What is the Difference Between First-Class and List A Cricket?

Cricket is a simple bat and ball sport, although it has various formats, each with its own intricacies. Tests, ODIs, and T20Is are played at the international level, and all these formats, along with certain domestic matches, fall under 2 categories — First-Class and List A.

Now, if you are wondering about First-Class and List A cricket and the difference between them, then read on. Here, in the piece, we’ll delve into the difference between First-Class and List A cricket.

First-Class Cricket

First-Class cricket is a multi-day format played between state, county, regional, or national teams at domestic and international levels. 

For a match to fall under the First-Class category, it needs to fulfil the following criteria:

• Matches scheduled for 3, 4, or 5 days
• Should have 2 innings per side
• Played between teams with 11 players per side

All domestic multi-day matches (that fulfil the above criteria) and international Test matches come under First-Class status. 

Matches played in domestic tournaments like the Ranji Trophy (India), County Championship (England), and Sheffield Shield (Australia) qualify to be First-Class games. While Test matches are played between full members of the ICC, which represent their countries at the international level.

First-Class matches at the domestic level or any tour games before the main bilateral series are mostly scheduled for 3 or 4 days. Some matches may be played for 5 days, for example, the Ranji Trophy Final match.

When it comes to men’s Test cricket, most matches span over 5 days, except for a few games scheduled for 4 days. While it’s the opposite in women’s Tests, with most games being played over 4 days, though a few have been played for 5 days.

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List A Cricket

List A cricket involves matches that are played under a day and are limited-over games per side.

For a match to qualify under the List A category, it needs to fulfil the following criteria:

• Matches scheduled for 40, 50, or 60 overs per side
• Played between teams with 11 players per side

All 50-over international matches known as One Day International (ODI) and domestic games that follow the above criteria fall under List A status.

The ODI matches played between the ICC full members and some associate members with ODI status are enlisted as List A games. Moreover, any matches scheduled in the ICC qualification tournaments have List A status.

Apart from this, all limited-over matches played in premier one-day domestic tournaments in full member nations like the Vijay Hazare Trophy (India) and One Day Cup (England and Australia) constitute List A status.

List A cricket further has a sub-category known as List A T20. Under this category, all the 20-over matches played between teams in domestic tournaments, T20 leagues (granted by the ICC), and international T20 matches have List A T20 status.

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