# The Three Formats · Cricket Level 1: Beginner

Cricket · Level 1: Beginner · Insporta Book (https://book.insporta.app/cricket/level-1/the-three-formats/)

The Three Formats in Cricket (Level 1: Beginner) on Insporta: 50 sourced facts behind 5 tests. Covers: test cricket; the one-day international; and more.

This sub-level teaches the three forms of the international game — the five-day Test in whites with a red ball, the 50-over one-day international in coloured clothing with a white ball, and the three-hour Twenty20; what changes between them in overs per bowler, fielding restrictions and the new ball; and the two tools of the long game, the follow-on and the declaration, which is why a Test can be drawn and a one-day match cannot.

## Test 1: Test cricket

- Tests are played over up to five days; if no result is reached in that time the match is drawn. (Source: ICC Men's Test Match Playing Conditions)
- Test and first-class cricket are played in "whites"; coloured clothing belongs to the limited-overs game. (Source: ICC Men's Test Match Playing Conditions)
- A Test day runs in three sessions, divided by the intervals for lunch and, later, for tea. (Source: MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Law 11)
- Test cricket dates from 1877 and is seen as the game's highest form; the shorter formats came much later. (Source: ESPNcricinfo)
- The World Test Championship, run since 2019, ranks the leading Test sides over a cycle and ends in a one-off final. (Source: ICC)
- A Test series goes to the side that takes more of the individual matches; a level series usually means the holder keeps the trophy. (Source: ICC / cricket convention)
- The target is 90 overs a day, and a side that falls short without good reason can face over-rate sanctions. (Source: ICC Men's Test Match Playing Conditions)
- The five days is a maximum; plenty of Tests finish early when one side has a clear advantage. (Source: ICC Men's Test Match Playing Conditions)
- First-class matches are the two-innings-a-side, multi-day domestic games from which Test players are drawn. (Source: General cricket terminology)
- The Ashes, played for a small terracotta urn, is the oldest and most famous Test rivalry, dating from 1882. (Source: ESPNcricinfo)

## Test 2: The one-day international

- An ODI is designed to start and finish on the same day, which is why it is capped at 50 overs a side. (Source: ICC Men's ODI Playing Conditions)
- Limited-overs cricket uses coloured kit and a white ball, which shows up under lights and against a dark sightscreen. (Source: ICC Playing Conditions (white-ball cricket))
- An ODI runs for most of a day: about three and a half hours an innings, plus a break between them. (Source: ICC Men's ODI Playing Conditions)
- The first men's Cricket World Cup was played in England in 1975; the T20 World Cup did not begin until 2007. (Source: ESPNcricinfo)
- ODIs use two new balls per innings, one at each end, so neither gets very old across the 50 overs. (Source: ICC Men's ODI Playing Conditions)
- In the first ten overs only two fielders may stand outside the circle, leaving gaps for the batters to exploit. (Source: ICC Men's ODI Playing Conditions)
- The ten-over cap on a bowler forces a side to use at least five different bowlers in an innings. (Source: ICC Men's ODI Playing Conditions)
- The Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method resets the target to reflect the overs and the wickets each side had. (Source: ICC Men's ODI Playing Conditions)
- Day-night play, with the second innings under lights, is standard in one-day cricket and common in T20. (Source: ICC Men's ODI Playing Conditions)
- Preserving wickets early lets a side attack hard in the closing overs, when the field is spread and risk pays off. (Source: General playing principle)

## Test 3: Twenty20

- Twenty20, or T20, is 20 overs a side, the shortest of the main forms of the international game. (Source: ICC Men's T20I Playing Conditions)
- A T20 is built to fit an evening, at roughly 75 to 90 minutes an innings plus a short interval. (Source: ICC Men's T20I Playing Conditions)
- Each bowler is capped at a fifth of the 20 overs, so four, which means at least five bowlers must be used. (Source: ICC Men's T20I Playing Conditions)
- Australia and New Zealand contested the first men's T20 International in 2005; the T20 World Cup followed in 2007. (Source: ESPNcricinfo)
- The IPL, the BBL and similar are city-based T20 leagues that sign players from around the world. (Source: ESPNcricinfo)
- The T20I powerplay is overs one to six, during which only two fielders may be outside the circle. (Source: ICC Men's T20I Playing Conditions)
- In a short innings the value of a wicket falls and the value of quick runs rises, so batters take more risks. (Source: General playing principle)
- The Hundred replaces overs with a count of 100 balls per innings, bowled in blocks of five or ten. (Source: ECB Playing Conditions (The Hundred))
- In a 20-over chase there is little time to rebuild, so early wickets push the required rate sharply up. (Source: General playing principle)
- T20 was created to bring in new crowds with a fast, high-scoring game finished in about three hours. (Source: ESPNcricinfo)

## Test 4: What changes between the formats

- Tests have no per-bowler limit; an ODI caps a bowler at ten overs and a T20 at four, spreading the bowling. (Source: ICC Playing Conditions)
- White-ball cricket uses powerplays and a fielding circle; a Test captain can set any field he likes. (Source: ICC Playing Conditions)
- The long game breaks its day into sessions; a one-day match has just one interval, when the sides swap over. (Source: MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Law 11)
- White-ball matches are capped at a set number of overs, so they play to a finish rather than running out of time. (Source: ICC Playing Conditions)
- With time not overs the limiting factor, a Test batter can build a long innings; a T20 batter must score fast. (Source: General playing principle)
- Playing conditions currently give a side more reviews per innings in a Test than in the shorter forms. (Source: ICC Playing Conditions (Decision Review System))
- Only the T20 fits into about three hours; the longer forms run for a full day or several days. (Source: General playing principle)
- A T20 is 20 overs a side, so about 40 in all; an ODI has around 100 and a Test day alone about 90. (Source: ICC Men's T20I Playing Conditions)
- In a short innings every over of runs is costly, so containing the scoring is prized alongside taking wickets. (Source: General playing principle)
- The Test rewards patience over days; the T20 packs a result into an evening; the ODI sits between the two. (Source: General playing principle)

## Test 5: The follow-on, the declaration, and the draw

- A declaration can be made whenever the ball is dead; captains often declare at the close of a day's play. (Source: MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Law 15)
- A declaration trades batting time for bowling time, in the hope of forcing a result before the Test is drawn. (Source: MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Law 15)
- Rather than bat again itself, the leading side can make the trailing side bat two innings back to back. (Source: MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Law 14)
- For a match of five days or more the follow-on margin is 200 runs; it is smaller for shorter matches. (Source: MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Law 14)
- These tools exist because the long game is limited by time, not overs; a captain never declares in a one-day match. (Source: MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Law 15)
- Batting again lets a dominant side protect its bowlers and set a huge fourth-innings target on a worn pitch. (Source: General captaincy principle)
- A declaration closes the innings; the batters left in keep their scores and are marked not out. (Source: MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Law 15)
- Losing while still behind after following on is an "innings" defeat, by however many runs short the side finished. (Source: MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Law 16)
- A forfeited innings counts as a completed innings; captains use it, very occasionally, to manufacture a finish after rain. (Source: MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Law 15)
- The declaration bought the bowling time to dismiss the other side inside the runs, turning a likely draw into a win. (Source: MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022), Law 16)

Sources: MCC Laws of Cricket 2017 code (3rd edition 2022) for the mechanics of play; ICC Playing Conditions for international format and officiating detail, which override the Laws where they differ; ESPNcricinfo and Wisden for history, records and governance. Questions are authored from these sources, not reproduced from them.

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