How to Understand The Rules of Cricket

To play cricket you will need 2 teams. Each team consists of 11 players. The field size on which the game is played upon can vary based on league regulations and level of play, but it will be oval in shape and have a diameter of about 550 feet. Also on the field will be 2 officials that referee the game, they are called umpires.

When a team is 'up to bat' then they will provide 2 batsmen. They will stand on the pitch. The pitch is a flat strip of dry earth in the middle of the field. It's typically around 55 feet long. The batsmen will stand on either end of the pitch. Also on each end of the pitch will be the wicket, which will include 3 wooden poles called stumps, the stumps are just under 3 feet in heights and places 2 inches apart. On top of the stumps will be 3 pieces of wood, called the bails.

The other team will place there players on the field to play against the 2 batsmen. Once of these 11 will be the bowler. They are responsible for the delivery of the cricket ball. The bowler will run or walk towards the pitch and bowl the ball over arm to the wicket on the other end of the pitch. They must have a straight arm when bowling.

The bowling team's objective is to get the batsmen out, while the batsmen team is trying to score as many points as they can. The game is over when 10 batsmen are out or the allotted time limit or bowls have been reached, this is classed as the end of the inning. There are many variations on how long a cricket match lasts, a bowler will bowl 6 balls and that will be classed as an over. If the match is a 50 over match, then each team will receive 300 bowls. There are also options for each team to have 2 innings these are typically for the longer test matches that take up 5 days.

The batting team will score a run in the following way.
If they hit the ball and the 2 batsmen run to the opposite end of the pitch. Each time they do this they receive 1 point. The fielding team has to try and stump out the runners by hitting off the bails before the running batsmen get safely back to the wicket.

The batting team can also score by hitting the ball outside of the field, called the boundary. If the ball goes over the boundary they will score 4 points, if the ball does not touch the ground as it goes past the boundary then its 6 points.

They can also score by mistakes by the bowling team, for example a 'No Ball' is then the bowler oversteps the mark on the pitch where he has to release the ball or he bowls incorrectly by bending his arm. A No Ball is 1 point to the batting team.

Another point will be given to the batting team for a 'wide'. This is when the bowl goes too wide from the batter and so they had no chance of hitting it.

The fielding team can get the batting team out in numerous ways, as already discussed they can hit the stumps while the batters are running between the wickets. They can catch a ball that the batsman hit before it hits the ground. They can bowl him out, this is by the bowl knocking off the bails directly from the bowl. The most subjective way of the batter getting out is LBW - Leg before wicket. This happens when the batter puts his leg in the way of the ball that was going to hit the stumps, so he stopped an out. This only applies if the batter did not make contact with the ball with his bat before it touches his leg.

The winner is declared once all the innings and overs have been played. the team with the most points win. There are more complications in the longer test matches that can often end in a tie. This is because the game is time capped and not limited in overs, so if both teams have not completed there innings as they still have batsmen in, then the game is a declared a tie.