Sports Power - We have your sport covered

Overview
Cricket's origins date back to England as early as 1300. The first reference to a cricket match dates back to the late 1500's in Surrey, and the first recorded match was played at Coxheath, Kent in 1646. In 1709 a team from Kent met a team from Surrey and at Dartford Brent, marking the beginning of county matches and national cricket in England. The first known set of rules was written in 1744. The Marylebone Cricket Club was formed in 1787and became the sport's world governing body. The game was exported to many countries around the world during England's colonial history.

Cricket is now played around the world and 10 countries participate in Test Matches. Cricket in Australia dates back to the beginning of European settlement, and the Melbourne Cricket Club was formed in 1840. The first official Test between Australia and England was played in 1877, although earlier representative teams including an Aboriginal team toured England with success in the 1860's. In Australia, the game is played extensively from junior and amateur levels right up to professional first class level between the six states and internationally.

The rules
Cricket is played with bat and ball between 2 teams of 11 players on a large oval. At the centre is a pitch where there are two upright wickets 22 yards (20m) apart, and each defended by a batsman. A bowler tries to dismiss the batsman by hitting the wicket and dislodging the bails. The batsmen defend their wickets by trying to hit the ball out of the reach of the fielding team and score runs each time they exchange positions without being dismissed, or by hitting the ball to the boundary of the oval. A batsman can be dismissed in any one of ten ways, but the most usual methods are bowled, caught, stumped, leg before wicket, run-out or hit wicket. Less usual ways of dismissing a batsman are handling the ball, hitting the ball twice, obstructing the field or timed-out.

Equipment
Sports Power offers an extensive range of cricket gear to suit the needs and budgets of all players, whether they are for juniors, amateurs or professionals. Our trained staff can assist you to choose the bat, protective wear and other equipment to help you get the best value and enjoyment from the sport.

Players usually wear white trousers, shirts and boots. Batsmen wear leg pads, an abdominal protector, gloves and a helmet. The wicket keeper also wears leg pads and reinforced gloves. The bat is made from a blade of willow, a cane handle layered with strips of rubber tied with twine and covered with rubber to make a grip. The V-shaped extension of the handle into the blade is the splice. Balls are made of cork and covered with stitched leather quarters dyed red. The wicket is three upright wooden stumps, with a pair of bails made of wood across the top of the stumps.

Legends
Undoubtedly, cricket's greatest exponents are revered within the game. Australia's Don Bradman is universally regarded as the game's greatest ever batsman. Other legendary players include -
· batsmen - Gary Sobers, Viv Richards, Sunil Gavaskar, Greg Chappell, Alan Border
· fast bowlers - Dennis Lillee, Malcolm Marshall, Michael Holding, Fred Trueman, Bob Willis
· spin bowlers - Bill O'Reilly, Jim Laker, Shane Warne
· wicket keepers - Ian Healy, Rod Marsh, Alan Knott
· all-rounders - Imran Khan, Kapil Dev, Ian Botham