Laws of cricket

Cricket is a bat and ball game, played between two teams of eleven players each.[19][20] One team bats, attempting to score runs, while the other bowls and fields the ball, attempting to restrict the scoring and dismiss the batsmen. The objective of the game is for a team to score more runs than its opponent. In some forms of cricket, it may also be necessary to dismiss the opposition in order to win the match, which would otherwise be drawn.

Format of the game 

 A cricket match is divided into periods called innings. It is decided before the match whether each team will have either one innings or two innings each. During an innings (innings ends with "s" in both singular and plural form), one team fields and the other bats. The two teams switch between fielding and batting after each innings. All eleven members of the fielding team take the field, but only two members of the batting team (two batsmen) are on the field at any given time. The two batsmen stand at opposite ends of the pitch, each behind a line on the pitch known as a crease. The fielding team's eleven members stand outside the pitch, spread out across the field. At each end of the pitch is a wooden target called a wicket. One designated member of the fielding team, called the bowler, is given the ball, and bowls the ball from one end of the pitch to the wicket behind the batsman on the other side of the pitch. The batsman tries to prevent the ball from hitting the wicket by striking the ball with a bat. If the bowler succeeds in hitting the wicket the batsman is dismissed. A dismissed batsman must leave the field, to be replaced by another batsman from the batting team. If the batsman is successful in striking the ball and the ball is not caught before it hits the ground, the two batsmen may then try to score points (runs) for their team by running the length of the pitch, grounding their bats behind the opposite crease. Each crossing and grounding by both batsmen is worth one run.

The batsmen may attempt one run, multiple runs, or elect not to run at all. By attempting runs, the batsmen risk dismissal, which can happen if the fielding team retrieves the ball and hits a wicket with the ball before either batsman reaches the opposite crease. If the batsman hits the bowled ball over the field boundary without the ball touching the field, the batting team scores six runs and may not attempt more. If the ball touches the ground and then reaches the boundary, the batting team scores four runs and may not attempt more. When the batsmen have finished attempting their runs, the ball is returned to the bowler to be bowled again. The bowler continues to bowl toward the same wicket, regardless of any switch of the batsmen's positions.[21] After a bowler has bowled six times (an over), another member of the fielding team is designated as the new bowler. The new bowler bowls to the opposite wicket, and play continues. Fielding team members may bowl multiple times during an innings, but may not bowl two overs in succession. The innings is complete when 10 of the 11 members of the batting team have been dismissed, one always remaining "not out", or when a set number of overs has been played. The number of innings and the number of overs per innings vary depending on the match.