Classic Cricket Highlights

Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven
players on a field at the centre of which is a 20-metre (22-yard) pitch
with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three
stumps. The batting side scores runs by striking the ball bowled at the
wicket with the bat, while the bowling and fielding side tries to
prevent this and dismiss each player (so they are "out"). Means of
dismissal include being bowled, when the ball hits the stumps and
dislodges the bails, and by the fielding side catching the ball after it
is hit by the bat, but before it hits the ground. When ten players have
been dismissed, the innings ends and the teams swap roles. The game is
adjudicated by two umpires, aided by a third umpire and match referee in
international matches. They communicate with two off-field scorers who
record the match's statistical information.

There are various formats ranging from Twenty20, played over a few hours
with each team batting for a single innings of 20 overs, to Test
matches, played over five days with unlimited overs and the teams each
batting for two innings of unlimited length. Traditionally cricketers
play in all-white kit, but in limited overs cricket they wear club or
team colours. In addition to the basic kit, some players wear protective
gear to prevent injury caused by the ball, which is a hard, solid
spheroid made of compressed leather with a slightly raised sewn seam
enclosing a cork core which is layered with tightly wound string.

Historically, cricket's origins are uncertain and the earliest definite
reference is in south-east England in the middle of the 16th century. It
spread globally with the expansion of the British Empire, leading to the
first international matches in the second half of the 19th century. The
game's governing body is the International Cricket Council (ICC), which
has over 100 members, twelve of which are full members who play Test
matches. The game's rules are held in a code called the Laws