The cricket pitch

A cricket pitch is the central strip of the cricket field between the wickets. The pitch is 22 yards (20.12 m) long and 10 feet (3 m) wide. The surface is very flat and normally covered with extremely short grass though this grass is soon removed by wear at the ends of the pitch.

In amateur matches, artificial pitches are commonly used. These can be a slab of concrete, overlaid with a coir mat, or artificial turf. Artificial pitches are rare in professional cricket - only being used when exhibition matches are played in regions where cricket is not a common sport.

The pitch has very specific markings delineating the creases, as specified by the Laws of Cricket.The rectangular central area of the field that is used for pitches is known as the square.

The word wicket is often used to refer to the pitch. Although technically incorrect according the Laws of Cricket (Law 7 covers the pitch and Law 8 the wickets, distinguishing between them), cricket players, followers, and commentators persist in the usage, with context eliminating any possible ambiguity. Track is yet another synonym for pitch.

Protected Area

The protected area or danger area is the central portion of the pitch - a rectangle running down the middle of the pitch, two feet wide, and beginning five feet from each popping crease. Under the Laws of Cricket, a bowler must avoid running on this area during his follow-through after delivering the ball.

If a bowler runs on the protected area, an umpire will issue a warning to the bowler and his team captain. The umpire issues a second and final warning if the bowler transgresses again. On the third offence, the umpire will remove the bowler from the attack immediately and the bowler may not bowl again for the remainder of the innings.

The protected area is protected in this way because the ball normally bounces on the pitch within this region, and if it is scuffed or damaged by the bowler's footmarks it can give an unfair advantage to the bowling side. The rule does not prevent the bowler or any other fielder from running on the protected area in an effort to field the ball; it only applies to the uninterrupted follow-through.

State of the pitch

If the grass on a natural pitch is longer or more moist than usual, the pitch is described as green. A green pitch favours the bowler over the batsman as the ball can be made to behave erratically on longer or wet grass. Most club and social cricket is played on pitches that professional cricketers would call green.

A sticky wicket is a pitch that has become wet. This causes the ball to behave erratically, particularly for the slower or spin bowlers. However, the pitch is now generally protected from rain and dew preceding and during games so that a sticky wicket is rarely seen in first-class cricket. The phrase, however, has retained currency and extended beyond cricket to mean any difficult situation.

As a match progresses, the pitch dries out. The Laws of Cricket prevent the pitch from being watered during a match. As it dries out, initially batting becomes easier as any moisture disappears. Over the course of a four or five day match, however, the pitch begins to crack, then crumble and become dusty. This kind of pitch is colloquially known as a 'dust bowl' or 'minefield'. This again favors bowlers, particularly spin bowlers who can obtain large amounts of traction on the surface and make the ball spin a long way.

Covering the pitch

The pitch is said to be covered when there are covers on it to protect it against rain or dew. Whether covers are used or not significantly affects the way the ball comes off the pitch, making the issue a controversial one. Law 11 of the Laws of cricket provides that during the match the pitch shall not be completely covered unless provided otherwise by regulations or by agreement before the toss. When possible, the bowlers' run ups are covered in inclement weather to keep them dry. If the pitch is covered overnight, the covers are removed in the morning at the earliest possible moment on each day that play is expected to take place. If covers are used during the day as protection from inclement weather or if inclement weather delays the removal of overnight covers, they are removed as soon as conditions allow.

Preparation and maintenance of the playing area

Law 10 of the Laws of cricket sets out rules covering the preparation and maintenance of the playing area.

Rolling the pitch

During the match the pitch may be rolled at the request of the captain of the batting side, for a period of not more than 7 minutes, before the start of each innings, other than the first innings of the match, and before the start of each subsequent day's play. In addition, if, after the toss and before the first innings of the match, the start is delayed, the captain of the batting side may request to have the pitch rolled for not more than 7 minutes, unless the umpires together agree that the delay has had no significant effect on the state of the pitch. Once the game has begun, rolling may not take place other than under these circumstances.

If there is more than one roller available the captain of the batting side shall have the choice. There are detailed rules to make sure that rolling, where possible, is conducted so as not to delay the game, but, if necessary, the game is delayed to allow the batting captain to have up to 7 minutes rolling if he so wishes.

Sweeping

Before a pitch is rolled it is first swept to avoid any possible damage by rolling in debris. The pitch is also cleared of any debris at all intervals for meals, between innings and at the beginning of each day. The only exception to this is that the umpires do not allow sweeping to take place where they consider it may be detrimental to the surface of the pitch.

Mowing

Both the pitch and the outfield is mown on each day of a match on which play is expected to take place, if ground and weather conditions allow. Once a game has begun mowings are carried out under the supervision of the umpires.

Footholes and footholds

The umpires are required to make sure that bowlers' and batsmen's footholes are cleaned out and dried whenever necessary to facilitate play. In matches of more than one day's duration, if necessary, the footholes made by the bowler in his delivery stride may be returfed or covered with quick-setting fillings to make them safe and secure. Players may also secure their footholds using sawdust provided that the pitch is not damaged or they do not do so in a way that is unfair to the other team.

The cricket ground

A cricket ground is an elliptical stretch of grass where the game of cricket is officially played. Though there is no fixed shape of a cricket ground, deviating too much from a low-eccentricity ellipse is largely discouraged. The size too varies from 90 to 150 meters (100-160 yards) across.

In recent times, the grounds are getting smaller by the day in order to propagate high-scoring matches. On most of the cricket grounds there is a rope that demarcates the perimeter of the field. This is known as the boundary.

Boundary
A boundary defines the limits of the playing area and it is marked by a line, a fence or a rope. If a player or any other foreign object disturbs a part of the boundary during play, then the boundary is considered to be at the same position as it was before the disturbance.

References can be made to different sections of the boundary in terms of nearest fielding positions - for instance third-man boundary or mid-wicket boundary.

A ball in play, when touches or crosses the boundary without a bounce, gives six runs to the batsman. When the ball touches or crosses the boundary with one or more than one bounce, it gives four runs to the batsman. If a fielder touches the boundary while he is still in contact with the ball, the batsman is awarded four or six runs accordingly.

Pitch
A cricket pitch is the place where most of the action in the cricket ground takes place. The standard size of a pitch is 22 yards in length and 10 feet in width.

A pitch is generally made up of two kinds of surfaces. The surface generally used is a natural surface with a grass cover. The grass is usually cut extremely short so that the surface becomes flat.

At times, artificial turf is also used for the preparation of the pitch. This can be a slab of concrete overlaid with a coir-mat. Artificial pitches are mostly used in exhibition matches. The pitch is also referred to as a track or the wicket. This mode of usage is technically incorrect going by the Laws of Cricket.

Parts of a cricket ground
A cricket field can be divided into three parts – infield, close-infield, outfield.

Infield - The infield is made by drawing an arc of 30 yards radius from the center to each wicket with respect to the breadth of the pitch. The two arcs are then joined by parallel lines which are at a distance of 30 yards from the center of the pitch with respect to the length of the pitch.

Close-infield – The close-infield is defined by drawing a circle of radius 15 yards from the center of each wicket.

Outfield- The part of the ground which is on the outer side of the infield is termed as the outfield.

Important grounds around the world
MCG:
The Melbourne Cricket Ground in Australia is the biggest cricket ground in the world. With a seating capacity of over 100,000, this ground is one of the most picturesque grounds around.

Established in the year 1854, the MCG plays host to the Boxing Day Test match on 26th December every year. It has also hosted the Centenary Test match between Australia and England.

The playing area in the MCG is 172.9m long, 147.8m wide. Along with cricket it also hosts a number of football and rugby matches. The Australian Gallery of Sport is also located at the MCG.

Lord’s:
The Lords cricket ground in England is regarded at the spiritual headquarters of the game of cricket. Established in the year 1814, this ground played host to the first Test match that took place between Australia and England in 1884.

With a capacity of about 30,000, the Lord’s cricket ground is famous for its sloping pitch with the north-west side of the ground being 8 feet higher than the south-east part of it.

Lord’s is privately owned by the MCC (Marylebone Cricket Club). It is the home of Middlesex Cricket County Club, English and Wales Cricket Board and the European Cricket Council. The ICC also had its base at this ground from 1999-2005.

Eden Gardens:
The Eden Gardens is a ground to treasure for every Indian cricket fan. Established in the year 1864, this ground has seen a plethora of victories, defeats and controversies over the years.

With a seating capacity of over 100,000, it has the headquarters of the Calcutta Cricket Club. The Eden Gardens has played host to a number of memorable matches. It was on this ground that V V S Laxman scored 281 and dismantled the Australian side.

This ground has however been under severe criticism due to crowd interference. Many incidences. Crowd boorishness led to match disruptions against the West Indies (1966-67) and Australia (1969-70). A semi-final of the World Cup between India and Sri Lanka in 1996 had to be ‘awarded’ to Sri Lankans for the same reason.

Carisbrook Stadium:
The Carisbrook Stadium located near Dunedin in New Zealand is regarded as one of the smallest grounds in the world. It also has the reputation of being one of the coldest grounds to where cricket is played.

This small ground plays host to a number of cricket and rugby matches. It has its association with the game of cricket since 1883. It can accommodate about 30,000 spectators.

In the year 1999, lights were set up in Carisbrook to host day/night matches. Since then, this has become one of the more popular grounds in New Zealand.

Eden ParkEden:
Park is regarded one of the smallest cricket grounds in New Zealand as well as world over. It has been a sporting ground since 1900, but used for playing cricket since 1910.

Eden Park played host to one of the most dismal matches in Test history. In 1955, the hosts slumped to their lowest total in cricketing history (26 all out). With a capacity of about 50,000, this ground plays host to a number of rugby and cricket matches. The one peculiar feature about this ground is that it is in the shape of a baseball diamond.

Harbhajan racism charges dropped

A picture taken during the hearing on Harbhajan’s appeal against the 3-match ban at Adelaide.

Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh escaped with a fine of 50 per cent of his match fee for the Sydney Test as the racial slur charge against him was dropped after a hearing here on Tuesday.
Harbhajan had been charged with a level 3.3 offence by match referee Mike Procter for an alleged racial abuse against Australian all-rounder Andrew Symonds during the second Test, but the Appeals Commissioner, Justice John Hansen of New Zealand, reduced the charge to that of using offensive language (level 2.8).

The decision to reduce the charge and resultantly drop the three-Test ban on Harbhajan was announced even as the Indian team remained here, threatening to withdraw from an upcoming tri-series also featuring Sri Lanka.

The Indian cricket Board had already made it clear that the racial charge was unacceptable to it, also showed displeasure over the manner in which the ban was handed to Harbhajan. South African official Procter had gone by the version given by Aussie players Matthew Hayden and Michael Clarke while ignoring that of Sachin Tendulkar, all of whom were around when the incident took place.

Apart from pressure from the Indian cricket Board, the Indian team management and senior players too took a tough stance in Australia.

The Australian players, who had been keen to press on for racial charges, also reportedly backed down to mounting pressure. In fact, Tendulkar and Aussie skipper Ricky Ponting wrote to Judge Hansen, urging him to reduce Harbhajan's charges to that of using offensive language.

An amicable solution had looked imminent earlier this morning as Tendulkar came out of the hotel with Cricket Australia Chairman Craigh O'Connor and the duo took a car for the Federal Court which was a clear signal that the hosts had softened their stance in order to salvage the tour.

A little before that, Harbhajan had come out with media manager MV Sridhar, appearing confident of holding his ground in the hearing.

Pictures of Adelaide Test - Day 5

Adam Gilchrist with wife Mel and children Annie, Harry and Archie after his final Test.
The victorious Australian team with the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

Adam Gilchrist bids adieu to fans at the Adelaide Oval.

Ricky Ponting and Anil Kumble share a word after a draw in Adelaide.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni's penchant for the loose drive did him in.

VVS Laxman walks off before the umpire can rule him out.

Virender Sehwag puts his best foot forward as he races away to a 13th hundred.

Sachin Tendulkar departs to a superb direct hit.

Virender Sehwag celebrates his 13th Test hundred.

Rahul Dravid was forced to leave with an injured finger.

Adam Gilchrist is applauded onto the field on his last day of Test cricket.

Pictures of Adelaide Test - Day 4

Mitchell Johnson trapped Irfan Pathan leg before for a duck.

Anil Kumble dives in an attempt to stop a shot from Michael Clarke.

Irfan Pathan celebrates the wicket of Brett Lee.

Andrew Symonds is bowled by Ishant Sharma for 30.

Adam Gilchrist waves goodbye to Adelaide.

Adam Gilchrist plays a trademark shot in his last Test.

Adam Gilchrist walks out in his last Test.

Ishant Sharma dismissed Michael Clarke for 118.

Anil Kumble belts out an appeal.

Michael Clarke kisses his helmet.

Michael Clarke cuts during his century.

Ricky Ponting celebrates his 34th Test hundred.

Ricky Ponting was far more fluent on day four.

Pictures of Adelaide Test - Day 3

Ricky Ponting ground his way to a half-century.

Michael Hussey looks back at his rearranged stumps.

Irfan Pathan sets off after castling Michael Hussey.

Ricky Ponting dabs one wide of the point fielder.

Matthew Hayden fell to a gem from Ishant Sharma.

Phil Jaques was bowled trying an ill-advised sweep.

Matthew Hayden returned to the side in style.

Harbhajan Singh runs in to bowl.

Phil Jaques followed Matthew Hayden to his half-century.

Matthew Hayden raises his bat after reaching his half-century.

Phil Jaques plays one to the off side.

Matthew Hayden cracks one through the off side.

Pictures of Adelaide Test - Day 2

Sourav Ganguly gets hurt while fielding.

Phil Jaques scrambles back to his crease as Dinesh Karthik tries to run him out.

Anil Kumble acknowledges the crowd after his fifty.

Adam Gilchrist breaks Mark Boucher's record of most Test dismissals.

Ricky Ponting drops a catch off Ishant Sharma.

Harbhajan Singh hits out during his 63.

Harbhajan Singh and Anil Kumble put on 107 to frustrate Australia.

Harbhajan Singh negotiated the short-pitched stuff well.

Anil Kumble on the attack during his fifty.

Harbhajan Singh lofts the ball high.

A relieved Brett Lee and Co. celebrate the big wicket.

Sachin Tendulkar fell mistiming a pull shot.

Sachin Tendulkar copped one on the inside of the knee the ball before he was out.

Sachin Tendulkar acknowledges the applause after reaching 150.

Mitchell Johnson got rid of Mahendra Singh Dhoni .