Sports of cricket ,where it was played

In cricket, two teams of eleven players compete in a bat-and-ball match on a field that has a 22-yard (20-meter) pitch in the middle. Each team's wicket is made up of two bails balanced on three stumps. The bowling and fielding side attempts to stop this (by keeping the ball from leaving the field and getting it to either wicket) and dismiss each batter (so they are "out"). The batting side scores runs by striking the ball bowled at one of the wickets with the bat and then running between the wickets. Being bowled, having the ball strike the stumps and knock the bails off, and the fielding side either capturing the ball after it is struck are all methods of dismissal.

Cricket can be played in a variety of formats, from Twenty20 (often called T20), when teams bat for one innings of 20 overs (each "over" consisting of six fair possibilities for the batting team to score) that take three to four hours, to Test matches that last five days. In limited overs cricket, players don team colours or club uniforms instead of the customary all-white uniform. Some players use protective clothing in addition to their basic gear to guard against injuries from the ball, which is a solid, hard spheroid made of compressed leather with a sewed seam that is slightly elevated and encloses a cork core coated with tightly coiled string.

Cricket's earliest documented, conclusive mention is of it being played.

It is possible to categorize the many forms of cricket into three main categories: limited overs, first-class, and, historically, single wicket cricket. Test cricket (consistently written with a capital "T") is the pinnacle of cricket, essentially the international equivalent of first-class cricket. It is limited to teams representing the twelve ICC-member nations (see above). Test cricket is thought to have started with two matches between Australia and England in the 1876–1877 Australian season, even though the name "Test match" was not used until much later. Since 1882, the majority of Test series between England and Australia have been played for a trophy known as The Ashes. Top-tier domestic cricket is referred to as "first-class" in general usage.