In this article, you can read about the rules of Cricket. The object of the game is for your team to score more runs than the opposing team. 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. Batsmen always work in pairs, and a batsman cannot bat alone.
Batsmen
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 throws a no-ball (an illegal bowl), this automatically scores one run. Also, if the batsman hits the ball along the floor and it reaches the boundary, this scores four runs automatically without running. And 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.
10 Ways
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 stamped 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 hitting the ball twice in one stroke, handling the ball, obstructing a fielding player, or taking too long to take to the field
Once a batsman is out, he is replaced by the next batsmen in the batting team’s line-up. Once 10 players are out, the players switch sides so that the batsmen are now the fielders and vice versa.
Overs and Inning
The highest run total after both sides have had their turn to bat, wins. That’s basically the game in a nutshell, but there are 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. When 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 amount of overs and innings varies depending on the format of cricket.
Cricket Variations
In T20 cricket, each team is given 20 overs, for one inning. This game generally lasts about 3 hours.
In One Day Cricket, each team is given 40 or 50 overs for one inning. As the name implies this game generally lasts a day.
In Test Cricket, there are no limits for overs and the game ends theoretically when all batsmen are out and are usually played for two innings. This game can last anywhere up to 5 days and is the oldest (and longest) form of cricket.
If you’re new to Cricket, I highly recommend watching highlights of any Indian Premier League Game to start out with. If you’re watching Cricket on TV, they’ll conveniently tell you how many runs have been scored, how many batsmen are out, and they’ll even tell you what the other team scored and how many runs are required. Cricket might seem like a slow game, but as you watch or play it – the rules will become clear.
If you have found this article at all helpful, please comment and share. It takes me ages to make one of these things and good Karma is always appreciated. If you’re also on Reddit, feel free to discuss this article there. But in the meantime, Enjoy Cricket!
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