Cricket

Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players each on a field at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard-long pitch. The game is played by 120 million players in many countries, making it the world's second most popular sport. Each team takes its turn to bat, attempting to score runs, while the other team fields. Each turn is known as an innings (used for both singular and plural).

The bowler delivers the ball to the batsman who attempts to hit the ball with his bat away from the fielders so he can run to the other end of the pitch and score a run. Each batsman continues batting until he is out. The batting team continues batting until ten batsmen are out, or a specified number of overs of six balls have been bowled, at which point the teams switch roles and the fielding team comes in to bat.

In professional cricket, the length of a game ranges from 20 overs (T20) per side to Test cricket played over five days. The Laws of Cricket are maintained by the International Cricket Council (ICC) and the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) with additional Standard Playing Conditions for Test matches and One Day Internationals.

Cricketer (disambiguation)

A cricketer is a person who plays the sport of cricket. Official and long-established cricket publications prefer the traditional word "cricketer" over the rarely used term "cricket player".

In addition, each cricketer has a certain role within his or her team: for example, as a wicketkeeper, a bowler or a batsman. Some cricketers are termed all-rounders due to being skilled in both batting and bowling.

The term "cricketer" is also used to refer to one of a number of print publications related to the sport:

Other uses

See also

The Cricketer

The Cricketer is a monthly English cricket magazine providing writing and photography from international, county and club cricket.

The magazine was founded in 1921 by Sir Pelham Warner, an ex-England captain turned cricket writer. Warner edited the magazine until 1963. Later editors included E. W. Swanton and Christopher Martin-Jenkins.

Apart from its coverage of the contemporary game, The Cricketer has also contributed to the sport's history. For example, its researchers uncovered a letter in The Weekly Journal dated 21 July 1722, which is our source for an early fixture in Islington between London and Dartford on 18 July 1722.

The magazine is responsible for the National Village Cup, an annual competition between village cricket sides, with the final played at Lord's.

After surviving for over 80 years as an independent publication, Wisden purchased the magazine and in 2003 merged it with Wisden Cricket Monthly.

A new magazine called The Wisden Cricketer enjoyed some success under the editorship of John Stern over the next eight years. In December 2010, a private equity company called Test Match Extra Ltd—who owned and ran a cricket website of the same name—bought the magazine from the then owners BSkyB.