This is my new web site,about the rules of cricket
Cricket can be played on a field of any shape or size,but the grass should be mown and the outer boundary must be clearly marked.The action of the game centres on the pitch -
The strip in the centre of the field.The wickets are positioned directly opposite each other at the ends of the pitch.
Because the ball bounces on the pitch, the condition of the surface is of great interest to players.is it grassy,damp, dry or worn? Dry hard pitches,for example, tend to favour fast bowlers,whereas a damp pitch slows balls down.
Each wicket is made up of three wooden stumps with two wooden bails balanced on top of them.The distance between the wickets is usually 20 .12 m (18 or 19 yards) for players under eleven years.
Two large white sight screens positioned outside the boundary behind each wicket help a batsman be sure of a clear sight of the ball as it is bowled. The umpire will stop play if spectators cross in front of a sightscreen while play is in progress.
Most clubs have a basic scoreboard which gives general information about the state of play.
The lines marked on the pitch in front of the wicket are called creases. The bowling crease and the return creases show the bowler where to place his or her feet when delivering a ball. The Popping crease shows the batsman where to stand while waiting for a delivery and where to reach when taking a run.
Cricket is traditionally played in all -white clothing.Shirts and sweaters are worn on top,with trousers for boys and skirts for girls.A good pair of cricket shoes is important. They should have spiked soles and allow room for wearing a pair of wollen socks.The cricket bat is a key piece of equipment it needs to be well-balanced and not too heavy for you.A bat that is too long or too heavy will stop you from learning your batting strokes correctly.As a general guide, you should be able to lift your bat easily with just one hand.It is better to have a shortish handle on your bat while you are learning.
Blade made of willow, flat on one side, humped on the other for strength, attached to a sturdy cane handle. The blade has a maximum width of 108 millimetres (4.25 inches )and the whole bat has a maximum length of 965 millimetres (38 inches). Bats are available in different sizes, to suit different people.
Hard, cork and string ball, covered with leather. a bit like a baceball(in size and hardness), but the leather covering is thicker and joined in two hemispheres, not in a tennis ball pattern.The seam is thus like an equator, and the stitching is raised slightly.The circumference is between 224 and 229 millimetres (8.81 to 9.00 inches), and the ball weighs between 156 and 163 grams (5.5 to 5.75 ounces. Traditionally the ball is dyed red, with the stitching left white. Nowadays white balls are also used, for visibility in games played at night under artificial lighting.
There are two wickets- wooden structures made up of a set of three stumps topped by a pair of bails.These are described below.
Batting pads should be light and comfortable so that you can run easily.
Wicketkeeper's pads are shorter.
Choose batting gloves with rolled padding.
Wicketkeeper's gloves should fit snugly, allowing hands to move easily.
A box is essential equipment for boys as they start playing with a hard cricket ball.
Teams take it in turns to bat (take their innings) or field. The fielding side has all its players on the field, but only two batsmen, one at each wicket, play at a time. The aim is to score runs, either by running between the wickets or by hitting the ball far.The game is controlled by two umpires. One stands by the bowler's wicket, the other facing the batsman's wicket.They use a number of signals to communicate their decisions.If you hit the ball you can run if you choose to.You may run as many times as you can before the ball is returned by the fielders to one or other of the wickets.If the ball crosses the boundary there is no need to run as this counts as four runs.If it crosses the boundary without touching the ground first, it counts as six runs.
Map of the pitch with index below.
| 1 Wicket Keeper | 2 First Slip | 3 Second slip | 4 Third slip |
| 5 Gully | 6 Point | 7 Cover | 8 Extra Cover |
| 9 Mid Off | A Mid On | B Mid Wicket | C Square Leg |
| D Leg Slip | E Third Man | F Long Off | G Long On |
| H Fine Leg | I Bat Pad | J Deep Backward square leg | Arrow shows bowler |
The order in which the teams bat is determined by a coin toss.The captain of the side winning the toss may elect to bat or field first. All eleven players of the fielding team go out to field, two players of the batting team go out to bat.The remainder of the batting team wait off the field for their turn to bat. Each batsman wears protective gear and carries a cricket bat. One fielder becomes the bowler, Another fielder becomes the wicket-keeper.
One batsman stands behind each popping crease, near a wicket. The batsman farthest from the bowler is the striker, the other is the non-striker.The striker stands before his wicket, on or near the popping crease, in the batting stance.For a right -handed batsman, the feet are positioned like this: The bowler takes a run up from behind the non striker's wicket. He passes to one side of the wicket, and when he reaches the non -striker's popping crease he bowls the ball towards the striker, usually bouncing the ball once on the pitch before it reaches the striker.If the striker hits it,the two batsmen may score runs or may get out. When one bowler has completed six balls, that constitutes an over. A different member of the fielding team is given the ball and bowls the next over- from the opposite end of the pitch. The batsman do not change ends,
Any member of the fielding team may bowl, so long as no bowler delivers two consecutive overs.Once a bowler begins an over, he must complete it, unless injured or suspended during the over. If a batsman gets out, the ball is dead immediately, so it is impossible to get the other batsman out during the same ball. The out batsman leaves the field, and the next batsman in the team comes in to bat. The not out batsman remains on the field.
When ten batsmen are out, no new batsmen remain to come in, and the innings is completed with one batsman remaining not out. The roles of the teams then swap, and the team which fielded first gets to bat through an innings. When both teams have completed the agreed number of innings, the team which has scored the most runs wins.
Whenever a batsman hits the ball during a delivery, he may score runs. A run is scored by the batsman running between the popping creases, crossing over midway between them. When they both reach the opposite crease, one run is scored, and they may return for another run immediately. The fielding side attempts to prevent runs being scored by threatening to run out one of the batsmen.
The batsmen carry their bats as they run, and turning for another run is accomplished by touching the ground beyond the crease with an outstretched bat. The batsman do not have to run at any time they think it is unsafe - it is common to hit the ball and elect not to run.
If a batsman hits the ball so that it reaches the boundary fence, he scores four runs, without needing to actually run them.
If a batsman hits the ball over the boundary on the full, he scores six runs. If a four or six is scored, the ball is completed and the batsman cannot be run out. If a spectator encroaches on to the field and touches the ball, it is considered to have reached the boundary. If a fielder gathers the ball, but then steps outside or touches the boundary while still holding the ball, four runs are scored.If a fielder catches the ball on the full and,either during or immediately after the catch, steps outside or touches the boundary, six runs are scored.
If no fielder near the pitch gathers the ball and it continues into the outfield again, the batsman may take more runs. Such runs are called overthrows.If the ball reaches the boundary on an overthrow, four runs are scored In addition to the runs taken before the overthrow, occurred.
Here is a full list of the ten different ways of getting out.
The wicket is said to be broken if one or both of the bails have been dislodged and fallen to the ground.If the bails have fallen off for any reason and the ball is still in play, then breaking the wicket must be accomplished by pulling a stump completely out of the ground. If the wicket needs to be broken like this with the ball, the uprooting of the stump must be done with the ball in contact with the stump.
The field is notionally split into two halves, along a line down the centre of the pitch. The half of the field in front of the striker is called the off side, the half behind is called the leg side or sometimes the on side. Thus, standing at the bowler's wicket and looking towards a right -handed striker's wicket, the off side is to the left and the leg side to the right (and vice -versa for a left handed striker).The stumps of the striker's wicket are called off stump, middle stump, and leg stump, depending on which side they are on.
Here are the ten ways of getting out caught, bowled, leg before wicket, stumped, run out, hit wicket, handle the ball, obstructing the field, hit the ball twice and timed out. I will now descibe them in detail.
If a fielder catches the ball on the full after the batsman has hit it with his bat.
If the batsman misses the ball and it hits and breaks the wicket directly from the bowler's delivery. The batsman is out whether or not he is behind his popping crease.The batsman is not out if the wicket does not break.
If the batsman misses the ball with his bat, but intercepts it with part of his body when it would otherwise have hit the wicket, and provided several other conditions (described below) are satisfied. An umpire must adjudicate such a decision, and will only do so if the fielding team appeal the decision. This is a question asked of the umpire, usually of the form " how's that ? ", and usually quite enthusiastic and loud. If the ball bounces outside an imaginary line drawn straight down the pitch from the outside edge of leg stump, then the batsman cannot be out lbw, no matter whether or not the ball would have hit the stumps. If the batsman attempts to play a shot at the ball with his bat (and misses ) he may only be given out lbw if the ball strikes the batsman between imaginary lines drawn down the pitch from the outside edges of leg and off stumps (ie directly in line with the wicket). If the batsman does not attempt to play the ball with his bat, then he may be given out lbw without satisfying this condition, as long as the umpire is convinced the ball would have hit the wicket. If the ball has hit the bat before the hitting the batsman, then he cannot be given out lbw.
If a batsman misses the ball and in attempting to play it steps outside his crease, he is out stumped if the wicket -keeper gathers the ball and breaks the wicket with it before the batsman can ground part of his body or his bat behind his crease.
If a batsman is attempting to take a run, or to return to his crease after an aborted run,
If, in attempting to hit a ball or taking off for a first run, the batsman touches and breaks the wicket. This includes with the bat or dislodged pieces of the batsman's equipment - even a helmet or spectacles!
If a batsman touches the ball with a hand not currently holding the bat, without the permission of the fielding side. This does not include being hit on the hand by a delivery, or any other non - deliberate action.
If a batsman deliberately interferes with the efforts of fielders to gather the ball or effect a run out. This does not include running a path between the fielder and the wicket so that the fielder cannot throw the stumps down with the ball, which is quite legal, but does include any deliberate attempt to swat the ball away.
If a batsman hits a delivery with his bat and then deliberately hits the ball again for any reason other than to defend his wicket from being broken by the ball. If the ball is bouncing or rolling around near the stumps, the batsman is entitled to knock it away so as to avoid being bowled, but not to score runs.
If a new batsman takes longer than two minutes, from the time the previous wicket falls, to appear on the field.
The umpires signal various events with gestures, as follows:
When a batsman is out, the umpire making the decision raises one hand above his head, with the index finger extended.
There is no formal signal to indicate that a batsman is not out.The umpire can either shake his head ' no ' or not signal at all.
A four scored by the ball reaching the boundary is signalled by an arm extended horizontally and waved briefly back and forth in a horizontal arc.
A six is signalled by raising both arms straight over his head.
A no ball is signalled by holding an arm out horizontally.
A wide is signalled by holding both arms out horizontally.
Runs scored as byes are signalled by raising one arm over the head, palm open.
Leg byes are signalled by raising one leg and tapping the knee with one hand.
If the umpire has to signal dead ball to prevent the players from assumming that the ball is still alive, he waves both arms across each other in front of his abdomen.
One short is signalled by touching the tip of one hand to the same shoulder.
If an umpire wishes the third umpire to make a decision based on a tv replay, he signals by drawing a large square shape in the air with both hands, spreading them out high in the air in front of him, bringing them down, and then together again.