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.