🏏 Cricket Rules & Basics

A simple guide to how cricket works — formats, scoring, gameplay, dismissals, and strategy.

Cricket may look complex, but at its core it is a beautiful balance of strategy, skill, and teamwork. This guide breaks everything down into simple, easy-to-understand sections — perfect for beginners and even experienced fans who want a deeper understanding.

Objective • Field Setup • Scoring • Dismissals • Overs • Innings • Umpires

Objective of the Game

The basic goal of cricket is VERY simple:

➡ Score more runs than the other team.

One team bats and tries to score runs, while the other bowls and fields to restrict runs and dismiss batters. Teams switch roles after an innings.

The Cricket Field

Cricket is played on an oval field with a **22-yard pitch** in the center. Key elements:

  • 🏏 **Pitch** – central strip where batting and bowling happen.
  • 🧱 **Wickets** – 3 stumps + 2 bails at each end of the pitch.
  • ⭕ **Inner Circle** – restricts field placements in limited-overs cricket.
  • 🔵 **Boundary Line** – marking the outer edge of the field.
Coming soon: Interactive field diagram

How Runs Are Scored

Runs can be scored in multiple ways:

  • 1, 2, 3 Runs — Running between the wickets.
  • 4 Runs — Ball hits boundary after bouncing.
  • 6 Runs — Ball clears boundary in the air.
  • Extras — Wides, no-balls, byes, leg byes, penalty runs.
"Strike rotation is the heartbeat of good batting partnerships."

Ways a Batter Can Be Out

🎯 Bowled
Ball hits the stumps and bails fall.
👐 Caught
Fielder catches the ball before it touches the ground.
🏃 Run Out
Stumps are broken before batter completes a run.
🦵 LBW
Ball hits batter’s pad in line with stumps preventing a legal hit.
🚫 Stumped
Keeper removes bails when batter steps out of crease.
⚖ Hit Wicket
Batter accidentally hits stumps with body or bat.

Understanding Overs

An **over** consists of six legal deliveries bowled by one bowler.

  • After one over, a new bowler must bowl from the opposite end.
  • Restricted overs differ by format (20, 50, 10, 100 balls).
  • Illegal deliveries add runs to the batting team.

Innings Structure

Depending on the format:

  • Test: 2 innings per team
  • ODI / T20 / T10: 1 innings per team
  • The Hundred: 100-ball innings

An innings ends when:

  • 10 batters are out
  • Overs/bowls are complete
  • Captain declares (Test)

Umpires & Officials

  • 2 On-field umpires — primary decision-makers.
  • Third umpire — handles replays (DRS).
  • Match referee — oversees conduct and rules.
  • Scorers — maintain official match data.
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