Cricket is one of Britain's great summer sports. It is played between two teams of eleven on a grass pitch, with bats and a hard leather ball; matches range in length from 20 overs (around three hours) to a Test match of up to five days. Lord's in north London, headquarters of the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), is regarded as the home of the game.
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The Ashes is the oldest international rivalry in cricket, played between England and Australia since 1882. England men won the Cricket World Cup at home for the first time in 2019. The shorter Twenty20 format, introduced in 2003, has dramatically widened the sport's audience.
You may be asked what the Ashes is, what cricket ground is regarded as the home of the game (Lord's), or which body governs cricket in England (the MCC and the ECB).
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