Cricket
The bowler aims at the wicket, the batter defends it, and the runs come from every exchange of ends along the pitch.
Cricket is a game about a single object that must not be knocked down. The batter defends the , the bowler aims at it, and nearly everything in the Laws describes, one way or another, what may happen to it.
The batter is under no obligation to run. They may simply keep the bat in front of the wicket for as many deliveries as they like — a legitimate tactic rather than passivity.
The scoring is done with the legs
A comes not from the stroke but from the exchange: the two batters swap ends of the . While the ball is being returned they can run again, and again.
The exception is a ball reaching the boundary, which scores without any running at all — the allowance the Laws set for it replaces whatever the batters had completed.
The pitch is fixed, the ground is not
The strip in the middle is described to the inch: 22 yards long, 10 feet wide, stumps 28 inches high.
The boundary of the ground the Laws do not fix at all — it is drawn to suit the place. So cricket grounds vary enormously in size around an absolutely identical middle.
Pitch
Under these rules: 22 yards long and 10 feet wide.
A strip 22 yards long and 10 feet wide at the centre of the ground.
The pitch is fixed exactly and the ground is not: the boundary is drawn to suit the place, which is why cricket grounds vary greatly in size around an identical middle.
Wicket
Under these rules: One at each end of the pitch; the tops of the stumps 28 inches above the surface.
Three stumps 28 inches high with two bails across the top.
A wicket stands at each end of the pitch. Knocking off a bail is the most direct way to dismiss a batter, and it is what the bowler aims at.
Bat
Under these rules: One for each of the two batters on the field.
A flat bat for striking a ball that has bounced off the pitch.
The flat face matters: the ball arrives off the bounce and unpredictably, and has to be met with a surface rather than a point.
Cricket Ball
Under these rules: One ball in play.
A hard ball with a raised seam around its equator.
The seam lets the ball deviate after pitching. As the ball wears its behaviour changes, and that is part of the tactics of a match.
The Laws of Cricket
The sides
A match is played between two sides, each of eleven players, one of whom is captain.
By agreement a match may be played between sides of fewer or more than eleven, but no more than eleven may field at any time.
The pitch
The pitch is a rectangular area 22 yards long and 10 feet wide. It is bounded at either end by the bowling creases and on either side by imaginary lines 5 feet from the line joining the centres of the two middle stumps.
The wickets
A wicket stands at each end of the pitch. The tops of the stumps are 28 inches above the playing surface.
The over
The ball is bowled from each end alternately, in of six valid balls.
Runs
Runs are scored by running between the wickets and by strokes reaching the boundary.
A ball reaching the boundary scores the allowance the Laws set for it, and that allowance replaces what the batters had run.
Dismissal
A batter may be dismissed in several ways: the delivery breaks the wicket; a stroke is caught before it touches the ground; the wicket is put down before the batter has made good their ground; the leg obstructs the wicket under the conditions the Law sets; and by the other means provided.
When a batter is dismissed, any penalty runs awarded stand, and no other runs are credited except in the cases expressly provided.
Worth knowing
The Laws describe the game, not the competition. How many innings and overs a match runs to, where the boundary is drawn, whether fielding restrictions apply — all of that is set by the competition's playing conditions rather than by the Laws. Hence the distance between a multi-day match and twenty overs under one and the same code.
Sources
- The Laws of Cricket, 2017 Code, 4th Edition (2026) · Marylebone Cricket Club Open source
Glossary of terms
- Over
- A series of six valid balls bowled from one end. After it, bowling switches to the other end.
- Pitch
- The strip at the centre of the ground, 22 yards long and 10 feet wide, running between the two wickets.
- Run
- A point. Scored by the two batters exchanging ends along the pitch, or by a stroke reaching the boundary.
- Wicket
- Three stumps with two bails across the top, at each end of the pitch. The batter defends it and the bowler aims at it.