Cricket explained
In ten minutes you’ll know how a match works. Everything you need for your first training session or your first match as a spectator.
Book a free trial →- Players per match
- 2 × 11
- Length of the pitch
- 20.12 m
- Balls make an over
- 6
- Length of a T20
- ≈ 3 h
The idea
Two teams of eleven. One team bats and scores runs, the other bowls and fields and tries to get the batters out.
Then they swap. The second team has to beat the first team’s runs. Whoever has more runs at the end wins.
If you know baseball: a similar basic idea, but the ball usually bounces before reaching the batter, you can hit in any direction, and a batter can stay in for a long time.
The field
Cricket is played on a large oval of grass. In the middle is the pitch, a 20.12-metre strip with a wicket at each end: three stumps topped by two bails.
Tap a position on the field.
Bowler
Bowls the ball with a straight arm after a run-up. After six balls, one over, another bowler takes over from the other end.
How runs are scored
- 1·2·3RunningAfter hitting the ball, both batters run to the other end of the pitch. Each completed run counts as one.
- 4FourIf the ball rolls or bounces over the boundary, that’s four runs automatically.
- 6SixIf the ball clears the boundary without touching the ground: six runs. The best shot in cricket.
- +1ExtrasBowler mistakes count for the batting side: a wide (too far away) or a no-ball (overstepping) gives one run and must be bowled again.
How a batter gets out
When a batter is out, the next one comes in. Once ten of eleven are out, the innings ends, because nobody can bat alone.
Bowled
The bowler hits the wicket and at least one bail falls off. The clearest way to be out.
How a match runs
- The tossThe captains toss a coin. The winner decides whether to bat or bowl first.
- First inningsTeam A bats until its overs are used up or ten batters are out.
- BreakA short break. At our club that usually means tea and snacks, an old cricket tradition.
- Second inningsTeam B bats and needs one run more than Team A scored. That’s the target.
- ResultIf Team B reaches the target, it wins “by X wickets”. If not, Team A wins “by X runs”.
Formats
Where our teams play →- T1010 Overs per teamabout 90 minutes · Cologne Champions T10, German Super League
- T2020 Overs per teamabout 3 hours · WDCV Regionalliga T20, tournaments, the IPL
- One-day50 Overs per teamabout 7 hours · DCB Bundesliga, WDCV Regionalliga
- Testunlimited Overs per teamup to 5 days · Only between national teams
| Format | Overs per team | Duration | Where it’s played |
|---|---|---|---|
| T10 | 10 | about 90 minutes | Cologne Champions T10, German Super League |
| T20 | 20 | about 3 hours | WDCV Regionalliga T20, tournaments, the IPL |
| One-day | 50 | about 7 hours | DCB Bundesliga, WDCV Regionalliga |
| Test | unlimited | up to 5 days | Only between national teams |
Key terms
- Over
- Six legal balls from one bowler.
- Innings
- A team’s turn to bat.
- Wicket
- The three stumps, but also: a batter is out (“a wicket falls”).
- Crease
- The white lines in front of the wicket. Behind them the batter is safe.
- Maiden
- An over without a single run.
- Duck
- Out without scoring a run.
- Century
- 100 runs by one batter in an innings. Ours on the honours board →
- Five-for
- Five wickets by one bowler in an innings. Ours on the honours board →
- Yorker
- A ball that lands right at the batter’s feet.
- Bouncer
- A short ball that bounces up to chest or head height.
- Howzat?
- “How’s that?”: the fielders’ appeal asking the umpire whether a batter is out.
- Not out
- A batter still in at the end of the innings, written with a star, for example 118*.
Your first training
Trial sessions are free, three times. Just come along and we’ll show you everything from the start.
- Sports clothes and trainers, ideally white or light
- A water bottle and sun protection
- We lend you a bat, pads, gloves and a helmet
- We start with a soft ball until you feel confident
