Rules of Cricket for Americans

Baseball, the national past-time of the United States, is derived from the British sport of cricket. Ironically, most Americans don't know how to play cricket, as it has a completely different set of rules. Cricket rules for Americans are the same basic rules of cricket as anywhere else, but simplified to understand in the context of U.S. sports.

  1. Length of Game

    • Cricket has innings, much like baseball, but only two as opposed to nine. In each inning a team gets to bat and a team gets to play the field. However, that's where the similarities end. Players in the field are called bowlers and they pitch the ball to the batters and then must get them out over the course of the time they are batting. They must get 10 outs to end the offensive part of an inning, which is why the game often can take up to five days to play, as this is is the only formal limit on time in the game of cricket.

    Players on Teams

    • Eleven players take the field for a cricket match. The main players are the bowler, the wicketkeeper and the batsmen. The bowler bowls or pitches the ball on a number of bounces to each batsmen at different times. The batsmen are on the same team and bat from opposite sides of the batting area, in front of each of their own wickets, or sticks in the ground. They protect this wicket with their bats by knocking the ball out of the way or hitting it outside of a boundary, which can score runs. The wicketkeeper stands behind them when each player bats and tries to catch their ball when it goes near him and them hit their wicket so that they will be out. The wicket keeper wears a big leather glove, like a catcher in baseball. All the other players on defense in the field don't wear gloves and must handle the ball with their bare hands.

    Ways to Score

    • Scoring occurs when a batsman hits the ball and runs from one side of the pitch to the other before someone can knock down their wicket legally. They can run back and forth multiple times if they choose to but as soon as they begin to run again, they can be put out by having their wicket knocked over. If the batter hits the ball past a certain boundary, they do not have to run and they are awarded anywhere from four to six runs, depending on where they hit the ball. Batters also run with their bats and can be safe across a line on the pitch by simply touching their bat over the end, not any part of their bodies. Other ways to score runs include byes and leg byes, which are essentially passed balls or hit batsmen.