SASR Norms & Standards Vol 2 new.indd - Sport and Recreation ...

1.4.8 Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played by two teams consisting of eleven players per team each with a
twelfth man who is a fi elding reserve. A cricket match is played on a grass fi eld in the centre of which
is a cricket pitch which has wickets placed at either end.
Bowlers use a hard ball to bowl at batsmen (or women) who use a bat to hit the ball in an attempt to
score runs by exchanging ends with a team mate. Each completed exchange of ends scores one run.
Runs are also scored if the batsman hits the ball to the boundary either reaching the boundary for a
four or by hitting the ball over the boundary without bouncing, scoring a six. The team that scores the
most runs wins the game.
The pitch
The pitch is located in the centre of the playing fi eld and its width is 1.52 metre to either side of the
centre line joining the wicket’s centre stump. The length between the two sets of wickets at either end
of the pitch is 20.12 metre (22 yards) with an additional 1220 mm recommended on either side as part
of the Bowler’s run up. The ball is bowled from a line situated 1220 mm from the wickets (within the
20.12 metre area) referred to as the popping crease and must be at least 1.83 metre on either side of
the line of the wicket. (See Drawing Below). There may be more than one pitch placed next to each other
and is referred to as “The Square”. Pitches may also be constructed out of concrete and covered with
either a coir mat or artifi cial turf.
31
122cm
264cm
51cm
The Pitch
2012cm
Batting Crease
Return Crease
Popping Crease
Stumps
Bowling Crease
Cricket