Cricket Types

Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. It has long been considered the ultimate test of playing ability between cricketing nations. It remains the most prestigious form of the game, although the comparatively new One Day International and Twenty20 formats are now more popular amongst some audiences.[
The name "Test" may have arisen from the idea that the matches are a "test of strength and competency" between the sides involved. It seems to have been used first to describe an English team that toured Australia in 1861–62, although those matches are not considered Test matches today.

The first officially recognized Test match commenced on the 15 March 1877, contested by England and Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, where Australia won by 45 runs. England won the second ever match (also at the MCG) by four wickets, thus drawing the series 1–1. This was not the first ever international cricket match however, which was played between Canada and the United States, on the 24th and 25th of September 1844.

Test matches are a subset of first-class cricket. However, the step up in required skill from normal first-class cricket to Test cricket is considerable, with many players who excel in the first-class game proving unable to compete in Test cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams which have "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council (ICC)

Club cricket is a mainly amateur, but still formal, form of the sport of cricket, usually involving teams playing in competitions at weekends or in the evening. There is a great deal of variation in game format although the Laws of Cricket are always observed. Club cricket is also now played in the United States and Canada, as both countries have large communities of immigrants from mainstream cricket-playing regions such as the Caribbean, Europe, Asia, Africa and Australasia.

Club cricket is usually played in league or cup format. Games are limited by either time or over’s. Limited overs games usually last between 20 and 60 overs per innings. A less common, but more traditional, format is limiting the game by time only. Games can range from a few hours in the evening to two days long.Matches are generally of one innings per side except in two day games (mainly played in Australia and New Zealand). Two day matches are played over both Saturday and Sunday, or, alternatively, over successive Saturdays (though this can sometimes have unfortunate effects on the game where the condition of the pitch and ground changes radically from one week to the next). These matches usually have two innings per side.