Cricket is a game played with bat and ball between two teams consisting of eleven players each , on a cricket field . Cricket was said to find its origin in England in the 16th century AD . It spread globally due to the expansion of the British Empire . The first international match was played in the second half of the 19th century . Cricket has its governing body called as the International Cricket Council (ICC) . ICC has more than 100 members and 12 full members (South Africa  , Zimbabwe , West Indies , Afghanistan , Bangladesh , India , Pakistan , Sri Lanka , Australia , New Zealand , England , Ireland) who can play Test matches . Rules are held in a code called the Laws of Cricket , owned by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) in London .
The game is professionally played on a ground called as a cricket field . The action takes place at the centre of the cricket field on a 22 yard pitch . The two teams involved in the play have a specific role which includes batting and bowling . The batting team tries to score as many runs as possible against the bowling team while the bowling team tries to bowl out the batting team as quickly as possible . Batsman holds a bat made of willow to hit  the ball and defend himself from getting out, with 3 stumps behind him , while on the other hand the opponent team has its bowler bowling to the batsman and its ten fielders fielding on the field to stop the batsman from making runs . The most common type of dismissal are : 
1)bowled , when the bowler hits the stumps directly with the ball and dislodges the bail(s).
2)leg before wicket(LBW) , when the batsman prevents the ball from hitting the stumps with his body instead of his bat .
3) caught, when the batsman hits the ball into the air and it is intercepted by a fielder before touching the ground.
Runs are scored by two main methods : either by hitting the ball hard enough for it to cross the boundary, or by the two batsmen swapping ends by each simultaneously running the length of the pitch in opposite directions whilst the fielders are retrieving the ball . Adjudication is performed on the field by two umpires , aided by a Third umpire and Match referee in international matches . They communicate with two off-field scorers (one per team) who record all the match's statistical information including runs , dismissals , overs , etc.
There are various formats : 1) Twenty20(T20) played over a few hours with each team batting for a single innings of 20 overs (i.e. 120 deliveries each) , 2) OneDay(ODI) played for a day with 50 overs (i.e. 300 deliveries each) , 3) Test matches, played over five days with unlimited overs and the teams each batting for two innings of unlimited length. 
Traditionally cricketers play in all-white kit , but in limited overs cricket they wear club or team colours . In addition to the basic kit, some players wear protective gear to prevent injury caused by the ball , which is a hard , solid spheroid made of compressed leather with a slightly raised sewn seam enclosing a cork core which is layered with tightly wound string .
Women's cricket also developed a lot during this era . The first Test Match was played between Australia and England in December 1934 . In 1973, the first Women's Cricket World Cup took place in England where England came up as the winner .