Different format rules applying to indoor cricket world cup

Though all forms of indoor cricket world cup are played at the same grounds mainly using the same equipment, there are subtle changes in certain areas.

When Test Match Cricket was first played each over consisted of eight legal balls bowled. A legal ball is one that is bowled according to the rules of cricket and is not a ‘no-ball’ or a ‘wide’. The number of legal balls in an over was later reduced to six.

What is an Over

Currently, in indoor cricket world cup an over is when a bowler bowls six legal balls. If a ‘no-ball’, that is the bowler over-stepping the mark from behind which he is supposed to release the ball, then the batting side is awarded a run and the ball has to be re-bowled. A wide is when the ball is bowled in such a way that the it is beyond the batsman’s reach. Again, the batting side is awarded a run and the ball is re-bowled. The runs awarded for a no-ball or a wide is called an ‘extra’.

Therefore, sometimes in an over there is more than six balls bowled.

Bowling in Test Match Cricket

There is no restrictions as to how many overs a bowler can bowl when playing in indoor cricket world cup test match. The number bowled by a bowler is at the discretion of the captain of the team. The captain decides who bowls when and how many overs depending on many factors. The condition of the pitch, the batsmen batting at the time, the state of the game and weather factors.

Bowling in a One-day 50-over Game

In this format a bowler is restricted to bowling only ten over per game. He may bowl this at a stretch or break it up into two sessions of five over each or any other ratio that his captain things fit. However. when the bowler bowls, how many over he bowls is at the discretion of his captain.

Bowling in Twenty20 Cricket

Since the whole innings consists of only 20 overs, each bowler is allowed only four overs in indoor cricket world cup. Once again the timing and how many over are bowled at a stretch is a sole perogative of the captain.

Fielding in Cricket Matches

Although all forms of the game are played in the same ovals or grounds, some fielding restrictions apply when playing the shorter forms of cricket.

In indoor cricket world cup test match cricket has no fielding restrictions other than the one covering a safety issue for the players- that no fielder can be too close to the bats.

One-day 50-over cricket has overs that are designated as ‘powerplays’ and when these overs are being bowled fielding restrictions apply. During the powerplay overs only three fielders are allowed outside of the inner fielding circle.

The Twenty20 cricket game perhaps has the most restrictions. Only two fields are allowed outside the inner circle during the first six over of the game and only five fielders for the other fourteen overs. Only five fielders are allowed on the ‘led-side’ of the batsman at any one time. If a ‘no-ball’ is bowled by over-stepping the mark, apart from awarding the run to the batting side and have to bowl another ball, it is also term a ‘free hit’. This means that the batsman cannot get out in any of the normal ways other than by being run out.

Reason for the Fielding Restrictions

Having a limited number of fielders outside the inner circle gives the batsman the opportunity to hit some big shots which is what the spectators want to see. The short forms of the game are all about entertainment.

Twenty20 Cricket Revolution

The recent emergence of Twenty20 as the apparent financial saviour of world cricket is the latest example of the games willingness to embrace change and it has appeared as cricket world cup betting to bookies.

What is the history of one-day cricket and could Twenty20 prove a danger to the structure of the sport as a whole?

From Test to Twenty20

The first test between Australia and England took place in Melbourne in March 1877, heralding the arrival of the oldest rivalry in the game. It would seem a long journey to the Twenty20 Indian Premier League (IPL) and the riches on offer today, but the shorter form of the game has had an increasing impact on cricket over the last forty or so years. It has simultaneously emerged as blessings to cricket world cup betting.

The First One Day Competition

England gave birth to one-day cricket in 1963 with the Gillette Cup, a 60 over a side knock out competition contested between county teams. At the time, cricket in England was suffering financial difficulties with interest in the then three-day county championship diminishing.

The Gillette Cup proved a resounding success and an extra competition was added in 1969. The John Player League was a forty over a side tournament played on English summer Sunday afternoons and drew large family based crowds.

The third domestic one-day tournament in the English calendar was the Benson and Hedges Cup, which ran for thirty years from 1972.

There are currently three one-day competitions during an English Summer. The 50 over Friends Provident Trophy, the Pro 40 and Twenty20.

International One Day Cricket

Melbourne was the host for the first one-day international contest when Australia played England in 1971. This was the pre-cursor of the current touring schedules for test playing nations, where the one-day game forms an integral part of any itinerary. These games are very well attended and are an economic necessity for any nation hosting international cricket.

The World Cup

The growing popularity of limited overs cricket led to the creation of the World Cup in 1975. The tournament is held every four years, the most recent being in the West Indies in 2007.

Having started as a 60 over side competition it is now contested over 50, with Australia being the most successful side, winning on four occasions.

Twenty20 Cricket

Twenty20 was another innovation from England and has taken the world game by storm. Beginning in 2003, the late starts made the most of the long summer evenings in the UK and proved enormously popular with the public.

Initially viewed by the players as of only peripheral importance, it has now grown in significance with the potential financial rewards immense.

Twenty20 Worldwide

The first Twenty20 World Cup took place in South Africa in September 2007, India defeating Pakistan in the final played in Johannesburg.

Attendances at the matches and worldwide TV audiences were uniformly excellent and players, administrators and spectators were untied in praise of the tournament.

The Future of Cricket

The amount of money available in the Twenty20 format has taken the potential earnings of successful players to new heights. How cricket is able to balance the new found wealth with the tradition of the ultimate form of the game, Test cricket, will have a great bearing on the future of the game as a whole.