Cricket Formats/Types

There are a number of different types or formats of cricket currenlty being played around the world. Although they are different they are all similar in their aims. This article will give you a brief overview of the different formats you may come across:

Test Cricket

The most commmon form and one of the best known is test cricket. This is one format played when the teams that are playing are international teams (such as England and Pakistan) and it was first played in the late nineteenth century. The test match is played over two innings for each of the teams and is played for five days or until each side has been bowled out twice. This gives more time for the top players to play the game to the best of their abilities and gives them a chance to put on more of a show than the traditional four day game usually played in first class county cricket.

4 Day Cricket

The more usual four day, or first class game is also played over two innings and is one of the most popular types of cricket that is being played on a regular basis week in and week out. The main league in England is the county championship and each match is played over four days. This gives the domestic league players a lot more scope than the shorter types of cricket and allows them to show off their abilities (such as patience, consistency, will-to-win, perserverance and so on) over longer periods of time as required by the best players in the test arena. The best players from the domestic leagues form the basis for the teams selected to play in the international team and test matches.

One Day Cricket

One day cricket is the short form of cricket that is also known as limited overs. One day cricket was first played in the early nineteen sixties. It was introduced in response to public opinion that there was a need for a shorter type of cricket where the result could be seen in one day. Although these were not the first one day matches, it was really the limiting of the overs that was the real innovation. This meant that the crowd knew when the game was going to be finished by and that they would see a result. This made it much easier to watch as they would actually see the end of the game. There are alsofloodlit games that are played in the evening called day-night matches. One day matches in England are usually played for either 40, 45 or 50 overs depending on the league or competition.

Twenty20 Cricket

This is the newest format of cricket and has grown massivly since it's first introduction. Twenty20 was originally brought in in 2003 to make the game more popular and primarily to encourage more people to play the game. The reason for the name is simple in that each team gets one twenty over innings each to bat/bowl. This means that the game is finished much more quickly, plus there are also unique new rules which encourge faster play. One key change to the game is that if a no ball is bowled then there is a free hit for the batsman. The fact that it is limited to such few overs makes the teams much more likely to play positive shots to score runs quickly, creating more of an exciting spectacle of the crowd.
There are many different types of cricket and it is likely to keep on changing to keep up with the times as well.