Cricket words · Beginner

A match is played between two sides of 11 players. One of the 11 is the captain.

The player who leads a side. The captain calls the toss and decides when to declare. The captain also chooses who bowls and where the fielders stand.

A player who is batting. Two batters are on the field at a time.

The striker faces the bowling. The non-striker waits at the other end, ready to run. They change roles after an odd number of runs and at the end of each over.

The player who delivers the ball to the striker from one end of the pitch.

A member of the side that is not batting. All 11 field, including the bowler and the wicketkeeper.

The fielder who stands behind the striker's stumps. The only fielder allowed to wear gloves and external leg guards.

An official who controls the match. Two are on the field, one at each end.

A coin flip before the match. The captain who wins it chooses whether to bat or to field first.

The strip in the middle of the field where the bowling and batting happen. It is 22 yards (20.12 m) long and 10 feet (3.05 m) wide.

At each end of the pitch stand three wooden stumps with two small bails resting on top. Each set is 9 inches (22.86 cm) wide.

Three meanings. The stumps and bails at one end. A dismissal: "the bowler took a wicket". And, loosely, the pitch: "a good wicket".

The white lines at each end of the pitch. The popping crease, 4 feet in front of the stumps, is where a batter is safe behind and where the bowler's front foot must land behind. The bowling crease runs through the stumps; the return creases at the sides limit the bowler's back foot.

The edge of the playing area, usually a rope or a painted line. Also the shot that reaches it: a four or a six.

A fielder who stands close behind the batter, beside the wicketkeeper, waiting for a faint edge off the bat.

One side's turn to bat. It ends when 10 wickets have fallen, when the overs allowed are used up, when the captain declares or when the target is reached. In a two-innings match each side bats twice.

Scored when the two batters both reach the opposite end of the pitch. A run is also scored when a boundary is hit and when penalty runs are awarded.

Scored when the ball reaches or crosses the boundary after touching the ground. Also scored when the ball was not hit by the bat, as four byes or four leg byes.

Scored when the batter hits the ball and it lands beyond the boundary without touching the ground inside the field.

Runs the batting side gets without the bat scoring them: wides, no-balls, byes and leg byes, plus penalty runs.

A ball bowled too far from the striker to be reached with a normal cricket stroke, or one that passes over head height after bouncing. The batting side gets one run and the ball is bowled again.

An unfair delivery. Common causes are a front foot that lands with no part of it behind the popping crease, a ball that bounces twice or rolls along the ground and a ball that passes above the striker's waist without bouncing. The batting side gets one run and the ball is bowled again. Off a no-ball a batter can be out only by run out, obstructing the field or hitting the ball twice, which is why a batter who looks beaten can survive.

Runs scored when the ball passes the striker without touching the bat or body and the batters run. The runs go down as byes, not to the batter.

Runs scored when the ball hits the striker's body but not the bat. The runs count only if the striker was playing a shot or trying to avoid being hit.

Written as runs/wickets. A score of 250/6 is read "250 for 6": 250 runs, six wickets lost.

A batter out without scoring.

Milestones for one batter in one innings: 50 runs and 100 runs.

The runs two batters score while they bat together. It ends when one of them is out.

An award from the organisers to the match's best performer. Not part of the Laws.

A batter's innings is over. An umpire gives a batter out only after the fielding side appeals.

The fielders' call of "How's that?" asking the umpire for a decision. One appeal covers every way of being out.

An umpire's decision that no dismissal applies. Also used for a batter who is still batting when the innings ends.

The ball from the bowler breaks the striker's wicket. It still counts if the ball touched the bat or the body first, which is how an inside edge onto the stumps is given out.

The striker hits the ball and a fielder catches it cleanly before it touches the ground. Touching the glove of the hand holding the bat counts as hitting the ball.

Leg before wicket. The batter is out if the ball hits their body and the umpire judges it would otherwise have gone on to hit the stumps. Several conditions apply, set out in the intermediate entry.

A batter is out of their ground when the fielding side breaks the wicket fairly. This can happen whether or not a run is being attempted.

The striker is out of their ground without attempting a run, and the wicketkeeper breaks the wicket with the ball.

The striker breaks their own wicket with the bat or body while playing a shot, recovering balance or setting off for the first run. Rare.

The innings ends because 10 wickets have fallen, so no partner is left for the last batter.

Six valid balls bowled from one end, after which a different bowler bowls from the other end. Wides and no-balls are not valid, so an over can take more than six deliveries.

One ball bowled.

An over with no runs scored off the bowler: nothing off the bat and no wides or no-balls. Byes and leg byes do not spoil a maiden, by scoring convention.

A ball pitched right at the batter's feet. Hard to hit because the batter has almost no time to get the bat under it.

A ball pitched short so it rises towards the batter's chest or head.

Bowling that depends on speed. Pace bowlers take a long run-up.

Bowling that depends on spin from the fingers or the wrist, so the ball turns sideways after it bounces. Usually slower than pace.

The average number of runs a bowler gives away per over. Lower is better for the bowler.

The longest format. Each side has two innings and the match is scheduled for five days, with six hours of play and at least 90 overs a day.

Matches in which each side bats for a fixed number of overs, so a result comes in a single day. ODI and T20 are the two best-known forms.

One Day International. Each side has one innings of up to 50 overs, and the match is played in a day.

Twenty20. Each side has one innings of up to 20 overs.

A captain closes their own innings before all 10 wickets fall, to leave more time to bowl the other side out. It cannot be done in the final innings of a match.

In a two-innings match, the side that bats first can make the other side bat again straight away if it leads by enough runs. In a match of five days or more, such as an international Test, the lead needed is 200 runs. Shorter matches need a smaller lead (Law 14). It is an option, not a duty.

All innings are complete and the scores are level. Not the same as a draw.

The match ends without a winner and without a tie, usually because time ran out. Not the same as a tie.