How to play cricket
Scope: General cricket principles using MCC Laws, 2017 Code, fourth edition (2026). Match formats add their own playing conditions.
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game normally played by two teams of eleven. The batting side tries to score runs while the bowling and fielding side tries to dismiss batters and limit the score. Two batters are on the field together.
Follow one over
A bowler delivers the ball towards the striker at the opposite wicket. The batter may hit it, defend it or leave it. The fielding side retrieves the ball and looks for a lawful dismissal.
An over contains six valid balls. Wides and no-balls do not count towards those six, so an over can require more than six deliveries. The next over is bowled from the opposite end.
Scoring runs
Batters can run between the wickets. A boundary normally scores four. Six requires the ball to have been hit by the bat and to reach the boundary without first being grounded inside the field. Extras also add to the team total.
Taking wickets
Common dismissals include bowled, caught, run out and leg before wicket (lbw). Each has specific conditions and exceptions; merely hitting a batter’s pad does not establish lbw.
The bowling action must be lawful. “The arm must stay straight” is an inaccurate shortcut: MCC’s throwing law concerns elbow straightening during the specified part of the delivery action, rather than simply whether the arm is bent.
Innings and formats
An innings is a team’s turn to bat. Limited-overs formats set an innings allowance, while multi-day cricket also works within a time limit. An innings may end through wickets, its allowance, a declaration or other applicable conditions. Reaching a winning target ends the match.
The result depends on the format. Timed matches can be drawn, and interrupted limited-overs matches can use a revised target under their playing conditions.
Sources and review
Reviewed on against MCC Laws of Cricket, 2017 Code, fourth edition (2026), Laws 1, 13–19, 21–23 and 32–39. This is an introduction; the full rules and the regulations for your competition take precedence.