How Cricket Works: Rules, Fielding Positions, and Scoring System Explained

If you grew up in a country like India, Pakistan, or Bangladesh, chances are cricket is a huge part of your life. You probably play the sport, actively follow it, or even bet on rate IPL and other popular leagues and tournaments. However, people from parts of the world where cricket isn’t as prominent often find it difficult to grasp how the bat-and-ball game really works. This is because the gameplay can be a bit confusing compared to other mainstream sports like football or basketball.

This article explains the basics of cricket, including its rules, important terms, fielding positions, scoring system, and more. Let’s dive right in!

The Basics: What Even Is Cricket?

Cricket is a sport where two teams of 11 players each, with one ball and one bat, try to score more runs than the other. The Team that scores the most runs wins.

There are three main formats of matches:

• Test Matches: (The longest cricket format that can go on for five days),
• One Day Internationals (ODIs): (A one-day game, each side bats for up to 50 overs),
• Twenty20 (T20): (The fast-paced version with just 20 overs per side).

In every format, one team bats to score as many runs as possible, while the other bowls and fields to restrict them. Then both teams switch roles.

Important Terms

To easily understand how cricket works, here are some terms you must be familiar with:

• Cricket ground: This is a large oval field around the size of two or three football pitches. 
• Pitch: The pitch is located right in the centre of the ground. It is a rectangular strip of closely trimmed grass, usually 22 yards long.
• Wickets: These are the three vertical stumps topped with two little wooden bails at each end of the pitch. That’s the main target for the bowler. It’s also used to refer to a batter getting out. (e.g., “They’ve lost three wickets”).
• Bat: A bat that’s flat on one side, used by the batter to hit the ball.
• Ball: Hard, leather-covered round ball.
• Batting: This is the act of trying to score runs by hitting the ball with the bat.
• Bowling: Bowling is how the ball is delivered toward the batter. The bowler runs in and flings the ball over the arm, trying to get it past the batter and hit the wicket or force a mistake.
• Innings: One Team’s turn to bat or bowl. Each Team gets one inning in limited-overs cricket (ODI and T20).
• Over: A set of six legal deliveries bowled by one bowler. Overs are used to structure the game.
• Run: The unit of scoring. Batters score runs by running between the wickets or hitting boundaries.
• Boundary: A boundary that marks the edge of the field. If the ball reaches it, the batter gets extra runs.
• Batting Order: The sequence in which players go out to bat
• Bowler: The player who delivers the ball to the batter.
• Wicketkeeper: The player behind the stumps to catch the ball.
• Batter: The player from the batting team who is trying to score runs. 

How a Typical Cricket Game is Played

Now that you’ve learned the basics and key terms, let’s walk through how a typical game of cricket unfolds.

First things first, the toss. Like flipping a coin before a football game, the two captains meet, and one calls heads or tails. The toss winner decides whether to bat or bowl first, depending on the pitch conditions, weather, or team strategy.

Let’s say Team A wins the toss and chooses to bat first. Here’s what happens next:

The First Innings

Two batters from Team A walk out to the pitch. One stands at each end. A bowler from Team B starts their over, trying to get one of the batters out by hitting the wicket, getting them caught, or trapping them in front of the stumps (called an LBW — leg before wicket).

Meanwhile, the batters try to score runs. They can do this by:

• Running between the wickets after hitting the ball
• Hitting a four (when the ball bounces and crosses the boundary)
• Hitting a six (when the ball flies over the boundary without touching the ground)

Team A keeps batting until 10 out of 11 players are out (called “all out”) or until they’ve used up all their overs, 50 in ODIs and 20 in T20s. This completes their innings.

The Second Innings

Now it’s Team B’s turn to bat. They’ll chase the number of runs Team A scored. Let’s say Team A scored 250 runs. That means Team B needs 251 to win. They go through the same process: two batters come in, and Team A now bowls and fields. Team B wins if it reaches the target before running out of batters or overs. If it falls short, Team A wins.

Rules of The Game

Here are some important cricket rules to be familiar with:

Batting Rules

Batters score runs by running between the wickets after hitting the ball or by sending the ball to (or over) the boundary. Four runs if the ball bounces before crossing the boundary. Six if it goes over without touching the ground. The batter goes out when the ball is:

• Bowled: The ball hits the stumps.
• Caught: Fielder catches the ball before it hits the ground.
• LBW (Leg Before Wicket): If the ball hits the batter’s leg (or any part of their body), and they’re not trying to hit it with the bat — that’s LBW.
• Run Out: Fielder hits the stumps while the batter is still running.

Bowling Rules

Each bowler delivers an “over”, which is made up of six legal balls. After their over is done, a different bowler takes over from the other end of the pitch. A bowler can’t bowl two overs in a row. So, teams rotate their bowlers throughout the innings. 

Below are the basic rules for bowlers:

• They must bowl with a straight arm.
• If they overstep the crease (the line near the stumps), it’s called a no-ball, and the batting team gets a free run plus a free hit.
• If they bowl too wide (out of the batter’s reach), it’s called a wide. When this happens, the batting team gets an extra run, and the ball has to be re-bowled.

Fielding Rules

Fielding is all about stopping runs and getting batters out. Once a team is bowling, the other nine players (plus the bowler) are out in the field, spread across different positions to cover as much ground as possible.

Here’s what fielders do:

• Stop the ball from reaching the boundary. The quicker they stop it, the fewer runs the batter can score.
• Catch the ball if it’s hit in the air, which is an automatic out.
• Throw the ball at the stumps to try and run out the batter if they’re still mid-run.
• Back each other up, so if one fielder misses or misfields, another is ready to clean up.

Note: Only two fielders can be outside the inner circle during the first few overs in limited-overs cricket. This makes it easier to score early on. Also, you can’t have more than five fielders on the leg side (the side behind the batter), and no one can move or distract the batter while the bowler runs in. That’s considered unfair play.

The Wicket Keeper

The wicketkeeper always stays crouched behind the stumps, ready to catch edges, attempt stumpings, and grab wild throws. They are like the goalie or catcher of the Team with quick reflexes, safe hands, and always alert.

Conclusion

Cricket may seem complex at first, but everything becomes clear once you understand the basic rules, fielding positions, and scoring system. With this article, it is safe to say that the next time you watch a cricket match, you’ll not only follow the gameplay with ease but also enjoy every aspect of the action.