Cricket poetry
Below are some examples of cricket poems written by children between the ages of 7 - 11. Read these poems and
get some ideas for your own cricket poems.
And I was there!
The Bowler
I played Kwik Cricket at a Test Match
The excitement was in the air.
Bell hit the ball in to outer space,
And I was there!
With the three fingered grip
I’m ready to roll
With ball in my hand
I’m going to bowl
I start my long run up
Keeping it steady
I’m near to the wickets
And almost ready
I pitch the ball a slight to the right
It curls to the wickets
At just the right height
The batter looks worried
He knows he can’t hit it
It misses the bat
And smashes the wicket
OUT!
The Bat’s story
I see the light
He grips me tight
I imagine smiles and sneers
But lie before me, happiness and tears
He’s standing beside the stumps
I’m beginning to get goose bumps
Will he hit it?
Or will he hit the wicket?
He lifts me higher
His grip gets tighter
In a second I blink
And I begin to sink
The lads pull up
On the coach the lads anticipate,
Finally it comes, the day, the date.
The coach pulls up,
Past the people with the ticket,
Now we’re ready to play some cricket.
Me, the captain has chosen to bat
Now what do the bowlers say to that?
In they charge with the ball in grip,
Now I’m ready to let it rip!
I hit the ball over the stands,
Now the crowd start to clap their hands!
Cricket poetry
Below is another cricket poem, but this time written by John Agard. Read this aloud and think about where it is set!
Calypso Poem
Cricket lovely cricket
On a beach where I played it
With those little pals of mine
Under the tropical sunshine
The palm trees waving at me
And all the sea for my boundary.
Cricket lovely cricket
On a beach where I played it
Here is where many greats begin
To learn the art of bounce and spin
And every time you hook a four
Hear the seagulls cheering for more.
Cricket lovely cricket
On a beach where I played it
Brown sand was our village green
The trade winds spectating the scene
I bet even Lord’s cricket ground
Don’t have palm trees all around.
John Agard
Cricket statistics
Below is a list of statistics from cricket for you to use when writing number poems about cricket.
TEST MATCH STATISTICS:
Most runs scored by an individual player in a career:
Player Name
Sachin Tendulkar
Brian Lara
Allan Border
Steve Waugh
Ricky Ponting
Team
Ind
WI
Aus
Aus
Aus
Mat
156
131
156
168
128
Inns
256
232
265
260
214
No
27
6
44
46
26
Runs
12429
11953
11174
10927
10697
Ave
54.28
52.89
50.56
51.06
56.9
HS
248*
400*
205
200
257
100s
41
34
27
32
37
50s
51
48
63
50
43
Highest score by an individual player in one game:
Player Name
Brian Lara
Matthew Hayden
Brian Lara
Mahela Jayawardene
Garry Sobers
Team
West Indies
Australia
West Indies
Sri Lanka
West Indies
Opposition
England
Zimbabwe
England
South Africa
Pakistan
Venue
St John's
Perth
St John's
Colombo (SSC)
Kingston
Runs
400*
380
375
374
365
Fastest 50 scored by an individual player:
Player Name
Jacques Kallis
Shahid Afridi
Mohammad Ashraful
Foffie Williams
Bruce Yardley
Team
South Africa
Pakistan
Bangaldesh
West Indies
Australia
Opposition
Zimbabwe
India
India
England
West Indies
Venue
Cape Town
Bangalore
Mirpur
Bridgetown
Bridgetown
Runs
54
58
67
72
74
Balls
24
26
26
28
29
Fastest 100 scored by an individual player:
Player Name
Viv Richards
Adam Gilchrist
Jack Gregory
Shivnarine Chanderpaul
Roy Fredericks
Team
West Indies
Australia
Australia
West Indies
West Indies
Opposition
England
England
South Africa
Australia
Australia
Venue
St John's
Perth
Johannesburg
Georgetown
Perth
Runs
110
102
119
100
169
Balls
56
57
67
69
71
Cricket statistics
Below is a list of statistics from cricket for you to use when writing number poems about cricket.
TEST MATCH STATISTICS:
Most fifties scored per person in a career:
Player Name
Allan Border
Rahul Dravid
Sachin Tendulkar
Steve Waugh
Jacques Kallis
Team
Aus
Ind
Ind
Aus
SA
Mat
156
131
156
168
128
Inns
265
227
256
260
215
No
44
26
27
46
33
Runs
11174
10509
12429
10927
9984
Ave
50.56
52.28
54.28
51.06
54.86
HS
205
270
248*
200
189*
100s
27
26
41
32
30
50s
63
53
51
50
50
0s
11
8
14
22
10
Most hundreds scored per person in a career:
Player Name
Team
Mat
Inns
No
Runs
Ave
HS
100s
50s
0s
Sachin Tendulkar
Ricky Ponting
Brian Lara
Sunil Gavaskar
Steve Waugh
Ind
Aus
WI
Ind
Aus
156
128
131
125
168
256
214
232
214
260
27
26
6
16
46
12429
10697
11953
10122
10927
54.28
56.9
52.89
51.12
51.06
248*
257
400*
236*
200
41
37
34
34
32
51
43
48
45
50
14
10
17
12
22
Most runs in an innings by one team:
Team
Sri Lanka
England
England
West Indies
Australia
Score
952/6d
903/7d
849
790/3d
758/8d
Overs
271.0
335.2
258.2
208.1
245.4
RR
3.51
2.69
3.28
3.79
3.08
Inns
2
1
1
2
2
Opposition
v India
v Australia
v West Indies
v Pakistan
v West Indies
Ground
Colombo (RPS)
The Oval
Kingston
Kingston
Kingston
Match Date
2 Aug 1997
20 Aug 1938
3 Apr 1930
26 Feb 1958
11 Jun 1955
Lowest runs in an innings by one team:
Team
New Zealand
South Africa
South Africa
South Africa
South Africa
Score
26
30
30
35
36
Overs
27.0
18.4x5
12.3
22.4x5
23.2
RR
0.96
1.91
2.40
1.84
1.54
Inns
3
4
2
4
1
Opposition
v England
v England
v England
v England
v Australia
Ground
Auckland
Port Elizabeth
Birmingham
Cape Town
Melbourne
Match Date
25 Mar 1955
13 Feb 1896
14 Jun 1924
1 Apr 1899
12 Feb 1932
Cricket statistics
Below is a list of statistics from cricket for you to use when writing number poems about cricket.
T20 INTERNATIONAL STATISTICS:
Most runs scored by an individual player in a career:
Player Name
Misbah-ul-Haq
Brendon McCullum
Shoaib Malik
Graeme Smith
Kevin Pietersen
Team
Pak
NZ
Pak
SA
Eng
Mat
14
18
16
12
14
Inns
13
18
15
12
14
No
6
2
3
2
1
Runs
398
396
383
364
363
Ave
56.86
24.75
31.92
36.4
27.92
HS
87*
59
57
89*
79
100s
0
0
0
0
0
50s
3
1
2
3
1
0s
0
0
0
0
1
HS
50*
87*
85*
60*
72
100s
0
0
0
0
0
50s
1
3
2
1
2
0s
0
0
1
0
0
HS
75
73*
88
89*
87*
100s
0
0
0
0
0
50s
4
4
3
3
3
0s
1
0
2
0
0
HS
117
100s
1
50s
2
0s
1
Highest average runs scored per game in a career:
Player Name
Rohit Sharma
Misbah-ul-Haq
Andrew Symonds
Brendan Taylor
Marcus Trescothick
Team
Ind
Pak
Aus
Zim
Eng
Mat
6
14
13
3
3
Inns
4
13
10
3
3
No
3
6
4
1
0
Runs
96
398
337
112
166
Ave
96
56.86
56.17
56
55.33
Fastest 50 scored by an individual player:
Player Name
Gautam Gambhir
Matthew Hayden
Sanath Jayasuriya
Graeme Smith
Misbah-ul-Haq
Team
Ind
Aus
SL
SA
Pak
Mat
9
9
10
12
14
Inns
8
9
10
12
13
No
0
3
1
2
6
Runs
299
308
308
364
398
Ave
37.38
51.33
34.22
36.4
56.86
Fastest 100 scored by an individual player:
Player Name
Chris Gayle
Team
WI
Mat
7
Inns
7
No
0
Runs
261
Ave
37.29
Cricket statistics
Below is a list of statistics from cricket for you to use when writing number poems about cricket.
T20 INTERNATIONAL STATISTICS:
Highest team total in a match:
Team
Sri Lanka
Australia
India
Australia
Australia
Score
260/6
221/5
218/4
214/5
209/3
Overs
20.0
20.0
20.0
20.0
20.0
RR
13.00
11.05
10.90
10.70
10.45
Inns
1
1
1
1
1
Opposition
v Kenya
v England
v England
v New Zealand
v South Africa
Ground
Johannesburg
Sydney
Durban
Auckland
Brisbane
Match Date
14 Sep 2007
9 Jan 2007
19 Sep 2007
17 Feb 2005
9 Jan 2006
Lowest team total in a match:
Team
Kenya
Bermuda
Kenya
India
Canada
Score
67
70
73
74
75
Overs
17.2
20.0
16.5
17.3
19.2
RR
3.86
3.50
4.33
4.22
3.87
Inns
1
1
1
1
2
Opposition
v Ireland
v Canada
v New Zealand
v Australia
v Zimbabwe
Ground
Belfast
Belfast
Durban
Melbourne
King City (NW)
Match Date
4 Aug 2008
5 Aug 2008
12 Sep 2007
1 Feb 2008
13 Oct 2008
Most runs from 4s and 6s in a match:
Team
Sri Lanka
Australia
Australia
South Africa
England
Score
260/6
221/5
214/5
208/2
193/8
4s
30
14
15
24
18
6s
11
14
12
6
10
Runs
186
140
132
132
132
Inns
1
1
1
2
1
Result
won
won
won
won
won
Opposition
v Kenya
v England
v New Zealand
v West Indies
v New Zealand
Ground
Johannesburg
Sydney
Auckland
Johannesburg
Christchurch
Match Date
14 Sep 2007
9 Jan 2007
17 Feb 2005
11 Sep 2007
7 Feb 2008
Venue
Durban
Auckland
Date
19/09/2007
17/02/2005
Johannesburg
Johannesburg
14/09/2007
14/09/2007
Johannesburg
16/09/200
Most runs off one over in match:
Runs
36
30
Batsmen
Yuraj Singh (666666)
RT Ponting (626646)
Bowler
SCJ Broad
DR Tuffey
29
25
J Mubarak (666461)
ST Jayasuriya (6nb44410)
DPMD Jayawardene (w3)
JDP Oram (661)
CD McMillan (642)
LN Onyango
SO Tikolo
25
Yuvraj Singh
Match
England v India
Australia v New
Zealand
Sri Lanka v Kenya
Sri Lanka v Kenya
India v New
Zealand
Important cricket numbers
Below is a list of some of the important and more well know numbers used in the game of cricket. These will help to
write the cricket number poems as well as using the information from ‘Cricket statistics’.
1
2
Umpires used on the pitch for a game of cricket
3
Wickets in three balls to get a hat-trick
4
Runs when the ball rolls over the boundary
5
Days to play a game of test match cricket
6
Balls in one over
6
Runs when the ball is hit over the boundary without bouncing
10
Wickets to take to get a team all out
11
Players in a cricket team
20
Over per innings in a game of T20 cricket
50
Overs per innings in a game one day cricket
50
Runs by a batsmen to score a half century
100
Runs by a batsman to score a century
119m
Longest six hit in the T20 World cup 2007
196
Highest one day international individual score
400
Highest test match individual cricket school