Cricket for Beginners: A Simple Guide to the Rules, Formats and Terms
New to cricket? This beginner’s guide covers the basics: how the game is played, how runs are scored, ways of getting out, formats and key terms.
Cricket can look confusing at first, with its own vocabulary and long matches, but the central idea is straightforward. Two teams of eleven take turns to bat and bowl. The batting side tries to score as many runs as possible, and the fielding side tries to dismiss the batters and limit the runs. The team that scores more runs wins. This guide covers the essentials.
The basic set-up
Play takes place on a large grass field with a rectangular strip in the middle called the pitch, which is 22 yards long. At each end of the pitch there are three upright stumps with two small pieces of wood, called bails, balanced on top. One bowler delivers the ball from one end towards a batter defending the stumps at the other. A second batter, the non-striker, waits at the bowler’s end. The remaining fielders position themselves around the field, with one of them, the wicketkeeper, standing behind the stumps.
Bowlers deliver the ball in sets of six, called an over. After each over, a different bowler operates from the other end, and the fielders change position accordingly. A bowler cannot bowl two overs in a row.
How runs are scored
A batter scores runs in several ways:
- By hitting the ball and running to the other end of the pitch with the partner, which scores one run for each time they cross.
- By hitting the ball so that it crosses the boundary rope after touching the ground, which scores four runs.
- By hitting the ball over the boundary without it touching the ground, which scores six runs.
- Through extras, such as wides, no-balls, byes and leg byes, which add runs without the bat hitting the ball.
How a batter gets out
There are several ways to be dismissed, which are called wickets. The most common are:
- Bowled: the ball hits the stumps and removes the bails.
- Caught: a fielder catches the ball before it bounces after the batter hits it.
- Leg before wicket, or lbw: the ball hits the batter’s body when it would have gone on to hit the stumps, and the batter was not hitting it with the bat.
- Run out: the fielding team breaks the stumps while the batter is not safely in their ground.
- Stumped: the wicketkeeper removes the bails while the batter is out of their crease.
When ten of the eleven batters are out, the innings ends, because a batter needs a partner to continue. Under some formats an innings can also end when the allotted number of overs has been bowled.
The main formats
Cricket is played in several formats, and each has a different feel:
- Test cricket is the traditional form. Matches last up to five days, with each team batting up to two innings and with no limit on overs per innings.
- One-Day cricket limits each team to a single innings of up to 50 overs, and the match is completed in a day.
- Twenty20, or T20, restricts each side to 20 overs, which produces a match in around three hours and a fast, high-scoring style.
Many new fans start with T20, because the matches are shorter and the action is quicker, and then explore the longer formats.
Some terms worth knowing
- Innings: the period when one team bats.
- Duck: a score of zero.
- Century: a score of 100 or more by one batter.
- Maiden: an over with no runs scored off the bat.
- Powerplay: a period early in limited-overs innings in which fielding restrictions apply.
- Toss: the coin flip before the match, in which the winning captain decides whether to bat or bowl.
How to start enjoying the game
Follow one match from beginning to end, and watch for how the batting side builds a score and how the captain changes the bowlers and the field. Listening to commentary is a good way to pick up the language. Over time, the details of strategy and the differences between pitches begin to make sense. There is no need to learn every law at once, as the basic ideas of scoring runs, taking wickets and winning the match are enough to start.
Frequently asked questions
How many players are in a cricket team?
Each team has eleven players on the field, including the wicketkeeper.
How many runs is a six worth?
A six is worth six runs and is scored when the ball crosses the boundary without touching the ground first.
What is the difference between Test cricket and T20?
A Test lasts up to five days with each team batting up to twice, while a T20 match gives each side 20 overs and is typically finished in about three hours.