Cricket explained for beginners: formats, runs, wickets and how a match is won

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Cricket can look baffling to newcomers, with games that last five days and still end in a draw. The core is simple, though: one side bats and tries to score runs, the other bowls and fields and tries to get them out. Then they swap.

The basics

Each team has 11 players. The match is played on an oval field with a 22-yard strip in the middle called the pitch. At each end of the pitch stands a wicket: three stumps with two small bails on top. Two batters are on the field at once, one at each end. A bowler from the fielding side bowls the ball at the batter facing (the striker), trying to hit the stumps or force a mistake. The batter tries to protect the wicket and score runs.

Overs

A bowler delivers six legal balls in a row, called an over. Then a different bowler bowls the next over from the other end. No bowler may bowl two overs in a row, and in limited-overs cricket each bowler has a cap on how many overs he or she may bowl.

Scoring runs

Running: after hitting the ball, the two batters run between the wickets. Each time both reach the other end, one run is scored.
Four: the ball crosses the boundary rope after touching the ground.
Six: the ball clears the boundary without bouncing.
Extras: runs given away by the fielding side, such as a wide (out of the batter's reach) or a no-ball (an illegal delivery, often overstepping the crease). Both add a run and the ball must be bowled again.

Ways to get out

Bowled: the ball hits the stumps and knocks a bail off.
Caught: a fielder catches the ball before it bounces.
LBW (leg before wicket): the ball would have hit the stumps but struck the batter's leg or body first. The trickiest rule, with conditions about where the ball pitched.
Run out: a fielder breaks the wicket while the batters are short of their ground mid-run.
Stumped: the wicketkeeper breaks the wicket while the batter has stepped out of the crease.
Hit wicket: the batter knocks the stumps with bat or body.

There are a few rarer dismissals, but these cover nearly every one you will see. When ten of the eleven batters are out, the innings ends, because a batter cannot bat alone. The team is then "all out".

Innings

An innings is one team's turn to bat. It ends when the team is all out, its overs run out, or, in Test cricket, when the captain chooses to declare.

The three main formats

Test cricket: up to five days, each team batting twice. The longest and most traditional form, played between national teams. If neither side completes the win in time, the match is drawn.
One Day International (ODI): each team bats once for up to 50 overs. Takes most of a day.
T20 (Twenty20): each side bats once for up to 20 overs. About three hours, with big hitting. The format of the leading franchise leagues.

How a winner is decided

In limited-overs games, the side with more runs wins. If the team batting second passes the target, it wins "by X wickets" (the number of batters not out). If the team batting first defends its total, it wins "by X runs". In a Test, a team must get the opponents out twice and outscore them. Running out of time means a draw, which is different from a tie, where scores finish exactly level, which is very rare. Rain can shorten limited-overs matches, and a mathematical method then adjusts the target.

Fielding positions in brief

Fielders are spread round the ground. The wicketkeeper stands behind the stumps; slips wait beside the keeper for edges; point, cover, mid-off, mid-on and midwicket guard the ring; fine leg, third man and long-on patrol the boundary. The captain moves them constantly to suit the bowler and batter.

A good first watch

A T20 match is the easiest start: short, fast, and the scoreboard shows the target and required run rate. Once you enjoy that, a day of Test cricket shows the strategy underneath. Which rule took you longest to understand, or which team do you follow? Share your questions in the comments.