Top ten Pakistani cricketers.

Cricket is the most popular sport in Pakistan and so as the cricketers. There has been a long list of best Pakistani players but my personal favorite and the Pakistani nation’s hero is Imran Khan. He has been one of the best cricketers ever in the history of Pakistan and stands first in the list of top ten Pakistani cricketers. Here is brief information about this great Pakistani player:

Full Name: Imran Khan Niazi

Born: 25 November 1952 (Lahore, Pakistan)

Batting Style: Right-Handed

Bowling Style: Right-Arm Fast

Role: All-Rounder

He played for Pakistan for two decades and also served as captain for ten years. He gained more popularity and fan-following when under his captaincy; Pakistani cricket team won the World Cup for the first time in the history of Pakistan.

Politics and Social Work

In 1990’s he joined politics and laid the foundation of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf but somewhat it didn’t work much for him and his country. His career as a social worker has been very successful as he founded charity hospital named Shaukat Khanum Memorial Trust. It is the first cancer hospital in Pakistan that was built with donations and funds. He was so trust-worthy that people from all over the world made huge contributions for his hospital. Imran Khan has also served as a Special Representative for Sports of “UNICEF” and supported various health programs in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Thailand.

His social work is still going on as another cancer hospital is being built in Karachi and in London he is working with a cricket charity.

Cricket History in india

Tagged with 'javed-miandad'

Pakistan will take part in Asian Games
The BCCI might have decided against sending their teams for this year’s Asian Games in China but the Pakistan Cricket Board has confirmed that their team will be participating in the prestigious event and has already submitted a shortlist of 30 players with the organisers.


Karachi: Former Pakistan skipper Javed Miandad has said that he is not at all surprised by the mess the IPL finds itself in and he wants the International Cricket Council to ’supervise’ the organisation of the T20 league in the future.
Miandad said that considering the huge stakes involved in the so-called domestic event of the [...]

Akram-Miandad row threatens to destroy Pakistan cricket

Things are getting worse for Pakistan cricket, with two of Pakistan’s greatest and most respected cricketers, Javed Miandad and Wasim Akram, heading for a showdown, each of them giving heated comments against other.

Pakistan pays tribute to the “perfect role model”

Former and current Pakistan cricketers, on Wednesday, hailed India’s batting maestro, Sachin Tendulkar, for becoming the first batsman in the history of ODI cricket to score a double hundred, saying that Tendulkar is the “perfect role model” for any cricketer.

Cricket greats hail the “greatest batsman ever”

The entire cricket fraternity hailed Sachin Tendulkar for becoming the first batsman in the history of the game to score a double hundred in ODI cricket with cricketing greats describing the feat as an incredible achievement.

Cricketing world hails King Sachin

The entire cricketing fraternity has come out in unison to lavish praise on the batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar for becoming the first player in the history of the game to score 17,000 ODI runs.

The team that keeps its nerves will win: Miandad

Legendary Pakistan batsman Javed Miandad feels that India and Pakistan are two very well balanced teams and the match between the arch-rivals at Champions Trophy will begin on an equal footing and the team that sustains the pressure better will emerge victorious.

I’ve worked very hard with the players: Miandad

Former Pakistan skipper and coach, Javed Miandad, believes that the five-day coaching camp that he held for the Pakistan team will help them a lot in their quest for winning the Champions Trophy.

Pakistan can beat any side if they play as a team: Miandad

Pakistan has a very good chance of winning the ICC Champions Trophy in South Africa next month if they play as a team and not as individuals, said former Pakistan captain Javed Miandad.

World Cup Winners History

Cricket World Cup 2007

Cricket World Cup 2003

Cricket World Cup 1999

1996 Cricket World Cup

Cricket World Cup 1992

1987 Cricket World Cup

Cricket World Cup 1983

1979 Cricket World Cup

Cricket World Cup 1975

Miandad rates Tendulkar greatest after record World Cup appearance

KARACHI: Former Pakistan captain Javed Miandad congratulated Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar for equalling his record of six consecutive appearances in Cricket World Cup and described him as the "greatest batsman in history".

Tendulkar featured in his sixth consecutive World Cup on Saturday in India's opening match of the tenth edition against Bangladesh at Mirpur.

The 37-year-old Indian made his World Cup debut in 1992 when Pakistan won under Imran Khan with Miandad as one of the players. Since then he has played in every World Cup.

Miandad made his World Cup debut in 1975 and featured in every edition till 1996 when it was co-hosted by India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

"It is great achievement and I am happy that Sachin has equaled my record and I want to congratulate him," Miandad said.

"This is a long journey and he (Tendulkar) is definitely greatest batsman in history and his records speak for itself," he was quoted as saying by Associated Press of Pakistan.

"I have the pleasure of playing against Tendulkar in 1992 and 1996 World Cup. In fact, my last World Cup match was against India in Bangalore," Miandad, who played 233 ODIs and 124 Test matches for Pakistan, recalled.

Miandad had played in 33 World Cup matches, scoring 1083 runs.

Tendulkar, who was appearing in his 445th ODI at Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium at Mirpur near Dhaka, had scored the highest number of runs -- 1796 from 36 matches before Saturday -- in the World Cup.

Tendulkar also holds the record of scoring the highest number of runs and centuries in ODIs as well as Test cricket.

Melbourne Cricket Ground

Melbourne Cricket Ground MCG - Early History
The Melbourne Cricket Club was first established in November of 1838, and played its first match against a military team at a location that was then on the outskirts of the city of Melbourne. After moving their facilities to many different locations throughout the year, the Melbourne Cricket Club currently holds games at the Melbourne Cricket Grounds, a stadium located in Melbourne near Yarra Park. The stadium holds about 100,000 people, and is no longer home to just cricket games. Australian Rules football, as well as boxing matches and rugby also take place within the impressive stadium. The Melbourne Cricket Ground is often referred to simply as the "G" and currently holds the world record for the highest light poles in a stadium.
Melbourne Cricket Ground MCG - Cricket Ground Melbourne Night

Australia Beaches Map

With its towering lights, the Cricket Ground Melbourne Night makes a great place to catch some after-hours entertainment. Despite the fact that it holds the word cricket in its name, the current stadium is most often used for Australian Rules football, as well as a host of other events. Quite often, football games, also called, "footy" by the locals, are played at night. Cricket Ground Melbourne night time activities make for a fun, relaxing way to enjoy a beer and take in a game after a long day spent sightseeing in Melbourne.
Melbourne Cricket Ground MCG - Transportation
Getting to the MCG is generally convenient, as the city of Melbourne offers a wide array of travel options. Near the stadium, you'll find two handily located train stations, the Jollimont and the Richmond, neither more then a fifteen minute walk to the stadium itself. There is also an array of inner city trams that makes stops near the MCG, as well as a bus stop right near the front entrance. Buses generally offer the least expensive way to get to the stadium, depending on where you are traveling from. Along the way, you can even do some sightseeing in Melbourne.
Melbourne Cricket Ground MCG - Dining
Interestingly, the Melbourne Cricket Ground is located right near the heart of downtown Melbourne. In addition to making transportation convenient and generally hassle free, the location also gives stadium goers a chance to dine downtown. Restaurant options around the cricket grounds are plentiful, offering everything from a quick bite to a sit down meal. Less then fifteen minutes away is Melbourne Central, one of the premier shopping and dining areas in the city of Melbourne.
If you're interested in taking home a souvenir, you'll also want to check out the MCG gift shop. Nearby stores offer a wide array of shirts and sporting paraphernalia. Even if you don't choose to attend and event at the Melbourne Cricket Grounds, it's general location makes it a great historical stop when sightseeing in Melbourne.

No word for Tendulkar

Dear all

I didnt have words to say his achievements,but Just have look at the records held by Sachin Tendulkar. No wonder why British Prime Minister is suggesting him for the honor of ’Sir’.

New Records…………….
1.        Highest Run scorer in the Test Cricket
2.        First Cricketer to pass more than 12000 run in the Test Cricket
Records Held by Sachin Tendulkar
1.        Highest Run scorer in the ODI
2.        Most number of hundreds in the ODI 41
3.        Most number of nineties in the ODI
4.        Most number of man of the matches(56) in the ODI’s
5.        Most number of man of the series(14) in ODI’s
6.        Best average for man of the matches in ODI’s
7.        First Cricketer to pass 10000 run in the ODI
8.        First Cricketer to pass 15000 run in the ODI
9.        He is the highest run scorer in the world cup (1,796 at an average of 59.87 as on 20 March 2007)
10.        Most number of the man of the matches in the world cup
11.        Most number of runs 1996 world cup 523 runs in the 1996 Cricket World Cup at an average of 87.16
12.        Most number of runs in the 2003 world cup 673 runs in 2003 Cricket World Cup, highest by any player in a single Cricket World Cup
13.        He was Player of the World Cup Tournament in the 2003 Cricket World Cup.
14.        Most number of Fifties in ODI’s 87
15.        Appeared in Most Number of ODI’s 407
16.        He is the only player to be in top 10 ICC ranking for 10 years.
17.        Most number of 100′s in test’s 40
18.        He is one of the three batsmen to surpass 11,000 runs in Test cricket, and the first Indian to do so
19.        He is thus far the only cricketer to receive the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, India’s highest sporting honor
20.        In 2003, Wisden rated  Tendulkar as d No. 1 and Richards at No. 2 in all time Greatest ODI player
21.        In 2002, Wisden rated him as the second greatest Test batsman after Sir Donald Bradman.
22.        he was involved in unbroken 664-run partnership in a Harris Shield game in 1988 with friend and team mate Vinod Kambli,
23.        Tendulkar is the only player to score a century in all three of his Ranji Trophy, Duleep Trophy and Irani Trophy debuts
24.        In 1992, at the age of 19, Tendulkar became the first overseas born player to represent Yorkshire
25.        Tendulkar has been granted the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, Arjuna Award and Padma Shri by Indian government. He is the only Indian cricketer to get all of them.
26.        Tendulkar has scored over 1000 runs in a calendar year in ODI’s 7 times
27.        Tendulkar has scored 1894 runs in calendar year in ODI’s most by any batsman
28.        He is the highest earning cricketer in the world
29.        He has the least percentage of the man of the matches awards won when team looses a match.. Out of his 56 man of the match awards only 5 times India has lost.
30.        Tendulkar most number man of match awards(10) against Australia
31.        In August of 2003, Sachin Tendulkar was voted as the “Greatest Sportsman” of the country in the sport personalities category in the Best of India poll conducted by Zee News.
32.        In November 2006, Time magazine named Tendulkar as one of the Asian Heroes.
33.        In December 2006, he was named “Sports person of the Year
34.        The current India Poised campaign run by The Times of India has nominated him as the Face of New India next to the likes of Amartya Sen and Mahatma Gandhi among others.
35.        Tendulkar was the first batsman in history to score over 50 centuries in international cricket
36.        Tendulkar was the first batsman in history to score over 75 centuries in international cricket:79 centuries
37.        Has the most overall runs in cricket, (ODIs+Tests+Twenty20s), as of 30 June 2007 he had accumulated almost 26,000 runs overall.
38.        Is second on the most number of runs in test cricket just after Brian Lara
39.        Sachin Tendulkar with Sourav Ganguly hold the world record for the maximum number of runs scored by the opening partnership. They have put together 6,271 runs in 128 matches
40. The 20 century partnerships for opening pair with Sourav Ganguly is a world record
41.        Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid hold the world record for the highest partnership in ODI matches when they scored 331 runs against New Zealand in 1999
42.        Sachin Tendulkar has been involved in six 200 run partnerships in ODI matches – a record that he shares with Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid
43.        Most Centuries in a calendar year: 9 ODI centuries in 1998
44.        Only player to have over 100 innings of 50+ runs (41 Centuries and 87 Fifties)(as of 18th Nov, 2007)
45.        the only player ever to cross the 13,000-14,000 and 15,000 run marks IN ODI.
46.        Highest individual score among Indian batsmen (186* against New Zealand at Hyderabad in 1999).
47.        The score of 186* is listed the fifth highest score recorded in ODI matches
48.        Tendulkar has scored over 1000 ODI runs against all major Cricketing nations.
49.        Sachin was the fastest to reach 10,000 runs taking 259 innings and has the highest batting average among batsmen with over 10,000 ODI runs
50.        Most number of Stadium Appearances: 90 different Grounds
51.        Consecutive ODI Appearances: 185
52.        On his debut, Sachin Tendulkar was the second youngest debutant in the world
53.        When Tendulkar scored his maiden century in 1990, he was the second youngest to score a century
54.        Tendulkar’s record of five test centuries before he turned 20 is a current world record
55.        Tendulkar holds the current record (217 against NZ in 1999/00 Season) for the highest score in Test cricket by an Indian when captaining the side
56.        Tendulkar has scored centuries against all test playing nations.[7] He was the third batman to achieve the distinction after Steve Waugh and Gary Kirsten
57.        Tendulkar has 4 seasons in test cricket with 1000 or more runs – 2002 (1392 runs), 1999 (1088 runs), 2001 (1003 runs) and 1997 (1000 runs).[6] Gavaskar is the only  other Indian with four seasons of 1000+ runs
58.        He is second most number of seasons with over 1000 runs in world.
59.        On 3 January 2007 Sachin Tendulkar (5751) edged past Brian Lara’s (5736) world record of runs scored in Tests away from home
60.        Tendulkar and Brian Lara are the fastest to score 10,000 runs in Test cricket history. Both of them achieved this in 195 innings
61.        Second Indian after Sunil Gavaskar to make over 10,000 runs in Test matches
62.        Became the first Indian to surpass the 11,000 Test run mark and the third International player behind Allan Border and Brian Lara.
63.        Tendulkar is fourth on the list of players with most Test caps. Steve Waugh (168 Tests), Allan Border (158 Tests), Shane Warne (145 Tests) have appeared in more games than Tendulkar
64.        Tendulkar has played the most number of Test Matches(144) for India (Kapil Dev is second with 131 Test appearances).
65.        First to 25,000 international runs
66.        Tendulkar’s 25,016 runs in international cricket include 14,537 runs in ODI’s, 10,469 Tests runs and 10 runs in the lone Twenty20 that India has played.
67.        On December 10, 2005, Tendulkar made his 35th century in Tests at Delhi against Sri Lanka. He surpassed Sunil Gavaskar’s record of 34 centuries to become the man with the most number of hundreds in Test cricket.
68.        Tendulkar is the only player who has 150 wkts and more than 15000 runs in  ODI
69.        Tendulkar is the only player who has 40 wkts and more than 11000 runs in  Tests
70.        Only batsman to have 100 hundreds in the first class cricket .
Sachin’s 200 gives India series win – first cricketer with 200 in ODI.

Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar raises his hat and helmet to celebrate scoring a world record breaking double century (200 runs) during the second ODI in Gwalior. India played South Africa and finished with 401 runs for the loss of three wickets.

Sachin Tendulkar 200 Runs

World Record: Sachin Tendulkar 200 Runs in ODI (India vs South Africa)

Sachin Tendulkar became the first man to score a double century in One Day Internationals. The great man’s unbeaten 200 off 147 balls helped India defeat South Africa by 153 runs in the second ODI at Gwalior on Wednesday, and gave the host an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series.
Tendulkar’s innings surpassed the previous record for the highest score in ODIs — 194, which was set by Pakistan’s Saeed Anwar in 1997 and equalled by Zimbabwe’s Charles Coventry in 2009. Later, Tendulkar said he was dedicating this record to the people of India.

SHAHID Afridi

Shahid Afridi was castigated by a number of former Pakistani Players after the team lost to New Zealand in the first one day against the Kiwis in Wellington.

Afridi’s post-match comments on Shoaib Akhtar and the batsmen left some of the former players like Aamir Sohail, Abdul Qadir and Zaheer Abbas surprised.

“How can a captain demand of his players to perform when he himself is not performing well,” Qadir, a former chief selector, said. “Afridi himself got out to a totally irresponsible shot and, before criticising others, he needs to first assess his own performances. I don’t think players would like his critical remarks after the match,” he added.

HOW CRICKET STARTED

Origin

No one knows when or where cricket began but there is a body of evidence, much of it circumstantial, that strongly suggests the game was devised during Saxon or Norman times by children living in the Weald, an area of dense woodlands and clearings in south-east England that lies across Kent and Sussex. In medieval times, the Weald was populated by small farming and metal-working communities. It is generally believed that cricket survived as a children's game for many centuries before it was increasingly taken up by adults around the beginning of the 17th century.^[1]
It is quite likely that cricket was devised by children and survived for many generations as essentially a children’s game. Adult participation is unknown before the early 17th century. Possibly cricket was derived from bowls, assuming bowls is the older sport, by the intervention of a batsman trying to stop the ball from reaching its target by hitting it away. Playing on sheep-grazed land or in clearings, the original implements may have been a matted lump of sheep’s wool (or even a stone or a small lump of wood) as the ball; a stick or a crook or another farm tool as the bat; and a stool or a tree stump or a gate (e.g., a wicket gate) as the wicket.^[2]

Derivation of the name of "cricket"

A number of words are thought to be possible sources for the term "cricket". In the earliest known reference to the sport in 1598 (see below), it is called creckett. The name may have been derived from the Middle Dutch krick(-e), meaning a stick; or the Old English cricc or cryce meaning a crutch or staff.^[2] Another possible source is the Middle Dutch word krickstoel, meaning a long low stool used for kneeling in church and which resembled the long low wicket with two stumps used in early cricket.
According to Heiner Gillmeister, a European language expert of Bonn University, "cricket" derives from the Middle Dutch met de (krik ket)sen (i.e., "with the stick chase"), which also suggests a Dutch connection in the game's origin. It is more likely that the terminology of cricket was based on words in use in south east England at the time and, given trade connections with the County of Flanders, especially in the 15th century when it belonged to the Duchy of Burgundy, many Middle Dutch^[3] words found their way into southern English dialects.^[4]

First definite reference

John Derrick was a pupil at The Royal Grammar School in Guildford when he and his friends played creckett circa1550

Despite many prior suggested references, the first definite mention of the game is found in a 1598 court case concerning an ownership dispute over a plot of common land in Guildford, Surrey. A 59-year old coroner, John Derrick, testified that he and his school friends had played creckett on the site fifty years earlier when they attended the Free School. Derrick's account proves beyond reasonable doubt that the game was being played in Surrey circa1550.^[5][6]
The first reference to cricket being played as an adult sport was in 1611, when two men in Sussex were prosecuted for playing cricket on Sunday instead of going to church.^[7] In the same year, a dictionary defined cricket as a boys' game and this suggests that adult participation was a recent development.^[5]

Early 17th century

A number of references occur up to the English Civil War and these indicate that cricket had become an adult game contested by parish teams, but there is no evidence of county strength teams at this time. Equally, there is little evidence of the rampant gambling that characterised the game throughout the 18th century. It is generally believed, therefore, that village cricket had developed by the middle of the 17th century but that county cricket had not and that investment in the game had not begun.^[1]

The Commonwealth

After the Civil War ended in 1648, the new Puritan government clamped down on "unlawful assemblies", in particular the more raucous sports such as football. Their laws also demanded a stricter observance of the Sabbath than there had been previously. As the Sabbath was the only free time available to the lower classes, cricket's popularity may have waned during the Commonwealth. Having said that, it did flourish in public fee-paying schools such as Winchester and St Paul's. There is no actual evidence that Oliver Cromwell's regime banned cricket specifically and there are references to it during the interregnum that suggest it was acceptable to the authorities providing it did not cause any "breach of the Sabbath".^[1] It is believed that the nobility in general adopted cricket at this time through involvement in village games.^[5]

Gambling and press coverage

Cricket certainly thrived after the Restoration in 1660 and is believed to have first attracted gamblers making large bets at this time. In 1664, the "Cavalier" Parliament passed the Gaming Act 1664 which limited stakes to £100, although that was still a fortune at the time,^[1] equivalent to about £12 thousand in present day terms ^[8]. Cricket had certainly become a significant gambling sport by the end of the 17th century. There is a newspaper report of a "great match" played in Sussex in 1697 which was 11-a-side and played for high stakes of 50 guineas a side.^[7]
With freedom of the press having been granted in 1696, cricket for the first time could be reported in the newspapers. But it was a long time before the newspaper industry adapted sufficiently to provide frequent, let alone comprehensive, coverage of the game. During the first half of the 18th century, press reports tended to focus on the betting rather than on the play.^[1]

18th-century cricket

See also: 1697 to 1725 English cricket seasons and Overview of English cricket 1726 - 1815

Patronage and players

Gambling introduced the first patrons because some of the gamblers decided to strengthen their bets by forming their own teams and it is believed the first "county teams" were formed in the aftermath of the Restoration in 1660, especially as members of the nobility were employing "local experts" from village cricket as the earliest professionals.^[5] The first known game in which the teams use county names is in 1709 but there can be little doubt that these sort of fixtures were being arranged long before that. The match in 1697 was probably Sussex versus another county.
The most notable of the early patrons were a group of aristocrats and businessmen who were active from about 1725, which is the time that press coverage became more regular, perhaps as a result of the patrons' influence. These men included the 2nd Duke of Richmond, Sir William Gage, Alan Brodrick and Edward Stead. For the first time, the press mentions individual players like Thomas Waymark.

Cricket moves out of England

Cricket was introduced to North America via the English colonies in the 17th century,^[4] probably before it had even reached the north of England. In the 18th century it arrived in other parts of the globe. It was introduced to the West Indies by colonists^[4] and to India by British East India Company mariners in the first half of the century. It arrived in Australia almost as soon as colonization began in 1788. New Zealand and South Africa followed in the early years of the 19th century.^[5]

Development of the Laws

See also: Laws of Cricket

The basic rules of cricket such as bat and ball, the wicket, pitch dimensions, overs, how out, etc. have existed since time immemorial. In 1728, the Duke of Richmond and Alan Brodick drew up "Articles of Agreement" to determine the code of practice in a particular game and this became a common feature, especially around payment of stake money and distributing the winnings given the importance of gambling.^[7]
In 1744, the Laws of Cricket were codified for the first time and then amended in 1774, when innovations such as lbw, middle stump and maximum bat width were added. These laws stated that the principals shall choose from amongst the gentlemen present two umpires who shall absolutely decide all disputes. The codes were drawn up by the so-called "Star and Garter Club" whose members ultimately founded MCC at Lord's in 1787. MCC immediately became the custodian of the Laws and has made periodic revisions and recodifications subsequently.^[9]

Continued growth in England

The game continued to spread throughout England and, in 1751, Yorkshire is first mentioned as a venue.^[10] The original form of bowling (i.e., rolling the ball along the ground as in bowls) was superseded sometime after 1760 when bowlers began to pitch the ball and study variations in line, length and pace.^[1] Scorecards began to be kept on a regular basis from 1772 and since then an increasingly clear picture has emerged of the sport's development.^[11]

An artwork depicting the history of the cricket bat

The first famous clubs were London and Dartford in the early 18th century. London played its matches on the Artillery Ground, which still exists. Others followed, particularly Slindon in Sussex which was backed by the Duke of Richmond and featured the star player Richard Newland. There were other prominent clubs at Maidenhead, Hornchurch, Maidstone, Sevenoaks, Bromley, Addington, Hadlow and Chertsey.
But far and away the most famous of the early clubs was Hambledon in Hampshire. It started as a parish organisation that first achieved prominence in 1756. The club itself was founded in the 1760s and was well patronised to the extent that it was the focal point of the game for about thirty years until the formation of MCC and the opening of Lord's Cricket Ground in 1787. Hambledon produced several outstanding players including the master batsman John Small and the first great fast bowler Thomas Brett. Their most notable opponent was the Chertsey and Surrey bowler Edward "Lumpy" Stevens, who is believed to have been the main proponent of the flighted delivery.
It was in answer to the flighted, or pitched, delivery that the straight bat was introduced. The old "hockey stick" style of bat was only really effective against the ball being trundled or skimmed along the ground.

Cricket and crisis

Cricket faced its first real crisis during the 18th century when major matches virtually ceased during the Seven Years War. This was largely due to shortage of players and lack of investment. But the game survived and the "Hambledon Era" proper began in the mid-1760s.
Cricket faced another major crisis at the beginning of the 19th century when a cessation of major matches occurred during the culminating period of the Napoleonic Wars. Again, the causes were shortage of players and lack of investment. But, as in the 1760s, the game survived and a slow recovery began in 1815.
MCC was itself the centre of controversy in the Regency period, largely on account of the enmity between Lord Frederick Beauclerk and George Osbaldeston. In 1817, their intrigues and jealousies exploded into a match-fixing scandal with the top player William Lambert being banned from playing at Lord's Cricket Ground for life. Gambling scandals in cricket have been going on since the 17th century.
In the 1820s, cricket faced a major crisis of its own making as the campaign to allow roundarm bowling gathered pace.

19th-century cricket

Main article: Overview of English cricket from 1816 to 1863

View of Geneva's Plaine de Plainpalais with cricket's players, 1817

The game also underwent a fundamental change of organisation with the formation for the first time of county clubs. All the modern county clubs, starting with Sussex in 1839, were founded during the 19th century.

A cricket match at Darnall, Sheffield in the 1820s.

No sooner had the first county clubs established themselves than they faced what amounted to "player action" as William Clarke created the travelling All-England Eleven in 1846. Though a commercial venture, this team did much to popularise the game in districts which had never previously been visited by high-class cricketers. Other similar teams were created and this vogue lasted for about thirty years. But the counties and MCC prevailed.
The growth of cricket in the mid and late 19th century was assisted by the development of the railway network. For the first time, teams from a long distance apart could play one other without a prohibitively time-consuming journey. Spectators could travel longer distances to matches, increasing the size of crowds.
In 1864, another bowling revolution resulted in the legalisation of overarm and in the same year Wisden Cricketers' Almanack was first published.
The "Great Cricketer", W G Grace, made his first-class debut in 1865. His feats did much to increase the game's popularity and he introduced technical innovations which revolutionised the game, particularly in batting.

International cricket begins

The first Australian touring team (1878) pictured at Niagara Falls

The first ever international cricket game was between the USA and Canada in 1844. The match was played at the grounds of the St George's Cricket Club in New York.^[12]
In 1859, a team of leading English professionals set off to North America on the first-ever overseas tour and, in 1862, the first English team toured Australia.
Between May and October 1868, a team of Australian Aborigines toured England in what was the first Australian cricket team to travel overseas.
In 1877, an England touring team in Australia played two matches against full Australian XIs that are now regarded as the inaugural Test matches. The following year, the Australians toured England for the first time and were a spectacular success. No Tests were played on that tour but more soon followed and, at The Oval in 1882, arguably the most famous match of all time gave rise to The Ashes. South Africa became the third Test nation in 1889.

National championships

A major watershed occurred in 1890 when the official County Championship was constituted in England. This organisational initiative has been repeated in other countries. Australia established the Sheffield Shield in 1892–93. Other national competitions to be established were the Currie Cup in South Africa, the Plunkett Shield in New Zealand and the Ranji Trophy in India.
The period from 1890 to the outbreak of the First World War has become an object of nostalgia, ostensibly because the teams played cricket according to "the spirit of the game", but more realistically because it was a peacetime period that was shattered by the First World War. The era has been called The Golden Age of cricket and it featured numerous great names such as Grace, Wilfred Rhodes, C B Fry, K S Ranjitsinhji and Victor Trumper.

Balls per over

In 1889 the immemorial four ball over was replaced by a five ball over and then this was changed to the current six balls an over in 1900. Subsequently, some countries experimented with eight balls an over. In 1922, the number of balls per over was changed from six to eight in Australia only. In 1924 the eight ball over was extended to New Zealand and in 1937 to South Africa. In England, the eight ball over was adopted experimentally for the 1939 season; the intention was to continue the experiment in 1940, but first-class cricket was suspended for the Second World War and when it resumed, English cricket reverted to the six ball over. The 1947 Laws of Cricket allowed six or eight balls depending on the conditions of play. Since the 1979/80 Australian and New Zealand seasons, the six ball over has been used worldwide and the most recent version of the Laws in 2000 only permits six ball overs.

20th-century cricket

Growth of Test cricket

Sid Barnes, traps Lala Amarnath lbw in the first official Test between Australia and India at the MCG in 1948

When the Imperial Cricket Conference (as it was originally called) was founded in 1909, only England, Australia and South Africa were members. India, West Indies and New Zealand became Test nations before the Second World War and Pakistan soon afterwards. The international game grew with several "affiliate nations" getting involved and, in the closing years of the 20th century, three of those became Test nations also: Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe and Bangladesh.

Test cricket remained the sport's highest level of standard throughout the 20th century but it had its problems, notably in the infamous "Bodyline Series" of 1932–33 when Douglas Jardine's England used so-called "leg theory" to try and neutralise the run-scoring brilliance of Australia's Don Bradman.

Suspension of South Africa (1970–91)

See also: International cricket in South Africa from 1971 to 1981

The greatest crisis to hit international cricket was brought about by apartheid, the South African policy of racial segregation. The situation began to crystallise after 1961 when South Africa left the Commonwealth of Nations and so, under the rules of the day, its cricket board had to leave the International Cricket Conference (ICC). Cricket's opposition to apartheid intensified in 1968 with the cancellation of England's tour to South Africa by the South African authorities, due to the inclusion of "coloured" cricketer Basil D'Oliveira in the England team. In 1970, the ICC members voted to suspend South Africa indefinitely from international cricket competition. Ironically, the South African team at that time was probably the strongest in the world.
Starved of top-level competition for its best players, the South African Cricket Board began funding so-called "rebel tours", offering large sums of money for international players to form teams and tour South Africa. The ICC's response was to blacklist any rebel players who agreed to tour South Africa, banning them from officially sanctioned international cricket. As players were poorly remunerated during the 1970s, several accepted the offer to tour South Africa, particularly players getting towards the end of their careers for whom a blacklisting would have little effect.
The rebel tours continued into the 1980s but then progress was made in South African politics and it became clear that apartheid was ending. South Africa, now a "Rainbow Nation" under Nelson Mandela, was welcomed back into international sport in 1991.

World Series Cricket

See also: World Series Cricket

The money problems of top cricketers were also the root cause of another cricketing crisis that arose in 1977 when the Australian media magnate Kerry Packer fell out with the Australian Cricket Board over TV rights. Taking advantage of the low remuneration paid to players, Packer retaliated by signing several of the best players in the world to a privately run cricket league outside the structure of international cricket. World Series Cricket hired some of the banned South African players and allowed them to show off their skills in an international arena against other world-class players. The schism lasted only until 1979 and the "rebel" players were allowed back into established international cricket, though many found that their national teams had moved on without them. Long-term results of World Series Cricket have included the introduction of significantly higher player salaries and innovations such as coloured kit and night games.

Limited-overs cricket

In the 1960s, English county teams began playing a version of cricket with games of only one innings each and a maximum number of overs per innings. Starting in 1963 as a knockout competition only, limited overs grew in popularity and in 1969 a national league was created which consequently caused a reduction in the number of matches in the County Championship.
Although many "traditional" cricket fans objected to the shorter form of the game, limited overs cricket did have the advantage of delivering a result to spectators within a single day; it did improve cricket's appeal to younger or busier people; and it did prove commercially successful.
The first limited overs international match took place at Melbourne Cricket Ground in 1971 as a time-filler after a Test match had been abandoned because of heavy rain on the opening days. It was tried simply as an experiment and to give the players some exercise, but turned out to be immensely popular. Limited overs internationals (LOIs or ODIs, after One-day Internationals) have since grown to become a massively popular form of the game, especially for busy people who want to be able to see a whole match. The International Cricket Council reacted to this development by organising the first Cricket World Cup in England in 1975, with all the Test playing nations taking part.

Increasing use of technology

Limited overs cricket increased television ratings for cricket coverage. Innovative techniques that were originally introduced for coverage of LOI matches was soon adopted for Test coverage. The innovations included presentation of in-depth statistics and graphical analysis, placing miniature cameras in the stumps, multiple usage of cameras to provide shots from several locations around the ground, high speed photography and computer graphics technology enabling television viewers to study the course of a delivery and help them understand an umpire's decision.
In 1992, the use of a third umpire to adjudicate runout appeals with television replays was introduced in the Test series between South Africa and India. The third umpire's duties have subsequently expanded to include decisions on other aspects of play such as stumpings, catches and boundaries. As yet, the third umpire is not called upon to adjudicate lbw appeals, although there is a virtual reality tracking technology (i.e., Hawk-Eye) that is approaching perfection in predicting the course of a delivery.

21st-century cricket

Cricket remains a major world sport in terms of participants, spectators and media interest.
The ICC has expanded its development program with the goal of producing more national teams capable of competing at Test level. Development efforts are focused on African and Asian nations; and on the United States. In 2004, the ICC Intercontinental Cup brought first-class cricket to 12 nations, mostly for the first time.
In June 2001, the ICC introduced a "Test Championship Table" and, in October 2002, a "One-day International Championship Table". Australia has consistently topped both these tables in the 2000s.
Cricket's newest innovation is Twenty20, essentially an evening entertainment. It has so far enjoyed enormous popularity and has attracted large attendances at matches as well as good TV audience ratings. The inaugural ICC Twenty20 World Cup tournament was held in 2007 with a follow-up event in 2009. The formation of Twenty20 leagues in India – the unofficial Indian Cricket League, which started in 2007, and the official Indian Premier League, starting in 2008 – raised much speculation in the cricketing press about their effect on the future of cricket.