Crickethasadocumentedhistorydatingbacktothelate16thcentury.

ItoriginatedinsoutheastEngland,becameanationalsportinthe18thcentury,andexpandedgloballyinthe19thand20thcenturies.

Internationalmatcheshavebeenplayedsincethenineteenthcentury,withformalTestcricketmatchesdatingbackto1877.

Afterassociationfootball,cricketistheworld'ssecondmostpopularspectatorsport(soccer).

Cricketisgovernedinternationallybythe[InternationalCricketCouncil(ICC),]whichhasoveronehundredcountriesandterritoriesasmembers,thoughonlytwelvecurrentlyplayTestcricket.

Therulesofthegameareoutlinedinthe"LawsofCricket."

Thegamehasseveralformats,rangingfromone-daycrickettomulti-daycricket.