Cricket Overview
Cricket is a globally recognized sport which is said to have been invented in England. Some reports claim that Cricket was played as early as the 16th century. The Cricket Rules can seem quite complex but in this guide we will explain them to you in a simple way.
The sport is a bat and ball game and is most popular in South Asia, New Zealand, Australia, the United Kingdom, South Africa and the West Indies. Cricket is the second most popular sport in the world with around 2.5 billion fans.
The sport was spread throughout the world with the expansion of the British Empire and has become one of the most loved sports. The game of Cricket is governed by the the International Cricket Council (ICC) and the Cricket rules are maintained by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC).
Aim of the Game
There are two teams in a Cricket match. The aim of the game is to try and score more runs than the opposing team. There are 3 different variations of Cricket, test Cricket, one day international Cricket and twenty20 Cricket. The main difference between the variations of Cricket is the timeframe in which the games are played.
Playing Field
Cricket is played on an oval shaped field and in the middle of the field is a rectangle called the Cricket pitch. At each end of the pitch are wickets made of 3 wooden stumps to support 2 wooden bails. The oval field is usually grassy and has a circumference of around 200m while the Cricket pitch is 22 yd long by 10 ft wide.
Players and Equipment
The game involves 2 teams of 11 players on each side when playing by the official Cricket rules. However, you can play with as many players as you like, playing as big or small matches as you like. To play the game you will need a wicket, bat and ball as well as various protective gear. There are a number of different Cricket positions include bowlers, batters, wicketkeepers and fielders.
Scoring
To score a run the batsman must hit the ball and run between the wickets. Each time the batsman runs a full length of the pitch it equals 1 run.
How to Win
According to the Cricket rules the winning team is the team with the most runs.
Cricket Rules
- Teams are made up of 11 players, with one substitute in case of injury.
- At the beginning of the game, a coin toss is used to determine who bats first.
- The fielding team will put all 11 players on the field, whilst the batting team will send out two batsmen. The bowlers are part of the fielding team.
- Batsmen always work in pairs, and a batsman cannot bat alone.
- The batsmen’s job is to score runs and defend their wickets.
- These wickets are three wooden stumps with two wooden bails resting on top of them.
- They try and hit the ball away from the wickets, and to run to their partner’s crease.
- If a batsman hits the ball and both men safely run to the opposite crease, this scores one run.
- If a bowler bowls the ball high, wide or throw a no–ball (an illegal bowl), this automatically scores one run.
- If the batsman hits the ball along the floor and it reaches the boundary, this scores four runs automatically without running.
- If the batsman hits the ball in the air and it goes over the boundary, this scores six automatic runs. This is the highest scoring play in cricket.
- It’s the job of the fielding team to get the batsmen out of the game.
- The fielding team can designate specific players to bowl the ball towards the batsman.
- To bowl the ball, the ball must be bowled overarm and be within the channel of play.
In Cricket, there are 10 ways for a fielding team to get you out :
- 1. Bowled out. If the bowler bowls the ball and it hits the batsman’s wickets and knocks over the bails, he’s been bowled out.
- 2. Caught out. If the batsman hits the ball in the air and it’s caught by a fielder, he’s been caught out.
- 3. Run out. If the batsman runs for his partner’s crease and the ball is thrown into the wickets before the batsman gets there, he’s been run out.
- 4. LBW (Leg before Wicket). If the ball hits the batsman’s leg, and the umpire thinks that the ball would have hit the wickets if his leg wasn’t in the way – he is ruled out by LBW – Leg Before Wicket.
- 5. Stumped out. If the batsman swings and misses the ball, the wicket keeper can catch the ball and push the ball into the wickets. If this happens before the batsman can return to the crease, he’s been stumped out.
- 6. Hit Wicket / Accidental out. On the rarest of occasions, a batsman can get himself out or his own partner out by accidentally hitting the wickets themselves.
The other four ways to get out in Cricket almost never happen in today’s game. These include :
- 1. Hitting the ball twice in one stroke.
- 2. Handling the ball.
- 3. Obstructing a fielding player.
- 4. Or taking too long to take to the field.
- Once a batsman is out, he is replaced by the next batsmen in the batting teams line-up.
- Once 10 players are out, the players switch sides so that the batsmen are now the fielders and vice versa.
- The highest run total after both sides have had their turn to bat, wins.
That’s basically the game in a nutshell, but there’s a few other things you’ll need to understand :
- A bowler must deliver 6 legal bowls to a batsman.
- Once 6 legal bowls have been played, this is known as an over.
- Once an over is complete, a new bowler will then try and get the other batsmen out by bowling the ball from the other side.
- Once both teams have finished batting – this is known as an innings.
- The number of overs and innings vary depending on the format of cricket. In T20 cricket, each team is given 20 overs, for one innings. This game generally lasts about 3 hours.
- In One Day Cricket, each team is given 40 or 50 overs for one innings. As the name implies this game generally lasts 1 day.
- In Test Cricket, there are no limits for overs and the game ends theoretically when all batsmen are out and is usually played for two innings. This game can last anywhere up to 5 days and is the oldest (and longest) form of cricket.
- Click here to watch the video explanation of the Cricket rules.
Learn More
Visit here to learn more about Cricket and here to learn more about the Cricket rules and how to play Cricket.
