60 Fun Facts About Cricket

How many players are on each side in a cricket team?

Thirteen people are on the field at once during play: two batters, eleven fielders, plus two umpires.

How long is a cricket pitch, from wicket to wicket?

That is one chain, an old surveyor's measure of 66 feet.

How many stumps make up a wicket?

Two bails sit on top of them; the three-stump wicket only became law in the late 18th century.

How many legal deliveries make up an over?

The word comes from the umpire's call of 'Over!' when the six balls are done and the bowling switches ends.

How many ways are there for a batter to be dismissed under the Laws?

The common ones are bowled, caught, lbw, run out and stumped; the rare ones include hitting the ball twice.

What does the umpire do to signal that a batter is out?

The fielding side must appeal first; without an appeal the umpire cannot give a batter out.

Which of these is one of the four rare methods of dismissal?

A batter who takes too long to walk to the crease can be given out without facing a ball.

What does 'lbw' stand for?

It entered the Laws in the late 18th century, after batters started using their legs to stop pitched deliveries.

How is the decision on which team bats first made?

The captains toss; 'innings' is the term for each phase of play that follows.

What colour is the traditional cricket kit?

Coloured clothing arrived with limited-overs cricket and was first used at a World Cup in 1992.

The rules of cricket are formally called what?

There are 42 of them, always written with a capital L, and the private MCC still owns the copyright.

Which private London club has owned and maintained the Laws since 1788?

MCC handed governance to the ICC but remains the only body that can change the Laws.

Why is the maximum width of a cricket bat fixed at four and a quarter inches?

Thomas White of Chertsey turned up with the monster bat against Hambledon; the width has been unchanged since.

Roughly how much does a men's cricket ball weigh?

The weight has been unchanged since 1774; the circumference is 8.81 to 9 inches.

The earliest definite reference to cricket, from the mid-16th century, places it in which region?

It spread worldwide with the British Empire, with the first international matches in the second half of the 19th century.

Which Hampshire village club was the focal point of English cricket in the 1760s and 1770s, before MCC?

Its dominance ended when MCC formed and Lord's Old Ground opened in 1787.

What was the first Australian cricket team to tour overseas, in 1868, made up of?

They toured England six years after the first English team had toured Australia.

Where and when was the first-ever Test match played?

England faced Australia at the MCG in a match only later recognised as a Test; the same ground hosted the first ODI in 1971.

The Ashes takes its name from a mock obituary for English cricket published in which paper in 1882?

It followed Australia's first Test win on English soil, at The Oval, and declared the body would be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia.

The tiny Ashes urn is reputed to contain the ashes of what?

It was a personal gift to England captain Ivo Bligh, and it has never been the official trophy of the series.

Where does the original Ashes urn permanently reside?

It has been to Australia only three times, most recently for a 2019 exhibition at the State Library of Victoria.

What happens to the Ashes if a series is drawn?

Series usually run to five Tests, hosted in turn by England and Australia about every two years.

What was Don Bradman's career Test batting average?

Four more runs in his final innings would have taken him to 100; instead he was bowled for a duck by Eric Hollies' googly.

As a boy, Bradman practised alone by hitting a golf ball against a water tank with what?

The story is part of Australian folklore; he went from bush cricket to the Test team in just over two years.

What was the name of the controversial tactic the visitors used in the 1932-33 Ashes to curb Bradman?

Bowling at the batter's body with a packed leg-side field caused a diplomatic row between the two governments.

Bradman's post-war Australian side that toured Britain unbeaten in 1948 is known as what?

He came out of an enforced wartime hiatus to captain the record-breaking tour.

Sachin Tendulkar is the only batter to have scored how many international centuries?

He also holds the records for the most international runs and the most player-of-the-match awards.

How old was Tendulkar when he made his Test debut in Karachi in 1989?

He went on to play for over 24 years, retiring after his 200th Test in November 2013.

Which award, India's highest civilian honour, was Tendulkar the first sportsperson to receive?

It was announced by the Prime Minister's Office after his final match; he remains the youngest recipient.

Which nation hosted the first three Cricket World Cups?

They were officially the Prudential Cup and were played over 60 overs a side in whites with a red ball.

Who won the inaugural 1975 Cricket World Cup?

Clive Lloyd's side beat Australia by 17 runs at Lord's and won again in 1979.

Which team pulled off a huge upset to win the 1983 World Cup?

They beat the twice-champion West Indies by 43 runs at Lord's, a result that transformed cricket in India.

How many times has Australia won the men's Cricket World Cup?

India and West Indies have two each; Pakistan, Sri Lanka and England have one apiece.

The 1992 World Cup introduced coloured clothing, white balls and day/night games. Who won it?

Imran Khan's side recovered from a dismal start to beat England by 22 runs in the final.

How was the tied 2019 World Cup final at Lord's finally decided?

Scores were level at 241 and then level again at 15 in the super over; England had hit more boundaries.

Why were World Cup innings cut from 60 to 50 overs in 1987?

It was the first World Cup held outside England, and 50 overs has been the standard ever since.

Which non-Test nation reached the semi-finals of the 2003 World Cup?

It remains the best performance by a team outside the ICC's full members.

Who is the only bowler to have taken 800 Test wickets?

He took the 800th with his final delivery in Test cricket, in July 2010, and averaged over six wickets a match.

Shane Warne's first Ashes delivery in 1993, which bowled Mike Gatting, is known as what?

It drifted, pitched well outside leg and clipped the off bail; Warne took 34 wickets in that series.

How many Test wickets did Shane Warne finish with?

He held the world record until Muralitharan passed him in December 2007, and his highest Test score was an agonising 99.

Brian Lara's record Test innings of 400 not out was made against whom in 2004?

He also holds the first-class record of 501 not out, made for Warwickshire against Durham in 1994.

What is Brian Lara's nickname?

Muralitharan called him his toughest opponent among all batsmen.

Which English bowler took a still-record 19 wickets in one 1956 Test against Australia?

Old Trafford has been 'Laker's Match' ever since; his spin partner Tony Lock took the other wicket.

The famous ground in St John's Wood, London, is named after whom?

The current ground is the third he established, and it houses the world's oldest sporting museum.

What unusual feature does the Lord's outfield have?

Bowlers from the Pavilion End bowl downhill; the drop runs diagonally from north to south.

Which annual fixture is played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground every December?

The MCG holds around 100,000 and hosted the first Test and the first ODI, in 1877 and 1971.

Over how many days can the longest format of international cricket last?

A minimum of 90 overs are scheduled per day; if neither side wins in time, the match is drawn.

What colour ball is used in day/night Test matches?

The first one was played between Australia and New Zealand at Adelaide in November 2015.

How many 'timeless' Tests, played to a finish with no time limit, were staged between 1877 and 1939?

91 of them were in Australia; the last, at Durban in 1939, was abandoned after ten days so England could catch their ship.

Which country's governing body introduced Twenty20 at professional level in 2003?

It replaced the Benson & Hedges Cup and was designed to lure younger crowds; a match takes about three hours.

Who won the first ICC World Twenty20 in 2007?

They beat Pakistan in the final in South Africa, and the tournament was made a regular event.

In which year did the Indian Premier League play its first season?

The franchise auction raised $723.59 million against a reserve of $400 million, and Rajasthan Royals won the first title.

The IPL became the first sporting event to do what in 2010?

By 2023 its media rights fetched $6.4 billion for four seasons, valuing each match at $13.4 million.

Which two IPL teams were suspended for two seasons from 2016 over a spot-fixing and betting scandal?

They were replaced temporarily by Rising Pune Supergiant and Gujarat Lions.

What is the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method used for?

Two English statisticians devised it in 1997; the ICC adopted it in 1999 and Steven Stern took it over later.

Which annual reference book, cricket's 'bible', was first published in 1864?

The same year overarm bowling was legalised and W. G. Grace's career was beginning.

Which country was banned from international cricket from 1970 to 1992?

The apartheid-era ban ended in time for South Africa to play at the 1992 World Cup.

Sri Lanka's 1996 World Cup semi-final against India was awarded by default because of what?

India had collapsed to 120 for 8 chasing 252 when the crowd turned; Sri Lanka then beat Australia in Lahore.

The earliest definite reference to cricket comes from a 1597 court case in which Surrey town?

A 59-year-old witness in a land dispute recalled playing the game as a boy; the date is 1598 in the modern calendar.

Cricket was added to the 2028 Olympics, hosted by which city, in T20 form?

The IOC approved T20 cricket for the 2028 Games in October 2023; the sport's only previous Olympic appearance was at the 1900 Games.