Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of eleven, and the second most popular sport on the planet after football. From five-day Test matches to the explosive Twenty20 format, it is followed by billions across India, England, Australia, Pakistan and beyond, a game of patience, tactics and moments of pure drama.
The legends of the game
Every era of cricket is defined by a handful of players who redrew what was possible. These are names that transcend the sport.
Sachin Tendulkar
India ¡ âThe Little Masterâ
Most international runs ever
Sir Don Bradman
Australia ¡ the greatest batsman
Test average of 99.94
Virat Kohli
India ¡ the modern run-machine
Master of the chase
Shane Warne
Australia ¡ the king of spin
âBall of the centuryâ
Sir Vivian Richards
West Indies ¡ pure dominance
The most feared batsman of his era
MS Dhoni
India ¡ âCaptain Coolâ
Won all three ICC white-ball trophies
The tournaments that stop nations
Cricketâs biggest events bring entire countries to a standstill. These are the ones that matter most.
The ICC Cricket World Cup
50-over cricketâs biggest prize, every four yearsThe Ashes
England vs Australia: the oldest rivalryThe Indian Premier League (IPL)
The richest T20 league on earthThe T20 World Cup
Twenty-over cricketâs global showdown2011: India win at home
Dhoniâs six seals a nationâs dream2019: the Super Over final
England beat New Zealand by the barest margin
How is cricket actually played?
Two teams of eleven take turns to bat and bowl. The batting side tries to score runs by hitting the ball and running between two sets of wickets, while the bowling side tries to dismiss the batsmen and restrict the score. A dismissal, bowled, caught, LBW, run out and more, brings a new batsman to the crease.
The format sets the length: Test matches last up to five days, One Day Internationals give each side 50 overs, and Twenty20 crams the drama into 20 overs a side. Whoever scores more runs, within the rules of the format, wins.
How to get out: the main dismissals
There are several ways a batsman can be dismissed, and knowing them is essential for following (and quizzing on) the game.
| Dismissal | How it happens |
|---|---|
| Bowled | The ball hits the stumps directly from the bowler's delivery |
| Caught | A fielder catches the ball after the batsman hits it, before it touches the ground |
| LBW (leg before wicket) | The ball hits the batsman's leg in line with the stumps, and would have hit the stumps |
| Run out | A fielder breaks the stumps with the ball while the batsmen are running between wickets |
| Stumped | The wicketkeeper breaks the stumps while the batsman is out of their crease |
Cricket by the numbers
- 11Players a sidePlus limited substitutes
- 6Balls an overLegal deliveries
- 99.94Bradmanâs averageThe most untouchable record in sport
- 3Main formatsTest ¡ ODI ¡ T20
Things nobody knew
The details that separate a fan from a fanatic.
A cricket ball can top 160 km/h
The fastest recorded delivery, by Shoaib Akhtar in 2003, clocked 161.3 km/h, faster than most highway speed limits.
The longest match lasted 12 days
The 1939 âTimeless Testâ between England and South Africa was abandoned as a draw, because the English team had to catch their ship home.
Bradmanâs 99.94 is sportâs greatest gap
No other batsman is close; he needed just four runs in his final innings to average 100, and was dismissed for a duck.
The IPL is worth billions
The Indian Premier Leagueâs media rights have sold for over $6 billion, making it one of the most valuable sports leagues per match anywhere.
Different formats, different balls
Test cricket uses a red ball (and sometimes pink for day-night games), while white balls are used in limited-overs matches for visibility.
Itâs the worldâs #2 sport
With an estimated 2.5 billion fans, cricket trails only football in global following, driven overwhelmingly by South Asia.
Fan theories
Some confirmed, some still argued about twenty years on.
- Debated
Who is the greatest batsman of all time
Don Bradman's Test average of 99.94 is statistically untouchable, but fans still argue whether Tendulkar's longevity and run volume, or modern stars like Kohli's chase mastery, deserve the "greatest ever" title in a more competitive, global era.
- Confirmed
Bradman needed just 4 runs to average exactly 100
In his final Test innings in 1948, Don Bradman was dismissed for a duck, leaving his career average at 99.94 rather than a perfect 100, one of the most-cited statistics in all of sport.
Are you a real fan?
Most people stop at the films. The quiz doesnât.
- Follows international matchesYou know the big players and major tournaments.
- Follows domestic leagues tooThe IPL, county cricket or Sheffield Shield are part of your regular watching.
- Stats-and-records fanAverages, strike rates and record-holders across all three formats are second nature.
Prep for a Quelo quiz
Where Cricket battles are actually won.
- 01Records & record-holdersMost runs, most wickets, highest scores: the numbers are the backbone of cricket trivia.
- 02World Cup historyWho won when, and where: a favourite category that catches casual fans.
- 03The rules & termsLBW, hat-trick, duck, maiden: knowing the jargon wins the quick ones.
- 04Captains & milestonesIconic captains and the tournaments they won come up again and again.
Are you really a Cricket expert?
7 questions ¡ 10 seconds each ¡ one shot at the leaderboard.
So⌠how well do you actually know Cricket?
You just read the guide. Time to prove it, and find out where youâd land on the Quelo leaderboard.