There are many other cricket rules. However these are most of the basics and will get you well on your way to playing the game. Many of the more advanced rules & laws can be learned along the way and are not vital to general play.

Welcome to the greatest game of all - Cricket. This site will help explain to an absolute beginner some of the basic rules of cricket.

Although there are many more rules in cricket than in many other sports, it is well worth your time learning them as it is a most rewarding sport.

Whether you are looking to play in the backyard with a mate or join a club Cricket-Rules will help you learn the basics and begin to enjoy one of the most popular sports in the world.

Cricket is a game played with a bat and ball on a large field, known as a ground, between two teams of 11 players each.

The object of the game is to score runs when at bat and to put out, or dismiss, the opposing batsmen when in the field.

The cricket rules displayed on this page here are for the traditional form of cricket which is called "Test Cricket".

However there are other formats of the game eg. 50 over matches, Twenty20 Cricket etc where the rules differ slightly.

Cricket is a game played between two teams made up of eleven players each. There is also a reserve player called a "twelfth man" who is used should a player be injured during play.

The twelfth man is not allowed to bowl, bat, wicket keep or captain the team. His sole duty is to act as a substiture fielder.

The original player is free to return to the game as soon as they have recovered from their injury.

To apply the law and make sure the cricket rules are upheld throughout the game there are two umpires in place during games. Umpires are responsible for making decisions and notifying the scorers of these decisions.

Two umpires are in place on the playing field while there is also a third umpire off the field who is in charge of video decisions.

This is where the call is too close for the on field umpires and they refer it to the third umpire who reviews slow motion video replays to make a decision

The captain of the side winning the toss decides whether his team should bat or field. The batting team posts one batsman at each wicket; the batsman taking the bowling first must keep one foot behind the popping crease, and his partner must remain entirely behind this crease.

The bowler and wicket keeper face each other at opposite wickets. The fielders are positioned roughly in two rings around the striker.

Theoretically, an inner ring is placed to save one run, that is, to intercept or trap ground hits. The outer ring is positioned to save runs that might occur from long hits to the boundary. Two umpires, one at each end of the pitch, rule on the game.

A ball is bowled from each wicket alternately in a series of six, sometimes eight, balls, called overs. When an over is completed, the wicketkeeper moves to the other wicket, and a different bowler (a starting fielder) begins the next over from the opposite end. A bowler's objective (and the fielders' as well) is to break the wicket (displace the bails), which retires the batsman.

If the bowler fouls in his stride or his bowl (he cannot jerk or throw the ball; he must bowl overarm), the umpire rules no-ball; if he bowls so high or so wide that the ball passes out of the batsman's reach, the umpire calls wide ball. No-balls and wides count as runs for the opposition but not as legal deliveries.

The striker tries to hit the ball sufficiently hard in any direction to enable him to exchange wickets with his partner before any fielder can get the ball to the stumps. Each time a batsman exchanges wickets he scores one run; on a long hit he may make as many as four runs. He need not, however, run on a short hit if he deems it risky.

In addition to no-balls, wides, and hits, runs may be scored from a bye (a ball that passes the wicket without touching the batsman's bat or person and which the wicketkeeper fails to stop); and from a leg bye (a ball that touches any part of the batsman except his hands). Only runs scored from the bat are credited to the batsman. Runs from no-balls, wides, byes, and leg byes are added to the side's score. A ball reaching the boundary is an automatic four runs; a fly ball hit over the boundary is six runs.

A striker can be declared out bowled (the ball breaks the wicket); caught (a fielder catches a ball before it touches the ground); stumped (a batsman moves out of the crease and the wicketkeeper dislodges the bails); hit wicket (a batsman dislodges a bail unintentionally); or leg before wicket (the striker's body, not his hands, intercepts a ball deemed likely by the umpire to strike the wicket). He also is out hit the ball twice, if he strikes the ball twice or if it hits his person and he strikes it again. Either batsman can be run out if a fielder breaks his wicket while he is outside his crease. Either can be declared out obstructing the field (interfering with a fielder) or out handled the ball (touched by hand during play). No batsman can be retired for failing to hit a bowled ball.

An innings is completed when ten batsmen have been dismissed. (The partner of the man who is tenth out, having no one to bat with, is credited with being "not out.") Matches are decided by the aggregate of runs made by each side in two innings or, if the side batting last passes the other team's total before all their batsmen have been retired, by the number of their wickets (batsmen still to be dismissed) remaining.

The ground has no set dimensions. It may be circular or oval and must be limited to a maximum of 75 yards (69 meters) in any direction from its center.

Boundaries may be marked by a line or a fence. The main action takes place in the middle of the ground on a pitch, a strip 66 feet (20 meters) long and 10 feet (30 meters) wide.

Centered at either end of the pitch is a 9-inch- ((23-cm-) wide wicket composed of three thin 28-inch- (71-cm-) long poles, or stumps, placed upright in the ground and of sufficient size to prevent the ball from passing between them.

On top of the stumps are two 43/8-inch (11-cm) crosspieces, or bails, balanced in grooves in the stumps. A dislodged bail retires the batsman. There are three limiting markings at each wicket. The bowling crease is in line with the stumps and is 8 feet 8 inches (22 cm) long.

The return crease is formed by 4-foot (1 meter) arms at right angles to the bowling crease, two extending away from and two toward the opposite wicket. The popping crease is a 12-foot (3.5 meter) line parallel with and 4 feet in front of each bowling crease; this line designates the extent of the batsman's safe ground. In bowling, the bowler's front foot must not land beyond the popping crease and his back foot must remain completely within the return crease or its forward extension.

The ground is divided lengthwise into offside and leg or on-side. As the batsman takes his stand at the wicket the off-side is the ground to the right of a line drawn to the bowler's end opposite him. The leg or on-side is the ground to the left.

Cricket Equipment

The bat has a willow striking face, which must not be more than 38 inches long, and a cane handle layered with thin strips of rubber bound with twine or steel spring and covered with a sheath of rubber.

The bat may not be wider than 41/4 inches and usually weighs between 4 and 6 ounces over 2 pounds.

The ball has a hand-stitched red leather cover and an interior of cork wound with twine. It weighs between 51/2 and 53/4 ounces and measures 9 inches in circumference.

A cricketer's uniform is white: shirt, trousers, boots, and sweater. Batsmen and the wicketkeeper also wear gloves and pads to protect their hands and legs and a helmet with a mesh face guard. The umpires wear long white coats over normal clothing.

A bowler delivers the ball overarm. He generally starts with a run to add speed to the ball, and he usually aims to hit the pitch before striking the wicket. He varies both the direction and the length of the bowl. A straight ball goes in a direct line with the wicket. If spin is imparted to the ball, it will come up from the pitch at an angle.

An off break ball hits the pitch on the off side of the wicket and turns toward the batsman and leg side; a leg break ball hits on the leg side of the pitch and turns across the face of the bat to the off. Bowlers also can make the ball swing in flight.

An in swinger swerves from off to leg, thus moving into the batsman; an out swinger swerves from leg to off, moving away from the batsman.

A ball is said to be good length if it comes off the pitch at such a distance from the batsman as to make him uncertain whether to step forward to play his stroke or to move back.

For fast bowlers the wicket keeper stands 12 to 15 yards behind the stumps. He crouches close to them to receive bowls of slow bowlers.

The striker should take a comfortable stance, with the weight evenly balanced on both feet and the knees slightly relaxed for easy and quick movement. The bat should be held straight (vertical), with the full face toward the ball.

The batsman may either stop the bowled ball or hit it. By shifting his feet and wrist, he can hit the ball in any direction.

If he makes a hit he decides whether or not to run; if the ball goes behind the wicket, his partner decides.

The basis of all batting strokes is the forward stroke to a straight ball. The striker steps with the front foot down the pitch, and hits the ball in front of the forward foot.

Other strokes include the drive, in which the batsman lifts his bat higher than for the forward stroke and meets the ball just behind the forward toe; the leg glance, in which he deflects a ball bowled in a line with or outside his body to the on side; the hook stroke, in which he hits a short rising ball to the on-side with a cross bat; the square cut, in which he hits a short ball outside the off stump by stepping across the wicket and hitting down; the late cut, in which he plays a short ball outside the off stump, stepping across with his right foot and sending the ball past the slips. Cutting is an effective way of getting runs off short, fast balls bowled outside the off stump.

The condition of the pitch, as well as the weather, affects the bounce and liveliness of the ball. A pitch is judged fast if the ball comes off the ground quickly, and slow if it comes off sluggishly. During a match a pitch cannot be changed unless it becomes unfit for play, and then only with both captains' consent. If the captain of the side winning the toss believes the pitch and weather favor batting, he will probably take first innings.

Cricket Facts

Some interesting facts about Cricket

 and its History

• Charlie Bannerman from Australia scored the first century in Test cricket in 1877

• Test matches between England and Australia are known as The Ashes because of an obituary published in the Sporting Times in 1822: "In affectionate remembrance of English cricket. … The body will be cremated, and the Ashes taken to Australia."

• The first ever international match took place in 1844, in New York between the United States and Canada. It was won by Canada.

• When Australia toured England for the first time in 1868, each player wore a different coloured cap, in order for the public to identify them.

• The first test match was one between Australia and England. The test match took place in Melbourne between 15 – 19 March 1877.

Cricket History

The origin of cricket is unknown. Most probably, its name was derived from the Old English cryce, which means "stick," and, in its rude form, resembled the 13th century game known as club-ball.

Cricket evolved in England in the 18th century, mainly because of the interest of great landowners who tried their skills on a field of play with their tenants and the local peasantry. Records show that teams from Kent and London played each other in 1719, and that Kent and Sussex met in 1728.

Hambledon Club in Hampshire was the focal point of cricket from 1768 to about 1788. It attracted the chief patrons and best cricketers in the land and was the place where cricket took a great step forward from the rather rustic pastime that it was to the game it is today.

In 1787, Thomas Lord, a Yorkshireman, opened a cricket ground in London, and in that year the Marylebone Cricket Club was formed.

Today the present Lord's at St. John's Wood is the most famous cricket venue in the world and the M. C. C. is the authoritative source of all cricket legislation.

As early as 1859 an All-England team toured Canada and the United States, and in 1861 a team toured Australia. Australia won the first recorded international match in Melbourne in 1877, defeating England by 45 runs. 5 years later, in 1882 Australia won again in London.

Since then matches between England and Australia, called The Ashes, have been the highlight of cricket competition. Other participants in Test matches include South Africa, the West Indies, New Zealand, India, and Pakistan. The ruling body for the Test matches is the International Cricket Conference, founded in 1909 as the Imperial Cricket Conference.

The year of the first official championships between the counties in England is recognized in 1890. In 1904 the M. C. C. formed the Advisory County Cricket Committee, which has dealt with every aspect of this major English contest since.

The Women's Cricket Association was founded in England in 1926. Women compete on an amateur basis. In 1958 the International Women's Cricket Council was formed.

History of Cricket in the US

Cricket has been played in the United States since the 18th century; the first formal clubs were formed in the 1820s. During the 1850s and 1860s, the popularity of cricket rivaled that of baseball. Later in the 19th century, American teams sometimes competed against British and Canadian teams. A few players from this time in the sport's history are regarded very highly. Nonetheless, interest in the game waned and, by the early 20th century, organized cricket almost vanished in the United States. The game is still played, although primarily by informal clubs composed of immigrant members.