Cricket Rules

Henry VIII called it "the sport of kings," but for many cricket is shrouded in enigma. This needn't be the case. At heart, once removed of jargon, it remains a simple game of immense depth and beauty, combining strategy, cunning, raw hand-to-hand fist fighting to the death, teamwork and even the occasional tear of sorrow. What follows is a simplified summary of the rules, as first set down by WG Grace, Lord of Wisden, in 1851.

The Basic Set-up
Cricket is played between two opposing teams. One team bats while the other fields. It is easy to tell which is the batting team, because they are wearing fenners — white woolly jumpers with two cyan stripes around the upper arm (the other team's jumpers have two turquoise stripes). The batters play within the light green rectangle known as the crease, and each stands in front of the wicket — the small wooden apparatus at each end. Although anyone in the team may bat, usually two batters are chosen. The ball is thrown at the batter by the bowler. It is the bowler's job to try and befuddle the batter so that he misses the ball or plays a bad shot.



How Are Points Scored?
Players gain points in the following way:

* By Runs: after hitting the ball the batter may run as many times as he likes between the two ends. Each run (there and back) equals one point on his team's score.
* By Fours: after hitting the ball the batter may crawl on all fours between the two ends. Each completed trip scores four points.
* By Popping: If the ball 'knobs' the batter, a pop (two points) is added to the score.
* By Googling a Six: If the ball, after being hit, rolls along the ground uninterrupted for fifty yards (a google), the team receives six points. (Named after Reg Google, Australian wicket-keeper who was so short that he was incapable of lifting the bat.)
* By an Over: one point is scored.

Fielding
Lord Larry Grayson said "cricket, like chess, is won in the field," and it is certainly true that the strategic positioning of your men on the pitch can make the difference between check and checkmate. However, it is important to remember that fielders mostly stand around doing nothing. The sometimes obscure names for fielding positions are illustrated below.

Bowling

Dale Steyn toils hard at the nets, Perth, December 15, 2008
The ball must be thrown from the Knacker's End: the end nearest which the umpire (referee) wearing the Knacker's Hat stands. The ball bounces and the batter must attempt to hit it. If he fails to hit the ball, the following penalties apply, in order:

* First miss: umpire calls 'maiden' and the ball is passed again to the bowler.
* Second miss: umpire calls 'over' and one point is given to the opposing team.
* Third miss: umpire calls 'bye' and the player must leave.

Other Ways of Being Out
There are in total seven ways of being out, or dismissed:

1. When the umpire calls 'bye' (explained above).
2. When the ball is caught by an opposing fielder before it has touched the ground, but after it has been knocked by any part of the batter (including the bat) other than the extra legs (below the navel) or the eyes.
3. When the player is adjudged to be wasting time (taking more than 24 hours between consecutive bowls).
4. When the player hits the ball twice, unless doing it to protect his wicket or testicles.
5. When the umpire calls 'leg before wicket'. This is a complex rule, explained below.
6. When player, bat and ball remain static, at the discretion of the umpire. This rule was introduced in 1983 after a cardboard cut-out of Ian Botham played for seventeen hours. (Does not apply in wet weather.)
7. When the ball, after being bowled, hits the wicket and knocks it over (rare).
8.
Leg Before Wicket
This rule was introduced when players realised that it was more productive to kick the ball rather than play it using the bat, because no-one may be caught out thereby (rule 2 above).
1. The line of the leg-stump (the path of the ball) must intersect with the player's leg, groin or knee (a).
2. The ball must bounce once before rising upwards, and must be heading towards the middle wicket, taking account of the direction it is spinning.
3. The player's groin must be facing the knacker's edge in the case of a full toss (cock inwards, as in a).
4. In the case of g, where the ball pitches (bounces) outside the edge of an imaginary line drawn between cock and knee (b), it must be following a path towards the opposite side (left (right) side from the batsman's point of view).
5. If the ball pitches inside the edge of an imaginary line drawn between top of bat and bottom of forward foot (shown back-to-front in c), player is out only if the ball goes on to hit opposite leg.
6. Drawing e shows the reverse case. This is not-out because the forward foot remains within leg-stump and well behind pitch point.
7. If the batsman makes an attempt to hit the ball as in d and f, and rule 6 above applies, player is out in any case.
8. If the ball pitches twice, and the second pitch lands in the fourth dimension (f), rule 8 applies whether the batter attempts a knock-on, full-swipe or pixie-flick.

As you can see, LBW decisions are complex and often controversial. This is why the umpires' deliberations often last well into the night.

Media Coverage

Media coverage


The World Cup has grown as a media event with each tournament. The sponsorship and television rights that were awarded primarily to cover the 2003 and 2007 World Cups raised over US$550 m.[13] The 2007 World Cup was televised in over 200 countries to a viewing audience estimated at more than two billion television viewers and was expected to generate more than 100,000 unique visitors to the West Indies who traveled solely for the tournament.

The 2007 Cricket World Cup featured an orange raccoon-like creature named "Mello" as its mascot. It has been announced during matches that Mello has no race, species, age or gender- it is an attitude, the attitude of the young people of the West Indies. The official song for the World Cup was "The Game of Love and Unity" by Jamaican-born Shaggy, Bajan entertainer Rupee and Trinidadian Faye-Ann Lyons.

The 2007 tournament recorded the highest ticketing revenue for a Cricket World Cup, selling more than 672,000.[16] Although, attendance leading into the semi finals for the 2007 World Cup was 403,000; an average of 8,500 supporters per match.

Matches

All matches were held from 0930 to 1715 local time. The first innings were held from 0930 to 1300 and the second innings were held from 1345 to 1715. For all venues other than Jamaica, local time was UTC-4, while Jamaican venues had local time UTC-5.

The matches were One Day Internationals and operated under normal ODI rules. All matches were to be 50 overs a side unless stated otherwise by the umpires or match referee. A bowler was able to bowl a maximum of 10 overs per match.

In the event of bad weather, each side must have batted a minimum of 20 overs for a result to be declared (if the match was not otherwise won, for example if the team batting second was dismissed before the completion of 20 overs). In the event of bad weather, the Duckworth-Lewis method was applied to determine the result or target. If no result was declared on the scheduled day, the teams returned the next day to complete the game, with the same situation as when the game was abandoned.

There was a new rule regarding referral of catches to the TV replay official (third umpire): if the standing umpires were unable to determine whether a catch had been taken cleanly, and/or whether a claimed catch was a "bump ball", they had discretion to refer the decision to the third umpire. Also, whilst reviewing such a catch via TV replay if it was clear to the third umpire that the batsman did not hit the ball, he was to indicate that the batsman was not out.

History of World cup Cricket

The first Cricket World Cup was held in 1975 in England. The first three tournaments were also known as Prudential Cup with the sponsorship of Prudential plc, a financial services company. The cricket matches consisted of 60 overs per team and it was played with traditional white uniform and red balls. There were only day matches and the tournament is held ever four years.

Till the 1992 Cricket World Cup, only 8 teams used to participate in the tournament. Later on, the number of teams increased and in Cricket World Cup 2007, 16 teams will participate. In 1975, England, New Zealand, India, East Africa, Australia, West Indies, Pakistan and Sri Lanka participated and in 1979 Canada replaced East Africa. In 1983, Zimbabwe entered the arena and Canada made the exit. The same teams participated in the 1987 Cricket World Cup. In 1992, South Africa joined the group and that year 9 teams participated in the tournament. By the year1996, the number of groups increased to 12 with the participation of three new teams UAE, Netherlands and Kenya. Bangladesh and Scotland replaced UAE and Netherlands in the 1999 Cricket World Cup. The number of teams in 2003 Cricket World Cup increased to 14 with the participation of Namibia and Canada and the non-participation of Scotland.
England consecutively hosted the first three tournaments and 1987 tournament became the first World Cup to be hosted outside England. Cricket World Cup 1987 introduced neutral umpires.

Many positive changes happened in the 1992 Cricket World Cup. Colored clothing with names printed on the back and floodlights for most of the 36 games was introduced. It was also the beginning of the use of white balls, a change from the usual red balls. The fielding circle rules were refined allowing only two men outside the circle in the first 15 overs. The 1996 Cricket World Cup saw the first appearance of third umpire in front of the TV monitor.

There are some outstanding matches that added spirit to the tournament. Kenya’s victory against West Indies in a match held at Pune in the 1996 Cricket World Cup in which Kenya’s Maurice Odumbe and Rajab Ali took three wickets and crushed West Indies for 93. The match between Zimbabwe and Australia in the 1983 Cricket World Cup and the Indian captain Kapil Dev’s exceptional performance by hitting an undefeated 175 out of 266 for 8 during the same tournament was amazing. He hit 16 fours and six sixes to reach his score. The brilliant bowling performance of England’s Geoff Boycott, in the team’s match against Australia and Pakistan is also unforgettable.

All the 9 cricket world cup tournaments played have also contributed many records in the Cricket World Cup History. The records are on best batting strike rate, highest individual scores, highest run-scorers, best bowling analysis, best bowling economy rate, best bowling strike rate, highest wicket-takers, highest team totals, lowest team totals, most cricket catches and most dismissals.

Though initially the cricket world cup captured the attention of hundreds of spectators, it has now attracted millions who are eagerly waiting to watch this year’s tournament.