Cricket Formats Explained: Test, ODI, T20 and The Hundred
There are three international cricket formats: Test cricket, played over up to five days with two innings per side; One Day Internationals (ODIs), with 50 overs per side; and Twenty20 (T20), with 20 overs per side. England also has The Hundred, a domestic competition where each innings lasts 100 balls. The cricket formats differ in length, tactics and rules, but the basic contest of bat against ball is the same in all of them.
The easiest way to think about it is time. A Test can take five days, an ODI fills most of a day, a T20 lasts about three hours and a Hundred match is a little shorter again. Everything else, from fielding restrictions to how teams pick their bowlers, flows from that difference. Here’s how each one works, why it exists and what makes it special.
Key facts
- Test cricket: up to five days, two innings each, unlimited overs per innings, and a draw is a possible result.
- ODI cricket: 50 overs per side, each bowler limited to 10 overs, and fielding powerplays shape the innings.
- T20 cricket: 20 overs per side, each bowler limited to 4 overs, and a six-over powerplay at the start.
- The Hundred: 100 balls per side, with ends changing every 10 balls and a 25-ball powerplay.
- All international formats follow the MCC Laws of Cricket, adjusted by ICC playing conditions for each format.
Cricket formats compared
Before going into each format, here’s the side-by-side view. It answers most of the “how long” and “how many” questions at a glance.
| Format | Length | Innings per side | Bowler limit | Powerplay | Can it be drawn? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Test | Up to 5 days | 2 | None | None | Yes |
| ODI | 50 overs each, about 7 to 8 hours | 1 | 10 overs | Three phases: overs 1 to 10, 11 to 40, 41 to 50 | No (ties are possible) |
| T20 | 20 overs each, about 3 hours | 1 | 4 overs | First 6 overs | No (ties go to a super over in most competitions) |
| The Hundred | 100 balls each, about 2.5 hours | 1 | 20 balls | First 25 balls | No |
Test cricket: the original and longest format
Test cricket is the oldest form of the international game. The first Test was played between Australia and England at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in March 1877, and the format has been the sport’s heavyweight championship ever since. It’s called a “Test” because it was seen as the ultimate test of a team’s strength.
How a Test match works
Each team bats twice. The side with more runs across both innings wins, provided they bowl the opposition out twice (or the opposition can’t overhaul their total). There’s no limit on how many overs an innings can last, though a day’s play is scheduled for at least 90 overs. A team can also declare, ending its innings early to give its bowlers more time to take 20 wickets.
That last point is the heart of Test cricket. Winning requires taking 20 wickets, and if time runs out before that happens, the match is drawn. Draws aren’t failures; a team saving a Test by batting out the final day can be as dramatic as any run chase.
Results in a Test
A Test can end in four ways: a win, a loss, a draw or a tie. A tie, where both teams finish with the same total and the side batting last is all out, is extraordinarily rare. It has happened only twice in men’s Tests: Australia v West Indies at Brisbane in 1960, and India v Australia at Madras (now Chennai) in 1986.
Rules unique to Tests
- The follow-on: in a five-day Test, if the side batting first leads by at least 200 runs after the first innings, they can make the opposition bat again straight away.
- The new ball: the fielding side can take a new ball after 80 overs of an innings.
- Red ball and whites: Tests are traditionally played in white clothing with a red ball. Day-night Tests use a pink ball, and the first was played between Australia and New Zealand at Adelaide in 2015.
- Stop clock: under ICC playing conditions introduced in 2025, the fielding side has 60 seconds between overs to be ready.
Why Tests still matter
Test cricket rewards patience, technique and stamina in a way the shorter formats can’t. Conditions change over five days: a pitch that helps seamers on the first morning can turn for the spinners by the fifth afternoon. Many of cricket’s greatest stories come from Tests, from the Ben Stokes innings at Headingley in 2019 to Laxman and Dravid’s partnership in Kolkata in 2001. Since 2019, Tests have also counted towards a league table, explained in our guide to the World Test Championship.
One Day Internationals: the 50-over game
The first ODI was played almost by accident. When rain washed out the first days of the Melbourne Test in January 1971, Australia and England played a one-day match instead, and the crowd loved it. Four years later, England hosted the first men’s Cricket World Cup in 1975, and the format took off.
How an ODI works
Each side bats once for a maximum of 50 overs. The team batting second chases the target set by the first. If rain interrupts, the target is recalculated using the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method. Each bowler can bowl a maximum of 10 overs, so captains need at least five bowlers to get through the innings.
Powerplays in ODIs
Fielding restrictions are what give an ODI its rhythm. A 30-yard circle is marked around the pitch, and the number of fielders allowed outside it depends on the stage of the innings.
- Overs 1 to 10: a maximum of two fielders outside the circle.
- Overs 11 to 40: a maximum of four outside the circle.
- Overs 41 to 50: a maximum of five outside the circle.
That’s why openers attack early, the middle overs become a battle of spin and rotation, and the final ten overs turn into a slog.
The ball rule
For many years, ODIs used two new white balls, one from each end, for the whole innings. Under ICC playing conditions introduced in July 2025, two new balls are used until the end of the 34th over, after which the fielding side picks one of them to use from both ends for the rest of the innings. The aim was to bring back some reverse swing and give bowlers more in the closing overs.
The ODI World Cup
The 50-over World Cup is still regarded by many as cricket’s biggest prize. Our Cricket World Cup winners list covers every final since 1975, and few matches in any format match the drama of the 2019 final between England and New Zealand, which finished level after the super over and was decided on boundary count. The ICC changed its rules afterwards, so tied super overs in its events are now followed by further super overs until there’s a winner.
Twenty20: the format that changed the sport
T20 was created by the England and Wales Cricket Board, and the first professional domestic competition was played in 2003. The aim was to bring new crowds through the gates with a short evening game, and it worked spectacularly. The first men’s T20 international followed in 2005, with New Zealand hosting Australia in Auckland.
How a T20 works
Each team bats for a maximum of 20 overs. Each bowler can bowl four overs at most. The first six overs are a powerplay with only two fielders allowed outside the 30-yard circle, and after that, up to five can be on the boundary.
A typical match lasts around three hours. If the scores are level, most competitions use a super over: each side bats for one over with two wickets, and the higher score wins.
Why T20 took over
The ICC held the first men’s T20 World Cup in 2007, and India’s win in the final against Pakistan in Johannesburg helped create the conditions for the Indian Premier League, which launched in 2008. Franchise leagues now run in almost every major cricket nation, from the IPL and the Pakistan Super League to the Big Bash in Australia and SA20 in South Africa.
T20 has changed the skills of the game too. Batters now play ramps, scoops and reverse sweeps that would have been unthinkable a generation ago, and bowlers have developed slower balls, knuckle balls and wide yorkers to fight back. Many of those skills have filtered back into ODIs and even Tests.
T20 tactics in brief
- Powerplay (overs 1 to 6): openers attack while the field is up.
- Middle overs (7 to 15): spinners try to squeeze, batters look to rotate strike and hit the bad ball.
- Death overs (16 to 20): specialist finishers and death bowlers decide the game.
For a quick history of the global tournament, see our T20 World Cup winners list.
The Hundred: England’s 100-ball format
The Hundred launched in England and Wales in 2021. It’s a domestic competition rather than an international format, with eight city-based teams and men’s and women’s competitions running side by side.
How The Hundred works
- Each team faces 100 balls.
- Ends change after every 10 balls rather than every six.
- A bowler delivers either five or ten consecutive balls, and no bowler can bowl more than 20 balls in the match.
- The first 25 balls are a powerplay, with only two fielders allowed outside the circle.
- Each fielding side can call a strategic timeout.
The format was designed to be simple for new audiences: the scoreboard counts down the balls remaining rather than overs. Purists were sceptical at first, but the women’s competition in particular has drawn big crowds and strong TV audiences.
Recent changes
Ahead of the 2026 season, several teams took on major investment from Indian Premier League franchise owners, and some were rebranded as a result. Oval Invincibles, for example, became MI London. The playing format stayed the same.
Other formats you might come across
Below the international game, cricket comes in plenty of other shapes.
First-class cricket
Multi-day domestic cricket, such as England’s County Championship, Australia’s Sheffield Shield or India’s Ranji Trophy, is classed as first-class. Matches usually last four days and follow the same two-innings structure as Tests. It’s the main pathway into Test cricket.
List A cricket
Domestic one-day cricket, usually 50 overs per side, is classed as List A. It’s the domestic equivalent of ODIs.
T10 and sixes
Shorter formats such as T10, with 10 overs per side, and six-a-side tournaments exist too. They’re popular as entertainment but don’t carry international status.
How the formats differ tactically
Because the formats ask different questions, they reward different players. A batter built for Tests, who can leave the ball for hours and bat through a session, might struggle to score at the rate a T20 side needs. A T20 specialist who scores at better than a run a ball might lack the defence to survive a new-ball spell in a Test.
| Skill | Test | ODI | T20 and The Hundred |
|---|---|---|---|
| Batting priority | Survival, building an innings | Pacing a chase, rotating strike | Scoring quickly from ball one |
| Bowling priority | Taking 20 wickets | Wickets and control | Restricting runs, variations |
| Fielding positions | Slips and close catchers | Mix of attack and defence | Mostly boundary protection |
| Typical captaincy question | When to declare | When to use your best bowlers | Who bowls the final over |
The best all-format players, such as Virat Kohli, Joe Root or Pat Cummins, are prized precisely because they can switch between these demands. That versatility is rarer than it looks, and it is why selectors increasingly pick separate squads for red-ball and white-ball cricket.
Common misunderstandings about cricket formats
“A Test match always lasts five days”
Five days is the maximum, not the norm. Plenty of Tests finish in three or four days, and some in two, when the bowlers dominate.
“A draw and a tie are the same thing”
They’re very different. A draw means time ran out before a result. A tie means the scores finished level with the side batting last all out. Draws are common in Tests; ties are almost unheard of.
“The Hundred is an international format”
It isn’t. The Hundred is a domestic competition in England and Wales. International cricket is played as Tests, ODIs and T20Is.
“T20 is just slogging”
Watch a close T20 and you’ll see plenty of strategy: matchups between specific batters and bowlers, careful use of the powerplay, and bowling plans built around the dimensions of the ground.
“The laws are different in each format”
The core Laws of Cricket are the same. What changes are the playing conditions: overs per bowler, powerplays, the number of reviews and so on.
Frequently asked questions
What are the three main cricket formats?
Test cricket, One Day Internationals (50 overs per side) and Twenty20 (20 overs per side). All three are played at international level.
Which cricket format is the oldest?
Test cricket. The first Test was played between Australia and England in Melbourne in 1877. The first ODI followed in 1971 and the first men’s T20 international in 2005.
How long does a T20 match last?
Around three hours, with each side batting for up to 20 overs. Interruptions for rain can make it shorter or longer.
How many overs can a bowler bowl in an ODI?
Ten overs. In a T20, the limit is four overs, and in The Hundred, a bowler can deliver up to 20 balls.
Can a Test match end in a draw?
Yes. If time runs out before one side has won, the match is drawn. That’s one of the things that sets Test cricket apart from the limited-overs formats.
Is The Hundred the same as T20?
No. It’s similar in length, but innings last 100 balls instead of 120, ends change every 10 balls and bowlers deliver sets of five or ten.
Now you know how the cricket formats fit together, head to the cricket hub for the latest fixtures and results across every format.
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