Understanding IELTS: Listening

Step 2.3

Transcript

SPEAKER 1: Cricket is an interesting sport for many reasons. Something which stands out in
comparison with other major global sports is the way in recent years very different formats of the
game are played at international level. There are currently three formats of international cricket,
as recognised by the ICC, or International Cricket Council. Each of the formats follows the ICC’s
set of rules and regulations.

Twenty-twenty cricket is the newest and shortest format. Each team bats for up to 20 overs, and
it typically takes around three hours to complete a match.

One-day internationals, as you might expect, last a little longer. Each team bats for up to 50
overs. A game is normally completed in under eight hours, including a break between each
team’s innings.

Finally, seen by many as the most prestigious format of the game, there is test cricket. Each test
match lasts for up to five days, and teams can bat for two innings each. There’s play for around
seven hours each day, including breaks. Though it’s happening less often these days, it is
possible that a test match can end in a draw – even after five days of play.

The ICC has recently suggested that four-day test matches may replace five-day test matches,
but many consider this a commercial decision which doesn’t improve the sport in any way. Other
recent innovations include day-night test matches, presumably so that a cricket fan finishing
work in the early evening can still go to the stadium and watch some play at the end of the day.

These changes, though seen as radical by many, are not the first time the test match format has
been modified. In fact, up until the 1930s, so-called ‘timeless test matches’ were sometimes
played. These didn’t have a limit of five days and in theory they would always end in a result, with
the possibility of a draw removed.

Like many sports, cricket will continue to evolve….

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