History of Indian cricket

Before 1930s

The game of cricket was introduced in India in the middle of the 18th century. On 3rd March 1845 the ‘Sporting Intelligence’ magazine carried a reasonably lengthy match report between ‘Sepoy’ cricketers and the European ones. The article clearly proved that Indian cricket was underway in a city called Sylhet, in modern day Bangladesh.

An impressed reporter proudly stated “the most enthusiastic European Cricketers could not have played with more energy and cheerfulness than the Sepoys did”.

However, chroniclers of cricket unanimously suggest that the formation of ‘Parsi Oriental Cricket Club’ in Bombay in the year 1848 led to the start of organized cricket by the Indians.

Parsi cricket

The first Indians to take to the game were the Parsis of Bombay, an educated, well-to-do and progressive community. In 1848, the Parsi boys established the ‘Oriental Cricket Club’.

The emerging Parsi middle class supported cricket as a means of strengthening ties with the overlords, while intellectuals welcomed it as a renewal of physical energy for the race. Around thirty Parsi clubs were formed in the within two decades of the formation of the first club. They were named for British viceroys and statesmen and for Roman gods.

Hindu cricket

The Hindu’s took up the game of cricket with the primary reason that they did not want to fall behind the Parsis in any manner. The first Hindu club ‘Bombay Union’ was formed in 1866. Hindus started playing cricket due to social and business rivalry with the Parsis. Hindu cricketers sorted themselves on the lines of caste and region of origin.



One of the primary Hindu cricketer was Ramchandra Vishnu Navlekar.
Some of the main clubs were Gowd Saraswat Cricket Club, Kshatriya Cricket Club, Gujrati Union Cricket Club, Maratha Cricket Club, Teluu Youn Cricketrs etc.


“There is no more agreeable sight to me,” remarked the Mayor of Bombay in 1886, “than of the whole Maidan overspread by a lot of enthusiastic Parsi and Hindu cricketers, keenly and eagerly engaged in this manly game.”

Formation of BCCI

A.E.R Gilligan’s MCC (Marylebone Cricket Club) toured India in 1926 and took on Bombay in a match that proved to be a turning point in the history of Indian cricket. As C K Naidu smashed 153, with elevan sixes and thirteen fours, for the Hindus, India began dreaming big. It eventually led to the formation of BCCI in 1928. Records prove that the first meeting was held on 4 December 1928 and was funded by the Maharaja of Patiala.

The first President of the Board was RE Grant Govan and the founding Secretary was AS De Mello. De Mello later went on to become Board President and was also involved in the creation of the Cricket Club of India. He also helped in establishing Brabourne Stadium which was India’s first permanent cricket venue in 1937

Sachin Tendulkar Biography

Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar was born on April 24, 1973 in Mumbai, India. He went to Shradashram Vidyamandir, a high school in Mumbai, where he began his cricketing career under his coach Ramakant Achrekar. He attended the MRF Pace Foundation during his schooldays to train as a fast bowler, but Australian fast bowler Dennis Lillee, who saw him training, was not much impressed and suggested that Tendulkar should focus on his batting instead. As a young boy, Tendulkar would practice for hours at the net, and was driven hard by his coach Achrekar.

While at school, his extraordinary batting skills got noticed by the sports circuit. People felt that the young boy would soon become one of the greats in cricket. In the 1988 season, he scored a century in every inning that he played. In one of the inter school matches that year, he had an unbroken 664-run partnership with friend and team mate Vinod Kambli.

When he was 14, Indian batting legend Sunil Gavaskar a great Indian batsman of that time, gave him a pair of his own light pads. This touching gesture greatly encouraged the budding cricketer, who 20 years later broke Gavaskar’s world record of 34 Test centuries.
In 1988, when he was just under 16, he scored 100 not out in for Bombay against Gujrat. This was on his first-class debut. He then scored a century in his first appearance in the Deodhar and Duleep Trophy. Mumbai captain Dilip Vengsarkar picked him up after seeing him batting Kapil Dev in the nets. That season he was Bombay’s highest run-getter. In the Irani Trophy final, He made an unbeaten century. He scored a century in all three of his Irani Trophy, Ranji Trophy and Duleep Trophy debuts, and became the first player to do so. He was selected for the tour of Pakistan next year.

At the very young age of 16, Sachin played his first Test match against Pakistan in Karachi in 1989. In this Test, he received several blows to his body at the hands of Waqar Younis, a pace bowler. He made just 15 runs. In the last test in Sialkot, he had a bloody nose from a bouncer, but he went on playing. He scored better in the subsequent games, scoring 53 runs of 18 balls at Peshawar.

In the 1990 Test in England he scored a century at Old Trafford. The English were highly impressed by his disciplined display of immense maturity. He played many types of strokes. His off-side shots from the back foot greatly impressed the English. Though short in height, he confidently faced short deliveries from the English pace bowlers. His great performance made him look the embodiment of Gavaskar, India’s former famous opener.

During the 1991-1992 tour of Australia Tendulkar scored and unbeaten 148 in Sydney and another century on a bouncing pitch a Perth.

At the age of 19, Tendulkar was in England, playing for Yorkshire in 1992. He scored 1070 runs at an average of 45.25 while playing for the English county as the first overseas player.

In the 2003 Cricket World Cup, he made 873 runs in 11 matches which enabled India reach the final. Although Australia won the trophy Tendulkar was given the Man of the Tournament award.

Shortly after this Tendulkar developed a tennis elbow and he was out of cricket for a while. But by 2005, he was back in form. He played well against Australia, Sri Lanka and Pakistan.

Tendulkar performed very well against Bangla Desh and he was adjudged the Man of the Series in the Future Cup against South Africa.

Today Tendulkar is a national icon to fans all over the world. He is the most worshipped cricketer in the world. Tendulkar has been granted the Padma Vibhushan, Padma Shri, Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, Arjuna Award, Padma Vibhushan by the Indian government.

Personal Life

In 1995, Sachin married Anjali, a doctor and the daughter of Gujarati industrialist Anand Mehta. They have two children, Sara and Arjun. Tendulkar now sponsors 200 underprivileged children every year through a Mumbai-based NGO.

History of cricket

A brief history of cricket

The origins of cricket lie somewhere in the Dark Ages - probably after the Roman Empire, almost certainly before the Normans invaded England, and almost certainly somewhere in Northern Europe. All research concedes that the game derived from a very old, widespread and uncomplicated pastime by which one player served up an object, be it a small piece of wood or a ball, and another hit it with a suitably fashioned club.

How and when this club-ball game developed into one where the hitter defended a target against the thrower is simply not known. Nor is there any evidence as to when points were awarded dependent upon how far the hitter was able to despatch the missile; nor when helpers joined the two-player contest, thus beginning the evolution into a team game; nor when the defining concept of placing wickets at either end of the pitch was adopted.

Etymological scholarship has variously placed the game in the Celtic, Scandinavian, Anglo-Saxon, Dutch and Norman-French traditions; sociological historians have variously attributed its mediaeval development to high-born country landowners, emigré Flemish cloth-workers, shepherds on the close-cropped downland of south-east England and the close-knit communities of iron- and glass-workers deep in the Kentish Weald. Most of these theories have a solid academic basis, but none is backed with enough evidence to establish a watertight case. The research goes on.

What is agreed is that by Tudor times cricket had evolved far enough from club-ball to be recognisable as the game played today; that it was well established in many parts of Kent, Sussex and Surrey; that within a few years it had become a feature of leisure time at a significant number of schools; and - a sure sign of the wide acceptance of any game - that it had become popular enough among young men to earn the disapproval of local magistrates.

Dates in cricket history

1550 (approx) Evidence of cricket being played in Guildford, Surrey. 1598 Cricket mentioned in Florio's Italian-English dictionary. 1610 Reference to "cricketing" between Weald and Upland near Chevening, Kent. 1611 Randle Cotgrave's French-English dictionary translates the French word "crosse" as a cricket staff.
Two youths fined for playing cricket at Sidlesham, Sussex.

1624 Jasper Vinall becomes first man known to be killed playing cricket: hit by a bat while trying to catch the ball - at Horsted Green, Sussex. 1676 First reference to cricket being played abroad, by British residents in Aleppo, Syria. 1694 Two shillings and sixpence paid for a "wagger" (wager) about a cricket match at Lewes. 1697 First reference to "a great match" with 11 players a side for fifty guineas, in Sussex. 1700 Cricket match announced on Clapham Common.

1709 First recorded inter-county match: Kent v Surrey. 1710 First reference to cricket at Cambridge University. 1727 Articles of Agreement written governing the conduct of matches between the teams of the Duke of Richmond and Mr Brodrick of Peperharow, Surrey. 1729 Date of earliest surviving bat, belonging to John Chitty, now in the pavilion at The Oval. 1730 First recorded match at the Artillery Ground, off City Road, central London, still the cricketing home of the Honourable Artillery Company.

1744 Kent beat All England by one wicket at the Artillery Ground.
First known version of the Laws of Cricket, issued by the London Club, formalising the pitch as 22 yards long.
1767 (approx) Foundation of the Hambledon Club in Hampshire, the leading club in England for the next 30 years.
1769 First recorded century, by John Minshull for Duke of Dorset's XI v Wrotham.
1771 Width of bat limited to 4 1/4 inches, where it has remained ever since.
1774 LBW law devised.
1776 Earliest known scorecards, at the Vine Club, Sevenoaks, Kent.
1780 The first six-seamed cricket ball, manufactured by Dukes of Penshurst, Kent.
1787 First match at Thomas Lord's first ground, Dorset Square, Marylebone - White Conduit Club v Middlesex.
Formation of Marylebone Cricket Club by members of the White Conduit Club.
1788 First revision of the Laws of Cricket by MCC.
1794 First recorded inter-schools match: Charterhouse v Westminster.
1795 First recorded case of a dismissal "leg before wicket".
1806 First Gentlemen v Players match at Lord's.
1807 First mention of "straight-armed" (i.e. round-arm) bowling: by John Willes of Kent.
1809 Thomas Lord's second ground opened at North Bank, St John's Wood.
1811 First recorded women's county match: Surrey v Hampshire at Ball's Pond, London.
1814 Lord's third ground opened on its present site, also in St John's Wood.
1827 First Oxford v Cambridge match, at Lord's. A draw.
1828 MCC authorise the bowler to raise his hand level with the elbow.
1833 John Nyren publishes his classic Young Cricketer's Tutor and The Cricketers of My Time.
1836 First North v South match, for many years regarded as the principal fixture of the season.
1836 (approx) Batting pads invented.
1841 General Lord Hill, commander-in-chief of the British Army, orders that a cricket ground be made an adjunct of every military barracks.
1844 First official international match: Canada v United States.
1845 First match played at The Oval.
1846 The All-England XI, organised by William Clarke, begins playing matches, often against odds, throughout the country.
1849 First Yorkshire v Lancashire match.
1850 Wicket-keeping gloves first used.
1850 John Wisden bowls all ten batsmen in an innings for North v South.
1853 First mention of a champion county: Nottinghamshire.
1858 First recorded instance of a hat being awarded to a bowler taking three wickets with consecutive balls.
1859 First touring team to leave England, captained by George Parr, draws enthusiastic crowds in the US and Canada.
1864 Overhand bowling authorised by MCC.
John Wisden's The Cricketer's Almanack first published.
1868 Team of Australian aborigines tour England.
1873 WG Grace becomes the first player to record 1,000 runs and 100 wickets in a season.
First regulations restricting county qualifications, often regarded as the official start of the County Championship.
1877 First Test match: Australia beat England by 45 runs in Melbourne.
1880 First Test in England: a five-wicket win against Australia at The Oval.
1882 Following England's first defeat by Australia in England, an "obituary notice" to English cricket in the Sporting Times leads to the tradition of The Ashes.
1889 South Africa's first Test match.
Declarations first authorised, but only on the third day, or in a one-day match.
1890 County Championship officially constituted.
Present Lord's pavilion opened.
1895 WG Grace scores 1,000 runs in May, and reaches his 100th hundred.
1899 AEJ Collins scores 628 not out in a junior house match at Clifton College, the highest individual score in any match.
Selectors choose England team for home Tests, instead of host club issuing invitations.
1900 Six-ball over becomes the norm, instead of five.
1909 Imperial Cricket Conference (ICC - now the International Cricket Council) set up, with England, Australia and South Africa the original members.
1910 Six runs given for any hit over the boundary, instead of only for a hit out of the ground.
1912 First and only triangular Test series played in England, involving England, Australia and South Africa.
1915 WG Grace dies, aged 67.
1926 Victoria score 1,107 v New South Wales at Melbourne, the record total for a first-class innings.
1928 West Indies' first Test match.
AP "Tich" Freeman of Kent and England becomes the only player to take more than 300 first-class wickets in a season: 304.
1930 New Zealand's first Test match.
Donald Bradman's first tour of England: he scores 974 runs in the five Ashes Tests, still a record for any Test series.
1931 Stumps made higher (28 inches not 27) and wider (nine inches not eight - this was optional until 1947).
1932 India's first Test match.
Hedley Verity of Yorkshire takes ten wickets for ten runs v Nottinghamshire, the best innings analysis in first-class cricket.
1932-33 The Bodyline tour of Australia in which England bowl at batsmen's bodies with a packed leg-side field to neutralise Bradman's scoring.
1934 Jack Hobbs retires, with 197 centuries and 61,237 runs, both records. First women's Test: Australia v England at Brisbane.
1935 MCC condemn and outlaw Bodyline.
1947 Denis Compton of Middlesex and England scores a record 3,816 runs in an English season.
1948 First five-day Tests in England.
Bradman concludes Test career with a second-ball duck at The Oval and a batting average of 99.94 - four runs short of 100.
1952 Pakistan's first Test match.
1953 England regain the Ashes after a 19-year gap, the longest ever.
1956 Jim Laker of England takes 19 wickets for 90 v Australia at Manchester, the best match analysis in first-class cricket.
1957 Declarations authorised at any time.
1960 First tied Test, Australia v West Indies at Brisbane.
1963 Distinction between amateur and professional cricketers abolished in English cricket.
The first major one-day tournament begins in England: the Gillette Cup.
1969 Limited-over Sunday league inaugurated for first-class counties.
1970 Proposed South African tour of England cancelled: South Africa excluded from international cricket because of their government's apartheid policies.
1971 First one-day international: Australia v England at Melbourne.
1975 First World Cup: West Indies beat Australia in final at Lord's.
1976 First women's match at Lord's, England v Australia.
1977 Centenary Test at Melbourne, with identical result to the first match: Australia beat England by 45 runs.
Australian media tycoon Kerry Packer, signs 51 of the world's leading players in defiance of the cricketing authorities.
1978 Graham Yallop of Australia wears a protective helmet to bat in a Test match, the first player to do so.
1979 Packer and official cricket agree peace deal.
1980 Eight-ball over abolished in Australia, making the six-ball over universal.
1981 England beat Australia in Leeds Test, after following on with bookmakers offering odds of 500 to 1 against them winning.
1982 Sri Lanka's first Test match.
1991 South Africa return, with a one-day international in India.
1992 Zimbabwe's first Test match.
Durham become the first county since Glamorgan in 1921 to attain firstclass status.
1993 The ICC ceases to be administered by MCC, becoming an independent organisation with its own chief executive.
1994 Brian Lara of Warwickshire becomes the only player to pass 500 in a firstclass innings: 501 not out v Durham.
2000 South Africa's captain Hansie Cronje banned from cricket for life after admitting receiving bribes from bookmakers in match-fixing scandal.
Bangladesh's first Test match.
County Championship split into two divisions, with promotion and relegation.
The Laws of Cricket revised and rewritten.

Birth of Cricket

Birth of one-day cricket

It is widely thought that the world's first limited-overs tournament was the Gillette Cup, launched on a chilly May day in Manchester. In fact, the one-day circus had kicked off almost a year earlier, at an equally cold Grace Road in Leicester.

The potential of a one-day knockout cup had already been discussed by English cricket's authorities, and a decision was made to run with the idea as an experiment in 1963. One of those party to the discussion was Mike Turner, the young and forward-looking Leicestershire secretary, and he came away from meetings at The Oval with the idea of hosting a dry run in 1962.

A quick study of the fixture list showed that Leicestershire and three other local sides - Nottinghamshire, Northamptonshire and Derbyshire - were without matches on the first two Wednesdays of the season. Turner was given his committee's backing, and all three counties accepted his invitation to play in a four-county tournament. Kent tried to arrange a similar event in the south-east but found support rather less forthcoming.

"I saw some gaps in the fixture list and phoned around," Turner said. "My opposite numbers jumped at the chance. By the early 60s we had reached the end of cricket 's post-war boom. The crowds had declined and there was a need to make the game viable. These were parlous times and there were arguments about which direction the game should take."

Turner's enthusiasm did much to get the event off the ground. He contacted the television companies, and while the BBC was not interested, a regional commercial station agreed to cover one of the semi-finals, underwriting most of the organising costs, which were not huge anyway, as the teams, all being local, didn't need to stay away overnight.

Turner's enterprise even extended to the trophy for the winners. He found an old cup in a second-hand shop and had it replated and polished by a local silversmith. And thus the Midlands Knock-Out Cup was born.

For all his fervour, Turner could do nothing about the weather, and the semi-finals were staged in bleak conditions. The biting cold kept the attendances low - there were only around 1000 at Grace Road - and the fielders were swathed in several layers of sweaters. One-day cricket was up and shivering.

At Grace Road, Leicestershire won a close match by seven runs, after bowling Derbyshire out for 243 with 3.2 of their 65 overs remaining. And at Wantage Road, Notts managed only 137 in 54.2 overs after being set a modest 169 to win by Northants.

One of the main debates arising from the semi-finals was the 15-over limit on each bowler, and this was dropped for the final as the authorities wanted to study the two methods before deciding which would apply to the main competition the following season. There was also much sympathy for the captains, who, on top of bowling limitations, had to ensure that there were not more than five fieldsmen on the leg side or six on the off, and "had to enliven their own thoughts and actions to keep up with the increased pace of the game".

The poor weather was still hanging around for the final, which was also at Grace Road. Leicestershire struggled to recover from a poor start, and their 218 in 57.2 overs never looked enough as Northants overcame a slow opening to ease to a five-wicket win with almost six overs in hand. Turner was "delighted", and David Kirby, Leicestershire's new captain, said that the players "were all for it".

Critics of the one-day format - and there were plenty - were surprised that the seam bowlers did not dominate, and also that the batsmen did not take any undue risks. That was all to come later. But one reporter presciently noted that, with moisture in the air and in the pitch, "fielding first will undoubtedly become the accepted thing to do".

"The crowds are not exactly flooding in," wrote Brian Chapman in the Daily Mirror. "But I believe they will when they realise the idea does produce bright and challenging cricket." The local Leicester Mercury gushed in a headline: "Champagne Cricket".

In the Cricketer, Leslie Smith welcomed the innovation, and enthused at the increase in the tempo of the game. "I was left wondering why the same approach could not go into three-day county cricket," he wrote. "I am sure that the players and the public would enjoy themselves far more than they do now."

Master Blaster

Profile

Full Name: Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar Date of Birth: April 24, 1973 Place of Birth: Mumbai Major Teams: India, Mumbai Batting Style: Right -Hand Batsman Bowling Style: Right Arm Medium, Leg Break, Right Arm Off Break ODI Debut : India v Pakistan at Gujranwala, 2nd ODI, 1989/90 Test Debut : India v Pakistan at Karachi, 1st Test, 1989/90 Height : 5'5
Sachin Tendulkar-The first batsman to score 10,000 runs in one-day cricket, making the record in the third game of a five-match series against Australia on the 31st of March 2001. He reached the landmark when he scored 34 runs in his 266th match and 259th innings. Tendulkar, 27, in his amazing 12-year career, has scored a world record 28 hundreds and 50 half-centuries in his 10,000 runs. A genius without a doubt, this little master made his International debut in ODI’s and Tests at the age of 16 against Pakistan against the fiery pace of Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis. He then went to England as a part of the national side, and has not looked back ever since. The name itself strikes terror in the hearts of bowlers all around the world. Hailed as the next master-blaster following the legacy of the great West Indian Vivian Richards, this man has every shot in the book, and can kill any attack in the world when in full swing. There is nothing this man cannot do. He has reached a stage that others can only dream of. He has destroyed practically every bowling attack in the world. Tendulkar's  'specialties' include the straight drive (seemingly nobody plays the shot better than him), the cover drive, the square cut, the pullshot over midwicket/square leg, the delicate leg glance, the late cut, the lofted shots over mid-on and mid-off and not to mention the improvisations he keeps coming up with, time and again. He has tremendous power in his forearms and can hit the ball out of almost every ground in the World. He plays each of his shots amazingly and has even employed the reverse sweep to good effect. Some of his shots are hit with so much power that the ball simply rockets to the fence as if he was trying to dismiss the ball from his presence. On the other hand, some of his shots are neatly timed and placed well. His timing can be quite exquisite and it is this blend of timing and raw power which makes him the world's best/greatest batsman. Mentally very strong, Tendulkar is best when confronted by a challenge.

The God of Cricket,

The one & only  Master Blaster Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar
 
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5UQM2h71xA
(sachin tendulkar first match video)
Sachin Tendulkar has been described as a ‘Genius’. Immensely gifted and blessed with impeccable technique, Tendulkar's batting is a dream, combining timing, elegance and power. Mentally very strong, Tendulkar is best when confronted by a challenge. Despite his relative youth, Tendulkar is the most experienced player in the Indian squad.
Sachin Tendulkar made his debut when he was only 15 years plus old when he visited Pakistan with the Indian team in 1989. On November 15, 1989, Tendulkar first took the mantle of a batsman at the National Stadium at Karachi in Pakistan. All of 16 years old, Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar was on that fateful day, thrust into the international spotlight. He was able to score only 15 runs in his first innings before he was bowled out by fellow debutante Waqar Younis. However, he followed up his first stint on the crease with a masterful 59 runs in the first innings of the second test at Faisalabad. He also saved the match for India when he made a masterful 55 on a fast green top in the second inningss of the 4th test at Sialkot.
Since then Sachin has performed feats that border on the unimaginable in both forms of the game, scoring 29 test centuries and 33 one day tons.
Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar was born on 24th April 1973 in Mumbai, Maharashtra. He was a child prodigy with immense talent for the bat. He fist made cricketing headlines when he shared a brilliant 664-run unbeaten partnership with Vinod Kambli for third wicket. The game was between Sahradashram and St.Xavier’s school. Tendulkar was 326 not out and Kambli 349 not out.
When Sachin was 14 years old, he was asked by Dileep Vengsarkar, a very prolific Indian Batsman for a net with the Indian team. Sachin, right then had an average of 1,034 runs with scores of 27 not out, 125, 207 not out, 346 not out and 329 not out at his school.
Tendulkar made his first test century at Old Trafford, on August 14 1990. India was chasing a target of 408 and was reduced to 127 for five. Tendulkar blasted a masterful 119 off 189 balls in the company of Manoj Prabhakar.
Tendulkar made his first double-century in his 71st Test - against New Zealand at Ahmedabad. Sachin punished the Kiwi bowlers to the tune of 217 runs off only 344 balls. The match was a draw, however.
Tendulkar was playing his 79th one-day international, against Australia at Colombo in 1994, when he hit his first century in the shortened version of the game. His 18th century came against Zimbabwe at Bulawayo just four years later placing him at the top of the list, passing Desmond Haynes in the 100-scoring stakes. He now has 11,000 runs and also 100 wickets in one-day cricket.
On 31st March 2000, Sachin Tendulkar created history by becoming the first batsman in the history of the limited over game to score 10,000 runs at Indore, against Australia.
Immensely gifted and blessed with impeccable technique, Tendulkar's batting is a dream, combining timing, elegance and power. Mentally very strong, Tendulkar is best when confronted by a challenge, as he showed when mowing down Shane Warne in India in 1998.
His genius in cricket has been acknowledged by everyone. On his 90th Birthday, the legendary Don Bradman invited him to meet him in Australia.
Recognized as an exceptional cricketer not just in India, but the world over Sachin had a unique honor bestowed upon him when he was invited as the first overseas player in 130 years, by the Yorkshire county in England. He was all of nineteen years old and had the added burden of being the first "colored" player for the county. Undeterred, Sachin impressed all not only by his immense talent with the bat, but by his humility. Prompting Ex-Yorkshire player and self confessed Sachin fan Geoffrey Boycott to remark, "We'd have him back tomorrow if we could!"
A glittering career appears set to only shine more as Tendulkar is poised to overtake - save Donald Bradman’s monumental average of 99.96 - every batting record in the book.

cricket pitch

Dimensions of a cricket pitch
A cricket pitch is the central strip of the cricket field between the wickets. The pitch is 22 yards (20.12 m) long and 10 feet (3 m) wide. The surface is very flat and normally covered with extremely short grass though this grass is soon removed by wear at the ends of the pitch.
In amateur matches, artificial pitches are commonly used. These can be a slab of concrete, overlaid with a coir mat, artificial turf, some times dirt is put over the coir mat to provide a authentic feeling wicket. Artificial pitches are rare in professional cricket - only being used when exhibition matches are played in regions where cricket is not a common sport.
The pitch has very specific markings delineating the creases, as specified by the Laws of Cricket.
The word wicket is often used to refer to the pitch. Although technically incorrect according the Laws of Cricket (Law 7 covers the pitch and Law 8 the wickets, distinguishing between them), cricket players, followers, and commentators persist in the usage, with context eliminating any possible ambiguity. Track is yet another synonym for pitch.
The rectangular central area of the field that is used for pitches is known as the square

India v West Indies at Roseau

West Indies 204

India 308/6 (98.0 ov)

India lead by 104 runs with 4 wickets remaining in the 1st innings

score summary

End of over 98 (1 run) India 308/6 Harbhajan Singh    12* (33b 1x4)      DJG Sammy    26-7-48-2 MS Dhoni    65* (109b 3x4)      FH Edwards    23-3-80-2
Sammy claps, he is relieved this day is finally over and most of his men are still standing. A day of hard grind all around, grafting from the Indians, grit from the West Indies. A day that had everything, momentum shifts, freak dismissals, men getting injured by the minute, captain happy that the day had finally ended. And for that, we have to thank the weather for keeping its rough elements away. India still in control though at the end of the day, and MS Dhoni has displayed welcome patience to work his way to an extremely effective half-century. Join us at 9.30 am local time (7.00 pm IST) tomorrow for the fourth day's action. Cricket fans pray that the rain stays away and Windies fans pray that their bowlers' legs don't give away. Till then this is Abhishek Purohit saying good bye. Hang around for reading Sid Talya's match bulletin and later for stories from our man on the loose in Dominica, Sriram Veera. Cheers, and thanks for the feedback
97.6	Sammy to Harbhajan Singh, 1 run, inside edge that fetches Harbhajan a single behind square leg
Just one ball left, Sammy pumps his fists, as he gestures towards mid on, it has been that kid of day
97.5	Sammy to Harbhajan Singh, no run, played out towards mid on
97.4	Sammy to Harbhajan Singh, no run, angles this one in and has Bhajji forward in honest defence
97.3	Sammy to Harbhajan Singh, no run, Bhajji watches this one way outside off stump and lets it be
Naman: "i must say i respect the courage, spirit and unity the Windies players have shown. Most teams would droop in these kind of situations but they have kept up the intensity even though there was a scarcity of bowling options for them."
97.2	Sammy to Harbhajan Singh, no run, sways out of the line of a short ball outside off stump
Now Sammy is getting some work from the physio, men going down, all around
97.1	Sammy to Harbhajan Singh, no run, shuffles across to play it out towards mid on
End of over 97 (9 runs) India 307/6 MS Dhoni    65* (109b 3x4)      FH Edwards    23-3-80-2 Harbhajan Singh    11* (27b 1x4)      DJG Sammy    25-7-47-2
96.6	FH Edwards to Dhoni, FOUR, smack! no fuss at all, just stands tall and lifts Fidel over mid off, one bounce in to the ropes
96.5	FH Edwards to Dhoni, 2 runs, another drive from Dhoni, this one is in the gap past extra cover who gets a hand to it and takes pace off it
96.4	FH Edwards to Dhoni, no run, Dhoni with his peculiar style of driving, remains in the crease, and just swings with great bat speed to send the ball to mid off
96.3	FH Edwards to Harbhajan Singh, 1 run, shuffles across to work a short of a length ball to long leg
96.2	FH Edwards to Harbhajan Singh, no run, played away on the leg side
96.1	FH Edwards to Harbhajan Singh, 2 runs, clobber goes Harbhajan and beats a diving Barath at mid off, who does not give it up there, but gets up and goes haring after it, and puts in a huge dive close to the ropes to pull it back, superb commitment, this would have been commendable in the opening over as well, and this is the 93rd, and that is also the first time 300 have been made in an innings this series  End of over 97 (9 runs) India 307/6 MS Dhoni    65* (109b 3x4)      FH Edwards    23-3-80-2 Harbhajan Singh    11* (27b 1x4)      DJG Sammy    25-7-47-2 96.6 FH Edwards to Dhoni, FOUR, smack! no fuss at all, just stands tall and lifts Fidel over mid off, one bounce in to the ropes 96.5 FH Edwards to Dhoni, 2 runs, another drive from Dhoni, this one is in the gap past extra cover who gets a hand to it and takes pace off it 96.4 FH Edwards to Dhoni, no run, Dhoni with his peculiar style of driving, remains in the crease, and just swings with great bat speed to send the ball to mid off 96.3 FH Edwards to Harbhajan Singh, 1 run, shuffles across to work a short of a length ball to long leg 96.2 FH Edwards to Harbhajan Singh, no run, played away on the leg side 96.1 FH Edwards to Harbhajan Singh, 2 runs, clobber goes Harbhajan and beats a diving Barath at mid off, who does not give it up there, but gets up and goes haring after it, and puts in a huge dive close to the ropes to pull it back, superb commitment, this would have been commendable in the opening over as well, and this is the 93rd, and that is also the first time 300 have been made in an innings this series End of over 96 (1 run) India 298/6 MS Dhoni    59* (106b 2x4)      DJG Sammy    25-7-47-2 Harbhajan Singh    8* (24b 1x4)      FH Edwards    22-3-71-2 95.6 Sammy to Dhoni, no run, bangs in the short one and Dhoni watches it sail over his head 95.5 Sammy to Harbhajan Singh, 1 run, and even in the 92nd over of the day, there is commitment in the field from Windies as Barath runs hard to his left at extra cover and stops a push from Bhajji 95.4 Sammy to Harbhajan Singh, no run, quietly lets go one just outside off stump, bounce there for Sammy 95.3 Sammy to Harbhajan Singh, no run, shuffles a long way across to get a nudge on this one but it goes straight to Baugh 95.2 Sammy to Harbhajan Singh, no run, pushed away from the crease on the off side 95.1 Sammy to Harbhajan Singh, no run, and with honest effort as has been his hallmark he ambles in to bowl one on the stumps, defended easily, now Sammy is feeling his leg, End of over 95 (6 runs) India 297/6 Harbhajan Singh    7* (19b 1x4)      FH Edwards    22-3-71-2 MS Dhoni    59* (105b 2x4)      DJG Sammy    24-7-46-2 Rampaul comes on to the field to cheers from the crowd, Sammy's smile shows a lot of relief, Rampaul has the ball in his hands, but he obviously can't bowl though Windies are in serious discussion with umpire Rauf. And a slightly disappointed looking Sammy takes the ball from Rampaul 94.6 FH Edwards to Harbhajan Singh, 1 run, inside edge saves him, Fidel had almost got through with a pacy length ball that had him pinned in the crease, he cannot believe his luck 94.5 FH Edwards to Harbhajan Singh, no run, curling full delivery, almost in the blockhole, jammed away on the off side And towards the end of the day's play, there is Ravi Rampaul ready to take the field 94.4 FH Edwards to Dhoni, 1 run, played away in to the leg side for a single 94.3 FH Edwards to Dhoni, FOUR, superb shot from Dhoni, as effective a stroke as any, picks up the short length, gets on one leg and pulls it through square leg, don't move, at all 94.2 FH Edwards to Dhoni, no run, effort still from the fast bowler, Dhoni is beaten by the extra bounce outside off as he goes to force the cut fidel asks for the physio between deliveries, this has been a long brave struggle 94.1 FH Edwards to Dhoni, no run, goes for a big heaving shot over midwicket, but is hit on the pads off an inside edge