How to Play Cricket

Learn how to play cricket by following this guide.

Step 1: Gather people
 Gather twenty-two players and two umpires on a 350-foot long, oval-shaped field with a 66-foot-long playing area, or pitch, in the middle, and divide the players into two teams.

 Step 2: Gather equipment
 Get the cricket ball, a cricket bat, wickets, stumps, and bails. Set the wickets up on either end of the pitch. Wickets comprise three vertical stumps and two horizontal bails.

Step 3: Set up the field
 Set up play by sending the fielding team onto the pitch, to try to catch the ball and prevent runs from being scored. Choose one player on the fielding team to be the bowler. the bowler will take the ball and stand behind the wicket opposite the batter. Elect a wicket keeper to squat behind the wicket behind the batter. Tip The bowler and wicket keeper should wear protective gear to avoid injury.

 Step 4: Set up the batters
 Send two players of the batting team to bat -- a striker and a non-striker. The bowler runs and pitches the ball to the striker, who attempts to hit the ball. The non-striker will stand behind and wait to run. If the ball is hit, the two men run to the opposite end of the pitch.

 Step 5: Know the outs
 Know the ways of getting "out." The batter is out if a fielder catches the ball before it bounces, if the bowler hits a stump and knocks off a bail, if a fielder knocks a bail from a stump when the batters are going for a run, if the wicket keeper knocks a bail from a stump before the batter returns after hitting the ball, or if the ball hits the batter but the umpire thinks the ball would've hit the wicket had the batter not been in the way. 

Step 6: Score runs
 Score runs by hitting the ball if you're a batter. After a batter hits the ball, both batters run to the opposite end of the pitch. Batters can repeatedly score runs by running back and forth to the wickets until the opposing team gets them out. Tip If a batter hits the ball past the far boundary of the field, their team is automatically awarded six runs. If the ball hits the ground before it passes the boundary, the team receives four runs.

 Step 7: Win
 Win by scoring the most runs. An "inning" is complete when everyone on the batting team has batted. After each team plays one inning, the team with the most runs is the winner. If that happens to be your team, don't gloat. Cricket is a difficult but exciting sport -- cut the losing team a break.

Did You Know?
 Although the origin of cricket is unknown, it is believed to have originated as early at the 13th century and was played by country boys who bowled at a tree stump.