all-rounders are quite rare, and extremely valuable to a team since they can effectively count as an extra player. One commonly used statistical rule of thumb is that the batting average of an all-rounder should be higher than the bowling average; for example, Ian Botham had averages in Test cricket of 33.34 with the bat and 28.40 with the ball. Because all-rounders are so useful, a number of players have made a name for themselves who exhibit slightly below-par batting and bowling skills are usually referred to as all-rounders even though they fall short of the 'classic' definition. At domestic level, such players are sometimes called "bits and pieces" players. To confuse the issue, there are many specialist batsmen and bowlers who exhibit some degree of skill in the opposite department. For example, the Australian leg-spinner Shane Warne is a good batsman, but not quite good enough to be selected as a Test batsman in his own right. Debate continues as to whether players in his class, including batsmen who can bowl a few useful overs such as Sachin Tendulkar, are to be considered all-rounders. One of the most amazing all-round feats was that of E.M.Grace on 15 August 1862. He carried his bat through the entire MCC innings, scoring 192 not out of a total of 344. He then took all 10 wickets in the Kent first innings for 69 runs. However this is not an official record as it was a 12-man game, one of the Kent batsmen was missing, and furthermore he bowled underarm.

List of Current All-rounders

- Shahid Afridi (Pakistan)
- Dwayne Bravo (West Indies)
- Chris Cairns (New Zealand)
- Andrew Flintoff (England)
- Chris Gayle (West Indies)
- Adam Gilchrist (Australia)
- Sanath Jayasuriya (Sri Lanka)
- Jacques Kallis (South Africa)
- Justin Kemp (South Africa)
- Jacob Oram (New Zealand)
- Shaun Pollock (South Africa)
- Abdul Razzaq (Pakistan)
- Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka)
- Heath Streak (Zimbabwe)
- Andrew Symonds (Australia)
- Daniel Vettori (New Zealand)
- Shane Watson (Australia)

List of Historical All-rounders

- Imran Khan (Pakistan)
- Ian Botham (England)
- Sir Garfield Sobers (West Indies)
- Kapil Dev (India)
- Keith Miller (Australia)
- Sir Richard Hadlee (New Zealand)
- Chris Cairns (New Zealand)
- Monty Noble (Australia)
- Tony Greig (England)
- Aubrey Faulkner (South Africa)
- Hansie Cronje (South Africa)
- Asif Iqbal (Pakistan)
- W. G. Grace (England)
- Lance Klusener (South Africa)
- A. E. J. Collins (England)

Cricket pitch

A cricket pitch is the central strip of the playing area between the wickets. The pitch is 22 yards (20.12 m) long and 10 feet (3.05 m) wide. The surface is very flat and normally covered with extremely short grass though this grass is soon removed by wear at the ends of the pitch. In amateur matches, artificial pitches are commonly used. These can be a slab of concrete, overlaid with a coir mat, or artificial turf. Artificial pitches are rare in professional cricket - only being used when exhibition matches are played in regions where cricket is not a common sport. The pitch has very specific markings delineating the creases, as specified by the Laws of Cricket. The word wicket is often used to refer to the pitch. Although technically incorrect according the Laws of Cricket (Law 7 covers the pitch and Law 8 the wickets, distinguishing between them), cricket players, followers, and commentators persist in the usage, with context eliminating any possible ambiguity.

State of the pitch

Laws of Cricket If the grass on a natural pitch is longer or more moist than usual, the pitch is described as green. A green pitch favours the bowler over the batsman as the ball can be made to behave erratically on longer or wet grass. Most club and social cricket is played on pitches that professional cricketers would call green. A sticky wicket is a pitch that has become wet. This causes the ball to behave erratically, particularly for the slower or spin bowlers. However, the pitch is now generally protected from rain and dew preceding and during games so that a sticky wicket is rarely seen in first-class cricket. The phrase, however, has retained currency and extended beyond cricket to mean any difficult situation. As a match progresses, the pitch dries out. The Laws of Cricket prevent the pitch from being watered during a match. As it dries out, initially batting becomes easier as any moisture disappeares. Over the course of a four or five-day match, however, the pitch begins to crack, then crumble and become dusty. This again favours bowlers, particularly spin bowlers who can obtain large amounts of traction on the surface and make the ball spin a long way. This change in the relative difficulties of batting and bowling as the state of the pitch changes during a match is one of the primary strategic considerations that the captain of the team that wins the coin toss will take into account when deciding which team will bat first.

Covering the pitch

The pitch is said to be covered when there are covers on it to protect it against rain or dew. Whether covers are used or not significantly affects the way the ball comes off the pitch, making the issue a controversial one. Law 11 of the Laws of cricket provides that during the match the pitch shall not be completely covered unless provided otherwise by regulations or by agreement before the toss. When possible, the bowlers' run ups are covered in inclement weather to keep them dry. If the pitch is covered overnight, the covers are removed in the morning at the earliest possible moment on each day that play is expected to take place. If covers are used during the day as protection from inclement weather, or if inclement weather delays the removal of overnight covers, they are removed as soon as conditions allow.

Preparation and maintenance of the playing area

Law 10 of the Laws of cricket sets out rules covering the preparation and maintenance of the playing area.

Rolling the pitch

During the match the pitch may be rolled at the request of the captain of the batting side, for a period of not more than 7 minutes, before the start of each innings, other than the first innings of the match, and before the start of each subsequent day's play. In addition, if, after the toss and before the first innings of the match, the start is delayed, the captain of the batting side may request to have the pitch rolled for not more than 7 minutes, unless the umpires together agree that the delay has had no significant effect on the state of the pitch. Once the game has begun, rolling may not take place other than under these circumstances. If there is more than one roller available the captain of the batting side shall have the choice. There are detailed rules to make sure that rolling, where possible, is conducted so as not to delay the game, but, if necessary, the game is delayed to allow the batting captain to have up to 7 minutes rolling if he so wishes.

Sweeping

Before a pitch is rolled it is first swept to avoid any possible damage by rolling in debris. The pitch is also cleared of any debris at all intervals for meals, between innings and at the beginning of each day. The only exception to this is that the umpires do not allow sweeping to take place where they consider it may be detrimental to the surface of the pitch.

Mowing

Both the pitch and the outfield is mown on each day of a match on which play is expected to take place, if ground and weather conditions allow. Once a game has begun mowings are carried out under the supervision of the umpires.

Footholes and footholds

The umpires are required to make sure that bowlers' and batsmen's footholes are cleaned out and dried whenever necessary to facilitate play. In matches of more than one day's duration, if necessary, the footholes made by the bowler in his delivery stride may be returfed or covered with quick-setting fillings to make them safe and secure. Players may also secure their footholds using sawdust provided that the pitch is not damaged or they do not do so in a way that is unfair to the other team.

Other matters

Law 10 also provides that the pitch is not watered during the match and that the creases are re-marked whenever either umpire considers it necessary.

Practice on the field

Players are not allowed to practise bowling or batting on the pitch, or on the area parallel and immediately adjacent to the pitch, at any time on any day of the match. Practice on a day of a match on any other part of the cricket square is only permitted before the start of play or after the close of play on that day, but must cease 30 minutes before the scheduled start of play or if it is detrimental to the surface of the square. Typically players do practise on the field of play, but not on the cricket square, during the game. Also bowlers sometimes practise run ups during the game. However, no practice or trial run up is permitted on the field of play during play if it could result in a waste of time. The rules concerning practice on the field are covered principally by Law 17 of the Laws of cricket.

Related usages

The word pitch also refers to the bouncing of the ball, usually on the pitch. In this context, the ball is said to pitch before it reaches the batsman. Where the ball pitches can be qualified as pitched short (bouncing nearer the bowler), pitched up (nearer the batsman), or pitched on a length (somewhere in between). Unlike baseball, the word pitch is not used to mean the act of propelling the ball towards the batsman. This is usually referred to as a ball or a delivery. (Also, the word ball does not imply anything about the accuracy of the ball.) Category:Cricket equipment Category:Cricket grounds Category:Cricket captaincy and tactics

Cricket ball

A cricket ball is a hard, solid ball used to play cricket.

Manufacture

Cricket balls are made from a core of cork, which is layered with tightly wound string, and covered by a leather case with a slightly raised sewn seam. The covering is constructed of four pieces of leather shaped similar to the peel of a quartered orange, but one hemisphere is rotated by 90 degrees with respect to the other. The "equator" of the ball is stitched with string to form the seam, with a total of six rows of stitches. The remaining two joins between the leather pieces are left unstitched. For men's cricket, the ball must weigh between 5.5 and 5.75 ounces (155.9 and 163.0 g) and measure between 8 13/16 and 9 in (224 and 229 mm) in circumference. Balls used in women's and youth matches are slightly smaller. Cricket balls are traditionally dyed red, and red balls are used in Test cricket and First-class cricket. White balls were introduced when one-day matches began being played at night under floodlights, as they are more visible at night. Many one-day matches are now played with white balls. Other colours have occasionally been experimented with, such as yellow and orange for improved night visibility, but the colouring process has so far rendered such balls unsuitable for professional play because they wear differently to standard balls.

Condition of a cricket ball

A new, highly polished ball is used at the start of each innings in a match. A cricket ball may not be replaced except under specific conditions described in the Laws of Cricket:
- If the ball becomes damaged or lost.
- If the condition of the ball is illegally modified by a player.
- If, after a specified number of overs (80 in Test cricket), the captain of the bowling side requests a new ball. The ball is not replaced if it is hit into the crowd - the crowd must return it (unlike in baseball). If the ball is damaged, lost, or illegally modified, it will be replaced by a used ball in similar condition to the replaced ball. A new ball can only be used after the specified minimum number of overs have been bowled with the old one. Because a single ball is used for an extended period of play, its surface wears down and becomes rough. The bowlers will polish it whenever they can - usually by rubbing it on their trousers, producing the characteristic red stain that can often be seen there. However, they will usually only polish one side of the ball, in order to create 'swing' as it travels through the air. They may apply natural substances (i.e. saliva or sweat) to the ball as they polish it, but any other material is illegal. The seam of a cricket ball can also be used to produce different trajectories through the air, with the technique known as swing bowling, or to produce sideways movement as it bounces off the pitch, with the technique known as seam bowling. Since the condition of the cricket ball is crucial to the amount of movement through the air a bowler can produce, the laws governing what players may and may not do to the ball are specific and rigorously enforced. The umpires will inspect the ball frequently during a match. It is illegal for a player to:
- rub any substance apart from saliva or sweat onto the ball
- rub the ball on the ground
- scuff the ball with any rough object, including the fingernails
- pick at or lift the seam of the ball. Despite these rules, it can be tempting for players to gain an advantage by breaking them. There have been a handful of incidents of so-called ball tampering at the highest levels of cricket, involving players such as Pakistani fast bowler Waqar Younis and former England captain Mike Atherton. A new cricket ball is harder than a worn one, and is preferred by fast bowlers because of the speed and bounce of the ball as it bounces off the pitch. Older balls tend to spin more as the roughness grips the pitch more when the ball bounces, so spin bowlers prefer to use a worn ball. A captain may delay the request for a new ball if he prefers to have his spin bowlers operating, but usually asks for the new ball soon after it becomes available. Cricket balls are notoriously hard, and potentially lethal. Frederick, Prince of Wales, is said to have died of complications after being hit by one, and Glamorgan player, Roger Davis, was almost killed by one. [http://content.cricinfo.com/india/content/player/30745.html Raman Lamba] was killed when hit on the head while fielding at forward short leg in a club match in Bangladesh. Hence today's batsmen and close fielders often wear protective headgear.

Alternatives to cricket balls

Sometimes alternatives to a real cricket ball may be preferred for reasons of safety, practice, availability and cost. Examples include a tennis ball (most favoured) or a plastic version of the cricket ball. Many casual players use a tennis ball wrapped in layers of some type of adhesive tape (often electrical insulating tape), which makes the relatively soft tennis ball harder and smoother. This is commonly referred to as a taped ball. A common variant is to tape only half the tennis ball, to provide two different sides and make it easy to bowl with prodigious amounts of swing.

External links

- [http://www.lords.org/cricket/lw_0000000031.asp Cricket law 5 - the ball]
- [http://cooltech.iafrica.com/technews/179924.htm Cricket balls get the tech spin] Category:Cricket terminology Category:Cricket equipment Category:Sporting goods

Spin bowling

Spin bowling, sometimes known as slow bowling, is a technique used for bowling in the sport of cricket. Practitioners are known as spin bowlers. The main aim of spin bowling is to bowl the cricket ball with rapid rotation so that when it bounces on the pitch it will deviate sideways, thus making it difficult for the batsman to hit the ball cleanly. The speed the ball travels is not critical, and is significantly lower than for fast bowling. A typical spin delivery has a speed in the range 70-90 km/h (45-55 mph). Spin bowling is divided into four different categories, depending on the particular physical technique used. There is virtually no overlap between the two basic biomechanical techniques of wrist spin and finger spin.
- Off spin - Right-handed with finger spin technique.
- Leg spin - Right-handed with wrist spin technique.
- Left-arm orthodox spin - Left-handed with finger spin technique.
- Left-arm unorthodox spin - Left-handed with wrist spin technique. Depending on technique, a spin bowler uses his wrist or finger motion to impart spin to the ball around a horizontal axis that is at an oblique angle to the length of the pitch. This sort of spin means it is also possible for the Magnus effect to cause the ball to deviate sideways through the air, before it bounces. Such deviation is called drift. The combination of drift and spin can make the ball's trajectory complex, with a change of direction at the bounce. The variety of trajectories achievable by a spin bowler can bewilder inexperienced or poor batsmen, and most players consider them to be the most difficult style of bowler to bat against. Spin bowlers are generally given the task of bowling with an old, worn cricket ball. A new cricket ball better suits the techniques of fast bowling than spin bowling, while a worn one grips the pitch better and achieves greater spin. Spin bowlers are also more effective later in a game, as the pitch dries up and begins to crack and crumble. This again provides more purchase for the spinning ball and produces greater deviation.

Notable spin bowlers

- Bishen Singh Bedi
- Richie Benaud
- B.S. Chandrasekhar
- Ashley Giles
- Harbhajan Singh
- Carl Hooper
- Sunil Joshi
- Anil Kumble
- Jim Laker
- Stuart MacGill
- Muttiah Muralitharan
- Saqlain Mushtaq
- Erapalli Prasanna
- Daniel Vettori
- Shane Warne

Arm ball

An arm ball is a type of delivery in the sport of cricket. It is a variation delivery of the cricket ball by an off spin bowler. It is the off spin equivalent of a leg spinner's slider or a zooter. In contrast to an off break, an arm ball is delivered without rolling the fingers down the side of the ball on release. This means the ball has little or no spin on it, and it does not spin appreciably off the pitch. Instead, it travels straight on "in the direction of the arm" - from which it derives its name. However, by keeping the seam upright, the bowler can also hope to obtain some outswing away from the right-handed batsman, thereby confusing the batsman who expects the ball to turn towards him like a normal off-break. The arm ball is best used as a surprise variation by a bowler who is turning his off breaks considerably. A complacent or poorly skilled batsman playing for the expected spin can be taken by surprise and end up edging the ball with the outside edge of the bat, possibly offering a catch to the wicket-keeper or slips fielders. Saqlain Mushtaq and left-armer Daniel Vettori use the arm ball to good effect. India's Bishen Singh Bedi is the best known exponent of this delivery.

Googly

For more coverage of cricket, go to the Cricket portal. In cricket, a googly is a type of delivery bowled by a leg spin bowler. It is occasionally referred to as a Bosie (or Bosey) after its supposed inventor Bernard Bosanquet; in Australia it is commonly referred to as a wrong'un. While a normal leg break spins from the leg to the off side, away from a right-handed batsman, a googly spins the other way, from off to leg, into a right-handed batsman. The bowler achieves this change of spin by rotating his wrist from the normal leg break delivery so that the ball rolls out the back of his hand with a clockwise spin (from the bowler's point of view, assuming a right-handed bowler). A googly may also be achieved by bowling the ball as a conventional leg break, but spinning the ball further with the fingers just before it is released. This change of wrist action can be seen by a skilled batsman and the change of spin allowed for when playing a shot at the ball. Less skilled batsmen, or ones who have lost their concentration, can be deceived completely, expecting the ball to move one direction off the pitch, only for it to move the other direction. If the batsman is expecting a leg break, he will play outside the line of the ball after it spins. This means the ball can either strike the pads for a potential LBW appeal, or may fly between the bat and the pads and hit the wicket. The googly is a major weapon in the arsenal of a leg spin bowler, and can be one of the bowler's most effective wicket-taking balls. It is used infrequently, because its effectiveness comes mostly from its surprise value.

Effective users

- Anil Kumble
- Abdul Qadir
- Bhagwat Chandrasekhar
- Danish Kaneria
- Mushtaq Ahmed
- Shane Warne
- Upul Chandana
- Stuart MacGill
- Shahid Afridi

External link

- [http://usa.cricinfo.com/db/ABOUT_CRICKET/EXPLANATION/CRICKET_TERMS.html#googly Origin of the word] Category:Cricket delivery Category:Cricket terminology

Topspinner

In cricket, a topspinner is a delivery where the ball comes out the top of the bowler's hand, causing it to spin in the direction of travel. The ball tends to dip in flight, but when the ball bounces, it bounces higher than normal and travels quicker than it would have done with no spin. Consequently, the batsman is more likely to hit the ball in the air, increasing the chances of him being caught out. However, due to the forward spin, a topspinner will occasionally "shoot through", with very low bounce. A topspinner is generally bowled by a leg spinner or an off spinner. Because the spin is entirely in the direction the ball is travelling in, the ball does not change direction when it bounces as a normal spin delivery would. This can trick the batsman, who may nick the ball behind the stumps, and be caught out by the wicket-keeper or one of the slip fielders.

Doosra

For more coverage of cricket, go to the Cricket portal. A doosra is a particular type of delivery by an off spin bowler in the sport of cricket. The term comes from Hindi-Urdu and in this context it means "the other one". (It literally means "second" or "the second one".) The doosra is a relatively new type of ball, developed in the late 1990s by Pakistani spinner Saqlain Mushtaq. The bowler bowls the ball with the same finger action as a normal off break, but holds the wrist turned so the back of the hand faces towards the batsman. This gives the ball spin in the opposite direction to an off break, causing it to spin from the leg side to the off side to a right-handed batsman. The doosra is the off spinner's equivalent of the leg spinner's googly, which also spins in the opposite direction to the bowler's stock delivery. The doosra has been used effectively by its inventor Saqlain Mushtaq and Sri Lankan Muttiah Muralitharan. Other spin bowlers have been described as using it to varying degrees, including young Pakistani Shoaib Malik. Among non-subcontinental commentators, the word "doosra" is rapidly gaining currency as either a catch-all term for a delivery by any spin bowler which behaves in an unexpected fashion or as a synonym for "mystery ball". Muralitharan's doosra was, however, the subject of an official report by match referee Chris Broad during Australia's tour of Sri Lanka in 2004, for illegal straightening of the arm at the elbow during the bowling action. Subsequent biomechanical tests conducted at the University of Western Australia in Perth showed that Muralitharan was straightening his arm by angles of up to 14 degrees when bowling doosras, well outside the International Cricket Council acceptable guideline of 5 degrees for spin bowlers. Muralitharan was subsequently instructed by Sri Lanka Cricket not to bowl the doosra in international cricket. In November 2004, the ICC conducted more research into illegal bowling actions and found that 99% of bowlers were transgressing the rules. A rule change was proposed and accepted at a meeting of ICC chief executives in early 2005, stating that a bowler may straighten their arm up to 15 degrees, and Murali's Doosra once again became a legal delivery. The doosra of Indian bowler, Harbhajan Singh, was the subject of an official report by match referee Chris Broad, on-field umpires Aleem Dar and Mark Benson, and TV umpire Mahbubur Rahman after the second Test between India and Bangladesh at Chittagong, Bangladesh in December 2004. It was reported that his arm is straightened by angles of up to 22 degrees, well outside the ICC tolerance levels. Pakistani Shoaib Malik was also reported for his doosra prior to the first Test between Australia and Pakistan in December 2004. Biomechanics tests, similar to those performed on Muralitharan, were conducted and a report on his action is expected prior to the second Test of that series. Unlike many other cricketers accused of throwing when bowling their doosra delivery, Malik is also a capable batsman, and some analysts speculate that he might focus on his batting if prevented from bowling this delivery. Malik was omitted from the Pakistani team for the first Test against Australia, although this was due to the reputation of the Perth pitch as being unfriendly to spin bowlers rather than as a result of the controversy. Category:Cricket delivery Category:Cricket terminology

Types of bowlers in cricket

In the sport of cricket there are two categories of bowler: pace bowler and spin bowler. Pace bowlers rely mostly on the speed of the ball to dismiss batsmen, whereas spin bowlers rely on the rotation of the ball.

Pace bowlers

Pace bowlers, or fast bowlers or pacemen, rely on speed to get a batsman out. This type of bowler can be further classified according to the speed at which they bowl the ball on average. These classifications are not official, but are used by the media to give a fair idea as to how fast a bowler bowls. For this reason, the following table gives only a general idea as to the speed divisions. Bowlers in the slow and slow-medium range are non-existent in professional cricket as a batsman will find it very easy to hit the ball at that speed. Most pace bowlers are medium-fast to fast. In general, bowlers of this type (if they are right-handed, as most are) are described as "Right-arm fast", "Right-arm medium-fast", and so on. Though Jeff "Thommo" Thomson of Australia was regarded as the fastest bowler in the world (with a fastest ball clocked at 99.7 mph), today Brett Lee of Australia and Shoaib Akhtar of Pakistan are considered the fastest bowlers in the history of the game, with Shoaib Akhtar having been timed at over 100 mph.

Swing bowlers

Swing bowlers are pace bowlers who, apart from being fast, use the seam of the ball to make it travel in a curved path through the air. This is further encouraged by systematically polishing one side of the ball while allowing the other side to become roughened and worn. The differing airflow around the two sides will cause the ball to swing in the air, toward the roughened side. By changing the orientation of the ball in his hand, a bowler may therefore cause the ball to swing into or away from the batsman. In addition to a well-polished ball, other factors help the ball to swing, notably damp or humid weather conditions. Medium and medium-fast bowlers tend to swing the ball more than the outright fast bowlers. Though younger pace bowlers tend to rely exclusively on speed, as bowlers age they tend to develop this more sophisticated art of swing bowling. Swing bowlers are more effective than sheer pace bowlers as the swing can confuse a batsman. Wasim Akram of Pakistan was a master of this skill, and was capable of causing an older, misshapen ball to swing the opposite way from normal, i.e. toward the shiny side. This is known as reverse swing.

Seam bowlers

Seam bowlers or seamers are pace bowlers who attempt to land the ball so that the raised stitching (the seam) hits the ground, causing the ball to deviate when it bounces. The ball is held with the seam upright, and backspin imparted by the fingers so that the seam maintains its vertical orientation as the ball travels through the air. Good pace bowlers can combine the disciplines of swing and seam, giving them a chance to take wickets when the conditions are not conducive to swing bowling.

Other tactics

Pace bowlers frequently dismiss batsmen through variation and deception. A batter who has been "softened up" by a series of short bouncers, that pass through around head height, or even hit the batsman, may tend to look to play the next ball on the back foot, and thus be susceptible to a full length yorker delivery, that bounces at his toes. Many bowlers also develop a "slower ball". These are bowled with the same arm action as their normal delivery, but come slower from the hand, usually due the bowler gripping the ball differently or cocking his wrist at the last moment. With luck, the batsman will misread the pace, and have finished his shot before the ball arrives. Other common variations include the leg cutter and off cutter, medium pace deliveries bowled with a spinner's wrist action, that can sometimes bounce like spin bowling.

Spin bowlers

Spin bowlers or spinners rely on rotation of the ball to get a batsman out. The spin on the ball makes its movement hard to predict, particularly when it bounces, hence spin bowlers try to deceive batsmen into making a mistake. Speed is not crucial in spin bowling, and spinners tend to bowl in the slow-medium to medium-slow range, around 45-55 mph. There are two categories of spin bowling: wrist spin and finger spin.

Wrist spin

Wrist spinners are bowlers who use their wrists to spin the ball. A right-handed wrist spinner is known as a leg spinner and his mode of bowling is known as leg break. A leg break ball will move from right to left from the bowler's point of view, or from the leg-side to the off-side for a right-handed batsman. Shane Warne of Australia, the most successful bowler in Test cricket history, and Anil Kumble of India are two of the contemporary bowlers of this type. Left-handed wrist spinners, who are much rarer than leg-spinners, are called chinaman bowlers, after an early left-arm wrist spinner of Chinese descent who bowled for the West Indies. A ball delivered in this way will spin from the off-side to the leg-side for a right-handed batsman. Paul Adams of South Africa is the best-known current chinaman bowler. Australian Test cricketer Brad Hogg is another current exponent of left arm wrist spin.

Finger spin

Finger spinners make use of their fingers to rotate the ball. A right-arm finger spinner is known as an off-spinner and the mode of bowling is known as off break. The ball will appear to move just as the chinaman does, from off to leg for a right-handed batsman. Muttiah Muralitharan of Sri Lanka is an off-spinner, although his bowling style is rather unusual. Indian Harbhajan Singh also employs this bowling style. Almost all left-handed bowlers are finger spinners. As a result this style has no fixed name and the bowling mode is simply known as left-arm orthodox. The ball turns like a leg break, from leg to off. Ashley Giles of England and New Zealand's Daniel Vettori employ this bowling style.

Others

A bowler equally skilled in both types of bowling is known as a mixed bag or an all round bowler. Such bowlers are rare. One bowler of this type is Sachin Tendulkar of India, who can bowl off spin, leg spin and medium pace. The great West Indies all rounder, Sir Garfield Sobers, could bowl effectively in almost every style.

Abbreviations

Bowling styles are often abbreviated in scorecards (and in player profiles on the Wikipedia) as follows:

Comparison of cricket bowlers

This is a comparison of bowlers featuring a number of past cricket bowlers in the form of a table contaning general information and bowling statistics. Note: Players who have retired from one form of the game, but not in the other are considered as past in that section.

Test cricket

Past bowlers

This table is ordered firstly in alphabetical order by teams cricket code (AUS, WI...) then by the bowling partnerships or in chronological order of the respective countries. The statistics in the table refer to the bowling statistic.

Notes

^{1^{Gary Sobers can bowl both medium pace and spin.

One Day International cricket
Past bowlers

This table is ordered firstly in alphabetical order by teams cricket code (AUS, WI...) then by the bowling partnerships or in chronological order of the respective countries. The statistics in the table refer to the bowling statistic.

Sources

- Wisden [http://www.cricinfo.com Wisden Cricinfo] Accessed November 18 2004.

Category:Bowling (cricket)
Category:Sporting comparison

All-rounder
In cricket, an all-rounder is a player who is good at both batting and bowling. Although all bowlers must bat at some time, many of them are not very skilled and most are not considered to be all-rounders. However, wicket-keepers who are also very good batsmen (such as Adam Gilchrist) are considered by some to be all-rounders.

There is some confusion as to the precise definition that a player needs to fit in order to be considered an all-rounder. The generally accepted criterion is that a genuine all-rounder is someone whose batting or bowling skills, considered alone, would be good enough to win them a place on a cricket team. By this definition, true all-rounders are quite rare, and extremely valuable to a team since they can effectively count as an extra player. One commonly used statistical rule of thumb is that the batting average of an all-rounder should be higher than the bowling average; for example, Ian Botham had averages in Test cricket of 33.34 with the bat and 28.40 with the ball.

Because all-rounders are so useful, a number of players have made a name for themselves who exhibit slightly below-par batting and bowling skills are usually referred to as all-rounders even though they fall short of the 'classic' definition. At domestic level, such players are sometimes called "bits and pieces" players. To confuse the issue, there are many specialist batsmen and bowlers who exhibit some degree of skill in the opposite department. For example, the Australian leg-spinner Shane Warne is a good batsman, but not quite good enough to be selected as a Test batsman in his own right. Debate continues as to whether players in his class, including batsmen who can bowl a few useful overs such as Sachin Tendulkar, are to be considered all-rounders.

One of the most amazing all-round feats was that of E.M.Grace on 15 August 1862. He carried his bat through the entire MCC innings, scoring 192 not out of a total of 344. He then took all 10 wickets in the Kent first innings for 69 runs. However this is not an official record as it was a 12-man game, one of the Kent batsmen was missing, and furthermore he bowled underarm.

List of Current All-rounders

- Shahid Afridi (Pakistan)

- Dwayne Bravo (West Indies)

- Chris Cairns (New Zealand)

- Andrew Flintoff (England)

- Chris Gayle (West Indies)

- Adam Gilchrist (Australia)

- Sanath Jayasuriya (Sri Lanka)

- Jacques Kallis (South Africa)

- Justin Kemp (South Africa)

- Jacob Oram (New Zealand)

- Shaun Pollock (South Africa)

- Abdul Razzaq (Pakistan)

- Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka)

- Heath Streak (Zimbabwe)

- Andrew Symonds (Australia)

- Daniel Vettori (New Zealand)

- Shane Watson (Australia)

List of Historical All-rounders

- Imran Khan (Pakistan)

- Ian Botham (England)

- Sir Garfield Sobers (West Indies)

- Kapil Dev (India)

- Keith Miller (Australia)

- Sir Richard Hadlee (New Zealand)

- Chris Cairns (New Zealand)

- Monty Noble (Australia)

- Tony Greig (England)

- Aubrey Faulkner (South Africa)

- Hansie Cronje (South Africa)

- Asif Iqbal (Pakistan)

- W. G. Grace (England)

- Lance Klusener (South Africa)

- A. E. J. Collins (England)

See also

- Batsman

- Bowler (cricket)

- Fielder

- Wicket-keeper

- Cricket terminology

Category:Cricket terminology
Category:Cricketers

Fielder
Fielding in the sport of cricket is what fielders do to collect the ball when it is struck by the batsman, in such a way as to either limit the number of runs that the batsman scores or get the batsman out by catching the ball in flight or running the batsman out. A fielder may field the ball with any part of his person. However, if, while the ball is in play he wilfully fields it otherwise, the ball becomes dead and 5 penalty runs are awarded to the batting side unless the ball previously struck a batsman not attempting to hit or avoid the ball. Most of the rules covering fielders are in Law 41 of the Laws of cricket.

Fielding position names and locations
Laws of cricket

Since there are only 11 players on a team, one of whom is the bowler and another the wicket-keeper, at most nine other fielding positions can be used at any given time. Which positions are filled by players and which remain vacant is a tactical decision made by the captain of the fielding team. The captain may move players between fielding positions at any time except when a bowler is in the act of bowling to a batsman.

There are a number of named basic fielding positions, some of which are employed very commonly and others that are used less often. However, fielding positions are not fixed, and fielders can be placed in positions that differ from the basic positions. Such refinements are described by a system of adjectives which are used to modify the basic fielding positions.

The image shows the location of most of the named fielding positions.This image assumes the batsman is right-handed. The area to the left of a right-handed batsman (from the batsman's point of view) is called the leg side or on side, while that to the right is the off side. If the batsman is left-handed, the leg and off sides are reversed and the fielding positions are a mirror image of those shown.

Catching positions

Some fielding positions are used offensively. That is, players are put there with the main aim being to catch out the batsman rather than to stop or slow down the scoring of runs. These positions include: Slip (often there are multiple slips next to each other, designated First slip, Second slip, Third slip, etc, numbered outwards from the wicket-keeper); Fly slip; Gully; Leg slip; Leg gully; the short and silly positions.

Other positions

Other positions worth noting include:

- Wicket-keeper.

- Long stop, who stands behind the wicket-keeper towards the boundary (usually when a wicket-keeper is believed to be inept and almost never seen in professional cricket).

- Sweeper, an alternative name for deep cover, deep extra cover or deep midwicket (that is, near the boundary on the off side or the on side), usually defensive and intended to prevent a four being scored.

- Cow corner, an informal jocular term for the position on the boundary between deep midwicket and long on.
Also the bowler, after delivering the ball, must avoid running on the pitch so usually ends up fielding near mid on or mid off, but somewhat closer to the pitch.

Modifiers
; Deep : Further away from the batsman.
; Short : Closer to the batsman.
; Silly : Very close to the batsman.
; Square : Somewhere along an imaginary extension of the popping crease.
; Fine : Closer to an extension of an imaginary line along the middle of the pitch joining the wickets.
; Wide : Further from an extension of an imaginary line along the middle of the pitch joining the wickets.
; Forward : In front of square; further towards the end occupied by the bowler and further away from the end occupied by the batsman on strike.
; Backward : Behind square; further towards the end occupied by the batsman on strike and further away from the end occupied by the bowler.

Additionally, commentators or fans discussing the details of field placement will often use descriptive phrases such as "gully is a bit wider than normal" or "mid off is standing too deep, he should come in shorter".

Restrictions on field placement

Fielders may be placed anywhere on the field, subject to the following rules. At the time the ball is bowled:

- No fielder may be standing on or with any part of his body over the pitch.

- There may be no more than two fielders, other than possibly the wicket-keeper, standing in the quadrant of the field behind square leg. See Bodyline for details on why this rule exists.

- In some one-day matches:

- During the first overs of an innings (usually between eight and twenty, depending on the length of the match) there may be no more than two fielders standing outside an oval line marked on the field, being semi-circles centred on the middle stump of each wicket of radius 30 yards, joined by straight lines parallel to the pitch. This is known as the fielding circle. In addition, during these overs there must be two fielders (other than the wicket-keeper) in designated "close catching" positions.

- For the remainder of the innings there may be no more than five fielders standing outside the fielding circle.

:The restriction for one-day cricket is designed to prevent the fielding team from setting extremely defensive fields and concentrating solely on preventing the batting team from scoring runs, which many consider leads to boring play.

If any of these rules is violated, an umpire will call the delivery a no ball. Additionally a player may not make any significant movement after the ball comes into play and before the ball reaches the striker. If this happens, an umpire will call and signal 'dead ball'. For close fielders anything other than minor adjustments to stance or position in relation to the striker is significant. In the outfield, fielders may move in towards the striker or striker's wicket, indeed, they usually do. However, anything other than slight movement off line or away from the striker is to be considered significant.

Tactics of field placement

With only nine fielders (apart from the bowler and wicket-keeper), the captain of the fielding team must decide which fielding positions to cover, and which to leave vacant. The placement of fielders is one of the major tactical considerations for the fielding captain.

Attacking and defending

The main decision for a fielding captain is to strike a balance between setting an attacking field and a defensive field. An attacking field is one in which fielders are positioned in such a way that they are likely take catches, and thus likely to get the batsman out. Such a field generally involves having many fielders close to the batsman, especially behind the batsman in either slip or short leg positions.

A defensive field is one in which most of the field is covered by a fielder; the batsman will therefore find it hard to score large numbers of runs. This generally involves having many fielders far from the batsman and in front of him, in the positions where he is most likely to hit the ball.

Many factors govern the decisions on field placements, including: the tactical situation in the match; which bowler is bowling; how long the batsman has been in; the wear on the ball; the state of the wicket; the light; or even how close you are to an interval in play.

Some general principles:
;Attack new batsmen : A batsman early in his innings is more likely to make a miscalculated or rash shot, so it pays to have catching fielders ready.
;Attack with the new ball : Fast bowlers get the most swing and bounce with a newer ball, factors that make it harder to play without making an error.
;Attack when returning from a break in play : Batsmen must settle into a batting rhythm again when resuming play after an overnight or meal break.
;Attack with quality bowlers : A team's best bowlers take the most wickets, so get the most benefit from the support of an attacking field.
;Attack when the pitch helps the bowler : A moist pitch helps fast bowlers get unpredictable movement of the ball, while a dry, crumbling pitch helps spin bowlers get unpredictable spin. Both situations can lead to catches flying to close attacking fielders.
;Attack when the batting team is under pressure : If the batting team is doing poorly or has low morale, increase the pressure by attacking with the field.
;Defend when batsmen are settled in : It is difficult to get batsmen out when they have been batting for a long time and are comfortable with the bowling. The best tactic is often to defend and force the run scoring rate to slow down, which can frustrate the batsman into playing a rash shot.
;Defend when the batting team needs to score runs quickly : In situations where the batting team must score quickly in order to win or press an}}