Cricket is one of the most popular and famous sports worldwide, and hardly anyone couldn’t knows this game. It is a game of spirit and emotions, in today’s era of sports cricket is ruling all over the world due to its fan following and is played over almost all continents of the world. But if we talk about forms of cricket, it is played in three forms such as T20, ODI, and Tests. In today’s world cricket enthusiasts like the short format of cricket. Short-form cricket is a collective term for several modified forms of the sport of cricket, with playing times significantly shorter than more traditional forms of the game.
A typical short-form cricket match can be completed within two to three hours, compared to 7–8 hours for a one-day cricket match, or five days for a Test match. They generally are limited overs cricket matches, with each team batting for a maximum of 5 to 20 overs depending on the format.
The Twenty20 cricket format known for its fast-paced, shorter matches typically lasting 3 hours is Twenty20 cricket and it is also known as T20. It was introduced by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in 2003 as a form of one-day cricket. In this format, each team bats for a maximum of only 20 overs, contrasting with 50 overs for a standard one-day match.
The shorter duration or nature of the game allows it to be completed in about three hours, making it more appealing to children, families, and casual observers of the game.
Contents
Some Key Features of T20 Cricket:-
- Limited overs: Each team bats for a maximum of 20 overs, which translates to 120 legal balls.
- Free-hit: If a bowler delivers a no-ball by overstepping the crease, the next delivery is designated a free-hit, from which the batsman can only be dismissed through a run-out.
- Maximum overs per bowler: Bowlers may bowl a maximum of only 4 overs per inning.
- Time penalties: Umpires may award 5-run penalties or allow a maximum of 4 fielders out of the thirty-yard circle at their discretion if they believe either team is wasting time.
Forms Of Cricket:
100-ball cricket
The 100-ball game was first proposed by the ECB in 2016, with the first club-level games starting in England in 2019. It was first played at the professional level by a new city-based competition called The Hundred, with 8 teams from England and Wales, that started in 2021.
Rules of 100-ball cricket:
- It’s 100 balls per inning. Whoever scores the most runs wins.
- The fielding side change ends after 10 balls.
- Bowlers deliver either five or 10 consecutive balls. The captain decides.
- Each bowler can deliver a maximum of 20 balls per match.
TIMEOUT
- Each bowling side gets a strategic timeout of up to 90 seconds.
- The coach can walk out to the middle of the ground and discuss tactics with their players mid-match.
POWERPLAY
- A 25-ball powerplay for each team.
- Two fielders are allowed outside of the initial 30-yard circle during the powerplay.
MATCH LENGTH
- A match of The Hundred will last two and a half hours.
T10 Cricket
Ten-overs per team cricket matches introduced by T10 Sports Management. The company started the T10 League in UAE in 2017. In August 2018, the International Cricket Council (ICC) officially sanctioned the league. In October 2019, Cricket West Indies decided to host women’s exhibition T10 matches in the lead-up to the CPL 2019 final.
Rules of T10 cricket:-
10-overs-a-side
Each team can bowl a maximum of 10 overs, which results in batsmen attacking right from the first ball. T10 gives very little time for batsmen to settle down and demands new strategies, and an aggressive approach in order to get a decent total on the scoreboard, thus adding to the thrill and excitement.
Each team must complete their quota of 10 overs in 45 minutes.
Two overs per bowler
No bowler can bowl more than two overs in an innings. This gives bowlers little room for error and less time for variations or setting the batsmen up. But it also means batsmen get fewer opportunities to attack a specific bowler and score runs, resulting in a fair fight between the batting and bowling sides.
Minimum overs
If it were to rain or in case of any interruptions that should curtail the match time, the result can still be decided provided each side can play 5 overs each.
Powerplay for 3 overs
Field restrictions are implemented to make the game more interesting by giving batsmen a chance to unleash their muscles at the start of the game. For the first two overs, the bowling side can only deploy two fielders outside the 30-yard circle.
Additionally, at the discretion of the batsmen at the crease, another powerplay — called the floating powerplay — can be taken at any time from the third to the ninth over.
In non-powerplay overs, up to five fielders can be deployed outside the 30-yard circle.
Super Over
In case of a tie in a playoffs match – Qualifier and Eliminator – and the Final, there will be a Super Over to break the deadlock. Each team will get one over to score as many runs, with two wickets in hand. The team that scores the maximum runs in their allotted six balls wins the match.
In case the Super Over in a playoff match ends in a tie, the team that is placed higher in the group stages is declared the winner. However, it’s different for the Final, where Super Overs will continue until a winner emerges.
90-ball cricket
Ninety–90 Bash, also known as the 90/90 is an upcoming annual franchise-based 90-balls cricket league in the United Arab Emirates, with each team facing 15 overs. The first edition of the tournament is planned to be held in 2022.
Rules of 90-ball cricket:-
- The LCT 2024 season will be played in a 90-ball format
- Each team has to employ five bowlers, and each bowler can bowl three overs
- One bowler, however, can bowl up to four overs if the fielding captain notifies about the same to the umpires and the opposition team before the completion of the first 10 overs
- Each over must be completed within four minutes and 30 seconds, with a grace period of additional 30 seconds
- Each innings will have two Powerplays
- The bowling powerplay will range from ball number one to 24
- The batting powerplay can be taken anytime after the first 10 overs
- A strategic timeout will be taken after 48 balls, however, it can be taken between balls 42 and 48 in case of a wicket
Evening Cricket
Amateur evening cricket is a version of T20 cricket that is played informally throughout the UK and the world. The rules are similar to those of Twenty20 cricket, with some modifications designed to speed the game up and to ensure that the game cannot be dominated by a small group of skilled players.
Rules of Evening Cricket:-
Overs and Deliveries:
- Each team faces 120 deliveries.
- These are split into 15 eight-ball overs.
No Extra Ball for Wide or No-Ball:
- Instead of an extra ball, two runs are added to the score.
- This rule typically does not apply in the last over of each innings.
Bowling Restrictions:
- Each bowler is limited to three overs or two in some formats.
- Ensures most team members bowl.
Batsmen Retirement:
- Batsmen must retire upon reaching a pre-agreed score (usually 25 or 30).
- Retired batsmen can return to the crease in the order they retired if the team is dismissed.
Emphasis on Team Participation:
- Ensures all players get involved and contribute.
- Ideal for introducing new or inexperienced players to cricket.
Game Outcome:
- Often decided by contributions from all players.
- Popular among amateur cricketers for its inclusive and enjoyable nature.
Six-a-side Cricket
Six-a-side cricket is a very short form of the sport designed to be played by teams of only six players. Each team receives one innings, with a maximum of only five overs. Naturally, with far fewer fielders, runs are much easier to score, and six matches are typically frenetic affairs. As the games last less than an hour, sixes cricket is typically played in a tournament format with multiple teams competing at the same ground.
Rules of Six-a-side Cricket:-
- Each player on a side is permitted to bowl a maximum of one over.
- Wides and no-balls score two extra runs each.
- If five wickets fall, the last batsman bats on. The last batsman to get out remains on the field as a non-batting runner, and the batsmen swap ends whenever the runner ends up on strike.
- A batsman who reaches or passes a certain number runs, often 30 or 31, must retire “not out”. If one of the last pair of batsmen is out, a retired batsman may come in and resume his innings.
- In some formats of the game, hitting a ‘six’ counts as 10 runs, and striking a ‘four’ counts as six runs.
Cricket Max
Cricket Max is a defunct form of cricket invented in New Zealand by former New Zealand cricketer and captain Martin Crowe which was played primarily by New Zealand first-class cricket teams in an annual competition. International matches were also held between the New Zealand Max Blacks and England in 1997, West Indies in 2000, and India in 2002. These games were essentially a very short form of test cricket, with each team allowed two innings, but a maximum of only 10 overs for each innings.
Rules of Cricket Max:-
- Each side bats two innings of a maximum of 10 overs each.
- Batsmen may not be out from a no-ball as usual, and also the next ball bowled after a no-ball. This is intended to encourage aggressive batting on the “free hit” ball.
- Wides score 2 extras instead of 1.
- Bowlers may not bowl more than 4 overs per match. These may be distributed between the two innings in any way.
- The field has trapezoidal “Max” zones at each end, starting 60 meters from the striker’s wicket, and widening from 40 to 50 metres at the boundary. Hits into a Max zone double the runs scored, whether by running or boundary. Fielders cannot be in the Max zone during the bowl. Only the Max zone in front of the striker is valid for these rules.
- The first version of Cricket Max also included the use of 4 stumps, instead of 3, at each end of the cricket pitch. This was designed to help bowlers dismiss batsmen, as a batsman could not be dismissed leg before wicket.
Super 8s
Super 8s is a defunct short form of cricket devised by Greg Chappell for the Australian Cricket Board in 1996. The format was conceived as a way to financially reward the top-class domestic cricketers in Australia whose opportunities of making it into the significantly higher-paying Australian national side were limited. Matches were played outside the regular cricket season during the Australian winter at rugby stadiums with smaller rectangular fields such as Willows Sports Complex in Townsville.
Rules of Super 8s:-
- Eight players per side
- 14 over matches
- All players except the wicketkeeper must bowl a minimum of one over, but no more than three overs
- A boundary 6 is worth 8 runs
- Batsmen must retire at 50 runs but are allowed to return if balls are left in innings
- The last batsmen were allowed to continue to end of the innings, even after 7 wickets had fallen
Author’s view:-
Since its introduction, Twenty20 cricket has gained immense popularity. It attracts large crowds of spectators and has been successful in engaging a wider audience who might not otherwise attend a cricket match
