20th century there were about 40,000
Creek. Most lived in Oklahoma.
#More to explore
Cherokee • Chickasaw • Choctaw
• Native Americans • Seminole
Cricket
The chirping of crickets is a common
sound in the summer. Crickets are
jumping insects. Although they have
wings, most are not able to fly. Crickets
are closely related to grasshoppers.
There are about 2,400 species, or types,
of cricket. They live in warm areas of the
world. Crickets can be found in fields,
trees, and bushes.
Crickets are 0.1 inch to 2 inches (3 to
50 millimeters) long. They are usually
brown, black, or green. They have long,
powerful hind legs that they use for
jumping. Most crickets have two pairs of
wings. The wings in the front are tough
and stiff. The wings in the back are long
and thin. They help crickets jump.
Crickets also have long, thin antennas
that they use to smell and touch.
Crickets are usually active at night. After
spending the day hiding, they come out
when it is dark to find food. Crickets eat
mostly plants.
Crickets use chirps to communicate
with each other. They chirp by rubbing
their front wings together. Usually only
male crickets chirp. They have different
“songs” for different purposes. The most
common songs are used to attract
females.
Many people think that house crickets
bring good luck. In eastern Asia male
crickets are kept in cages so people can
hear their songs.
#More to explore
Grasshopper • Insect
Crickets make a chirping sound by rubbing
their front wings together.
Some crickets
chirp faster in
higher temperatures.
BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA Cricket 213
Cricket
Cricket is an outdoor team sport played
with a bat and ball. It developed in
England. It is also very popular in places
that England once ruled as colonies,
such as Australia, India, Pakistan, South
Africa, and theWest Indies. More than
90 countries are members of the sport’s
governing body, the International
Cricket Council.
Playing Area and Equipment
Cricket is played on an oval field. In the
center of the field is a long rectangular
area called the pitch. The pitch is 22
yards (20 meters) long and 10 feet (3
meters) wide. A marker called a wicket is
set in the ground at each end of the
pitch. Each wicket is made up of three
sticks, called stumps, placed closely
together. Two small pieces of wood,
called bails, are placed on top of each
wicket.
A cricket bat is about 3 feet (1 meter)
long. The hitting surface of the bat is
flat. A cricket ball is red or white.
Playing the Game
Two teams of 11 players compete in a
cricket game, or match. The team that
scores more runs (or points) wins.
Cricket matches with scores in the hundreds
are common.
When a cricket match starts, there are
two offensive players in the pitch. They
carry bats and are called batsmen. The
batsmen stand at opposite ends of the
pitch from each other, one near each
wicket. One batsman, the striker, uses
his bat to hit the ball. The batsman at
the opposite wicket is called the nonstriker.
The key player on the defensive team is
called the bowler. The bowler stands
near the wicket across the pitch from the
A diagram shows the layout of a cricket field and the positions of the players.
214 Cricket BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA
striker. The bowler tries to deliver, or
bowl, the ball past the striker. The
bowler takes a running start and then
hurls the ball with an overhand, straightarm
delivery. Most balls are delivered so
that they bounce in front of the striker
and the wicket. The bowler tries to hit
the wicket with the ball. If the ball
knocks a bail off the wicket, the striker
is dismissed, or put out. This means that
his turn at bat is over.
The striker tries to keep the bowler from
hitting the wicket. He also tries to hit
the ball onto the field to score runs for
his team. If the striker hits the ball, the
two batsmen can run across the pitch to
the opposite wicket. They can keep running
back and forth between the wickets
until the fielders put them out. Each
time both batsmen reach the opposite
wicket, they score a run.
Sometimes the striker hits the ball but
decides that he does not have time to
run to the opposite wicket. In such cases
the batsmen do not have to run. Play
continues, and the bowler delivers the
next ball. The striker can earn six runs
automatically (without running between
the wickets) by hitting the ball over the
field’s outer boundary.
Fielders can dismiss the batsmen in a
number of ways. For example, a fielder
can catch a batted ball before it hits the
ground. Also, a fielder holding the ball
can dismiss a batsman by knocking a
bail off a wicket before the batsman gets
there.
Each batting session is called an innings
(always plural). A team completes an
innings after 10 players have batted.
Cricket matches vary in length. Some
matches last an afternoon. Others take
days to complete.
History
People in England may have played
cricket as early as the 1200s. A set of
rules for the sport was written in the
1700s. In the 1800s and 1900s the
English brought the game into their
colonies throughout the world. An
international cricket competition called
the World Cup was first held in 1975. It
