Welcome to the greatest game of all - Cricket. This site will help explain to an absolute beginner some of the basic rules of cricket. Although there are many more rules in cricket than in many other sports, it is well worth your time learning them as it is a most rewarding sport. Whether you are looking to play in the backyard with a mate or join a club Cricket-Rules will help you learn the basics and begin to enjoy one of the most popular sports in the world.
The cricket rules displayed on the home page here are for the traditional form of cricket which is called "Test Cricket". However there are other formats of the game eg. 50 over matches, Twenty20 Cricket etc where the rules differ slightly.
Player/Official Cricket Rules
Cricket is a game played between two teams made up of eleven players each. There is also a reserve player called a "twelfth man" who is used should a player be injured during play. The twelfth man is not allowed to bowl, bat, wicket keep or captain the team. His sole duty is to act as a substiture fielder. The original player is free to return to the game as soon as they have recovered from their injury.
To apply the law and make sure the cricket rules are upheld throughout the game there are two umpires in place during games. Umpires are responsible for making decisions and notifying the scorers of these decisions. Two umpires are in place on the playing field while there is also a third umpire off the field who is in charge of video decisions. This is where the call is too close for the on field umpires and they refer it to the third umpire who reviews slow motion video replays to make a decision.
