The first article in our Guide to Cricket series covered the basics of cricket, you can read it here if you missed it. This next article takes a look at the key rules of the game.
What is a cricket match?
There are three different forms of cricket – Twenty20, One Day, and Test Matches. In all three forms of cricket, each team will bat at least once and field/bowl at least once. The make up of a cricket match is a bit like time in the way seconds go into minutes, minutes into hours, hours into days and so on. In cricket, balls go into overs, overs go into innings, and innings make up the match.
Parts of a cricket match
Ball/delivery: A ball is when the bowler bowls (throws) the ball to the batter at the other end of the pitch. They can be thought of like pitches in baseball. Once the bowler has bowled the ball, the batter can choose to try and hit it or just leave it alone. A ball is considered over when any resulting action has ceased, most often with the ball ending up in the wicketkeeper’s gloves.
Over: An over consists of six legal deliveries bowled from the same end of the pitch. If a delivery is not considered legal by the umpire, it will not count towards the total for the over and the bowler will have to bowl it again – some overs could contain 7, 8, 9, or even 10 deliveries. Overs are written on the scoreboard as overs.balls – e.g. if 10 balls have been bowled it would be written as 1.4 overs. At the completion of an over a different bowler will then bowl from the other end of the pitch. The batters remain at the end of the pitch they were at when the over was completed.
Innings: An innings is a collection of overs. A team’s batting innings can come to an end in a number of ways. Firstly, in the short or limited overs versions of cricket (Twenty20 and One Day) a team’s batting innings will come to end at completion of their allotted overs. In all forms of cricket an innings will also come to an end if the batting team loses all of its wickets. Finally, the team batting last can end their innings, and the match, by passing the score of the team that batted first.
Forms of Cricket
Twenty20: Each team is allotted 20 overs to score as many runs as possible. These matches generally last 3 to 4 hours. Twenty20 is the newest form of cricket.
One Day Cricket: Each team is allotted 50 overs to score as many runs as possible. The matches can take anywhere from 6 to 8 hours to complete. One Day cricket was first played in the early 1970’s.
Test Cricket: Each team has the opportunity to bat twice in a test match. While men’s test matches are played over 5 days, women’s test matches are only 4 days long for no good reason. Additionally, women very infrequently play test matches with only 144 tests played since the first one in 1934.
How the game ends
The goal of cricket is to score more runs than your opponent. In all forms of the game, the team batting first will set a target for the other team to beat. In the short formats of cricket, if the team batting second can beat this target before their overs are completed or before they lose all of their wickets, they will win. If the team who batted first can then restrict the other team to a lower score after the allotted overs are done or they’ve taken all the wickets, they will win. Scores can also be tied at the end of a match, in which case a Super Over will be played. In a Super Over, each team has one over to score as many runs as possible to decide the winner.
In test matches the teams have two innings each to score as many runs as possible, and a team’s scores from each innings are added together. Generally a team’s innings will end when they have lost all of their wickets. Teams can also end their innings by declaring they have scored enough runs. Much like the other forms of cricket, if the team batting last passes the required score, they will win. However, the team bowling last has to take all of the batting team’s wickets to win. Simply restricting the other team to a lower score is not enough to win, and the game will end in a draw. It is possible for a team to win by only batting once if they score more in their one innings than the other team does in their two innings combined.
Scoring
Scoring in cricket is made up of two parts – runs and wickets. Runs belong to the batting team, they are the points the batters score. The wickets are the number of batters the fielding team has gotten out. On the scoreboard the score will be displayed as either runs/wickets (e.g. 123/4) or runs–wickets (e.g. 123-4). However, if you are from or in Australia the order of the runs and wickets is reversed (e.g. 4/123 or 4-123).
Runs
Runs can be scored either off the bat of the batters or due to an error by the fielding team.
Runs off the bat
If a batter hits the ball they have the option to run. For a run to count, both batters have to plant either the bat or part of their body past the crease at the other end of the pitch. If the batters manage to do this multiple times they will score that number of runs. If once the ball has hit the bat and then crosses the boundary, the batters will score bonus runs.
Four: If the ball hits the ground before it crosses the boundary, the batter will score 4 runs. The umpire will signal a four by doing a sweeping motion with one arm at waist height.
Six: If the ball crosses the boundary without touching the ground, the batter will be awarded 6 runs. The umpire will signal a six by sticking both arms straight up in the air.
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All runs off the bat will be attributed to the batter (as well as the team), and they will also be recorded against the bowler who was bowling when the runs were scored.
Extras
Any runs scored not from the batters’ bats are extras. This can happen for a number of reasons.
Bowler-fault extras
No ball: A no ball is worth 1 run, and the delivery does not count towards the total for the over meaning it will have to be bowled again. The primary reason for a no ball is when the bowler steps over the crease in the process of bowling – a part of the bowlers foot must be behind the crease at the time of delivery. While the ball doesn’t have to bounce when bowled, it must be below waist height if it doesn’t bounce. The umpire can call a no ball for a number of other reasons, which we will discuss below. The umpire will signal a no ball by sticking one arm straight out at 90 degrees.
Wide: A no ball is worth 1 run, and the delivery does not count towards the total for the over meaning it will have to be bowled again. The umpires will call a wide if they judge the ball was too wide for the batter to hit. To help with this, lines are painted perpendicular to the creases, 89cm (0.97 yards) either side of the middle stump. The umpires use this line as a guide on the offside – the side the batter is facing. In the short formats, any ball down the legside (i.e. behind the batter) will be called wide. If the ball is too far over the batter’s head the umpire will also call a wide. The umpire signals a no ball by sticking both arms straight out at 90 degrees.
Any runs scored off no balls or wides will still count towards the totals, and are recorded against the bowlers.
General extras
Byes: If the batter misses the ball they can still run. Any runs scored in this fashion are called byes. The umpire signals a bye by sticking one hand in the air.
Leg-byes: If the ball hits the batter while they are playing a shot or taking evasive action, they can run. The umpire signals a leg-bye by sticking one hand in the air while lifting a leg and tapping it with their other hand.
Byes and leg-byes are not recorded against the bowler, but are still added to the total score.
Wickets
When a bowler or the fielding team gets a batter out, it is often referred to as taking a wicket. While there are 11 players in a cricket team, there always has to be 2 batters in the middle, meaning the batting team can lose 10 wickets before their innings ends. There are ten modes of dismissal or ways to take a wicket in cricket. Five of these are reasonably common, and the other five are quite rare. When a bowler or team appeals for a wicket they will commonly yell “Howzat”. If the umpire judges a batter to be out, they will raise their hand with just their index finger pointing up.
Common modes of dismissal
Bowled: When the bowler bowls the ball and it hits the wickets of the striker. If the ball hits the bat or the batter on the way to hitting the wickets, it will still count as bowled.
Caught: When the batter hits the ball and a fielder catches the ball before it hits the ground. If the ball hits the batter’s glove, this will count if the ball is then caught. If the bowler catches the ball, it is called “caught and bowled”. A fielder must catch the ball inside the boundary for it to count.
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Leg before wicket (LBW): When the ball hits the batter on the body, most commonly their legs, and the umpire believes the ball would have hit the stumps. If the batter hits the ball with the bat before the ball hits their leg, they can’t be given out LBW.
Run out: When the batters attempt a run and the fielders hit the wickets with the ball before the batter is in their crease. The batter needs to have a part of the bat or their body grounded beyond the crease to be safe. If the batters are attempting a second or third run, any runs prior to the run out will count. If a fielder hits the wickets with their hand(s) while holding the ball, it will count as out.
Stumped: When the batter misses the ball and leaves their crease, and the wicketkeeper hits the stumps with the ball in their hands.
Rare modes of dismissal
Hit wicket: When the batter hits the wickets with the bat or their body while attempting a shot or beginning their first run.
Obstructing the field: When a batter obstructs or distracts the fielding side. This includes handling the ball when not protecting themselves against injury or with the permission of the fielding side.
Hitting the ball twice: When the batter intentionally makes contact with the ball twice. However, the batter is allowed to hit the ball a second time if they are attempting to stop it from hitting the wickets.
Timed out: When the incoming batter takes longer than three minutes to be ready for the resumption of play after the previous wicket has fallen.
Retired out: When the batter leaves the field of play, for any reason other than injury and doesn’t return.
If the bowler bowls a no ball, the batter can only be out via a run out, hitting the ball twice, and obstructing the field. If it is a wide, the batter can only be out via a run out, stumped, hit wicket, or obstructing the field.
Miscellaneous Rules
There are also several other rules or restrictions during a cricket match.
Fielding restrictions
In the limited-overs forms of cricket, there is a period at the start of each innings call the Powerplay. The Powerplay lasts for the first six overs of each innings in Twenty20 cricket and the first ten overs in One Day cricket. In women’s cricket, there are only three fielders allowed outside the inner circle during the powerplay. During the rest of the innings, a maximum of five fielders are allowed outside the inner circle.
Additionally, only two fielders are allowed to be positioned on the onside, behind the batting crease.
If any of these fielding restrictions are broken, the umpire will signal a no ball.
Bowling restrictions
A bowler must bowl the ball overarm, and with a straight arm. If the umpire judges the bowler to have not done this, they shall signal a no ball.
Bowlers are only permitted to bowl a limited number of overs in the short forms of the game. In Twenty20 cricket, any one bowler may only bowl a maximum of four overs. In One Day cricket, a bowler may bowl no more than ten overs. This means that generally at least five bowlers will have to be used in an innings. In test cricket, bowlers can bowl an unlimited number of overs. No bowler is allowed to bowl two consecutive overs.
Free hits
When the umpire judges the bowler or fielders to have committed a no ball offence in the short forms of the game, they will also award the batting team a ‘free hit’. Batters can only be out via a run out, hitting the ball twice, and obstructing the field on a free hit. The result of this is the batters will attempt more powerful or risky shots without fear of getting out. The umpire signals a free hit by making circles with one raised hand. If the free hit ball is deemed another no ball or a wide, the free hit will carryover to the next ball.
That’s the rules of cricket! Keep an eye out for the rest of our Guide to Cricket. Part 1 has you covered with the basics of cricket. Next up, Part 3 will look at some key facts to help you truly impress your friends and family this summer.
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Written by Damon Lillis.
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