Cricket seasons are the times of the year when
cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by str ...
is played.
Because top-class cricket is almost always played outdoors, on uncovered
pitches, and rain prevents play, the seasons in each country are geared to coincide with the driest months of the year. The hours of daylight and the temperature are also factors in some countries. For example, in
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
the winter days are too short and often too dark, and the temperature is too low, for playing cricket to be practical. Normally, cricket is played outdoors but in the UK, cricket is played indoors when the season is finished.
When designating cricket seasons, the convention is to use a single year for a
northern hemisphere summer season, and a dashed pair of years to indicate a
southern hemisphere summer. Hence, 1948 for the English summer season and 1948–49 for the Australian summer that followed some months later. In the tropics, cricket can be played all year round.
In the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
, the cricket season starts mid-April and ends in September, whereas in
Australia, the cricket season begins in October and ends in February or March.
References
Cricket terminology
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