Cricket
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Cricketing nations
The most competitive cricket playing nations in the world are England, Australia, West Indies, New Zealand, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe, etc. the game has a large, passionate, following in these countries and is being marketed to induce many other nations like Canada, USA, China etc.
The game
Cricket is a game basically of two opposing sides- one known as the fielding side and the other the batting side. The roles being decided by flip of a coin. The fielding side places its fielders strategically in the field (divided mainly into the longish rectangular batting strip of 22 yards, with wickets at either end) to challenge the batsman of the batting side into scoring runs while saving his wicket. The game is refereed by two umpires. The side scoring more runs is the winner. The main tools with which cricket is played are, a ball, bat, wicket and guards (abdomen, helmet, gloves ,pads etc.) The ball is a five and a half ounce leather stitched sphere with cork as its core. The bat is a broad wooden plate with a handle, for a firm grip. The stumps comprise of 3 upright wooden poles with 2 wooden bails mounted in between the stumps located at either side of the wicket. The ball is hurled from one side of the wicket by a bowler to the batsman, who is standing on the other side with a bat in his hands, looking to score runs by hitting the ball. A run is counted as the batsman & runner exchange sides, by running across the running strip, i.e. the pitch.
Variants
The game has two variants- Test Match and One-day-International. Test match cricket is the classic form, where each side gets to play twice in a match. A Test match is spread over 5 playing days and is played in 3 sessions in a day. The uniform of both sides consists of white apparels. The other variant- One day game is a form in which each side gets to bat for only a limited number of overs (an over consist of six deliveries by a bowler). As such a One-day game has a huge popularity due to its limited time span & also because of the fact at most times it is decisive and thrilling as against a five day game which has got even chances of ending in a draw.
Money spinning game
Looking at its ever-growing appeal and large following it has of late turned into a money spinner for the sponsor, media as well as the ruling bodies of cricket playing nations. Compared to older days when it was played more for nationalistic reasons, it is more lucrative prospect as a career in the nations it has been firmly placed as a passionate sport in the last two to three decades.