Cricket is a national sports of England. Today Cricket is a very popular game in some countries. But it is not played everywhere in the world.
How cricket is played? The game of Cricket is played between two sides, each having eleven players. The cricket ball is rather small and very hard. On the wicket at each end there are three sticks with bails on them. One batsman stands at each end while a bowler throws the ball to hit the sticks on stumps. The batsman stands before the stumps to hit the ball before it hits the stumps. While one side fields and bowls, the other side bats. Two umpires conduct the game.
The bowler directs his ball by his arm. The batsman on the other side stops it or drives it into the field. When the batsmen score runs the scorer keeps the record.
Importance of Cricket: It is one of the healthiest of sports. All the parts and muscles of the body are fully moved and exercised while playing cricket. It teaches the players to cultivate the virtue of cooperation, patience and perseverance and while making the players sharp and prompt. It helps to give them a healthy recreation.
Popularity in India: Cricket is a very interesting game. It is a very popular sports in India. Indian cricket team is a powerful side in all three major cricket formats, viz. Test cricket (first class cricket), 50 over One-day cricket, and Twenty-20 (limited to 20 overs each) cricket.
Cricket is very popular in India, England, Australia and West Indies.