CRICKET

game played with bat and ball between two teams of 11 players each on a large field, which centres upon two upright wickets, each defended by a batsman. A bowler throws the ball (with a straight-arm, usually overhand delivery), attempting to put out the batsman by hitting the wicket or in other ways. Runs are scored each time that the batsmen exchange positions without being put out. The origin of cricket is uncertain. The game was first definitively recorded at Guildford in Surrey at the end of the 16th century, and the first known set of rules was written in 1744. The Marylebone Cricket Club, which is the world governing body of the sport, was formed in 1787. In 1709 a team from Kent met a team from Surrey, initiating the first of the county matches that make up national cricket in England. During England's colonial history, cricket was exported to countries around the world. Australia, New Zealand, Pakistan, India, South Africa, the West Indies, Sri Lanka, and Zimbabwe are the primary countries that participate in Test (international) matches with England and each other. Cricket centres on a playing area about 22 yards (20 m) long and 10 feet (3 m) wide called a pitch, at each end of which is a gate made of three upright stakes, known as the wicket. Atop of the wicket sit two loose crosspieces called bails. The bowler throws the ball at the far wicket and aims to knock the bails loose; if this is done, the batsman is dismissed. To defend his wicket, the batsman tries to hit the ball out of reach of the fielders. On a good hit, the batsman and his partner at the other wicket attempt to exchange places by running the length of the pitch, thus scoring one run. They can repeat this up to six times on any hit and score six runs. The fielders will attempt to stop runs and dismiss either the batsman or his partner by throwing the ball at the wickets. Cricket matches are divided into innings. A one-day match usually consists of one innings (always plural). Each side has one round at bat, and the innings is usually not over until 10 batsmen are dismissed, although the captain of the batting team may declare its innings closed at any time. Some international matches, however, may last five or six days and can contain high individual scores, sometimes exceeding 300 runs. any of the approximately 2,400 species of leaping insects of the family Gryllidae (order Orthoptera), known for the musical chirping of the male. Crickets vary in length from 3 to 50 mm (0.12 to 2 inches). They have thin antennae, hind legs modified for jumping, three-jointed tarsal segments of the lower leg, and two slender abdominal sensory appendages (called cerci). The two forewings are stiff and leathery, and the two long, membranous hind wings are used in flying. Male crickets chirp by rubbing a scraper located on one forewing along a row of about 50 to 250 teeth on the opposite forewing. The frequency of the chirps depends on the number of teeth struck per second and varies from 1,500 cycles per second in the largest cricket species to nearly 10,000 cycles per second in the smallest. The most common cricket songs are the calling song, which attracts the female; the courtship, or mating, song, which induces the female to copulate; and the fighting chirp, which repels other males. Both sexes have highly sensitive organs on the forelegs for sound reception. There is a direct relationship between the rate of cricket chirps and temperature; the rate tends to increase with increasing temperature. Most female crickets insert eggs into soil or plant stems with their long, slender ovipositors, sometimes causing serious plant damage. In northern latitudes most crickets mature and lay eggs in the fall. The nymphs hatch in the spring and become adults after 6 to 12 molts; adults ordinarily live 6 to 8 weeks. The field cricket (genus Gryllus) and the house cricket (Acheta, formerly Gryllus, domesticus) of the subfamily Gryllinae are stout-bodied and black or brown and often dig shallow burrows. They may feed on plants, animals, clothes, and each other. The field cricket (also called the black cricket) is common in fields and yards and sometimes enters buildings. The house cricket, introduced into North America from Europe, has a light-coloured head with dark cross bands and may be found in buildings and refuse heaps. Widely distributed, house and field crickets chirp day and night. They are used as fish bait in some countries and are also used in biology laboratories. Gryllus is often referred to in poetry and prose. Ground crickets (subfamily Nemobiinae, or sometimes Gryllinae), approximately 12 mm long, are commonly found in pastures and wooded areas. Their song is a series of soft, high-pitched trills. The striped ground cricket (Nemobius vittatus) has three dark stripes on its abdomen. Tree crickets (subfamily Oecanthinae) are white or green in colour and have transparent wings. Although tree crickets are beneficial to humans because they prey on aphids, the female injures twigs during egg placement. The song of most tree crickets is a long trill. The snowy tree cricket (Oecanthus fultoni) is popularly known as the thermometer cricket because the approximate temperature (Fahrenheit) can be estimated by counting the number of chirps in 15 seconds and adding 40. Tree- and bush-inhabiting crickets usually sing at night; weed-inhabiting crickets sing both day and night. Ant-loving crickets (subfamily Myrmecophilinae) are minute (3 to 5 mm long), wingless, and humpbacked. They live in ant nests. Wingless bush crickets (subfamily Mogoplistinae) are generally found on bushes or under debris in sandy tropical areas near water. They are slender crickets, 5 to 13 mm long, wingless or with small wings, and are covered with translucent scales that rub off easily. Sword-bearing, or winged bush, crickets (subfamily Trigonidiinae) are 4 to 9 mm long and brown and possess a sword-shaped ovipositor. They are characteristically found in bushes near a pond. Crickets play a large role in myth and superstition. Their presence is equated with good fortune and intelligence; harming a cricket supposedly causes misfortune. In East Asia male crickets are caged for their songs, and cricket fighting has been a favourite sport in China for hundreds of years. Insects called crickets but not of the cricket family Gryllidae include the camel cricket, Jerusalem cricket, mole cricket, and pygmy sand cricket. England's national summer sport, which is now played throughout the world, particularly in Australia, India, Pakistan, the West Indies, and the British Isles. Cricket is played with a bat and ball and involves two competing sides (teams) of 11 players. The field is oval with a rectangular area in the middle, known as the pitch, that is 22 yards (20.12 metres) by 10 feet (3.04 metres) wide. Two sets of three sticks, called wickets, are set in the ground at each end of the pitch. Across the top of each wicket lie horizontal pieces called bails. The sides take turns at batting and bowling (pitching); each turn is called an innings (always plural). Sides have one or two innings each, depending on the prearranged duration of the match, the object being to score the most runs. The bowlers, delivering the ball with a straight arm, try to break (hit) the wicket with the ball so that the bails fall; this is one of several ways that the batsman is dismissed, or put out. A bowler delivers six balls at one wicket (thus completing an over), then a different player from his side bowls six balls to the opposite wicket. The batting side defends its wicket. There are two batsman up at a time, and the batsman being bowled to (the striker) tries to hit the ball away from the wicket. A hit may be defensive or offensive. A defensive hit may protect the wicket but leave the batsmen no time to run to the opposite wicket; in that case the batsmen need not run, and play will resume with another bowl. If the batsman can make an offensive hit, he and the second batsman (the nonstriker) at the other wicket change places. Each time both batsmen can reach the opposite wicket, one run is scored. Providing they have enough time without being caught out and dismissed, the batsmen may continue to cross back and forth between the wickets, earning an additional run for each time both reach the opposite side. There is an outside boundary around the cricket field. A ball hit to or beyond the boundary scores four points if it hits the ground and then reaches the boundary, six points if it reaches the boundary from the air (a fly ball). The team with the highest number of runs wins a match. Should both teams be unable to complete their number of innings before the time allotted, the match is declared a draw. Scores in the hundreds are common in cricket. Matches in cricket can range from informal weekend-afternoon encounters on village greens to top-level international contests spread over five days in Test matches and played by leading professional players in grand stadiums. Additional reading Literature on the sport is listed in E.W. Padwick (compiler), A Bibliography of Cricket, 2nd rev. ed. (1984), which cites the sources up to the end of 1979. Informative histories include H.S. Altham and E.W. Swanton, A History of Cricket, 2 vol. (1963); Rowland Bowen, Cricket: A History of Its Growth and Development Throughout the World (1970); E.W. Swanton (general ed.), Barclays World of Cricket: The Game from AZ, new ed., rev. by George Plumptre (1986); and Jack Pollard, Australian Cricket: The Game and the Players (1982). For records, scores, and statistics, see Wisden Cricketers' Almanack (annual); Philip Bailey, Philip Thorn, and Peter Wynne-Thomas, Who's Who of Cricketers: A Complete Who's Who of All Cricketers Who Have Played First-Class Cricket in England with Full Career Records (1984); Christopher Martin-Jenkins, The Complete Who's Who of Test Cricketers, rev. ed. (1987); Bill Frindall (compiler and ed.), The Wisden Book of Cricket Records (1986), and The Wisden Book of Test Cricket 18771984, 2nd rev. ed. (1985); and Bill Frindall and Victor H. Isaacs (compilers), The Wisden Book of One-Day International Cricket, 19711985 (1985). Marcus K. Williams