One-day cricket
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A night match at Old Trafford
One-day cricket is a version of the sport of cricket that is completed in one day, as distinct from Test cricket and first-class cricket which can take up to five days to complete.
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Structure
In a one-day cricket match, each team bats only once, and each innings is limited to a set number of overs, usually fifty in a One-day International and between forty and sixty in a List A domestic one-day match. Other changes to the game include additional restrictions on where fielders may be placed (preventing teams from placing every fielder on the edge of the field to prevent boundaries), a restriction on the number of overs that may be bowled by any one bowler and stricter rules on wide balls and short deliveries (to prevent teams from restricting scoring by bowling deliveries that batsmen have no chance to score from). In many games a white ball is used rather than the traditional red; the need to paint rather than stain the white ball gives it subtly different characteristics in flight as it wears.
One-day cricket is popular with spectators as it can encourage aggressive, risky, entertaining batting, often results in cliffhanger endings, and ensures that a spectator can watch an entire match without committing to five days of continuous attendance. However, many fans of Test match cricket regard it as ignoring the skills of bowlers, prone to random results not reflective of the relative skill of the teams, and with modern one-day tactics where batsmen take few risks outside the first and last few overs, lacking in the claimed excitement. Such criticisms have gained steam with the revitalisation, led by Australia, of Test matches.
Bowling restrictions
As mentioned above, in almost all competitive one-day games, a restriction is placed on the number of overs that may be bowled by any one bowler. This is to prevent a side playing two bowlers with extremely good stamina who can then bowl the entirety of their side's overs, thus skewing the composition of a side. The classical composition of a cricket team is five specialist batsmen, five specialist bowlers and a wicket-keeper: in order to maintain this, the usual limitation is set so that a side must include at least five bowlers. For example, the usual limit for twenty-over cricket is four overs per bowler, for forty-over cricket eight per bowler and for fifty-over cricket ten per bowler.
There is at least one notable exception to this convention. Pro Cricket in the United States restricts bowlers to five overs each, thus leaving a side requiring only four bowlers.
History
One-day cricket began between English county teams on May 2, 1962. Leicestershire beat Derbyshire and Northamptonshire beat Nottinghamshire over 65 overs in the "Midlands Knock-Out Cup", which Northamptonshire went on to win a week later. The following year, the first full-scale one-day competition between first-class teams was played, the knock-out Gillette Cup, won by Sussex. League one-day cricket also began in England, when the John Player Sunday League was started in 1969. Both these competitions have continued every season since inauguration, though the sponsorship has changed. The knock-out cup is now the Cheltenham and Gloucester Trophy. The league is no longer played only on Sundays.
The first One-day International (ODI) match was played in Melbourne in 1971, and the quadrennial cricket World Cup began in 1975. Many of the "packaging" innovations, such as coloured clothing, were as a result of World Series Cricket, a "rebel" series set up outside the cricketing establishment by Australian entrepreneur Kerry Packer. For more details, see History of cricket.
One-day Internationals
One-day International matches are usually played in brightly coloured clothing (leading some to give it the unflattering nickname pyjama cricket), and often in a "day-night" format where the first innings of the day occurs in the afternoon and the second occurs under stadium lights.
One-day international tournaments occur in various forms:
- The World Cup
- Involves all Test nations and qualifying associate nations
- Consists of a round-robin group stage, a Super Six stage, semifinals, and finals.
- Held once in four years
- International Cricket Council determines venue
- International Cricket Council Champions Trophy
- Involves all Test nations and qualifying associate nations
- Consists of knockout games (if a team loses a single game, it is "knocked out" of the tournament)
- Held once in four years between World Cups
- International Cricket Council determines venue
- One-day International Series
- Involves two nations
- Consists of three to seven games, all matches are played even if series result is determined
- Played when one nation "tours" another
- Usually played in one of the two participating nations
- Triangular Tournament
- Involves three nations
- Consists of a round-robin group stage, each team playing the other two or three times, and a final
- Played in one of the three participating nations or in neutral venues
- Notes:
- Quadrangular tournaments (four teams) are no longer held.
- The semifinals and finals are single games, except in the annual VB Series Triangular Tournament, when the finals are a three game series
- Triangular Tournaments often occur between two touring test series
- Triangular Tournaments are most common
Domestic one-day competitions
Australia
The ING Cup. The sides that compete are the following:
- New South Wales (speed blitz) Blues
- Victoria Bushrangers
- South Australia Redbacks
- Tasmanian Tigers
- Queensland Bulls
- West Australian Warriors
England
- The Totesport League - played annually in two divisions containing the 18 first class counties and a team representing Scotland. The first division has 9 teams and the second 10 teams. Each division is played as a double round-robin (home and away). The 3 bottom-ranked teams in the first division are relegated to the second, with the top 3 teams in the second replacing them. Games are played to ODI rules over 45 overs, with 4 points awarded for a win, 2 for a tie or no result, and 0 for a loss. Most games are played as day games, although there are a number of day-night matches.
- The Cheltenham and Gloucester Trophy - played annually as a straight knockout competition. Games are played to ODI rules over 50 overs. The minor counties, the recreational teams of the first class counties a team from each of Scotland, Ireland and the Netherlands play in the opening rounds, with the first class counties joining the later ones.
- The Twenty20 Cup - introduced in 2003 and played annually in three equal regional divisions. Each division is played as a single round-robin (so each team plays 5 matches before the knockout stage). 2 points are awarded for a win, 1 point for a tie or no result, 0 points for a loss. Played over only 20 overs, but using normal ODI rules, with the only amendment being that players are 'timed out' if they are not ready to face a delivery within 90 seconds of the previous player being dismissed. In 2003, the top team in each division plus the best-rated runner-up qualified for the knockout stage (semi-final and final). In 2004, the top two teams in each division plus the two best-rated third-placed teams qualified for the knockout stage (quarter-final, semi-final and final). The 20 overs a side format has proved very popular, with many games being sold out - which is very unusual for an English county game that isn't a final.
India
- Ranji Trophy - Founded as 'The Cricket Championship of India' at a meeting of the Board of Control for Cricket in India in July 1934. The first Ranji Trophy fixtures took place in the 1934-35 season. The Trophy was donated by H.H. Sir Bhupendra Singh Mahinder Baha-dur, Maharajah of Patiala in memory of His late Highness Sir Ranjitsinhji Vibhaji of Nawanagar. In the main the Ranji Trophy is composed of teams representing the states that make up India. As the political states have multiplied, so have cricket teams, but not every state has a team. Some states have more than one cricket team, e.g. Maharashtra and Gujarat. There are also 'odd' teams like Railways, and Services representing the armed forces. The various teams used to be grouped into zones - North, West, East, Central and South - and the initial matches are played on a league basis within the zones. The top two (till 1991-92), top three teams from each zone then play in a national knock-out competition. Starting with the 2002-03 season, the zonal system has been abandoned and a two-division structure has been adopted with two teams being promoted from the plate league and two relegated from the elite league. If the matches are not finished they are decided on the first-innings lead.
- Deodhar Cup
- Challenger trophy
New Zealand
- Mens: The State Shield (formerly the Shell Cup) - played annually between six teams based upon the first class associations: The Northern Knights, Auckland Aces, Central Stags, Wellington Firebirds, Canterbury Wizards and Otago Volts. Currently played as a double round-robin (home and away) with team 1 gaining direct entry to the final and teams 2 and 3 contesting a semi-final. Games played to ODI rules with many day-night matches. The winners in the 2003-04 season were the Central Stags
- Womens: The State League - played annually between six teams based upon the first-class associations: Northern Spirit, Auckland Hearts, Central Hinds, Wellington Blaze, Canterbury Magicians, Otago Sparks. The format is a double-round-robin with the winner determined by points. The winners in the 2003-4 season were the Canterbury Magicians.
Pakistan
South Africa
The local competition in South Africa is the Standard Bank Cup (Formerly Benson & Hedges Series Cricket). Played between 6 Teams, The Dolphins (Kwa Zulu Natal), The Eagles (Freestate), The Lions (Johnnesburg, Gauteng), The Titans (Pretoria, Gauteng), The Warriors (Port Elizabeth) and Western Province Boland (Cape Town and surrounding areas). The games are 45-overs, and based on a home-and-away round-robin match system (Each team playing ten matches) with semi-finals and a final. The Eagles were the winners of the 2004/2005 Competition
Sri Lanka
West Indies
Zimbabwe
See also
External links
- Official ECB website (http://www.ecb.co.uk)
- Twenty 20 Cricket (http://www.thetwenty20cup.co.uk)
- Cricket Blog (http://allcricket.rediffblogs.com)