Cricket is a team sport.
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a cricket field , at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard-long pitch with a wicket ( a set of three wooden stumps ) at each end . One team bats , attempting to score as many runs as possible , whilst their opponents field . After either ten batsmen have been dismissed or a fixed number of overs have been completed , the innings ends and the two teams then swap roles . The winning team is the one that scores the most runs , including any extras gained , during their innings . The play begins when a member of the fielding team , known as the bowler , delivers the ball from one end of the pitch to the other , towards the wicket at that end , in front of which stands one of the batsmen , known as the striker .