International cricket
Most games are played as parts of "tours", when one nation travels to another for a number of weeks or months, and plays a number of matches of various sorts against the host nation. The ICC also organises competitions that are for several countries at once, including the Cricket World Cup & ICC T20 World Cup.
Playing time (cricket)
Test match cricket is international cricket played over three or more days. Nowadays all men's Test matches are scheduled over five days. In the past some Tests were 'timeless', that is, they were scheduled to be played to their conclusion regardless of how long that took. The longest Test on record was between South Africa and England in Durban, South Africa. The game started on 3rd March 1939 and play continued on the 4th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 13th and the 14th. Play was scheduled for the 11th, but none was possible because of rain, giving 9 days of actual play and 10 days of scheduled play. By the evening of 14 March England were 316 & 654–5 chasing South Africa's 530 & 481, needing just 42 more runs for victory. But England needed to leave Durban the following day to catch their boat home, so, despite being a 'timeless' Test, a draw was agreed. England's 654 is the highest ever Test cricket score for teams batting last (beating the next highest by more than 200 runs).