Box cricket rules
There's no official rulebook for box cricket — every venue and every tournament tweaks it. These are the rules most turf games are played under, and the ones you must agree before the first ball.
Box cricket is short-format cricket inside a netted turf court — the “box”. The nets keep the ball in play, the pitch is artificial turf, and the ball is usually a tennis ball (sometimes a soft or taped one). Matches are short enough to finish in an hour, which is why it's the favourite format for office leagues, colony tournaments and weeknight games.
Teams and overs
- Players a side: usually 6 to 8. Smaller boxes play 6; full-size turfs 8.
- Overs: usually 5 to 8 an innings, with 6 the most common.
- Bowling limit: most games cap each bowler at one or two overs, so most of the side has to bowl. With 6 overs and 6 players, one over each is the simplest rule.
- Everyone bats:some tournaments add a retirement rule — a batter retires on reaching, say, 25 or 30 — so one big hitter can't bat the whole innings.
The net and roof rules
This is where box cricket differs from every other kind, and where most arguments start. There is no single answer — venues paint lines and post their own rules — so pick one for each row before the toss:
| What happens | Common rules |
|---|---|
| Ball hits the side net along the ground | A fixed 1 or 2 runs, or just the runs the batters complete |
| Ball hits the back net along the ground | Four |
| Ball hits the back net on the full | Six — some venues give six only above a marked line, four below it |
| Ball hits the roof net | Out, or a dead ball with no runs — rarely anything else |
| Catch taken after the ball touches a net | Usually not out — the ball is treated as having bounced |
Whatever you choose, say it out loud at the toss with both captains listening. “Roof is out” settled before the match is a rule; settled after a six hits the roof, it's a dispute.
Dismissals
- Bowled, caught, run out and stumped work as in normal cricket.
- LBW is usually not given— without a neutral umpire it causes more trouble than it's worth.
- Last man:many games let the last batter carry on alone when everyone else is out (often called “last man stands”), running their own runs. Agree whether the innings ends when one batter is left, or only when the last batter is out too.
Extras
Wides and no-balls usually cost one run plus a re-bowl, and many tournaments make the ball after a no-ball a free hit. Because overs are so few, a strict wide line on the leg side matters more than in a long game — mark it or agree it.
Ties
With five or six overs a side, ties happen. The usual decider is a one-over eliminator (a super over) with two or three batters; agree the batters and the bowler limit in advance.
The checklist to agree before the toss
- Players a side and overs an innings.
- How many overs each bowler may bowl.
- Runs off the side net, the back net and the roof — and whether a catch off the net is out.
- Whether LBW is given.
- Retirement score, if any, and whether a retired batter can come back.
- Whether the last batter can bat alone.
- Wides, no-balls and free hits.
- How a tie is decided.
Scoring a box cricket tournament
SportsScorer lets you set the overs and players a side for your tournament, play Last Man Stands, and retire batters out or not out. Since the scorer enters the runs for each ball, every net rule above scores correctly. Fixtures, live scores and the points table with net run rate look after themselves, and everyone follows on one link. Create a free tournament, or make the fixtures first with the free fixture maker. Playing outdoors with a tennis ball instead? See the tennis-ball cricket rules.