Cricket

The Basics

• During a standard cricket match each team has a turn at batting, attempting to score runs, and at fielding, attempting to prevent runs being made. The team which has scored the most runs at the end of the game wins.
  
• Players bat in pairs and attempt to score runs by hitting the ball to the boundary rope or by running between the wickets. They can be given out if the ball hits their wicket, a fielder catches their shot before the ball bounces, or their leg prevents the ball hitting the wicket (knows as LBW or ‘leg before wicket’). 
  
• The fielding team nominate a bowler to bowl a six-ball over. Once they have completed this then someone else on the team must takeover. An innings will continue until the batting side have lost ten wickets or a set number of overs have been bowled. 
  

History

• Cricket traces its origins back to South-East England and the 16th century. However, it took another 300 years for the sport to fully establish itself within British society and begin to garner attention from overseas.
  
• The first officially recognised Test match took place in 1877. There are currently twelve nations that play test match cricket, the longest and most traditional form of the game. The most famous match-up is between England and Australia, known as 'The Ashes'.
  
• The Cricket World Cup, a competition involving one-day matches, first took place in 1975. Australia is the most successful nation with five titles. An even shorter format, the T20 World Cup (involving matches with only 20 overs for each side), was born in 2007.
  

Famous Competitors

• Sachin Tendulkar – there are many candidates for cricket’s greatest ever player. However, the Indian also known as ‘the little master’ perhaps eclipses them all. Tendulkar scored more than 30,000 runs for his country over the course of a near 25-year career, including an incredible 51 Test Match centuries at an average of 53.78.
  
• Andrew Flintoff – whilst he was never as gifted as the likes of Tendulkar, many credit ‘Freddie’ Flintoff for playing a rejuvenating role within English cricket, thanks in no small part to his starring role in England’s Ashes victory over Australia in 2005 – our first such success against the Aussies since 1987. The popular all-rounder retired in 2009 due to injury issues. 
  

• Charlotte Edwards – A legend of the game, amassing 309 international appearances and just the small matter of 10,273 international runs during a remarkable career. Charlotte led England on 220 occasions, during which time England won three Ashes series (2008, 2013 and 2014) and World Cup/World Twenty20 double in 2009. Charlotte now also works as an ambassador for Chance to Shine, inspiring many girls to play cricket across the nation. 

National Governing Body

England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) – please click here for more information.

Chance to Shine – an independent cricket charity who fund County Cricket Boards to deliver Schools Coaching Programme, Competition and Training. Click here to find out more or to sign up to the Chance to Shine Teacher Portal (free resource) visit https://teachers.chancetoshine.org

Formats

• • Intra-School Primary: Skills Challenges
  • Intra-School Secondary: Skills Challenges
  • Local Inter-School (including Inclusive format)

In order for a competition to be considered part of a School Games provision, it must follow a School Games format. All School Games registered users have access to our sport formats and can access the formats for this sport by clicking the button below. Alternatively, you can download the full Cricket format pack by clicking here.