Types of Cricket

One-Day Cricket

One-day cricket is a form of cricket which can be played in a single day. It is also called "limited overs" cricket.

Organisation of a One-Day Match

A one-day match is a game of one innings per side, played on a single day. Each innings is restricted to a maximum number of overs - 50 is standard, but 40 or 60 are sometimes used.

When the fielding side has bowled the allotted number of overs, the batting side's innings is complete, no matter how many wickets remain. If the batting side loses 10 wickets before its allotted overs are bowled, the innings also ends. Note that because each innings is completed, the match cannot end in a draw. It can, however, end in a tie if both sides score the same number of runs.

A typical one-day match is scheduled as follows:

The first 50-over innings - scheduled for 3.5 hours of play.
A 45-minute meal break.
The second 50-over innings - another 3.5 hours.

The players take a short drinks break twice during each innings, or more frequently in hot weather.

If a fielding side does not complete its 50 overs within the scheduled 3.5 hours, various penalties apply, depending on the governing body administrating the match. These may include:

Monetary fines for the fielding side.
Overs removed from the allotment to be bowled when the side bats.
Penalty runs awarded to the batting side.

Field Restrictions

A major difference between two-innings matches and a one-day match is that there are playing conditions that restrict where fielders may stand at various times duirng an innings.

A field restriction circle is drawn on the field, made of two semi-circles of radius 27.34m (30 yards) centred on the wickets, joined by parallel lines running parallel to the pitch.

During the first 15 overs of a 50-over innings:
- Only two fielders may be outside the circle when the bowler delivers the ball.
- Two fielders must be in stationary positions close to the batsman, primarily as catchers rather than run-savers.
During the remainder of a 50-over innings:
- Only five fielders may be outside the circle when the bowler delivers the ball.

These restrictions are designed to prevent the fielding side simply stationing multiple fielders on the boundary to prevent the scoring of boundaries and keep the score down.

Rain Interruption Recalculations

In two-innings matches, time lost to rain is simply lost. In a one-day match, the number of overs available to each batting side may have to be reduced. If the interruption occurs during play, adjustments need to be made to the scores to ensure a fair result in the match.

If rain interrupts only the innings of the side batting second, the number of overs available to it are reduced. Therefore, the target score for the side batting second needs to be reduced to compensate.
If rain interrupts the innings of the side batting first, thus reducing its number of overs, it is likely to have scored fewer runs than if it had known it had fewer overs to bat, because of batting more conservatively in order to not lose wickets. Therefore, the target score for the side batting second needs to be increased to compensate.
If rain interrupts both innings, then both these calculations need to be applied to work out an appropriate target score for the side batting second.

Such calculations are done using an empirical set of formulae based on historical match results, designed to be fair to both sides. The calculations are non-trivial and require an extensive set of tables. This method was developed by two statisticians named Duckworth and Lewis, and the method itself is called the Duckworth/Lewis method.

Rain interruption recalculations are only considered to give a result if both sides manage to either be bowled out or bat for at least a minimum number of overs, such as 25 overs each. If any side is not bowled out and cannot face the minimum required number of overs, then neither side wins and the match is declared a no result.

Extra Detail: Historical Rain Interruption Recalculations

Historically, matches with rain interruptions were originally decided based on the average run rate of the two sides. This often made it easy for the side batting second to win, because it had fewer overs to bat and could score at a sustained higher rate more easily with less danger of losing all its wickets.

Once this problem was recognised, various methods of adjusting the target score to provide a more fair result were trialled, but none was deemed satisfactory until Duckworth and Lewis invented their method.

One-Day Internationals

One-Day Internationals (ODIs) are the one-day equivalent of Test matches, played between nations. They are played either in discrete series, like Test series, between two nations, or in tournaments involving three or four national sides.

One-day internationals are a relatively new form of cricket - the first ODI was played in 1971 between Australia and England.

Once every four years, the International Cricket Council organises the Cricket World Cup, which involves every Test nation as well as a few emerging cricket nations in a single tournament to determine the World Champion of one-day cricket. (There is no similar tournament for Test cricket, since the duration of each game makes a multi-side tournament prohibitively lengthy.)

List-A One-Day Matches

List-A one-day matches are the one-day equivalent of first class cricket. They include domestic one-day competitions between first class sides, as well as other one-day matches between first class sides.