The Australian Cricket Team's Mission Statement. To defend and promote the values of the great game of cricket, ensure that Australian teams excel on the field, and be a formidable and successful competitor in the sport and entertainment industries. A formal game of cricket can last anything from an afternoon to several days. Although the game play and rules are very different, the basic concept of cricket is similar to that of baseball. Teams bat in successive innings and attempt to score runs, while the opposing team fields and attempts to bring an end to the batting team's innings.
Cricket is played in two very distinct forms.
The first is limited duration, in which a specific number of hours of playing time are allocated and each team plays two innings. The second is limited overs, in which each team plays one innings of a pre-determined number of overs. First class matches are of limited duration. Test matches are played over five days, with six hours play each day. Each day's play is divided into three sessions of two hours each, with a 40 minute break between the first two session for lunch, and a 20 minute tea break between the last two sessions.