In
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 st ...
, a session is a period of play during which overs are played continuously until a break in play is called.
In
Test
Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to:
* Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities
Arts and entertainment
* ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film
* ''Test'' (2014 film), ...
matches, each of the five potential days of the match typically comprises three main sessions, usually referred to as the morning, afternoon, and evening sessions. The morning and afternoon sessions are usually separated by a 40-minute lunch break, and the afternoon and evening sessions by a 20-minute tea break. Each of the three sessions is approximately 30 overs long, and is broken up further into two to three minor sessions varying in length, separated by drinks breaks. The exact timing of these intra-session breaks is the
umpiring team's call.
In
One Day Internationals
A One Day International (ODI) is a form of limited overs cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of overs, currently 50, with the game lasting up to 9 hours. The Cricket World Cup ...
, matches are played over two innings, with three sessions in each, usually in lengths of 15, 15, and 20 overs. These three sessions may also contain short drinks breaks. Additionally, day-time ODI matches include a lunch break between the first and second innings. In day-night ODI matches, the lunch break is replaced by a dinner break.
Sessions of play often influence a team's tactics for a match, especially as natural light varies over the course of the day, and the pitch wears over the course of a match, whether one-day or Test. For example, teams usually choose opening Test
batsmen
In cricket, batting is the act or skill of hitting the ball with a bat to score runs and prevent the loss of one's wicket. Any player who is currently batting is, since September 2021, officially referred to as a batter (historically, th ...
who can navigate opening
bowlers, who often bowl aggressively in the first session of a Test match. Similarly, Test teams sometimes deploy a
nightwatchman during the closing session of a day so as not to lose important
wickets
In cricket, the term wicket has several meanings:
* It is one of the two sets of three stumps and two bails at either end of the pitch. The fielding team's players can hit the wicket with the ball in a number of ways to get a batsman out. ...
in conditions that might be difficult for an incoming batsman to manage.
[Anantha Narayanan]
The best night-watchman in Tests - Part I.
ESPNcricinfo.
See also
*
Cricket terminology
This is a general glossary of the terminology used in the sport of cricket. Where words in a sentence are also defined elsewhere in this article, they appear in italics. Certain aspects of cricket terminology are explained in more detail in c ...
*
Playing time (cricket)
Games in the sport of cricket are played over a number of hours or days, making it one of the sports with the longest playing time, though sailing, yachting, road cycling, and rallying are sometimes longer. Typically, Test and first-class cr ...
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First-class cricket
First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officia ...
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Day/night cricket
Day/night cricket, also known as floodlit cricket, is a cricket match that is played either totally or partially under floodlights in the evening. The first regular cricket to be played under floodlights occurred during World Series Cricket, uns ...
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Laws of cricket
The ''Laws of Cricket'' is a code which specifies the rules of the game of cricket worldwide. The earliest known code was drafted in 1744 and, since 1788, it has been owned and maintained by its custodian, the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) in Lond ...
References
{{reflist
Cricket terminology