Cricket is a high scoring bat and ball sport played between two teams, usually of 11 players each.
Outdoor cricket
Cricket is a high scoring bat and ball sport played between two teams, usually of 11 players each. A cricket match is played on an oval grass field, in the centre of which is a flat strip of ground called a pitch. At each end of the pitch is a set of three parallel wooden stakes (known as stumps) driven into the ground, with two small crosspieces (known as bails) laid on top of them. This wooden structure is called a wicket.
The pitch
A turf pitch is 20.12m long and 3.05m wide. A non-turf pitch is a minimum length of 17.68m and a minimum of 1.83m wide. A pitch is bounded at either end by the bowling creases and a set of wickets in the centre of the bowling crease.
In the case of a turf pitch, the slope of the pitch should not exceed 1 per cent and follow the slope pattern of the oval. If the oval is centre sloped, the pitch square should also slope from the centre.
The amount of fall should therefore not exceed 30mm across a 3.05m strip or 200mm along its length, being as flat as possible at the centre.
The pitch square should be about 75mm above the level of the outfield to allow for surface drainage off the pitch.
The bowling crease
The bowling crease is the line through the centre of the three stumps at the relevant end. It is 2.64m in length with stumps in the centre.
The popping crease
The popping crease is in front of and parallel to the bowling crease. It is 1.22m wide from the bowling crease. The popping crease is marked to a minimum of 1.83m on either side of the centre of the middle stumps and is unlimited in length.
The return crease
The return crease is at right angles to the popping crease at a distance of 1.32m either side from the middle of the stumps. The return crease is 2.44m behind the popping crease and unlimited in length.
Cricket field
A cricket field is a large circular or oval shaped grassy ground. There are no fixed dimensions for the field but its diameter varies between 137m and 150m. On most grounds, a rope demarcates the perimeter of the field and is called the boundary.
Ideally, the oval should fall in all directions from the centre, but failing this, should have a single phase slope of one per cent in any convenient direction. If the oval is on a very well drained soil, no slope is required.
A painted oval is made by drawing a semi-circle of 27.4m radius from the centre of each wicket with respect to the breadth of the pitch and joining them with lines parallel, 27.4m to the length of the pitch. This line, commonly known as the circle, divides the field into an infield and outfield. Two circles of radius 13.7m centred on each wicket and often marked by dots, define the close-infield. The infield, outfield and the close-infield are used to enforce fielding restrictions.
Lighting
The Australian Standard for lighting cricket grounds is as follows:
- non-televised training ─ 250 lux
- non-televised match ─ 500 to 700 lux
- televised match ─ 1400 lux
Modified outdoor cricket for juniors
The following table provides information on field and pitch dimensions for the various game formats in junior competition:
|
Game type
|
Age group
|
Boundary (measurement from centre of pitch)
|
Pitch length
|
|
In2cricket
|
5-8 years
|
25m-30m
|
13m-16m
|
|
In2cricket
|
8-10 years
|
Up to 40m
|
13m-18m
|
|
Dual pitch or 20/20
|
11-12 years
|
40m-45m
|
18m-20.12m
|
|
1 day limited overs
|
Under 13
|
50m maximum
|
8m-20.12m
|
|
1 day limited overs
|
Under 14
|
50m maximum
|
20.12m
|
|
1 or 2 days limited overs
|
Under 15
|
standard
|
20.12m
|
Super 8 cricket
Super 8 cricket is an introductory modified games program for upper primary school aged children.
Each team is allowed six to a maximum of 10 players. Only approved plastic equipment is used. The stumps are a single plastic mould with weighted base.
The pitch is 14m−16m long and can be any reasonably flat surface. The distance from pitch to boundary should not exceed 30m.
Cricket practice nets
Cricket nets are practice nets used by batsmen and bowlers to warm up and/or improve their cricketing technique. They consist of a 2m x 10m concrete pitch with synthetic grass surrounded along its lengths and behind the batsman by netting. The bowling end is left open. Nets are found at most reserves where cricket is played. Double and portable cricket wickets are also popular.
The practice nets are 7.5m high, 7.32m long and 3.66m wide. The frame is made from galvanised steel tubing with 34mm outside diameter and 2.6mm wall thickness concreted into the ground. The netting is 50mm mesh.
Indoor cricket
Indoor cricket is a variation of standard cricket. It was developed in
Perth, Western Australia, in the late 1970s. It is suitable for
cricketers and novices alike, and played year-round. Indoor cricket is
played on a rectangular, artificial grass-surfaced court. The court is
enclosed in tightly tensioned netting, including a 4m high ‘ceiling’.
Courts are usually constructed in factory units or purpose-built
centres.
A game is played with two teams, each with a maximum of eight
players or, in some rare cases, six (though six-a-side centres are
uncommon, they do exist ─ usually where the playing area isn’t big
enough to construct a full-sized court). Indoor cricket uses a softer
ball than a regulation cricket ball.
Playing area/net dimensions
The court is rectangular, 28m−30m long, 10.5m−12m wide, and roofed
by flat netting at 4m and 4.5m high. The walls are also of flexible
netting. The cricket pitch is 20m long and 1.8m wide, covered with
artificial turf, with the striker’s end close to one end of the court.
An additional line is marked across the middle of the pitch, 11m from
the striker’s popping crease, and forms the non-striker’s crease,
behind which he is safe from being run out. The batsmen run only 11m to
score runs instead of the full length of the pitch.
An ‘exclusion zone’ is marked in an arc extending at a radius of 3m
from the batting crease. All lines are marked at a thickness of 5.5cm.
The underarm line is marked across the pitch 7m from the striker’s
stumps.
The wickets are 22.86cm wide, 71.1cm high and consist of three
stumps with two bails 11.1cm long on top. The wickets are located at
each end of the pitch 20m apart. The stumps are of equal and sufficient
size to prevent the ball from passing through. Bails may be wooden or
plastic and must be tied to the stumps.
The net
The net enclosing an indoor cricket court is very tightly tensioned.
This allows consistency in the ball’s bounce off the net. It is also a
safety feature — players are protected from hitting any walls or
columns that may be close to the court and there is less chance of
getting fingers caught in tight nets. It also allows spectators to be
closer to the game, as players hitting the net will not stretch it far.
The court is defined by a cubic frame of high-strength steel cable,
to which the netting is securely attached. Tensioning of the net is
achieved by tensioning of this ‘cube’. The lower four cables of the
cube are secured directly into the concrete floor. The four lower
corners are tensioned to anchor points set into the concrete.
The top four cables are all fastened at the corners to anchor
points, located on the ceiling/inner-roof. These take the main tension
and help form the ‘box’ structure of the cables. These top cables are
then further fastened to the ceiling for additional support. The shape
of the box thus formed is achieved by adjusting the tension mainly in
the eight corners, with finer tuning possible by individually adjusting
the extra attachments along the top edges.
Lighting
It is essential to have good quality lighting so that the players
can follow the movement of the ball travelling at high speeds, either
struck by the batsman or bowled by the bowler. The illuminance must be
uniform throughout the hall, with the background walls behind both
batsman and bowler providing a good viewing contrast. Safety is
paramount and the lighting system must taken into account the
propulsion of balls at speed. The recommended minimum lighting level
for an indoor cricket sports centre is between 1000 and1500 lux. These
requirements are generally met by a system of horizontal, fluorescent
luminaires, fitted with reflectors and mounted at right angles to the
pitch. The reflectors must screen both batsman and bowler from direct
view of this light source.
Where would you like to go next?
Archery is the art of shooting arrows from a bow at a target.
Track and field jumping events consist of four events: high jump, long jump, pole vault and triple jump.
The four standard throwing events — shot put, discus, hammer, and javelin — all involve the use of implements of various weights and shapes that are hurled for distance. In all throwing events, the object being thrown must land in a specified landing area. White lines 5cm wide delineate the area.
Track and field facilities are usually designed as multi-purpose facilities (tracks with playing fields inside).
Badminton is an indoor racquet game played by one or two players opposing an equivalent number across a net.
Baseball is a bat and ball game between two teams of nine players each and is played on an enclosed field under jurisdiction of one or more umpires. The team that scores the greater number of runs is the winner.
Basketball is played by two teams of five players each. The aim of each team is to score in the opponent’s basket and to prevent the other team from scoring.
Billiards, pool and snooker are played indoors on a pocket table.
Bocce is played on soil, oyster shell or asphalt courts approximately 20m−27m long and 2.5m−4m wide, sometimes with wooden boards of approximately 15cm in height surrounding the court.
Lawn bowls can be played as singles, pairs, triples and four-player teams and is played on a flat, grassed (or synthetic) surface called a green.
Boxing is a sport in which two participants of similar weight fight each other with their fists in gloves in a series of one-to-three-minute intervals called ‘rounds’. The bout takes place in a roped area called a ring.
Canoe polo is a competitive ball game between two teams of five players each. Players paddle solo kayaks on a well-defined area of water, attempting to score goals against the opposition. The team that scores the most goals wins.
Croquet is a competitive sport that involves hitting wooden or plastic balls with a mallet through hoops embedded into the grass playing arena. The object is to score through all hoops in the correct order. It is played as either singles or doubles (team).
Information for track events, road events, BMX and mountain biking.
Players throw darts at a circular target divided into different scoring areas. Games are played by individuals, pairs or teams of any numbers. Players aim to reduce a starting number exactly to zero.
Diving is an individual sport, with separate events for men and women. Most diving competitions consist of three disciplines – 1m, 3m and tower, or platform.
Equestrian is the only Olympic sport where riders and their horses are established teammates and one of the few where men and women compete on equal terms.
Fencing is a form of sword fighting which has a long history with its roots in the tradition of chivalry. Two rivals stand opposite each other and feint, lunge, parry and riposte until one scores the required number of hits to win.
Ultimate flying disc or frisbee is a seven-a-side sport played with a flying disc. It is played on a rectangular field with a zone at each end. The object of each team is to score a goal by having a player catch a pass in the end zone that they are attacking.
Australian rules football, also known as Australian football, Aussie rules, or simply ‘football’ or ‘footy’ is a code of football played with a spheroid ball on large, oval-shaped fields with four posts at each end.
Football, commonly known as soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players each. It is played on a rectangular grass field, with a goal at each end. With the exception of the two goal keepers, players may not handle the ball, but must propel the ball with their head or feet.
Gaelic football is described as a mixture of Australian rules football, soccer and rugby. It is played with a ball similar to a soccer ball, on what looks very much like a rugby pitch, yet it is played in a similar fashion to Australian rules. Gaelic football is 15-a-side game played by both men and women.
Gymnastics is the name given to a series of exercises practised by men and women. Emphasis is placed on strength, dexterity and artistry. The disciplines in gymnastics recognised by the Federation International de Gymnastique (FIG) and Gymnastics Australia are artistic, rhythmic, aerobic, trampoline and acrobatic.
Handball is a fast-paced game involving two teams of seven players who pass, throw, catch and dribble a small ball with their hands while trying to score goals. The team with the most goals wins the game. A game consists of two 30-minute halves with a 10-minute half-time break.
Hockey, or field hockey as it is known in some parts of the world, is a team game of 11-a-side played by men and women. It is played with a stick and a ball and most often played on grass or synthetic surfaces.
Judo means 'the gentle way' in Japanese. The moral code of judo is politeness, courage and sincerity. Judo is a combat sport that demands both physical prowess and great mental discipline.
Karate (kara meaning empty and te meaning hand) is a martial art whose protocols and technical language have emanated from ancient Japan. Its wide spectrum of techniques include a myriad of blocks, strikes, kicks, evasions and throws.
Kendo literally means ‘the way of the sword’. Kendo is one of Japan’s oldest martial arts and the one most closely associated with the Samurai. The concept of Kendo is to discipline the human spirit through the principles of the katana (Japanese sword).
Lacrosse is a team sport that is played with either 10 players (men) or 12 players (women), each of whom uses a netted stick to pass and catch a hard rubber ball with the aim of scoring goals. The team scoring the most points after two halves wins.
Netball is an international sport and played by two teams of seven players, based on throwing and catching. The object is to score goals from within a defined area by throwing a ball into a ring at one’s own end of the court.
Polo is a four-a-side game whose players are mounted on horses and use wooden mallets or sticks to strike a plastic ball in an attempt to score goals. An area of five hectares is required.
Polocrosse is a combination of polo, lacrosse and netball. It is played on horseback. Each rider uses a cane stick ─ made up of a polo stick shaft to which a squash racquet-type head with a loose twisted-thread net is attached ─ in which the ball is carried.
Rugby league is a team sport, played by two teams of 13 players. The aim is to carry an oval ball up the field towards the opponent’s in-goal where the ball is grounded to score a try, worth four points. Having scored the try, the team has the right to attempt to kick a goal worth a further two points if successful. The opposing team attempts to prevent the attacking team from carrying out this objective by tackling the player with the ball.
In rugby union football, the objective is to run an oval ball into the opposing team’s goal area or to kick the ball through the uprights of the opposing team’s goal. In a rugby match, play rarely stops completely, and players may only advance the ball by running or kicking. They are not permitted to make forward passes. Rugby union is played by teams with 15 players, although there is also rugby sevens, a quicker game with seven players a side.
Competitive shooting consists of a number of events across the four disciplines of rifle, pistol, running target and shotgun. All events are conducted as individual and team events.
Skating includes speed skating, roller derby, roller and roller in-line hockey.
There are two forms of softball played around the world ─ fast pitch and slow pitch softball.
Squash is an indoor racquet sport. The game is played by two players (or four players for doubles) with ‘standard’ raquets in a four-walled court with a small, hollow rubber ball. The object of the game is to keep the ball in play while making it difficult for the opponent to do so.
Swimming is an individual and team aquatic sport which is included in Olympic and other international level competitions. The four competitive strokes are the butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke and freestyle. At international level, swimming is governed by the rules of Federation Internationale to Nationale Amateur (FINA).
Table tennis is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight, hollow ball back and forth to each other with bats (called racquets or paddles). The game takes place on a table divided by a net.
Taekwondo literally means 'the way of hand and foot' or, more specifically, 'the way of kicking and punching'. Taekwondo is a combat sport originating in Korea and is now one of the most widely practiced martial arts in the world. It is the national sport of Korea and is an Olympic sporting event.
Tennis is a game played between either two players (singles) or two teams of two players (doubles). Players use a stringed racquet to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent’s court so that they fail to return the ball.
Tenpin bowling is a sport in which a player (bowler) rolls (bowls) a bowling ball down a narrow, straight, flat, wooden or synthetic ‘lane’ with the object of scoring points by knocking down as many of the ten pins as possible set in a triangular formation at the end of the lane.
Touch, or touch football, comes from two rugby codes ─ rugby league and rugby union. Although the skills of touch are close to those of these two sports, there is no body contact at all. For example, there are no tackles, scrums or hard kicking, and there are no goal posts. The emphasis is on running and agility, with hand passing and catching as key skills.
The sport of volleyball has two disciplines ─ beach volleyball and indoor volleyball. Traditional six-a-side indoor volleyball is referred to as Olympic volleyball. Beach volleyball is played by two teams of two players on a sand court divided by a net, while Olympic volleyball is played on a hard court.
Water polo is a team water sport, which can be best described as a combination of swimming, rugby and wrestling. Players swim the equivalent of up to 5km in a single game. To score, players throw the ball into the opponent’s goal which floats on the water. Apart from the goalkeeper, who is allowed to touch the bottom of the pool in the goalkeeper’s area, players cannot touch the bottom of the pool in any active part of the game. Each game is played over four eight-minute periods.
Weightlifting requires a combination of power, speed, technique, concentration and timing. It is a sport in which competitors attempt to lift heavy weights mounted on steel bars called barbells.
Wrestling is one of the oldest sports in the world. Origins of wrestling can be traced back thousands of years through depictions in cave drawings in France and Egyptian murals. It is practiced in nearly every country. The two main styles that are showcased in the Olympic Games are Greco-Roman and freestyle.
A list of references used for the sports dimensions guide.
