BeginnersOct 26, 20265 min read
Cricket for Beginners: The Rules in Five Minutes
Cricket looks complicated until you see that it is one simple contest repeated: one bowler against one batter, with the batting team trying to score and the fielding team trying to get them out.
The basic idea
Two teams of eleven. One team bats and tries to score runs. The other bowls and fields and tries to take ten wickets or limit the runs. Then the teams swap.
How runs are scored
The two batters run between the wickets for one run each time, or hit the ball to the boundary for four (along the ground) or six (over the rope without bouncing). Extras such as wides and no-balls add runs too.
How a batter gets out
The main ways are bowled (the ball hits the stumps), caught (a fielder catches it before it bounces), leg before wicket, run out and stumped. Read our LBW guide for the one that confuses everyone.
Overs
A bowler delivers six legal balls, called an over. Then another bowler bowls from the other end.
Who wins
In limited-overs cricket the side with more runs wins. In a Test, a team must bowl the opposition out twice and also be ahead on runs. If time runs out first it is a draw.
Quick answers
How many players are in a cricket team?
Eleven on the field at a time.
How many balls are in an over?
Six legal deliveries.