Cricket field

A typical Test match stadium would be larger than these defined minimums, with over 20,000 sq yd (17,000 m2) of grass (having a straight boundary of about 80m).

Nevertheless, Stadium Australia which hosted the Sydney Olympics in 2000 had its running track turfed over with 30,000 seats removed to make it possible to play cricket there, at a cost of A$80 million.

[3] This is one of the reasons cricket games generally cannot be hosted outside the traditional cricket-playing countries, and a few non-Test nations like Canada, the UAE and Kenya that have built Test standard stadiums.

Most of the action takes place in the centre of this ground, on a rectangular clay strip usually with short grass called the pitch.

Cricket pitches are usually oriented as close to the north-south direction as practical, because the low afternoon sun would be dangerous for a batter facing due west.

The close-infield is defined by a circle of radius 15 yards (14 m), centred at middle stump guard on the popping crease at the end of the wicket, and is often marked by dots.