There are many different types and grades of cricket; those played professionally at an international level are Test cricket, One Day International cricket and Twenty20 cricket.
Test cricket
Test cricket is a form of international cricket started during the 1876/77 English cricket team's tour of Australia. The very first Test match began on 15 March 1877; Australia won by 45 runs. The Test cricket series between England and Australia is now called The Ashes. Since then, over 1,800 Test matches have been played and the number of Test playing nations has increased to ten with Bangladesh, the most recent nation elevated to Test status, making its debut in 2000. Test matches are two innings per side, and are nowadays restricted to a maximum of five days. In the past, Tests have been played over three, four, or six days, and some have been "Timeless" - played to a finish with no maximum duration. Tests that are not finished within the allotted time are drawn.
One-day cricket
Limited overs matches, also known as "one-day cricket", were introduced in the English domestic season of 1963 in response to demands for a shorter and more dramatic form of cricket. One-day, single-innings, matches often took place before this, but the innovation was the limiting of each side's innings to an agreed number of overs (nowadays usually 40 or 50). The idea was taken up in the international arena in 1971, during England's tour of Australia, when a match was played on the scheduled fifth day of the rained-off third Test. The one-day game has since become a crowd-pleaser and TV-audience-generator across the globe, hastened in part by the success of the inaugural World Cup in 1975. The abbreviations "ODI" (One Day International) or sometimes "LOI" (Limited Overs International) are used for international matches of this type. Innovations have included the introduction of coloured clothing, distinct tournaments, and "day-night" matches (where play extends into the night under floodlights); together with frequent nail-biting finishes and the impossibility of either side opting to play for a draw, these have seen ODI cricket gain many supporters.
Twenty20 Cricket
Twenty20 Cricket was first played in English domestic cricket in 2003 to popularise first-class cricket and attract more spectators. It has since spread to many other countries. A Twenty20 match consists of 20 overs for each side, a "free hit" after an illegal no-ball is bowled, short boundaries, batting-friendly pitches, and other rules designed to attract spectators who would not attend the slower-paced one-day games or test matches. The first men's Twenty20 international was between Australia and New Zealand in 2005, the first women's Twenty20 international having been between England and New Zealand in 2004. From 2007 to 2015 the Twenty20 World Championship will be held every two years; the first was staged in South Africa in 2007, and was won by India. It has an abbreviation as T20.
First-class matches
A "first-class" match is generally defined as a high-level international or domestic match that takes place over at least three days on natural (as opposed to artificial) turf. First-class games are two innings per side. Like Test matches, if the game is not completed over the allotted time then it is drawn. Games where the teams have only one innings each are not first-class (including one-day internationals).
Among cricket statisticians, first class cricket is variously deemed to have started in 1660, 1772, 1801, 1815 or 1864; the reasons for this are described in the main article.
Cricket statisticians have also introduced the concept of list A status, which is not first-class, but includes important limited-over matches.
Other forms of cricket
At all levels, the rules of cricket are often modified. At international or first-class levels this is usually in order to make the game more commercially attractive. More or less formal domestic club cricket matches are usually played over one to two days, either two innings per side or one innings per side with limited overs. At lower levels the rules are often changed simply to make the game playable with limited resources, or to render it more convenient and enjoyable for the participants. Variants of the sport are played in areas as diverse as sandy beaches and ice floes. Families and teenagers play backyard cricket in suburban yards or driveways, and the teeming cities of India and Pakistan play host to countless games of "Gully Cricket" or "tapeball" on their streets. Tennis balls and homemade bats are often used, and a variety of objects may serve as wickets such as the batters legs, as in "French cricket", which did not in fact originate in France, and is usually played by small children. Sometimes the rules are also improvised: for instance it is sometimes agreed that fielders can catch the ball with one hand after one bounce and claim a wicket, or if only a few people are available then everyone may field while the players take it in turns to bat and bowl.
In Kwik cricket, the bowler does not have to wait for the batsman to be ready before a delivery, leading to a faster, more exhausting game designed to appeal to children, which is often used in English schools' PE lessons. Another modification to increase the pace of the game is the "Tip and Run", "Tipity" Run, "Tipsy Run" or "Tippy-Go" rule, in which the batter must run when the ball touches the bat, even if it the contact is unintentional or minor. This rule, seen only in impromptu games, speeds the match up by disabling the batsman's ability to block the ball. Indoor cricket is played in a netted, indoor arena.
In Samoa a form of cricket called Kilikiti is played in which hockey stick-shaped bats are used.
In Estonia, teams gather over the winter for the annual Ice Cricket tournament. The game juxtaposes the normal summer pursuit with harsh, wintry conditions. Rules are otherwise similar to those for the six-a-side game.
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