Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a c

ricket field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard-long pitch with a

wicket (a set of three wooden stumps) sited at each end. One team, designated th
e batting team, attempts to score as many runs as possible, whilst their opponen
ts field. Each phase of play is called an innings. After either ten batsmen have
been dismissed or a fixed number of overs have been completed, the innings ends
and the two teams then swap roles. The winning team is the one that scores the
most runs, including any extras gained, during their one or two innings.
At the start of each game, two batsmen and eleven fielders enter the field of pl
ay. The play begins when a designated member of the fielding team, known as the
bowler, delivers the ball from one end of the pitch to the other, towards the wi
cket at that end, in front of which stands one of the batsmen, known as the stri
ker. The striker "takes guard" on a crease drawn on the pitch four feet in front
of the wicket. His role is to prevent the ball from hitting the stumps by use o
f his bat, and simultaneously to strike it well enough to score runs. The other
batsman, known as the non-striker, waits at the opposite end of the pitch near t
he bowler. A dismissed batsman must leave the field, and a teammate replaces him
. The bowler's objectives are to prevent the scoring of runs and to dismiss the
batsman. An over is a set of six deliveries bowled by the same bowler. The next
over is bowled from the other end of the pitch by a different bowler.
The most common forms of dismissal are bowled, when the bowler hits the stumps d
irectly with the ball, leg before wicket, when the batsman prevents the ball fro
m hitting the stumps with his body instead of his bat, and caught, when the bats
man hits the ball into the air and it is intercepted by a fielder before touchin
g the ground. Runs are scored by two main methods: either by hitting the ball ha
rd enough for it to cross the boundary, or by the two batsmen swapping ends by e
ach simultaneously running the length of the pitch in opposite directions whilst
the fielders are retrieving the ball. If a fielder retrieves the ball quickly e
nough to put down the wicket with a batsman not having reached the crease at tha
t end of the pitch, that batsman is dismissed (a run-out occurs). Adjudication i
s performed on the field by two umpires.
The laws of cricket are maintained by the International Cricket Council (ICC) an
d the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). There are various formats ranging from Twen
ty20, played over a few hours with each team having a single innings of 20 overs
(i.e. 120 deliveries), to Test cricket, played over five days with unlimited ov
ers and the teams playing two innings apiece. Traditionally cricketers play in a
ll-white kit, but in limited overs cricket they wear club or team colours. In ad
dition to the basic kit, some players wear protective gear to prevent injury cau
sed by the ball, which is a hard, solid object made of compressed leather enclos
ing a cork core.
Although cricket's origins are uncertain, it is first recorded in south-east Eng
land in the 16th century. It spread globally with the expansion of the British E
mpire, leading to the first international matches in the mid-19th century. ICC,
the game's governing body, has over 100 members, ten of which are full members w
ho play Test cricket. The sport is followed primarily in Australasia, Great Brit
ain and Ireland, the Indian subcontinent, southern Africa and the West Indies. W
omen's cricket, which is organised and played separately, has also achieved inte
rnational standard.