Fast facts about cricket

The Nelson or a score of 111 is considered to be unlucky – a common cricket myth is that something bad or unfortunate will happen to a team or player who gets this score.

Australia’s Donald Bradman is considered the greatest batsman of all time, with an unmatched 99.94 Test batting average.

The name ‘cricket’ is believed to have originated from ‘criquet’, the Old French word for stick, goal, or post. It may also have come from “kricke”, a Middle Dutch term for stick or staff.

Together with the game rounders, baseball’s origins are said to have been in cricket.

Sir Vivian Richards scored the fastest century in Test history in 1986. He also holds the record of winning the Man of the Match award 31 times.

The first recorded game was played in England in 1646. After that, fines were handed out to those who missed the church to play cricket.

The West Indies cricket team is made up of players from 16, mainly Englishspeaking, Caribbean countries.

Enjoyed by 2.5 billion fans in 180 countries, cricket is the 2nd most-loved sport in the world.

The first recorded Women’s cricket match was in England in 1745. In November 2021, the International Cricket Council (ICC) retrospectively applied first-class and List A status to women’s cricket, aligning it with the men’s game.

The longest cricket match was 12 days long, played in 1939 between England and South Africa and ended in a draw because the English wanted to catch their ship back home!

When a batsman scores 100 runs, it is called a century and is considered an achievement.