A very good morning to one and all present here. Today, I will be giving a short speech on the topic of ‘cricket’.
Google defines the term ‘cricket’ to be “an open-air game played on a large grass field with ball, bats, and two wickets, between teams of eleven players, the object of the game being to score more runs than the opposition.”
Meanwhile, Wikipedia states as follows: “Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a 22-yard pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps.”
Out of the 11 players mentioned here, two must be the bowler and the wicketkeeper while the rest of the 9 have to take care of the fielding.
Cricket is the national sport of England. However, it is a popular form of sport played across the globe, especially in commonwealth countries as they have been previously colonised.
Cricket originally began in the 16th century in England before spreading across nations. Being an outdoor game that is played by two teams, it tends to become highly competitive in nature. Interestingly, the father of cricket is William Gilbert Grace.
Several formats of cricket have cropped up today. At the international level, they are Test matches, One-Day Internationals (Cricket World Cup) and Twenty20 Internationals. India additionally has Indian Premiere League (IPL) conducted annually, typically in the month of April wherein 10 teams compete for the championship.
Overall, there are 104 Member countries of the International Cricket Council (ICC). Going by ICC rankings, the top 5 cricket teams as of 2023 are India, Australia, Newzealand, England, and Pakistan.
I would like to conclude the speech with my favourite quote from M.S. Dhoni, “You don’t play for the crowd, you play for the country.”
Thank you.
