Some of the main rules of the game are:
Before the Game
Two teams play the game of cricket. Each team has 11 players and a substitute fielder called twelfth man. The team is finalized, and the list is submitted to the umpires, before the toss of coin.
A captain and a vice-captain are nominated for each team. The captain is taken to be the team's leader on the field. For any transgression of the laws, he is held responsible along with the transgressing player.
Before the start of the game both the captains and the match referee go on to the ground for the toss. The winning captain decides whether he would like to bat or bowl first.
The Ball
The new ball should be between 155.9g and 163g. Its measurement should be between 22.4cm and 22.9cm in circumference.
The balls should be approved by the umpires and captains before play.
During the course of the game, umpires have to make sure that the ball is not tampered with. Ball tampering means using any illegal manner or substance to change the state of the ball.
Each team gets a new ball at the start of an innings and they have to complete the innings with the same ball during a One-day match. A ball can only be changed if it is lost or if the umpires are convinced that it has either lost its shape or color. In such instances a different ball which is in relatively similar condition can be taken.
During the test Matches, balls can be changed at the discretion of the bowling captain at the completion of 80 overs in an innings, or after that.
The Bat
The cricket bat has no weight restrictions by law. It should be no longer than 38 inches in length (handle included), and no more than 4.25 inches in width. It must be made of wood.
Recently the ICC declared the titanium reinforcements in Ricky Ponting's bat illegal. Therefore, the blade can be covered with materials for protection and strengthening, but the material should not be more than 1.56mm in thickness and should not cause damage to the ball.
While batting the hand and glove of the batsman in which the bat is held is considered a part of the bat.
The Pitch
The pitch has a measurement of 22 yards in length and 10 ft in width.
It has bowling creases on each side and an imaginary line on the longer sides. The placement of stumps and the distance between the popping crease and the bowling crease are also standard.
The umpires are considered final authority to decide whether a certain pitch is fit to play or not. Any type of tampering of the pitch during the match by the players is a breach of conduct. If proven, the player can be fined and banned for a limited number of games.
If they deem necessary, the umpires, can suspend the play due to adverse playing conditions or weather and light. A match is supposed to be played on a single pitch.
The Wickets
The wickets are placed on either sides of the pitch and they are parallel to each other and at a distance of 22yards.Each set of wickets has three stumps which are 9 inches in width. The top of each stump is 28 inches above the playing surface and has a standard shape.
The bails also have a standard SHAPE AND SIZE AND SHOULD FIT PROPERLY ON TOP OF THE STUMPS WITHOUT MAKING THEM GO OUT OF THE VERTICAL.
In strong windy conditions, if the umpires feel that the bails will not stay on the stumps properly, they can remove them on both the ends until conditions become suitable for putting them back, or they can use a heavier set of bails.
The Innings
An 'Innings' is a term used to describe a team's stint with the bat.
All 11 players bat (2 at a time) and try to score runs.
The innings comes to an end after the dismissal of the 10th batsman or when the complete quota of overs is bowled (in limited overs game) or when the batting captain decides to 'declare' the innings and make the fielding team bat.
The number of innings in a cricket match determined by the type of cricket in progress. Test matches have 2 innings per side while the Limited Overs Cricket (One Day matches) allow for one innings per team.
The fielding captain is responsible for nominating the bowlers that will bowl the overs. Each bowler can bowl only 10 overs per match in Limited overs games while there is no restriction for Test matches.
In a Test Match each side gets two innings and takes their innings alternately unless there is a case of follow-on or forfeiture. These matches are played over a period of 5 days and there is no limit of overs to be bowled in a single innings. At the end of the 5 day period if there is no winner than the match is considered a draw.
An innings is considered complete, both in one-day and Test match if a side is bowled out. If the captain decides to declare his teams innings the innings ends, also a captain can forfeit their innings.
During a test match the sides that bats first and leads by at least 200 at the end the first innings of both teams, can force a follow-on on the other team which would make the other side follow their innings (bat again).
The captain of the batting side can at any time during the match, when the ball is dead, declare his team's innings. He can also at any time forfeit his innings, which is considered as a completed innings.
Illegal deliveries
In order to bowl a legal delivery, the bowler has to bowl over arm, and there should be not bending or straightening of the elbow during the delivery action. A suspect action can be reported by the match officials and the bowler can be penalized with a life ban if the action is not corrected in the given time period.
During the delivery stride, some part of the bowler's front foot has to remain behind the popping crease. The line belongs to the umpire, if the bowler goes over it the umpire will declare it a *no-ball.
If the umpire deems a delivery to be so far out of reach that the batsman can not play an orthodox shot, he can declare it a *wide-ball. Even the widest of deliveries can not be declared wide if the batsman somehow touches it with his body/bat
If the fielding side fail to stop the ball and the batsmen run singles or the ball crosses the ropes, the runs are added to the original penalty for the wide ball. ie, a boundary off a wide ball yields 5 runs.
A ball that bounces over the shoulder height of the batsman is considered a 'bouncer'. A bowler is allowed to ball two such balls in an over for Test matches. However, for the One Day game, the limit is one bouncer per over. If the ball goes over the head of a batsman the umpires can call it a no-ball. Similarly if a bowler bowls more than the allowed number of bouncers per over, the umpires can no-ball him as well.
A legal delivery in cricket usually bounces on its way to the batsman. If a bowler fails to bounce the ball before it reaches the batsman, anything over waist height can be deemed a no-ball by the umpire. If the umpire considers the bowl dangerous, he can give the bowler an official warning. After two warnings the umpires ask the captain to take the bowler off the attack and another bowler completes the over.
There are certain fielding restrictions applied to stop the game from becoming overly defensive. If a fielding side violates these restrictions, any delivery bowled can be deemed a no-ball by the umpire.
Scoring Runs
A run is considered to be scored when two batsmen cross each other and make their ground on the other side.
Apart from that runs are scored when the ball crosses the boundary after bouncing within the playing field (four runs) and also if a ball crosses the boundary without touching the ground after being hit by the batsman (six runs).
Runs are also awarded as for different types of penalties such as no-balls, wide balls, byes and leg byes.
An umpire can disallow a run if the batsman doesn't ground his bat inside the crease while trying to take another run. If the umpire judges that the batsman did not try to play a shot or he was not taking evasive action, he can disallow any runs scored on that ball.
Ways of getting out
For a batsman to be given out, the fielding side is required by law to appeal to the umpire. An umpire is not supposed to give a player out if there is no appeal. A batsman can get out:
If the ball hits the wicket and the bails are dislodged.
If the batsman hits the ball in the air and it is *caught by a fielder before touching the ground.
If the ball hits the batsman's pads or body and the umpire is sure that it would have hit the stumps if the batsman had not come in the way (*lbw).
If a batsman is caught out of his ground at anytime when the ball is in play (*run out or stumped)
If the batsman hits the wickets, himself, and the bails are dislodged. (only out during the execution of a shot)
If the batsman is found guilty of obstructing the field or handling the ball he can be given out.
Cricket is also called 'Gentlemen's game', that is why a great emphasis is placed on proper conduct and maintaining the spirit of the game.
By law the responsibility of making sure that the game is played in its true spirit lies on the captain. The umpires are the sole judge of fair or unfair play and they can intervene at anytime if they consider it necessary. No player is allowed to show dissent or argue with the umpires regarding any decision or show any conduct that might bring the game into disrepute. It's against the spirit to use abusive language or to cheat in any manner. Players are supposed to show respect towards all other players and the officials.
Explanatory Notes:
*No-ball:
The only acceptable mode of dismissal off a no-ball is a run out/stumping.
A no ball gives the batting side one extra run and the ball has to be rebowled.
Any runs scored off a no ball are added to the batsman's tally.
*Wide-ball:
Even the widest of deliveries can not be declared wide if the batsman somehow touches it with his body/bat
A wide-ball gives the batting side one extra run and the ball has to be rebowled.
*Caught: A catch is only considered complete if the player manages to keep the ball in his grasp until he has complete control over the ball. A catch is not compete if
the player goes over the boundary rope while holding the ball. (results in 6 runs)
the player fumbles the ball and it falls before the umpires reckon he had complete control over it.
it is taken off a no-ball.
*LBW: the term LBW denotes 'leg before wicket'. It is used to curb a batsman from protecting his wicket with the body rather than the bat. Some of the finer rules of LBW are
A batsman cannot be out if the ball hits any part of the batsman's glove or bat before hitting the pad.
A batsman cannot be out if the ball pitches outside the leg stump.
A batsman cannot be out if the ball hits him outside the line of off stump, while playing a shot.
If not offering a shot, the umpire can give the batsman out even if the ball hits him outside the line of off stump.
In cases where the ball does not pitch before hitting the batsman, the umpire has to assume that the ball would have continued straight and he has to give his decision based on that.
*Run out or Stumped:
some part of the batsman foot has to be behind the crease to be safe. If the foot it on the crease, the batsman can be declared out.
if in doubt, the umpires rule in favor of the batsman.
if the bails are off (due to any reason) before the fielder / Wicketkeeper tries to run a batsman out, he has to take a stump out of the ground with the ball in his hand to complete the play.
In cases where the field umpires are unsure, the umpires can ask the 3rd umpire (TV Umpire) to look at the replays and adjudge the batsman safe/out).
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