Overview
Cricket is an extremely popular sport worldwide, commanding a following of over 2.5 billion people. Every four years, the International Cricket Council holds the world cup: a collection of the 10 best cricket teams in the world, all vying for the iconic trophy. This year’s contenders are as follows: India (hosts), New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, England, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and the Netherlands. But what exactly is cricket, and how did this competition come about?
Rules of Cricket
Cricket is a somewhat similar game to baseball: you have a bat in hand, which you try to hit a ball with. But if you’ve ever watched any cricket, you’ll find that the similarities end there. In cricket, the ball is lighter but much harder; and they don’t wear gloves. The ball is bowled, or pitched, at speeds of up to 100 miles per hour, and the ball usually bounces before the batsman hits it. The goal is to make as many runs as possible, which are generated by running between the wickets or by hitting the ball outside of the boundary. If the ball hits the wicket and the batsman is not behind the white line, they are out and a new batsman comes in. Once all ten batsmen are out, the innings are over and the teams switch.
Cricket in the USA
The cricket world cup is arguably the largest global sporting event going on right now, but why don’t we play or watch cricket in the United States? It actually used to be a popular sport before the Civil War; the war brought about baseball and made it popular. In the 2019 edition of the world cup, viewership reached an insane 1.6 billion viewers, not many of which came from the US.
The World Cup’s History
The first edition of the tournament was in 1975, when England hosted seven other countries at stadiums like Lords, Old Trafford Cricket ground, and the Oval. England and New Zealand made it out of group A and the West Indies, widely regarded as the best team at the time, made it out of group B with Australia. It ended up being the latter two teams in the final, and West Indies took the title. They would go on to win it again in 1979 until India won in 1983. The winners after that are listed here:
- Australia
- Pakistan
- Sri Lanka
- Australia (3 times)
- India
- Australia
- England
The cricket world cup is one of the world’s biggest sporting events, and if you’re curious, try watching a match! You might find that you really like cricket.
