Cricketing World

A cricket bowler’s primary objective is to take the batsman out of the game. While some of the methods and ways the batsman can be dismissed from the game rarely occur, there are ten situations that will take him out of the game.

The easiest way to dismiss the batsman is for a fielder to catch a struck ball before it hits the ground. Any of the opposition’s eleven players, including the wicket keeper, are allowed to make this play. If the bowler strikes the stumps or they are hit by an edge strike off the bat, then once again, the batsman is out and needing replaced. The batsman is not allowed to hit the ball twice. Once contacted, he cannot touch it again that play. A “double hit” is a fast out of the game.

The Leg Before Wicket out can be something of an umpire’s judgement call. If the ball looks as though it will strike the stumps and the batsman blocks it with his leg pads or other body part, the umpire can issue an LBW out. The batsman can also put himself out if he somehow manages to hit the wicket instead of the ball.

The Runout occurs when both batsmen have run to the same crease and the fielder breaks the stumps at the other end. Of the two batsmen, the one into the crease last is out. The batsman has to keep at least some part of his body in the batting crease. If by chance he goes out to make a hit but the wicket keeper fields the ball and breaks the stumps, the batsman is “stumped” out. A batsman can use the bat but never his hands to touch the ball. “Handling the ball” is another way out. Finally, a batsman is not allowed to obstruct any of the fielders working the ball.

A new batsman has only three minutes to take his position after a previous batsman’s dismissal. If he takes any longer he is “timed out.”

One of the more pleasant byproducts from the age of British colonialism is the enthusiasm spread all over the world of England’s very own game of cricket. The Australians have been England’s hotly contested rivals for nearly a hundred and fifty years and provides cricket fans with more than enough excitement year after year. But one of the greatest success stories for cricket is how well it has been embraced by India.

Long fans of the game, with numerous fans and athletes playing wherever they could, India has taken this astounding popularity for the sport and created their own Indian Premier League in 2008. Currently consisting of eight teams with two more slated to join their ranks in 2011, the Indian Premier League teams are challenging the world for cricket domination.

While the league began with many foreign players in their ranks, native Indians are rapidly filling the ranks. Being supported and sponsored by Bollywood stars and major business tycoons, the Indian Premier League has managed to become in such a short time, their players have become the second most highly paid players in the world being surpassed only by the American NFL. With such celebrity support behind them, it is no wonder cricket’s popularity in India rivals if not surpasses English cricket enthusiasm.

The Indian Premier League has a current brand value of over $4 billion dollars. They have used innovative ways to increase interest in the League. One such way was to be the first sporting event to be shown live on the Internet video-sharing site, YouTube.

England captain Andrew Strauss has hailed batsman Eion Morgan after an incredible innings from the Irish born star dismantled the Australian attack to lead England to a four wicket win in the first Natwest series match.
Morgan has been in fine form of late in both ODIs and in the Twenty20 World Cup last month and continued this form by hitting 103 of 85 balls to get England off to a winning start in the series.
His captain Strauss believes that he is a future star and praised his man of the match performance after the game.
“What a fantastic innings from Eoin Morgan – that was one of the best I’ve seen,” said Strauss.

“Halfway through our innings it looked like we had some hard work to do. I think we always felt that 267 was very chaseable on that wicket.
“He’s playing that finishing role, but he’s also playing a very, very aggressive finishing role,” the skipper added.
The Irishman is one of several new players to come into the limited overs game in the last year, with players like Tim Bresnan, Michael Yardy and Craig Kieswetter also making an impact recently and Strauss and the England selectors will be hoping that these exiiting players will be able to transfer their form over into the test game as we look towards this winters Ashes tournament in Australia.
Morgan himself was thrilled with the way that the game turned out and found it hard to contain his excitement after that match.
“I’ve been in good nick for a while now and I want to play more cricket to take advantage of it,” said the 23-year-old.

“I think I try to keep things quite simple and it’s easy to do when you’re in good nick – it came off today, so happy days.”
Australia captain Ricky Ponting felt his side’s total not good enough.

“We managed things pretty well during the middle of our batting innings,” said Ponting.

England are 9/10 with totesport to win the next match of the series with 888sport offering 10/11 and Ladbrokes are offering even odds.

June the 22nd of this year will see Australia vying to defeat England in a One Day International match-up at Hampshire’s Rose Bowl cricket grounds. This will be the first of two NatWest Series One Day Internationals held at the recently constructed Rose Bowl which is rushing to complete two new stands for this event.

Two days after the Rose Bowl appearance, Australia and England will be facing off for the second game of the three game series at Sophia Gardens in Cardiff. The following Sunday, June 27 will see them once again in action against each other at Old Trafford in Manchester. With the One Day Internationals being held in England it is a perfect opportunity for cricket fans to see some of the best teams in the world battle it out.

The Australian team will be coming to England for a sixty-nine day tour where they will be facing such opponents as Ireland and Pakistan. They are especially looking forward to the three One Day International series games played against England. Since resoundingly beating England in the first Test match in 1877 the rivalry has never died down. This year Australia comes into the season having won over 50% of its games and losing only 20%.

The English team has been motivated recently with their win over Australia in the Ashes tour last year and is ready to tromp the Aussies again. This team has shaped up to be the strongest it has been in years. The various new forms and experimental series have injected much new interest for the game on the Islands and is proving once again why cricket is the second most popular sporting venue in the world after football.

Initiated in 2007, the ICC Twenty20 World Cup is the international championship tournament for Twenty20 cricket. The 2010 qualifier round was held on the 9th to the 13th of February this year at the United Arab Emirates. Of the eight teams competing, Afghanistan and Ireland qualified to play in the 2010 Twenty20 Cricket World Cup to be played in Mohali, the West Indies. They moved on beyond the teams from Canada, Kenya, Netherlands, Scotland, the UAE and the United States. With eight teams in competition it was the largest qualifying tournament to date for the Twenty20 World Cup Championship.

The Twenty20 World Cup is set to replace the cancelled Champions Trophy and will take place between April 23rd and May the 9th. The Twenty20 World Cup is designed to be played every other year but was decided that by resetting the calendar by playing two years running, that there would be less of a chance to conflict schedules between major tournaments as happened in the 2002-03 and 2006-07 seasons.

The Twenty20 Cricket World Cup is organized by the International Cricket Council (ICC) and is exclusively for all-male cricket teams. The Twenty20 format is a faster game than average, involving two teams with a single innings and a maximum of 20 overs. First introduced in 2003, the Twenty20 format creates a game that on average is about three and a half hours long. This fast paced format has quickly spread throughout the world. Now most international tours feature at least one Twenty20 match.

Possibly the best-known cricket matchup in the world is the Ashes, a rivalry series between England and Australia, that has been played since 1882. The Ashes series features five Test matches with two innings per match and is played under the normal Test-match rules of international cricket.

The Ashes was originally named by a writer for The Sporting Times. In it he expounded the satirical notion that since Australia had for the first time defeated England on its home turf, that English Cricket was dead. He stated that the cremated ashes were to be taken to Australia. The next tour of Australia undertaken by the English cricket team was referred to as “the quest to regain the ashes.”

While the name did not take hold in England at first, George Giffen brought it to popular Australian usage in his memoir, “With Bat and Ball” in 1899. England went back to Australia in 1903 and their Captain, Pelham Warner, promised a return of “the ashes” of English Cricket. A 3-2 victory for the English team fulfilled that promise.

While there is no official “funeral urn” for the ashes, several artifacts have been used as symbolic representations of the concept. The oldest and most famous was the one presented to Ivo Bligh, the future Lord Darnley, during the 1882-83 season. The small terracotta urn he was given has never been traded back and forth to the victors but is housed in the Marylebone Cricket Club museum since being given to them by Lord Darnley’s widow in 1927.

Betting on cricket sometimes involves studying the form a team is playing in to figure what their odds of winning are. Knowledgeable punters know that England, for example, tens to perform poorly in the Twenty20 format. Therefore teams that traditionally play strong in this form get the better odds. Currently the English are outsiders in Twenty20 with 10/1 odds while the favored Australians enjoy 7/2 odds with India and South Africa tying for second with 9/2 odds.

Conversely, the odds change for different forms and venues. The current odds for the Ashes set Australia at 4/7 while England is going into the game at 11/4. Odds are going for a Draw at 4/1.

There are other ways to bet on cricket besides just who will win or if the game ties or draws. William Hill is running a wagering proposition for how long the final test will take place between England and Bangladesh. Current odds give England the win in three days at 16/1.

They also offer wagers for individual games. In the same series, England is set up at 4/6 to beat Bangladesh in the second test. The Draw odds are 5/4 while Bangladesh’s outsider odds to win against the English are set at 20/1.

As with any sporting event, the booking houses run special promotions and bonus offers. It pays to investigate the odds and conditions across a number of betting boards before putting your money down. As well as finding the best odds for the outcome you are predicting, you may find extra free bets or matching deposits that can increase your chances of coming out of the cricket season with a hefty pile of winnings to enjoy.