Cricket

What is cricket?

Cricket is the bat-and-ball game of innings and overs: bowlers attack the wicket, batters score in runs and boundaries, eleven a side. It lives in three formats — five-day Test matches, 50-over ODIs, and the three-hour Twenty20 that remade the sport — and by following it is the world's second-biggest sport, with well over two billion fans.^[1] [2]

How does cricket work?

International cricket runs on the ICC's calendars — the World Test Championship cycle, ODI and T20 rankings, and the World Cups — while national boards govern domestically and the T20 franchise leagues (the IPL above all) employ the world's stars across overlapping windows. Every international carries a cap number; every match's scorecard is archived to the ball.^[2] [3]

Formats & competitions in cricket

What are cricket's origins?

English village greens by the 16th century, laws codified from 1744, and the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) at Lord's their historic custodian — the game spread with the British Empire, the first Test was Australia–England in 1877, and the Ashes urn remains sport's oldest great rivalry trophy.^[1] [4]

Where is cricket popular?

South Asia is its heart — India alone makes cricket a billion-fan sport, with Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka beside it — plus Australia, England, South Africa, New Zealand, the West Indies and Afghanistan. The United States is the frontier: co-host of the 2024 T20 World Cup, home of Major League Cricket, and part of the sport's Olympic return at LA28.^[2] [5]

Who governs cricket?

The ICC governs the international game from Dubai — rankings, World Cups, the Test championship and the playing conditions for international matches, under Laws written by the MCC^[4] — through 111 members,^[21] with the national boards (the BCCI's economic engine foremost, USA Cricket in the States) governing domestically.^[2] [3]

What are the most important competitions in cricket?

• The T20 World Cup — India's record third title in 2026 — and the 50-over Cricket World Cup, next in Southern Africa in 2027.^[3]
• The World Test Championship and the great series — the Ashes above all.^[4]
• The IPL — the sport's richest stage — with the franchise leagues worldwide.^[5]
• The women's World Cups and the WPL.^[3]
• Olympic T20 at LA28 — cricket's first Games since 1900.^[5]

How is cricket awarded?

• International caps — numbered for life in each format: the sport's membership credential.^[2]
• ICC rankings — teams and individual batters, bowlers and all-rounders, published continuously.^[3]
• World Cup and WTC titles, and the ICC's annual awards (the Garfield Sobers Trophy).^[3]
• Franchise contracts and auction prices — the IPL auction is a public, dated valuation of every player.^[5]
• Complete records — every career documented ball-by-ball on ESPNcricinfo.^[6]

How do cricketers rise?

Through age-group cricket (the U19 World Cup is a genuine star-maker), domestic first-class and List A systems, and now the franchise academies — with associate nations climbing the ICC's global T20 rankings ladder. In the U.S., Major League Cricket and minor league cricket are building the first professional pathway.^[2] [5]

Who has won the most in cricket?

Men's ODI World Cup through 2023 (Australia's sixth), men's T20 World Cup through 2026 (India, by 96 runs over New Zealand), women's ODI World Cup through 2025 (India's first) and women's T20 World Cup through July 2026 (Australia's seventh, at Lord's). Test runs and wickets as of 30 August 2026 from Statsguru; the IPL through 2026 (Royal Challengers Bengaluru, back-to-back).

ICC Men's Cricket World Cup (ODI) — titles by country

ICC Men's T20 World Cup — titles by country

ICC Women's Cricket World Cup (ODI) — titles by country

ICC Women's T20 World Cup — titles by country

Most Test runs

Most Test wickets

IPL titles by franchise

Ties are broken by gold, then silver; a tie at tenth place is shown in full when four or fewer share it. Historic teams are kept as separate rows exactly as the source counts them. Verified September 2026.^{[7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12]}

Which brands supply and sponsor cricket?

The Laws are owned by Marylebone Cricket Club; the code in force on 21 September 2026 is the 2017 Code, third edition of 2022. Law 4.1 sets the men's ball at 155.9 g to 163 g; Law 4.2.1 puts every ball “in the possession of the umpires before the toss”. Law 5.7.2 adds that the bat “should also be able to pass through a bat gauge as described in Appendix B”.^[13][14] MCC announced on 3 February 2026 a new edition in force from 1 October 2026, stating it “worked with manufacturers of cricket balls to set new limits, and names, for balls in various forms of cricket”.^[15]

Who supplies the ball is settled competition by competition, and differs by member board. Under the ICC World Test Championship 2025-2027 playing conditions of June 2025, clause 4.2 has the home board provide “cricket balls of an approved standard for Test cricket” and spares “of the same brand”, and requires it to tell the visiting board the brand at least 30 days before the match. At ICC events the ICC specifies it: clause 4.2.1 of the Men's T20 World Cup 2026 playing conditions requires “White Kookaburra 'Turf' cricket balls supplied by the ICC”.^[16][17] England and Wales Cricket Board rules name no maker, requiring balls “of the standard laid down by the ECB for each Competition”.^[18]

The ICC Clothing and Equipment Rules and Regulations, May 2023 edition, allow a manufacturer's identification on the back of the bat “provided it does not exceed 50% of the total surface area”; wider limits sit with the sponsorship and athlete marketing rules.^[19] The ICC announced on 9 May 2024 a four-year extension with Aramco as Premier Partner, covering senior men's, women's and under-19 events to the end of 2027.^[20]