Monday, November 12, 2007

One Day Cricket Matches

One-day cricket matches is a form of cricket that is completed in a single day. It is different from Test and domestic first class cricket that often takes up to five days to complete or get the desired result. One-day cricket matches always ends with a result in a single days play.
In a one-day cricket match, each team bats only once and the innings are limited to a set number of overs, generally fifty. There can be some variations due to poor weather conditions. Other changes to the game include additional restrictions on where fielders may be placed and stricter rules on wide balls and short deliveries.In most matches, a white ball is used rather than the traditional red and as a result, the need to paint rather than stain the white ball gives it subtly different characteristics in flight as it wears. The white ball is generally restricted to matches played during the afternoon and into the evening, such matches are also known as day-night matches. The day and night matches necessitate the team batting second to begin their innings under stadium lights as a result of the lack of available natural sunlight.

The dress for one-day cricket matches is generally in bright colors clothing that adds to the spectators interest and also enhances the appeal for television viewers. One-day cricket originally began between English County teams in the 1960's. The first one-day international was played in Melbourne, Australia, in 1971. One day cricket matches are much more popular as compared to test matches as it encourages aggressive, risky and entertaining batting. One more reason for its popularity is that a spectator can go and see an entire match without the attendance of continuous five days.